Creating follow-up emails

Q: Will a new follow-up email go to people who entered before I created it?

Yes, if their delay ends after the follow-up's Start at date and time. For example, with a 3-day delay and a start date of 1 November, someone who entered on 30 October receives it on 2 November. To email everyone already on the list at once, send a scheduled email .

All plans Last reviewed October 27, 2026

A follow-up email sends automatically a set number of days or hours after each entry arrives, once per email address unless you include repeat entries. ShortStack checks for entries that are due once a day, or every hour if you count in hours, so emails go out within that window. Every plan includes follow-up emails.

Which email type you need

ShortStack has three kinds of email. The type decides when the email sends and who receives it, so you pick it first. To use a different type, create a new email of that type.

Type	When it sends	Use it when
Autoresponder	As soon as an entry arrives, once per entry	You want to confirm every entry straight away.
Follow-up	A set number of hours or days after the entry arrives	You want to stay in touch after the entry, such as a reminder a few days later or a series of emails.
Scheduled	Once, at a date and time you choose	You want to email everyone on a list at once, such as announcing winners. Included in the Max and Enterprise plans.

To build a series, create one follow-up email for each message, with a different delay on each.

Before you start

A follow-up can go to several lists. Pick every list whose entrants should receive it.
Unique codes in emails: first decide whether codes come from Instant Win or from a code list attached to the email. See Using unique codes in emails.
Double opt-in. If your company profile has Require Double Opt-In turned on, follow-up emails go only to entrants who clicked the subscribe link. See How to create double opt-in emails.
Links in a new account's emails are reviewed by support before they send. See New accounts and protecting deliverability.

Set up a follow-up email

Go to the Emails Manager, click New Email and choose Follow-Up Email. Or, in the Campaign Builder, click the envelope icon, click New Email next to the list, and choose Follow-Up Email.
Check the Company Profile, then tick each list that should receive the email. Starting from the campaign selects its list for you.
Choose whether to include a code: No, One Code, Instant Win or Code List.
Pick a template or click Continue to start blank, then write your content. Add merge fields from Available Merge Fields.
Enter a name (only you see it) and a subject. From Name and From Email Address are optional and use your company profile's defaults when blank. For which From address to use, see Creating autoresponder emails.
Set the delay in Number of Days. To count in hours instead, click change this unit to Hours. Then set Start at, the date and time the follow-up starts sending, and its time zone. The time zone starts as UTC, so check it.
On the summary step, check every section has a tick, send a test, add any filters, and click Save & Activate.

The email shows as Scheduled in the Emails Manager while it waits for entries to come due.

Filters

Filter	What it does	Use it when
Include repeat entries	Sends once for every entry, instead of once per email address.	Each entry deserves its own email, such as a receipt for every purchase.
Approved Status	Includes or excludes approved entries.	You moderate entries and want to email only approved ones.
Filter by Image Presence	Includes or excludes entries with an image.	You want to remind people who haven't uploaded a photo yet.
Filter by Instant Win	Sends only to instant winners, or to everyone except them.	Winners and non-winners need different follow-ups.
Filter by State/Province	Includes or excludes entrants from the states or provinces you list.	Your offer or rules differ by region.
Filter by Label	Includes or excludes entries with a label you choose.	You've labeled entries, for example as finalists.

What happens once it's active

Who receives it: each email address on the selected lists, once, when its delay has passed, if it matches your filters. Test entries, deleted entries and entries without a valid email address are skipped, and so are people who unsubscribed.
Editing it changes what everyone who hasn't received it yet will get. Click Save & Schedule to keep your changes.
Stopping it: set it to Inactive, or delete it from the Emails Manager (click the down arrow next to the email) or the Campaign Builder (the trash can next to the email). Deleting can't be undone, so archive the email instead if you might want it later.
Quiet spells: a follow-up that finds no one to email is set to Inactive after 90 days if it has never sent, or after 30 days if it has sent before and nothing has gone out lately. Set it to Active again when you expect more entries.
The footer carries your company profile's business name and address and an unsubscribe link, as the CAN-SPAM Act requires. On the Enterprise plan, you can turn the footer off for transactional emails on the company profile step. See CAN-SPAM Act information.
Pausing your account stops follow-up emails. When you resume, set each one you still need back to Active.

If something goes wrong

What you see	What to do
The email shows Inactive after you saved it	Something it needs is missing: a company profile, content, a subject, a list or the delay and start time. Open the email, fill in the section without a tick, and save again.
Someone who entered more than once got one email	That's the default. Turn on Include repeat entries to send one per entry.
No one is receiving it	Check the start date and time has passed, the filters aren't excluding everyone, and, if double opt-in is on, that entrants have clicked the subscribe link.
Emails land in spam	Your From address's domain has a strict DMARC policy. See Which From address to use.

For more, see Troubleshooting emails.

FAQs

Will a new follow-up email go to people who entered before I created it?

Yes, if their delay ends after the follow-up's Start at date and time. For example, with a 3-day delay and a start date of 1 November, someone who entered on 30 October receives it on 2 November. To email everyone already on the list at once, send a scheduled email.

Why did someone who entered three times get only one follow-up email?

A follow-up email goes to each email address once. To send one for every entry instead, turn on the Include repeat entries filter on the summary step.

If I set a follow-up for 2 hours, will it arrive exactly 2 hours after the entry?

Close to it. When you count in hours, ShortStack checks for entries that are due every hour, so the email goes out within the hour after it's due. When you count in days, it checks once a day.

If I edit a follow-up email, does it change emails already sent?

No. Emails already sent stay as they were. Your changes apply to everyone who hasn't received it yet.

Why did my follow-up email switch to Inactive on its own?

A follow-up email that finds no one to email for a long stretch is set to Inactive to keep your account tidy, after 90 days if it has never sent, or 30 days if it has sent before and nothing has gone out lately. Set it to Active again when you expect more entries.

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