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Available on: all plans (Starter, Growth, Scale and Enterprise). Starter flows can send one email. Flows with several emails need the Growth plan or above.
Build a flow that emails your leads on its own. A flow is a set of emails that sends automatically. A common use is a welcome email with a downloadable guide or a discount code, sent the moment a lead completes your funnel. Each flow belongs to one funnel and starts when a lead reaches the status you choose. Before you start, you need:

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Important to note

  • A flow only starts for leads who reach its trigger status after it is live. Leads that already have that status when you publish are not added, and each lead goes through a flow once.
  • Every email has a footer you cannot remove. It includes the lines “You signed up to receive emails via this funnel” and “If you no longer want to receive emails, unsubscribe here”. Growth and above can turn off the AskFunnel branding: click the footer and switch off Branding.
  • Each plan has a monthly email allowance: 1,000 on Starter, 3,000 on Growth, 6,000 on Scale and 20,000 on Enterprise. If you reach it, emails wait and go out on the first day of the next month (UTC).

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Create a flow

1

Open the Flows editor

  1. From your main dashboard, find the funnel.
  2. Click the three small dots (…) on that funnel’s row, then click “Edit Funnel”.
  3. At the top, next to the funnel name, click the Funnel button and choose “Flows”.
  4. Click “New flow” on the left. To rename it, click the three dots next to the flow and choose “Rename”.
The flow editor with the Trigger, Delay and email cards, and the New flow and Publish Flow buttons highlighted
2

Choose when it starts

The trigger is the status that starts the flow.
  1. Click the Trigger card. The Automation logic window opens.
  2. Under Trigger, pick the status that starts the flow. RECEIVED means every new lead.
  3. Optional: click “Add rule” to send only to some leads. Pick a field from Contact fields or Funnel answers, choose how to compare, for example Is exactly, and pick the answer. Add more rules and join them with And or Or.
  4. Click “Save”.
The Automation logic window with the trigger status and an Add rule button
3

Write the email

  1. Next to From, choose your verified sender.
  2. Leave To on Contact, which is the lead’s email address.
  3. Click Add a subject and type your subject line.
  4. Write your message in the text block. Type @ to insert a detail from the lead, such as their name. Pick the field, then type a fallback that is used when the field is empty, for example “there”, or click “No fallback”.
  5. To add more, click the + below the message and pick a block: Text, Image, Button, Divider, Graphics, List, Spacer or File.
4

Add a file or link (optional)

To send a guide, price list or discount, click the + below your text and choose File.The block picker with the File block highlighted
  1. Under File link, paste a public link to your file, such as a PDF in Google Drive.
  2. Under File name, type what the lead sees.
  3. Change Button label from Download if you like, for example to “Get the discount guide”.
The File block settings with the File link field highlightedThe lead receives a button that opens your link. AskFunnel does not attach files. For a link to a web page, use the Button block instead.
5

Send yourself a test

Click “Test” at the top of the email. A copy arrives in your own inbox with [Test] in front of the subject. The button works after you choose a sender, and your organization can send up to 20 test emails per hour.
6

Publish the flow

Click “Publish Flow” at the top right. When it says “Flow published.”, the flow is Live and new leads who reach your trigger status start receiving it.

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How do I know it is working?

  • In the editor: the flow shows Live in the list on the left and in the top bar. After your first send, each email shows its counts for Sent, Delivered, Clicked and Bounced. Opened appears when open tracking is on.
  • On a lead: open the lead and look at Email flows in the Profile tab. It shows the flow with a state (Active, Waiting, Paused, Completed, Failed or Cancelled) and lines such as Email sent, Delivered, Opened, Clicked, Bounced, Marked as spam and Waiting until.
Clicks and opens are counted only when you turn on click or open tracking for your sender’s domain. See Add and verify a sender email.

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Edit or turn off a flow

  • Edit a live flow: a status of Changes available means you edited a live flow. Click “Publish Flow” again to send the changes live. Leads already in the flow finish with the version they started on.
  • Turn a flow off: this stops it for everyone. Leads still waiting for their next email will not get it.

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Troubleshooting

AskFunnel highlights each step that needs attention and says “Fix the highlighted steps before publishing.” The messages you may see are:
  • Choose which lead status starts this flow. Open the Trigger card and pick a status.
  • Choose a sender for this email. Pick a sender under From.
  • Every email needs a subject line. Type a subject.
  • Add content to this email before publishing. Add text or another block.
  • Multiple messages require a higher plan. Starter flows can only send one email.
Click “Add new sender” in the list and finish verification. See Add and verify a sender email.
Open the lead and check Email flows in Profile. People who unsubscribe are skipped automatically, and so are addresses that bounced or marked a message as spam. Other common reasons: the lead has no email address, the lead reached the status before the flow went live, the flow is off, your monthly allowance is used up, or sending was paused to protect deliverability (whether your emails reach the inbox). See Keep your emails out of spam.
Test emails use sample details. The lead’s name appears as Alex Example and other @ fields show their fallback text.

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What to do next

Send a series of follow-up emails

Add delays and more emails to your flow.

Email your team when a lead arrives

Get an alert the moment a lead submits.

Keep your emails out of spam

Help your emails reach the inbox.

Track leads with statuses

Choose which status starts each flow.
Need help? Email support@askfunnel.com.