Start a MailerLite automation when a lead joins a group

Starting a MailerLite automation from a website form means each new inquiry joins a MailerLite group, and you start an automation on that group. Qualiform sends no marketing email itself. It adds each lead who says yes to emails to the group for their priority. Your MailerLite automation sends the email.

The steps go in this order: Qualiform first, then MailerLite, then one real test.

What do you need before you start?#

You need two things: a MailerLite plan that can run enough automations, and an Admin in Qualiform. Only Admins can connect tools.

Here is what MailerLite's pricing page lists, as of 2026-10-29 (mailerlite.com/pricing):

The Free plan also allows up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month.

Two limits matter for this setup:

1. One trigger per automation, unless you have Power. Several triggers in one automation is a Power feature, with up to three triggers each. On Free and Comfort, each group needs its own automation.
2. The Free plan pauses over 250 subscribers. Above 250, a free account's automations are paused. Adding subscribers by hand, through the API, or through integrations is paused too (MailerLite's Free plan FAQ). Qualiform adds leads through MailerLite's API, so its adds pause as well.

On the Free plan, three automations means three groups at most, for example Hot, Warm, and Cool. The post on using MailerLite's three free automations for inquiries helps you choose which ones.

On the Qualiform side, the form also needs an Email question. Without an email address, nobody can be added.

How do you add OK to email them to the form?#

Add it from the library, on the form's Questions tab. Only leads who say yes to this question are added to MailerLite.

1. Open the form and go to its Questions tab.
2. Press Add a question to open the library.
3. Pick OK to email them. It sits beside Email and Phone. The line under its name reads: "Asks if you may email them. Only a yes goes to your email tool."
4. Press Save at the top of the page to keep your changes.

The AI asks it once, near the end, after their email address: "Can we email you now and then?" The AI is told to take yes or no and move on, never to ask twice, and never to push after a no. You can edit that hint.

The question is never scored, so a no does not lower a lead's score. The lead page, the CSV, and Notion show OK to email: Yes or OK to email: No. They show nothing when it was not asked.

If the form has this question but no Email question, the editor says: "Add the Email question too. Without an email address, nobody can be added."

A form without OK to email them sends nobody to MailerLite, and the connection tells you so.

How do you connect MailerLite to Qualiform?#

Make an API token in MailerLite, then paste it into Qualiform. Here is where MailerLite's help puts the token today (MailerLite's help page on the API key):

1. In MailerLite, open the Integrations page in the left sidebar.
2. Under MailerLite API, click Use for the API.
3. Click Generate new token.
4. Name the token, for example "Qualiform," and leave IP restrictions empty, so the token works from Qualiform's servers.
5. Click Create token.
6. Copy the key, or click Download to save it as a TXT file.

The help line in Qualiform says it in short: "In MailerLite: Integrations, then MailerLite API, then Generate new token." It leaves out the Use click in step 2.

Then, in Qualiform:

1. Open the Integrations page.
2. Find MailerLite under Email marketing. Its line reads: "Adds leads who said yes to emails to a MailerLite group for their priority. Your MailerLite automation sends the email."
3. Press it and paste the token into API token. It is stored encrypted, and never shown again.

If MailerLite refuses the token, Qualiform refuses it there, before anything is saved: "MailerLite did not accept that key. Copy it again and paste the whole thing."

When you connect, Qualiform makes a field named Qualiform form in your MailerLite account, if it is missing. Each lead's form name goes in that field, so you can see which form a subscriber came from.

What does each priority get under By priority?#

Each priority gets one MailerLite group, or nothing. The line under By priority reads: "Each lead joins the group for their priority. Start your automation on that group."

There is one row for each priority: Hot, Warm, Cool, Cold, and Not a fit. Each row is a menu. It starts on Not sent, then lists your groups by name.

First make the groups in MailerLite, one for each priority you want to email. Names like "Hot leads" and "Warm leads" keep it clear. Then press Check connection in Qualiform. It reads your groups again, so new ones show up in the menus.

A lead's priority comes from the rule it lands in on the form's Routing tab. That is why one connection serves every form. A venue form and a repair form can use different score ranges. A Hot lead from either one still joins the group you picked for Hot. The guide to lead routing rules helps you set those ranges.

For each lead, Qualiform sends their email, first and last name, phone (when the form asks), and the form's name in the Qualiform form field.

Choose forms on the connection limits it to some forms. Beside any form that does not ask the question, it says Does not ask OK to email them. If none of the chosen forms asks it, the connection says: "None of these forms asks OK to email them yet, so nobody is sent. Add it on a form's Questions tab."

How do you build the automation in MailerLite?#

Build one automation for each group. These are the steps as MailerLite's own tutorial writes them today. MailerLite's help calls the trigger Joins a group (MailerLite's help on automation triggers). Its example pages call the same trigger "When subscriber joins a group."

1. Go to the Automations page and click Create workflow. The workflow editor opens. You can build from scratch or use an automation template. Some MailerLite pages call this button Create for your first automation and New automation after that.
2. Open the Triggers tab in the left sidebar. Drag Joins a group into the workflow.
3. In the sidebar, under Groups, select the group for this priority, for example "Hot leads."
4. Click Save to set the trigger.
5. Click the plus icon to add the first step.
6. In the right sidebar, enter the email subject, sender name, and sender email address.
7. Click Design email and choose a campaign editor. Write the email.
8. Click Activate at the top right of the page.

Then do the same for the next group. On Free and Comfort, use one trigger in each automation. Putting several groups on one automation needs the Power plan.

Write each email for the people in that group. A Hot lead might get a short note on what happens next. A Cool lead might get a thank you and a helpful link.

How do you test it with one real lead?#

Send one real lead through your own live form. It is the only test that reaches MailerLite.

• Check connection proves the token and reads your groups again. It adds nobody, because a test subscriber could set off your real automation and email someone. Its answer is: "Connected to MailerLite. Nothing was added."
• Preview in the editor sends nothing to any tool. It makes no lead at all.
• No MailerLite page says outright that a subscriber added through the API starts a Joins a group automation. So check it yourself, once.

Here is the test:

1. Make sure the form is active and on your site. You can also use its direct link from the Embed tab.
2. Fill it in yourself, with an email address you can read.
3. Answer so the lead lands on a priority that has a group, such as Hot.
4. Say yes when the AI asks "Can we email you now and then?"
5. In MailerLite, open that group and look for your email address.
6. Check that the Qualiform form field holds the form's name.
7. Check your inbox for the automation's first email.

To test again with the same address, remove that subscriber from the group first. MailerLite does not let someone join a group they are already in. Someone who already went through the automation also needs Allow subscribers re-enter automation turned on to go through it again.

How do you read Recent sends?#

Recent sends on the connection says what happened to each lead, one line each.

When a lead was added, the line reads Added to MailerLite, group and then the group's name, for example Added to MailerLite, group Hot leads.

When a lead was not added, the line gives the reason:

A lead that was not sent is still saved in your leads list in Qualiform, with its score.

Which MailerLite rules still apply?#

Qualiform adds the subscriber. After that, MailerLite's own rules decide what happens.

1. A workflow starts only after it is activated. Anyone who joined the group before you clicked Activate does not enter it.
2. Someone cannot join a group they are already in. A returning lead who is still in the group does not start the automation again.
3. Re-entry is a setting. To let someone go through again each time they rejoin the group, turn on Allow subscribers re-enter automation in the workflow's Settings tab. A subscriber can start it at most once every 24 hours.
4. The Free plan pauses over 250 subscribers. Automations and new adds through the API are paused.

Nobody who unsubscribed in MailerLite is added back by Qualiform.

Here is a check you can run now: open Recent sends after your test lead, and match its line to what you see in the MailerLite group.