The Membership Expiry Reminders Automation sends a series of reminder emails before and after membership (Benefit Product) expiry to encourage renewals and reduce churn. You can run one automation across all your Benefit Products, or set up separate automations targeting specific Benefit Products with their own timing, wording and templates.
Important
This automation replaces the existing (legacy) Benefit Expiry Warning and Benefit Expired emails.
How it works
Each automation runs a 4-step drip campaign with configurable timing to maximise renewal rates:
- Email 1: Initial gentle reminder (default: 30 days before expiry)
- Email 2: Follow-up with urgency (default: 14 days before expiry)
- Email 3: Final warning (default: 3 days before expiry)
- Email 4: Post-expiry win-back (default: 1 day after expiry)
Emails are sent at 10am to optimise open rates. For customers with multiple Benefit Products, each one triggers its own sequence.
When you create the automation, you can choose:
- All Benefit Products - one automation covers every Benefit Product in your account, using the same timing and templates for all.
- A specific Benefit Product - the automation only runs for that Benefit Product. You can select one Benefit Product per automation, but you can set up as many automations as you need, one per Benefit Product.
This means you can tailor your campaign to each membership tier or scheme. For example, Patrons can get different wording and content to Friends, and Access Scheme members can get reminders relevant to the scheme.
How to set up the Membership Expiry Reminders
Consider your copy
Your account comes with a pre-built set of email templates with default copy and subject lines, ready to use as-is or edit to suit your needs.
If you want different copy for different Benefit Products, for example warmer wording for Patrons or scheme-specific content for Access members, you'll need to create new templates first. We cover this in the Templates section below.
The automation sends emails in MJML format. Learn more about MJML design here.
When updating email content, use the Preview button to send yourself a preview and check how it looks.
Subdomains and Locales
Subdomains: This automation is not Subdomain aware, meaning it will be styled based on the Look and Feel settings of your main account.
Locales: This automation is Locale aware, meaning customers will receive the email in their chosen language, provided you create a template for each locale.
Templates
Your account comes with a pre-built set of four email templates that the automation uses by default, one for each step in the sequence:
- Initial Reminder Template - default subject: {{ member.first_name }}, your membership expires soon
- Follow-up Reminder Template - default subject: {{ member.first_name }}, only 2 weeks left on your membership
- Final Warning Template - default subject: {{ member.first_name }}, your membership expires in {{ benefit.days_left }} days!
- Post-Expiry Template - default subject: {{ member.first_name }}, we miss you! Renew your membership today
These appear as the defaults in the template selectors when you create the automation. Only one set of default templates is created per account.
If you want different content for specific Benefit Products, you'll need to create new templates first, then select them when you configure the automation for that Benefit Product. See How to create an email template for the step-by-step process, along with ready-made MJML for each of the four Membership Expiry Reminder emails you can use as a starting point.
Ticketsolve Tip
Name your custom templates clearly and specifically, for example 'Patrons - Initial Reminder' or 'Access Scheme - Final Warning'. This makes selection easier in the automation and avoids confusion as you build more automations over time.
Create your automation
Once your templates are ready, you can create the automation.
1. Go to Manage > Automations.
2. Open the New Automations tab.
3. Find the card called Membership Expiry Reminders.
4. Click New Automation.
5. Configure the key details of your automation:
- Automation Name - name your automation so it's clear to all system users what it is, this is especially important when you're running multiple automations for different Benefit Products.
- First Reminder - the number of days before expiry that the first reminder should send.
- Second Reminder - the number of days before expiry that the second reminder should send.
- Final Warning - the number of days before expiry that the final warning should send.
- Post-Expiry Email - the number of days after expiry that the follow-up email should send.
- Initial Reminder Template - the email template to use for the first reminder.
- Follow-up Reminder Template - the email template to use for the second reminder.
- Final Warning Template - the email template to use for the final warning.
- Post-Expiry Template - the email template to use for the post-expiry follow-up.
- Benefit Product - choose All Benefit Products to apply the automation to every Benefit Product in your account, or select a specific Benefit Product to target just that one.
- Skip Tag (optional) - select a tag here to skip the automation. The Skip Tag applies in two ways: any customer with that tag is skipped, and any Benefit Product with that tag is skipped.
- UTM Trackers (optional) - if you want to track engagement and conversions using UTM parameters, you can add them in here.
6. Once configured, click Save.
Ticketsolve Tip
Use Skip Tag to manage overlap between automations.
If you want to run an All Benefit Products automation alongside specific automations for certain Benefit Products, use the Skip Tag to keep them from overlapping.
Tag the Benefit Products that have their own dedicated automation, then use that tag as the Skip Tag in your All Benefit Products automation. The dedicated automations handle those tagged Benefit Products, and the All Benefit Products automation covers everything else.
Repeat the steps above to create additional automations for other Benefit Products if you want to tailor your campaigns by tier or scheme.
Disable existing Benefit Expiry Emails
Since this automation replaces the existing Benefit Expiry Warning and Benefit Expired emails, you'll need to disable these before activating the new automation.
1. Open General Settings > "Send benefit expiry emails" setting.
2. Uncheck the box to disable.
3. Click Update to save.
Enable your new automation
Your new automation will appear in the Manage Automations tab.
The final step is to click Enable, and the automation will start running.
How to edit your Automation
If you want to pause or edit your automation:
1. Go to Manage > Automations.
2. Locate the automation from the cards.
3. To pause your automation, click Disable.
4. To edit your automation, click the Ellipsis (3 dots) and select Edit parameters.
5. You can update all settings except the Automation Name.
6. When you've made your update, click Save.
Tips for success
- Progressive urgency - increase urgency with each email, but avoid creating too much alarm.
- Personalisation - include member name, membership type and any relevant benefits. If you have different membership tiers or schemes, set up per-Benefit-Product automations to tailor tone and content to each audience.
- Clear call to action - highlight one primary action per email (renew button).
- Value reminder - highlight the benefits they'll lose or have enjoyed.
Troubleshooting
Email not sending as expected? Check the following:
- Automation is active - ensure the automation has been enabled in Manage > Automations.
- Benefit Product is covered by an active automation - check that the relevant Benefit Product is included in either an All Benefit Products automation or a specific automation targeting that Benefit Product. If neither exists, no emails will send for that Benefit Product.
- Templates are selected correctly - if you've set up a per-Benefit-Product automation with custom templates, check that each of the four template selectors in step 5 points to the right custom template, not the default.
- Benefit expired emails disabled - the "Send benefit expiry emails" setting must be disabled for the automation to run. This setting turns off the old expiry emails and prevents double sending.
- Schedule timing - the email schedules must be set in days as a numerical value.
- Already received - each email will only be sent once per customer per Benefit Product.
- Skip Tag - the Skip Tag will skip the automation for any customer with that tag, and for any Benefit Product with that tag. Check whether either applies if emails aren't sending as expected.
Want to know more?
- Introducing: Ticketsolve Automations
- How to create an email template
- Getting started with MJML design
- Introduction to Benefit Products and Memberships
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