Overview
List-triggered automations only send to new subscribers entering your selected lists for the first time. If a subscriber didn't receive your welcome email, work through the checks below in order.
Check 1: Is the subscriber on a list included in your automation's recipients?
If your new subscriber was added to a list that isn't specified in your list-triggered automation's "To" field, they won't receive the email. Search for the subscriber and check their profile to confirm which list they were added to, then compare it against your automation's recipient lists.
Check 2: Was the subscriber newly added, not already on the list?
List-triggered automations only fire for subscribers who are genuinely new to the list — not subscribers who were already on it. Check the date the subscriber was added to your list; if it isn't today's date, they were likely already on the list before this automation could trigger for them.
Important: deleting a subscriber and adding them back doesn't count as "brand new" — this won't retrigger the automation. If you're testing your own automation, use a completely new email address that's never been on the list before.
Check 3: Has this subscriber already received this automation in the past?
A list-triggered automation never sends more than once to the same email address. If you're testing, use a brand new email address that's never received this specific automation before.
Check 4: Has the subscriber unsubscribed in the past, or been marked as suppressed?
Your subscriber might be on the correct list, but your e-commerce platform may have labeled their contact as Suppressed.
Fix: open their contact profile in your e-commerce platform and update it to Accepts email marketing / Subscribed. See our guide on suppressed email addresses for more detail.
Important: if your subscriber unsubscribed in the past, reactivating them (whether by updating their status yourself, or by contacting our support team) will restore their ability to receive other emails, but it will not cause this specific welcome automation to send again. List-triggered automations only ever send once per subscriber, and that history isn't cleared by reactivation. There's currently no way to force a resend for a subscriber who has already unsubscribed and been reactivated.
Check 5: Confirm the subscriber was actually added to your list
This depends on where the subscriber came from:
From your e-commerce platform: a sync delay of up to 10 minutes is normal. The subscriber will appear automatically — no action needed.
From your SmartrMail pop-up: the subscriber appears automatically — no action needed.
From a signup form linked to SmartrMail: if more than 3 email addresses were added through this form within 24 hours from the same IP address, bot protection may block a 4th. Try adding the subscriber from a different IP (a VPN, or your phone off Wi-Fi).
Tip: the best way to test your list-triggered automation is to subscribe a brand new email address through one of your signup forms or your pop-up. We recommend testing with more than one address.
FAQs
Why didn't my new subscriber get the welcome email?
Work through the checks above in order — the most common causes are the subscriber not being on the exact list your automation targets, or not being genuinely new to that list.
If I delete a subscriber and re-add them, will they get the welcome email again?
No — re-adding a deleted subscriber doesn't count as "brand new," so it won't retrigger the automation.
If my subscriber unsubscribed and I reactivate them, will they get the welcome email now?
No — reactivating a subscriber restores their ability to receive other emails, but it won't cause a list-triggered welcome automation to send again. These automations only ever send once per subscriber, and that history isn't cleared by reactivation.
Can a subscriber receive the same welcome automation twice?
No — list-triggered automations only ever send once per email address.
What if none of these checks solve my issue?
Contact our support team — we can test your list-triggered automation directly.