Mailerlite Tutorial: How to connect multiple forms to a single automation

September 27  

Mailerlite is an excellent choice for beginners in email marketing. They have a free plan, a simple UI, and kind customer support. But sometimes tasks just don’t quite seem intuitive when starting out!

Today we’re going to clarify a common question in Mailerlite: How to connect multiple forms to a single workflow? It’s super easy. Let’s begin.

Why connect multiple Mailerlite forms to a single automation?

Mailerlite offers the ability to create multiple form types:

  • Pop Ups
  • Ribbons
  • Embedded Forms
  • Landing Pages
  • Exit Intents

And as a growing marketer, you will learn that every one of these forms is a different tool in your toolbelt.

Professionals know that each tool has a purpose and should be brought out for specific jobs and at specific times.

But the form itself is only step 1 of a long, multi-step relationship. Advanced email marketing starts with a sign up, but flows into a long automation to nurture, educate, and excite your new subscriber.

Lucky for us, with the method I’ll teach you today, you only need to create that automation once, and will be able to send subscribers through it no matter how they sign up on your site.

Setting up your mailerlite forms to flow to a single automation – step by step

In this example we are going to set up two different forms in Mailerlite: an embeddable form and a ribbon pop up. Then we will create a single automation to send those new subscribers to in order to build the relationship.

Let’s waste no time and dive in:

Create Your First form

Let’s get super creative and name this one “Pop Up.” Sometimes inspiration just strikes, doesn’t it?

Create A New Group To Send subscribers to

Tip on naming your group: I like to set my name around the actual offer or freebie that they are signing up for. So maybe name it something like “Free weight loss report” or “General Newsletter” – anything that will help you remember how they found their way into your list.

Design your form

We won’t go too much in detail on the actual designing of the form. Go nuts, make it beautiful, and hit Next when you’re happy.

Rinse and Repeat for your second form

It’s great to have a pop up AND an embedded form for a single freebie. That allows you to place the sign up box exactly where you want it in your blog post, but also allow people to find it throughout your site as they are browsing.

Go ahead and create the second form, but be sure to select the same group that you made for the first one:

Cool tip: Mailerlite allows you to select MULTIPLE groups when you are creating a form. Don’t go nuts here, but you could create a better segmented list by capturing multiple data pieces for each form.

Connecting the Forms to your automation

Ok so part 1 is done and we have 2 different forms created for the same purpose. Now let’s link them together with the automations feature of Mailerlite.

Create a new Workflow

Give your workflow a name (I highly recommend you name the same thing as the group it is linked to!) and select a workflow trigger. This part’s important

Select a smart workflow trigger

The natural trigger that you probably think to use first is “When a subscriber completes a form,” but this is actually not the best way to do it.

If you DID select that one, you’d have to create a new workflow for each form individually. That would take forever!

Instead, select When subscriber joins a group as your trigger.

That means that no matter which form someone comes from – if they made their way to that specific group, you will kick off this automation!

Craft your customer Journey

Now you get to build out that journey for your customer.

In email #1 – send them the thing that you promised (the reason they signed up!).

Then you can start to build your relationship with them. That’s the fun part!

Pro tip: Notice how in the workflow above I have a step where I copy the subscriber to a new group: Free Member.

That’s another awesome benefit of launching workflows based on subscribers joining groups!

Now I can create a separate workflow that starts with the group Free member, and I can flow my subscriber through several workflows without having them go back through any annoying sign up processes! Magic!

Conclusion

Mailerlite’s automation feature gives a first impression that it is very basic and limited. But when you unravel its capabilities, you’ll realize that you can craft very powerful and personalized automations for each subscriber – when you know the best way to use it!

The key takeaway here is to leverage the power of groups. Be thoughtful when you are setting up your forms and try your best to link your workflows to the groups that make the most sense!

Now go forth and automate! If you want to learn how to do even more with Mailerlite and their A/B Split testing feature, check out my free course CONVERT. Enroll Now!

About the Author

John Whitford is an entrepreneur who has built over 12 profitable online blogs and businesses. He's also the founder of Unbeatable Tech, a data-driven digital marketing company that specializes in sales funnel implementation for both his own businesses and clients alike. John loves to be a beach bum while brainstorming new ideas for marketing strategies, but he's always excited to take on another project!

John

>