Getting your onboarding emails right can mean the difference between a user who sticks around and one who ghosts you after day one. If you’re here, you probably want to set up automated onboarding in Customer.io without getting buried in endless docs or marketing fluff.
This guide is for you if you: - Want a step-by-step walkthrough, not a sales pitch. - Have a basic Customer.io account set up (or access to one). - Care more about what actually works than what looks “slick.”
Let’s get your onboarding emails out the door—fast, and without headaches.
Step 1: Map Out Your Onboarding Flow Before Touching Customer.io
Seriously, close Customer.io for a minute.
Before you even log in, sketch out what you want your onboarding to do. Otherwise, you’ll end up fiddling with settings and missing the big picture.
Ask yourself: - How many emails will you send? (3-5 is typical. Don’t annoy people.) - What’s the goal of each email? (E.g., “Introduce feature X,” “Prompt first action.”) - What triggers each email? (Signup date? User action? Days since signup?)
Pro tip: Write short subject lines and body copy for each email now. You’ll thank yourself later.
What to ignore: Fancy “journey mapping” tools or endless brainstorming. A Google Doc or napkin sketch is enough. Just get clarity on what you want to happen.
Step 2: Organize Your Data—What Does Customer.io Need?
Customer.io is powerful, but only if it knows who your users are and what they’re doing.
You’ll need: - A way to send user data to Customer.io (API, Segment, or manual CSV upload). - At least an email address for each user. Bonus points for first name and signup date. - (Optional, but helpful) User actions—like “completed profile” or “clicked onboarding link.”
How to check:
- Go to “People” in Customer.io. Are your users there? Are your key attributes (like email, created_at, etc.) showing up?
If you need to set up data syncing: - Use the official API docs or Segment integration. - For quick tests, upload a CSV with just your own test user.
What to ignore: Don’t try to push every possible attribute or event right now. Stick to what you actually need for onboarding. You can always add more data later.
Step 3: Create Your Customer.io Campaign
Now you’re ready to set up your onboarding emails.
- In Customer.io, go to “Campaigns” and click “Create Campaign.”
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Pick a name you’ll recognize later, like “User Onboarding.”
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Choose how the campaign triggers:
- For most onboarding, you’ll want “Trigger by segment.”
- Set up a segment for new users (e.g., “Signed up in last 24 hours”).
How to set up a new user segment:
- Go to “Segments.”
- Create a segment with criteria: created_at is less than 1 day ago (or whatever fits your flow).
- Save it with a clear name.
- Set your campaign trigger to “when someone enters this segment.”
- This ensures new signups kick off the onboarding flow automatically.
What works: Use specific segments (not just “all users”) to avoid blasting emails to the wrong people.
What to ignore: Don’t use manual triggers for onboarding unless you love extra work or have a weird edge case.
Step 4: Build Your Email Sequence
Here’s where the magic happens.
- Add workflow steps for each email:
- In your campaign workflow, click “+” to add a new action.
- Choose “Send email.”
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Drag and drop emails in the order you want.
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Set delays between emails:
- Add “Wait” steps between emails (e.g., “Wait 1 day”).
- Typical onboarding waits: 1 day after signup, then 2 days, then maybe another few days.
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Don’t stack emails without delays—no one wants three onboarding emails at once.
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Write your email content:
- Use the built-in editor for each step.
- Personalize with variables like
{{customer.first_name}}if you have that data. - Keep it short and actionable. One clear call to action per email.
Pro tip: Always send test emails to yourself or a teammate before turning anything live. Typos and broken links happen. Don’t embarrass yourself in front of new users.
What works: Less is more. Three solid, useful emails beat a 10-part campaign no one reads.
What to ignore: Don’t get lost in overly complex logic branches (like “if user clicks link A, send email X”). Start simple—branching is for mature flows, not MVPs.
Step 5: (Optional) Add Simple Logic and Personalization
Once you’ve got the basics working, you can get fancier. But only if it actually helps.
Examples of useful tweaks: - Conditional steps: Skip a “complete your profile” email if the user already did that. - Personalization: Add the user’s name, or reference what they’ve done (“Congrats on inviting your first teammate!”).
How to do it:
- Use “If/Else” branches in the workflow.
- Insert variables like {{customer.company_name}} in your emails.
What to ignore: Don’t chase ultra-granular personalization unless you have the data and bandwidth to maintain it. Half-baked personalization (“Hi ,”) is worse than none.
Step 6: Activate and Monitor Your Campaign
You’re almost there. Time to go live.
- Review your campaign settings:
- Double-check segment criteria, delays, and email content.
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Make sure test users aren’t in your real segment unless you want to get all the emails.
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Start the campaign:
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Hit “Activate” (or “Start Campaign”).
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Monitor results:
- Go to the “Analytics” tab for your campaign.
- Check open rates, click rates, and (if you set up goals) conversion rates.
- Watch for weird spikes or drops—usually a sign something broke or emails are hitting spam.
Pro tip: If open rates are under 30%, your subject lines or deliverability might need work. If click rates are under 2%, your content probably needs tightening.
What works: Review performance after a week or two, then tweak. Don’t just “set and forget.”
Step 7: Tweak, Don’t Overthink
You’ll never get onboarding perfect on the first try. That’s fine.
- Iterate: Change one thing at a time—subject lines, timing, or content. Measure the impact.
- Ask new users for feedback: Sometimes a quick reply to your onboarding email (“How’s it going?”) will get you gold.
- Keep it lean: Resist the urge to add more and more emails. Only add steps if you see a clear need.
What to ignore: Overly complex reporting, A/B tests with tiny sample sizes, or “best practices” that don’t fit your business.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Ship, and Learn
Automating onboarding emails in Customer.io isn’t rocket science—but it does take some planning. Focus on getting a simple, useful flow out the door. Watch what happens, ask real users, and improve from there.
Don’t worry about making it perfect. The best onboarding is the one that actually gets sent.