Small Business Guide to Quick and Easy Email Automation

Does the term “email automation” make you want to run for the hills? 😱

It’s easy to think of automation as complex or only for big companies with dedicated email teams, but it’s really not as intimidating as it may seem.

Small businesses and solopreneurs don’t need all the fancy tech or a complicated setup to put an email marketing flow in motion. In fact, you can use the tools you already have in your tech stack—even just your scheduling tool!

In this article, we’ll walk you through:

• What email automation is and why you need it
• How to quickly set up email automation through YouCanBookMe (YCBM)
• How to take your flow a step further via external tools
• Best practices to keep in mind when automating email communications

Without further ado, let’s get into the thick of it. 👇

Email automation is essentially a way to send the right emails to the right people at just the right time—automatically.

Instead of manually sending marketing and scheduling emails to your clients, you use a tool to automate them. With this tool, you can set up emails to go out in two main ways:

• Triggered by an action—For example, automatically send an email when someone books or attends an appointment with you.
• Scheduled for a specific time—Set an email to go out at a particular time, like before a big sale or event you’re hosting.

Think email automation is just for big companies? Think again! For solopreneurs, it’s an easy, effective way to stay connected with clients, save time, and even boost your profits—all without the need for manual work. 

Let’s break down why it’s a must-have for your business: 

• Saves you time—For solopreneurs and small business owners, time is the one resource you can’t buy more of. Email automation lets you stay connected with clients without taking up your precious time. You simply set it up once, and it works in the background so you can focus on what you do best. 

• Improves client engagement—Automated emails help you reach out to clients at the perfect moments—like sending a reminder before an appointment or a check-in a few weeks later. These well-timed touches help you stay on clients' radars and build ongoing relationships.

• Helps you scale—As your business grows, it becomes impossible to manage all communication manually. Email automation allows you to serve more clients without sacrificing connection. Whether you’re handling 5 or 500 clients, automated emails ensure that everyone receives consistent and high-quality communication.
• Boosts professionalism—When clients get timely and well-crafted emails, it shows you’re organized and on top of things. This makes a great impression, builds trust, and keeps your business looking polished. ✨
• Increases revenue—Email automation isn’t just about staying in touch—it’s also a smart way to drive sales. From sending reminders for repeat appointments to offering special deals, automated emails can encourage clients to book more often, boosting your revenue.

As a small business, you don’t always have the budget or time to invest in multiple tools for different tasks. The best approach is to get the most out of the tools you already use—so you can cross more items off your to-do list!

As YouCanBookMe is a booking software for small businesses, it already takes care of automatic email notifications like confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups for all your appointments.

Guess what? That’s email automation in action!

But here’s the best part: You can easily add a few follow-up emails in YCBM to create your very first marketing flow. This way, you get both a scheduling tool and an email automation system—all in one place. 

It’s an efficient, budget-friendly way to manage client communication and marketing, without the extra complexity.

Your first follow-up email after a meeting is usually pretty simple: thank your client for their time and include your booking link in case they want to schedule another session. 

But what about the second, third, or even fourth follow-up? That's where you can get creative and use email automation to keep the conversation going to build stronger relationships with your clients.

Follow-up emails don't just have to be about booking more meetings—they can also be a chance to engage, share value, and drive your business forward.

When sending automated emails, personalization is extremely important. It can take your emails from “just another notification” to something that feels thoughtful and tailored.

When adding notifications in YouCanBookMe, you can include shorthand codes to instantly personalize every email. These handy codes will automatically populate with the correct information for each recipient.

Here are a few examples of shorthand codes you can add to your YouCanBookMe email automation:

• {FNAME}—recipient’s first name
• {START-TIME}—meeting time
• {START-DATE}—meeting date
• {PROMOTION-CODE}—promo code
• {BOOKING-PAGE}—link to your booking page

Now that you’ve learned the essentials, let’s jump into the email templates you can use in YouCanBookMe to kick off your first email marketing campaign. 🎉

Psst…all fields in orange are dynamic shorthand codes that will populate automatically in YouCanBookMe.

1. Share your social media accounts

Staying connected on social media is an easy way for clients to stay in the loop and see what you’re up to. Plus, it gives them a fun peek behind the scenes, getting to know both you and your work better.

2. Ask for a review

A friendly request for a review can go a long way. Reviews help new clients find you and make them feel confident about booking, so asking for them is always worth a shot.

3. Share a customer success story

Social proof can be extremely powerful. Sharing stories about similar clients who’ve had a great experience builds trust and helps potential clients feel inspired by what’s possible.

4. Send an exclusive offer

There’s nothing quite as enticing as a good deal. A friendly offer for a discount or bonus is a great way to encourage clients to come back soon.

Pro-tip 💡You can generate custom promo codes with YouCanBookMe via Stripe with expiration dates, redemption limits, and minimum order values. 

5. Share a helpful resource or tool

Sending a useful resource shows that you’re invested in helping your clients succeed, even between appointments.

6. Invite them to a free webinar or workshop

Offering free events like webinars or workshops keeps clients engaged and adds more value to their experience with you. Plus, they’ll see you live and in action, giving them a taste of what you’re all about with zero risk.

7. Encourage a referral

Wondering how to get more clients? Referrals are an excellent way to grow your client base. A friendly nudge—and maybe a small reward—makes it easy for happy clients to spread the word.

8. Send a sneak peek of an upcoming offer

Teasing an upcoming offer or product keeps clients excited and shows them they’re in the know about what’s next. Plus, they might sign up right away so they don’t miss out!

Using email automation to send confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups through YouCanBookMe (YCBM) is a fantastic way to keep clients in the loop. 

But if you’re adding a touch of marketing to your follow-ups, it’s important to stay compliant and let clients know what to expect. This isn’t just about rules—it’s about being open and upfront, which helps build trust with your clients. 

A quick way to be transparent about your emails is to give clients a heads-up on your booking form. This helps set the expectation that they’ll be hearing from you, both about their appointments and the occasional update or offer.

• Include a friendly disclosure: Add a line near the booking button, like, “By booking, you agree to receive confirmation, reminder, and follow-up emails. Occasionally, these may include special offers or service updates.”

• Add a simple checkbox: For extra clarity, you can include a checkbox asking clients to agree to receive your emails. For example: “I’m okay with receiving appointment emails and occasional updates about services and offers.”

As your business grows, you’ll likely want to step up your email automation game—it’s only natural!

Once you’ve got your basics down with YouCanBookMe, you can add a dedicated email marketing or customer relationship management (CRM) software to open up even more possibilities. 

Tools like HubSpot, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Flowla, Klaviyo, and MailerLite will help you send newsletters, welcome emails, and even multi-step drip campaigns to new or returning clients. The latter will be especially useful for nurturing client relationships. 

For example, imagine a new customer signs up and receives a welcome email. A week later, they get a second email with a helpful guide, and after two weeks, a gentle nudge to book another session. This drip campaign keeps clients engaged and builds familiarity with your brand.

Before you dive into this next level of email marketing, you need to ensure clients know what kind of emails they’ll be receiving from you and that you have their consent. 

Asking new clients for consent

When someone new is booking with you, it’s a perfect time to tell them about your communication style. 

You can easily add a checkbox to your YouCanBookMe booking form to request their consent to receive marketing emails.

For example: “I consent to receive emails with updates, offers, and resources from [your business name]. I understand I can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time.”

Asking existing clients for consent

You’ll also need consent from clients who’ve already been booking with you before adding their contact info to a marketing flow. A friendly email explaining the shift lets them know you’re keeping them in mind and respecting their preferences. 

Below is a sample email you can send to existing clients to get their permission for this next step.

To round out our guide to email marketing for small businesses, we’ll leave you with eight best practices to keep in mind while crafting your own emails! 

Whether you’re sticking with YouCanBookMe or moving to a more comprehensive platform like HubSpot—following these tips will ensure your automated emails truly resonate with customers.

1. Optimize subject lines

Think of the subject line as your email’s first impression. Clients get dozens, if not hundreds, of emails daily, so you want yours to stand out. Keep it short (ideally between 35-50 characters), relevant, and inviting. A great trick is to include a bit of curiosity or urgency: “Don’t miss our post-session tips!” or “Exciting news coming your way”

2. Personalize whenever possible

Automated doesn’t mean impersonal! Use personalization tags (like first names) or reference the service they booked. For example, “Hi [name], looking forward to seeing you for your [coaching session]!” A small touch like this can make your emails feel personal and attentive.

3. Match your tone’s brand and voice

Your emails should sound like you. If you’re friendly and conversational with clients in person, keep that same energy in your emails. If your brand is more professional and formal, make sure that comes through. Letting your brand’s personality shine in emails makes them feel more authentic and memorable.

4. Send emails at the right times

Timing is everything, especially with reminders and follow-ups. If you’re sending appointment follow-ups, send the first one an hour after, and the second a week after, so you don’t overwhelm clients with too much info. For promotional or check-in emails, try mid-week mornings when people are more likely to be checking their inbox. Test a few timings and see what works best with your audience.

5. Always QA your emails

Nobody likes opening an email to find broken links, a weirdly cropped image, or a button that doesn’t work. Before it goes out to your clients, send a test email to yourself. 

Check for things like:

• Do all the links lead to where they’re supposed to?
• Does it look good on your phone and desktop?
• Are images or GIFs showing up correctly?

6. A/B test one element at a time

Testing is how you figure out what really clicks with your audience, but it’s easy to overdo it. Stick to testing one thing at a time—like the subject line, the send time, or the email layout—so you can clearly see what worked. For example:

• Test subject lines → Does “Don’t miss this” get more opens than “Special offer just for you”?
• Test email timing → Does 8 a.m. get more responses than 10 a.m.?
• Test design → Does a simple, plain-text email generate more click-throughs than a colorful, polished template?

Pick one thing to test, then look at the results. If you test everything at once, you’ll never know what made the difference.

7. Decide what success looks like to you

Before you dive into testing your emails, take a moment to think about what you actually want to achieve. What’s the goal? Make sure you set some clear targets for the metrics you’re testing. For example:

• Subject lines → What open rate are you aiming for?
• Call-to-actions (CTAs) → What’s your ideal click-through rate (CTR)?

8. Quality over quantity

Remember: Your clients’ inboxes are already crowded. Focus on sending emails that provide real value—whether that’s a helpful reminder, a tip, or a relevant offer. Too many emails can lead to unsubscribes, so make each one count by delivering useful, actionable, or inspiring content.

Let’s put those emails to work 

Email automation is a game-changer for solopreneurs and small business owners. It allows you to stay connected with clients, nurture relationships, and build engagement—all while freeing up time to focus on the core of your business.

And, best of all, starting with YouCanBookMe’s notification system is a quick and easy way to dip your toes into the world of automated email marketing.

So don’t wait—automate. 😄 Try YouCanBookMe for free today to start streamlining both your scheduling and client communication.