The purpose of this article is to provide an in-depth look at how to send emails from your site using automations.
- How to set up an Automated Email
- Setting up the Recipient(s)
- Composing the Email
- Common Use Cases
- Email Notifications
How to Set Up an Automated Email
In order to set up an automated email:
- Create a new automation in your site either through the program automations or stage automations
- Set up the Activation ("When to Apply")
- Optional: Add Conditions
- Under the DO section, click the --Select an Action-- dropdown
- As the Action Source, click User
- As the Action, select Send an Email to
- Choose who the email will Send From. These emails will be populated based on the emails available within the Email section of your site.
- Enter who the email will Send To. For more information, please refer to Setting up Email Recipients below.
- Enter the email subject
- Optional: Add attachments to include in the email
- Compose your Email
- Click Save
Setting Up Email Recipients
Within the recipients box there are two options to choose from:
1. Send the email to a specific email address or addresses
The first option is to simply enter the email address in the text box (ie. you@example.com). This means that every time the automation fires the email will always be sent to the same email address(es). This is commonly used when you would like an automated email to be sent to an administrator of the site when certain activity occurs.
2. Send the email to a variable email address
In most cases, you will need to send the email to different recipients based on the need for the automation. For example, if you need the email to send to the user that activated the automation you would need to enter the variable {{ user.email }} as opposed to the individual's email. If you simply want to send the email to the owner of the application you can enter {{ applicant.email }}.
TIP! Copy and paste the variables above into the recipient box, or make use of the Piping Tool and use keywords to search for the right variable.
Composing the Email
Subject
This is the field where you can enter the subject line of the email.
Email body
Here you can customize the email as you see fit. By using the Piping icon 
you can also input piping variables to further customize the email with user or applicant sourced data. For more information, see Piping Variables: Overview.
You can also send a test email by clicking the button Send Test Email and selecting an address to send it to. As a note, if you have piping variables in the email, the information will not be piped in when the email is sent, this is simply a feature to test proper delivery and formatting of the email. For more information in regards to testing email automations, refer to How to Test your Site (Automations).
Attachments
Here is where you can add files to your emails that you would like sent out to users.
Common Use Cases
Listed below are common cases we see for setting up an automated email in the site. There are many different possibilities, however, here are a few to get you started.
- Send Email to Admin When a Review is Completed
- Application has been awarded
- Move to Next Stage
- Post-review email with reviewer comments
Send Email to Admin When a Review is Completed
In this scenario we will set up an automation that is meant to send an email to you as an administrator when a reviewer in your site has completed one of their reviews to the Advanced Review Form called "Overall Ranking". This can be useful for tracking purposes for keeping track of your reviewers' progress in the site.
WHEN TO APPLY
| Source | Event | Target |
| Application Task | Task has been edited after completion | Overall Ranking |
CONDITIONS
Not Required for this scenario
DO
| Action Source | Action |
| User | Send email to |
| Send From | Select the sender address |
| Send To | Enter your email (ie. admincontact@email.com) |
| Subject | {{ user.full_name }} has completed a review. |
| Attachments | None |
| Message |
Dear [Your Name], {{ user.full_name }} has completed a review within the site for the application "{{ submission.title }}" on {{ date }} at {{ time }}. |
The above email would be setup to send an email to you. The subject line would pull in the Reviewer's Name to state
Theresa Jones has completed a review.
Within the Email Message there are also several variables that will pull in to give you more information on the instance that caused the email to send:
Dear Sarah,
Theresa Jones has completed a review within the site for the application "Tom Jenkin's Application to a Program" on Friday, June 02, 2017 at 12:05 PM (UTC).
Application has been Awarded
The following scenario would be used to send an email to applicants when they have been selected as Awarded for a program. Setting up an automated email, as opposed to manual, can be useful if you are "awarding" a large number of candidates, or you are going to be awarding candidates consistently and wish to send out one congratulatory email to all those that were successful.
WHEN TO APPLY
| Source | Event |
| Decision | Application has been Awarded |
CONDITIONS
Not Required for this scenario
DO
| Action Source | Action |
| User | Send email to |
| Send From | Select the sender address |
| Send To |
{{ applicant.email }} Will send to the email associated with the applicants account. |
| Subject | Congratulations! You have been awarded Program A. |
| Attachments |
Any additional resources you may need to provide the awarded applicants. |
| Message |
Dear {{ applicant.first_name }}, Congratulations! We are pleased to tell you that you have been awarded Program A from mysite.smapply.io. Please find attached additional resources regarding your acceptance. Regards, -Site Administrator |
As all Automations are Program Specific you will need to create a new automation for each program you have within your site.
The same process can be taken for declined applications as well by changing the Event of the Activation to Application has been Declined, and rewording the email.
Move to Next Stage
The following scenario will walk through how to setup an automated email to notify the applicant that their application has been promoted onto a new stage. In this example, the email is sent to the applicant when the application has been moved to the 2nd Application Stage.
WHEN TO APPLY
| Source | Event | Target |
| Application | Application has changed Stage | 2nd Application Stage |
CONDITIONS
Not Required for this scenario
DO
| Action Source | Action |
| User | Send email to |
| Send From | Select the sender address |
| Send To |
{{ applicant.email }} Will send to the email associated with the applicant's account. |
| Subject | Your application has been promoted to the 2nd Application Stage |
| Attachments | None |
| Message |
Dear {{ applicant.first_name }}, This email is to inform you that your application "{{ submission.title }}" has been promoted to the next round of applications. There are now additional tasks that need to be completed in order to proceed with the application process. Please login to the site at mysite.smapply.io in order to complete the require tasks. Regards, -Site Administrator |
Post-Review Email with Reviewer Comments
The following scenario will walk through how to setup an automation to email applicants when their application has been reviewed. This email will also pull specific reviewer comments that were given about the application and other user sourced data. This email set up will be based on when a specific reviewer completes a review for the application and will email the applicant when each reviewer completes their review.
WHEN TO APPLY
| Source | Event |
| Review | Reviewer has completed a Review |
CONDITIONS
Not Required for this scenario
DO
| Action Source | Action |
| User | Send email to |
| Send From | Select the sender address |
| Send To |
{{ applicant.email }} Will send to the email associated with the applicant's account. |
| Subject | Your application has received a review |
| Attachments | None |
| Message |
Dear {{ applicant.first_name }},
This email is to inform you that one of our reviewers has completed their review for you in the site. Please see below for details: Reviewer's Name: [Reviewer Name Variable] Reviewer's Comments: {{ current.var_XXXX_XXXXX }} Regards, -Site Administrator |
Email Notifications
Before creating a custom automated email for a program, check the Site Notifications of the site to confirm whether or not SurveyMonkey Apply has already created a template for you.
The Notifications section is meant for emails that should be consistently sent out for all programs in the site. Some of these notifications include confirming that the applicant has submitted their application, letting the reviewer know they have applications to review, and even informing an Administrator that a reviewer has left a note on an application.