Automations
Turn on automatic marketing emails like Welcome, Birthday, Last Minute Openings and Reminder to Book, choose who gets them, edit them, and set the cooldown.
Applies to: Everyone except service providers
Automations send marketing emails for you when something happens, like a client's birthday or their first visit. Each one stays off until you turn it on.
Automations are on the web only. They don't have a menu link. To open them, go to app.heylilo.co/dashboard/marketing/automations while you're signed in to Lilo.
The automations
- Welcome emails a client after their first completed appointment. Each client gets it once.
- Birthday emails clients on their birthday, around 8 AM local time. It only reaches clients with a birthday on their profile.
- Last Minute Openings emails your regulars when an appointment that starts soon is cancelled or moved, so someone else can take the spot.
- Reminder to Book emails clients who've had one completed visit and haven't booked again after a set number of days.
Each card shows how many messages it has sent and delivered. Event-driven automations send when something happens. Scheduled ones run once a day, around 8 AM local time.
Owners, admins and location managers
Turn an automation on or off
- Open Automations.
- Turn on the switch on the automation's card. You'll see a message like Welcome automation activated.
To stop it, turn the switch off. You can also use the switch at the top of an automation's own page, next to Active or Inactive.
Event-driven automations start with the next appointment they apply to. Scheduled ones start at their next daily run. Reminder to Book's first runs can include clients who visited once, long ago.
Owners, admins and location managers
Choose who gets it
- Open Automations and select the automation's card.
- Under Channel, choose Email only.
- Under Locations, choose the locations whose clients should get it, or leave it on All locations.
- Change the automation's own settings, if it has any (see below).
- Select Save Settings. You'll see Settings saved.
The settings each automation has:
- Welcome: Hours after first visit is how long Lilo waits after the appointment is completed, from 0 to 72. Choose 0 to send it right away.
- Last Minute Openings: Last minute window (hours) means Lilo only sends when the appointment was due to start within that many hours. The default is 48. Default send cap is how many clients Lilo emails about one opening while it learns how many book from these emails. After that, it emails enough clients to fill the spot, plus the Buffer percentage.
- Reminder to Book: Days since last visit is how long after a client's visit Lilo reminds them, from 7 to 365 days. The default is 30. Max sends per run is the most clients Lilo reminds in one day. When more are due, Lilo picks the ones it ranks highest and reminds the rest on later days.
- Birthday has no settings of its own.
Change the message
- Open Automations and select the automation's card.
- Under Message Preview, select Email, then select Edit.
- Change the Subject Line, the Preview Text and the email itself. Lilo saves as you go, and you'll see Saved at the top.
- Select Preview to check the email, then select the back arrow.
The email editor needs a computer or tablet screen. Your changes apply to the next email the automation sends, even while it's on. The ready-made emails greet the client by first name and link to your booking page.
Set the marketing cooldown
The marketing cooldown keeps Last Minute Openings and Reminder to Book from emailing a client too soon after their last marketing email.
- Open Automations.
- Next to Marketing Cooldown, select Edit.
- Enter the Days between messages, from 0 to 90. 0 turns the cooldown off.
- Select Save. You'll see Cooldown settings updated.
How it works
Who gets automation emails
- Clients only get automation emails if Email marketing is on in their profile. It starts off when you add a client. Clients can turn it on when they book online, or you can turn it on in Edit Details. See The client profile.
- Clients need an email address. Lilo skips addresses that bounced, and clients who reported your emails as spam.
- Lilo never sends automations to archived or blocked clients.
- Last Minute Openings and Reminder to Book skip clients who already have an upcoming appointment.
- Reminder to Book emails a client at most once per visit.
- If you chose Locations, only clients who've booked at one of them get it.
- Each email uses one email credit (see Message and AI credits).
How Last Minute Openings picks clients
Lilo checks every cancelled or moved appointment. If it was due to start within the Last minute window (hours), Lilo emails clients who:
- have at least 3 completed visits, and at least one in the last 90 days
- have had one of the appointment's services before
- have booked at that location before, or at one of the automation's Locations if you chose any
- have no upcoming appointment
Lilo ranks them by how recently and how often they visit, and emails the ones at the top. The email can't say when the spot is. It links to your booking page, where anyone can book the open time.
The cooldown
- Last Minute Openings and Reminder to Book skip a client who got a campaign, or either of those automations, within the cooldown. The default is 7 days.
- Campaigns don't check the cooldown, but sending one restarts it for each client who gets it.
- Welcome and Birthday ignore the cooldown and don't restart it. That's what Always sends on their cards means. Clients still need Email marketing on.
Common questions
Why didn't a client get the Birthday email?
Usually one of these:
- Birthday was off that day.
- Their profile doesn't have a birthday, or Email marketing is off.
- They don't have an email address, or it bounced.
- They're archived or blocked.
- You chose Locations, and they haven't booked at any of them.
Why didn't a new client get the Welcome email?
Usually one of these:
- Welcome was off when their first appointment was completed. Turning it on later doesn't send it to clients who've already been in.
- The appointment isn't completed yet, or the wait in Hours after first visit hasn't passed.
- It wasn't their first completed appointment with you.
- Email marketing is off in their profile, or they don't have an email address.
Why did a client stop getting automation emails?
Check Email marketing in their profile. Clients answer Send me special offers and updates via email each time they book online. When the booking matches their email and phone number, Lilo saves that answer to their profile. If they book with the switch off, Lilo turns Email marketing off.
Can I send a test or pick who gets it?
No. Automations pick clients for you, and there's no test send. Message Preview on the automation's page shows how the email looks.
Can I create my own automation?
No. You can only turn on the automations Lilo comes with.
Can I see which clients got an automation?
Not on the Automations page. Each card only shows how many messages it has sent and delivered.
Who can change automations?
By default, owners, admins and location managers. Front desk staff can open Automations. They see You don't have permission to perform this action if they try to change anything.