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Emailing List of Contacts

  • November 22, 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 94 views
JBJ
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  • JBJ
  • Known Participant
Hi guys,
 
I created a simple CRM for a client on Airtable. The page for All Contacts have filters. My client would like to be able to set filters on this All Contacts page and then, from the interface, send an email to the subset of contacts she just had displayed (see screenshot below).
 
 
The solutions I have in mind don't completely meet her need:
  • Setting automations to have emails sent to different groups of people doesn't solve her problem since she wants to be able to send emails spontaneously. So there's no event in the database that could serve as a trigger for possible automations.
  • She could of course export the list of contacts into a CSV, then copy and paste the email addresses into her email provider interface. But that's manual mindless work that I'd like her not to have to go through.
 
I think the first step towards finding a solution is the ability to select contacts directly from the interface. How can I do that?
 
Thank you for your help.

3 replies

Mike_AutomaticN
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Hey @JBJ!

I've built something similar for a client of mine recently. My suggested approach is to:
1. Create a new checkbox field for the Contacts.
2. Show such checkbox on your interface.
3. Apply all corresponding filters.
4. Check the box for all Contacts found on your new filtered view on the interface.
5. Have a button which will trigger an automation.
6. The automation should find all records with checked checkbox, email them, update each record to make the checkbox blank again 😄

Let me know if this helps. 

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation

kuovonne
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  • kuovonne
  • Brainy
  • November 22, 2024

The filters in the interface page exist only on the client computer so automations do not have access to which records are shown in the page. In order to tell the automations which records to use, the user would need to manually set some field for each of those records. The easiest way to do this is to use a new field, such as a checkbox or single select, that the user can update with a bulk copy/paste. The automation can then run on records based on that field’s conditions and then reset the field for the next time.

I prefer a single-select because the user can set the field to "send email", then the automation can update the single-select to "sending email" at the start of the automation run, and then "email sent" at the end. The automation can also set the single-select to other error statuses if you need that complexity. Although checkboxes are faster to set individually, if the user uses bulk copy/paste the speed difference isn't as big of a deal.

You should also decide if you want to have the automation run on the individual record level as soon as the record meets conditions, or if you want an automation that waits for a button push and then uses "Find records" action and a repeating action group to loop through the records. 

JBJ
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  • JBJ
  • Author
  • Known Participant
  • December 2, 2024

@Mike_AutomaticN  @kuovonne 

Thanks to both of you for these detailed recommendations. I'll compare checkbox VS. single select, and immediate run VS. button push to see which option suits my client best.

I was hoping we could find a way that feels less clunky than having to bulk copy-paste. Hopefully Airtable will come up with a more elegant solution in the near future.

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