If you’ve ever found yourself forgetting to follow up with leads, clients, or people who filled out your slick new calculator, you’re not alone. Manual follow-ups are a pain, and relying on memory is a recipe for missed opportunities. This guide is for marketers, freelancers, and small teams who want to stop dropping the ball and start automating their follow-up emails—without getting a computer science degree.
Here’s how you can connect Outgrow (for collecting leads) with Zapier (for gluing all your apps together) to send automatic, timely follow-up emails. No code. No fluff. Let’s make your life easier.
Why Bother Automating Follow-Ups?
Before you dive in, let’s have a reality check:
- Manual follow-ups are slow and inconsistent. Even the best spreadsheets won’t save you from human error.
- People expect quick replies. A fast follow-up can be the difference between a sale and a ghosted lead.
- You’ll forget, eventually. Sorry, but you will. Let the robots remember.
Automation won’t magically make your leads convert, but it will give you more time and fewer headaches.
What You’ll Need
No point in starting if you haven’t got the basics:
- An Outgrow account (any paid plan with Zapier integration)
- A Zapier account (free plan is usually enough for basic use)
- An email provider (Gmail, Outlook, or even Mailchimp—whatever Zapier supports)
- 30–60 minutes and a clear idea of the follow-up you want to send
If you’re expecting to “set it and forget it” forever, lower your expectations. Automations break. Keep it simple to start.
Step 1: Build or Choose Your Outgrow Experience
Outgrow lets you create calculators, quizzes, surveys—basically interactive widgets to collect leads. If you don’t have one set up, do that first. (I’m not going to walk through Outgrow’s builder here; it’s drag-and-drop and well-documented.)
Key points: - Make sure your Outgrow tool has a lead capture form (email field is a must). - Test it yourself to make sure it’s collecting real data.
Pro tip: Give your fields clear names. “Email” should be “email,” not “Email Address” or “e-mailz.” This will make Zapier mapping easier later.
Step 2: Connect Outgrow to Zapier
Outgrow has a native Zapier integration, but it takes a few clicks to get rolling.
- Log in to Zapier. Click “Create Zap.”
- Choose Outgrow as your Trigger App.
- Trigger event: “New Lead.”
- Connect your Outgrow account.
- Zapier will ask for an API key. Find this in Outgrow’s integrations/settings area.
- Paste it in and test the connection.
- Pick your Outgrow experience.
- Zapier will show a list. Select the calculator/quiz you want to connect.
- Test the trigger.
- Zapier will pull in a recent submission. Make sure it includes the email field and any other info you want.
If Zapier can’t find any leads, go submit a test lead in Outgrow and try again.
Step 3: Set Up the Email Action in Zapier
Now the fun part—automating the email.
- Choose your email app for the Action.
- “Gmail” or “Email by Zapier” are the simplest. If you want to get fancy with Mailchimp or another tool, go for it—but keep it simple for your first run.
- Set up the email details.
- To: Map this to the email field from Outgrow.
- Subject: Something straightforward, like “Thanks for reaching out!”
- Body: Personalize it. Pull in any data from the lead (name, quiz answers, etc.).
- From: Your email address (if using Gmail) or whatever’s required.
- Test your email action.
- Zapier will send a test email. Check your inbox (and spam folder).
What works: - Simple, plain-text emails usually land in inboxes better than HTML-heavy ones. - Use merge tags (the little fields from Outgrow) sparingly—don’t overdo the “personalization” or you’ll look like a robot.
What doesn’t: - Don’t try to CC or BCC a bunch of people on every follow-up. You’ll hit limits fast, and it’s not what Zapier’s “Email” action is for. - Avoid attachments unless you have to; they trigger spam filters.
Step 4: Add a Delay (Optional, But Recommended)
If you want to avoid looking desperate—or want to space out your follow-ups—add a delay before your email sends.
- Add a “Delay” step in Zapier between the trigger and the email action.
- Choose “Delay For” and set it to a reasonable time (1 hour, 1 day, whatever makes sense).
- Save and test again.
Delays are super simple and make your follow-ups feel more natural. Just don’t forget you added a delay—if you test and nothing happens, you might be waiting for your own automation.
Step 5: Handling Multiple Follow-Ups (If You Really Need To)
You can chain Zaps (or use multi-step Zaps) to send a series of emails: Day 1, Day 3, Day 7, etc.
- Add more “Delay” + “Email” actions in your Zap.
- Or, use a tool like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign for drip campaigns if you need more complexity.
Honest take:
If you’re just starting, stick to a single follow-up. Multi-step sequences are overkill for most small teams and clog up your Zapier task limit. Only ramp up if you’re getting real results.
Step 6: Test Everything
Don’t just set it live and walk away. Run real tests:
- Submit fake leads with your own email.
- Check formatting, timing, and whether anything lands in spam.
- Make sure Zapier logs show the zap running successfully.
- Try breaking it on purpose (e.g., leaving out the email field) to see how errors are handled.
Pro tip: Zapier’s “Task History” is your friend. If something fails, it’ll tell you why.
What To Ignore (For Now)
- Advanced branching or conditional logic: Outgrow and Zapier can do some cool stuff, but don’t get bogged down in fancy “if this, then that” logic unless you really need it.
- Custom HTML/CSS emails: It’s tempting to make pretty emails, but focus on deliverability and clarity first.
- CRM integrations: If you’re not using a CRM yet, don’t start by trying to automate everything. Keep your stack light.
Common Pitfalls and How to Dodge Them
- Spam Filters: If your follow-up emails keep landing in spam, simplify the message, remove links, and use a reputable sender address.
- Over-Automation: Don’t automate what you haven’t done manually at least a few times. You’ll just automate your mistakes.
- Zapier Task Limits: Free plans run out of tasks quickly. If you’re sending more than a handful of emails a day, monitor your usage.
- Broken Field Mapping: If you rename fields in Outgrow, you’ll have to remap them in Zapier. Keep names consistent.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple and Iterate
Automation is meant to save you time, not create a new mess. Start with one Outgrow experience, one Zap, and one short follow-up email. See if it actually helps. If you get stuck, don’t be afraid to ask for support or start over.
Remember: every automation is a work in progress. Don’t chase perfection—just aim to drop fewer balls. Keep things simple, check in on your setup now and then, and improve as you go.
Now go reclaim your time—and maybe finally get that inbox to zero.