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AI for Event Planner

Automation Recipe: Build a Post-Event Follow-Up Workflow with Zapier

Zapier

For Event Planners

Tools: Zapier, Gmail, Google Sheets | Time to build: 1-2 hours | Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced Prerequisites: Comfortable with Gmail and Google Sheets. these are the tools this automation connects

What This Builds

A Zapier automation that runs the moment an event ends. automatically sending a personalized thank-you email to every attendee, scheduling a survey invitation 48 hours later, and logging all responses in a Google Sheet for your post-event report. Instead of spending 60-90 minutes manually sending follow-up emails after every event (when you're exhausted and moving on to the next event), this workflow handles it with zero manual effort and perfect consistency.

Prerequisites

  • Zapier account. free tier works for simple version; paid plan needed for multi-step automation: zapier.com
  • Gmail account (or Google Workspace)
  • Google Sheets
  • An attendee list with emails (from your event registration platform. Eventbrite, Cvent, etc.)
  • A survey tool with a shareable link (Google Forms, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey)

The Concept

Zapier is like a relay race coordinator between your apps, when one thing happens in one app (trigger), it automatically does something in another app (action). For post-event follow-up, the trigger is "event date has passed" and the actions are "send thank-you email," then "wait 48 hours," then "send survey email." Once you build this once per event type, you run it every time without touching it.

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Prepare your building blocks

Before opening Zapier, create these three things:

1. Your attendee list in Google Sheets Create a Google Sheet with these columns:

  • Column A: First Name
  • Column B: Last Name
  • Column C: Email
  • Column D: Event Name
  • Column E: Event Date
  • Column F: Thank You Sent (leave blank)
  • Column G: Survey Sent (leave blank)

Export your attendee list from your registration platform and paste it into this sheet.

2. Your thank-you email template Open Gmail and create a template (Settings → See all settings → Advanced → Templates → Enable). Write your thank-you email using these placeholders that Zapier will fill in:

Copy and paste this
Subject: Thank you for joining [Event Name]!

Hi [First Name],

Thank you for attending [Event Name] on [Event Date]. We hope you found it valuable and are already looking forward to seeing what you take action on from today's sessions.

[Add 2–3 sentences about a specific event highlight or key takeaway]

We'd love to hear your feedback — we'll send you a brief survey in a couple of days.

Warm regards,
[Your Name]
[Agency Name]

3. Your survey link Create your post-event survey in Google Forms or SurveyMonkey. Copy the shareable link. You'll paste this into your survey email template.

Part 2: Set up the Zapier workflow

  1. Go to zapier.com → click Create → Zaps
  2. Click + Create Zap → name it "[Event Name] Post-Event Follow-Up"

Part 3: Configure the trigger

Your trigger tells Zapier when to start. The simplest trigger for most event planners:

Option A (Spreadsheet row trigger):

  • Trigger app: Google Sheets
  • Event: New Row in Spreadsheet
  • Connect your Google Sheets account
  • Select the attendee list spreadsheet and worksheet
  • Test the trigger. Zapier reads the first row to confirm the connection

This means: Every time you add a new row (a new attendee) to your spreadsheet, Zapier processes the follow-up for that person. Paste your full attendee list after the event to trigger all follow-ups at once.

Part 4: Build the thank-you email action

  1. Click + to add an action step
  2. App: Gmail → Action: Send Email
  3. Configure:
  • To: Map to your Email column (click the + icon next to the field and select the column)
  • Subject: "Thank you for joining [Event Name]!" (or map to your Event Name column: "Thank you for joining {{Event Name}}!")
  • Body: Paste your thank-you email template. Replace placeholder text with column mappings. click + in the body field and select "First Name" to insert {{First Name}}
  1. Click Continue and test the step, a real email will be sent to the first row's email address. Check that it looks correct before proceeding.

What you should see: A test email arrives in your inbox (or the attendee's inbox) with the personalized name and event details correctly filled in.

Part 5: Add a delay before the survey email

  1. Click + to add another step
  2. App: Delay by Zapier → Action: Delay For
  3. Set: 2 Days

This pause ensures attendees receive the thank-you first, then the survey 48 hours later, rather than both emails at once.

Part 6: Build the survey invitation email

  1. Click + → App: Gmail → Action: Send Email
  2. Configure:
  • To: Map to Email column (same as Step 4)
  • Subject: "Quick survey: How did we do at [Event Name]?"
  • Body:
Copy and paste this
   Hi {{First Name}},

   We hope you've had a chance to reflect on [Event Name]. We'd love to hear your honest feedback — it takes about 3 minutes.

   [Take the Survey →] [paste your survey URL here]

   Your feedback directly shapes how we design future events, so every response matters.

   Thank you,
   [Your Name]

Part 7: Log completion in your tracking sheet

  1. Click + → App: Google Sheets → Action: Update Spreadsheet Row
  2. Set: Update the row for this attendee, set the "Survey Sent" column to "Yes" and the send date

Now you have a real-time log of which attendees have been fully processed.

Part 8: Turn on and test the full workflow

  1. Click Publish to activate the Zap
  2. Add a test row to your spreadsheet (use your own email address as a test attendee)
  3. Watch the Zap run. verify: thank-you email arrives immediately, survey email arrives 48 hours later, row is updated in the tracking sheet

Real Example: Annual Conference Follow-Up

Setup: Annual HR conference, 280 attendees. After the event, export the attendee list from Eventbrite as a CSV → paste all 280 rows into the Google Sheet trigger.

Input: Pasting 280 rows into the spreadsheet

Output:

  • 280 personalized thank-you emails sent within 5 minutes
  • 280 survey invitations scheduled to send 48 hours later
  • All 280 rows updated with "sent" status in the tracking sheet

Time saved: 60-90 minutes of manual email sending eliminated; consistent delivery guaranteed; zero follow-ups fall through the cracks

What to Do When It Breaks

  • Emails arrive with "{{First Name}}" showing instead of the actual name → The column mapping broke. Re-open the Gmail action step and re-map the First Name field using the + selector. don't type the column name manually
  • Zapier runs the same attendee twice → Add a filter step after the trigger: only continue if "Thank You Sent" column is blank. This prevents duplicate sends if you accidentally re-paste the attendee list
  • Delay isn't working. both emails arrive at once → Make sure you added the "Delay by Zapier" step between the two Gmail actions (not after both)
  • Survey emails going to spam → Warm up your sending frequency, don't send 300 emails in 2 minutes. Add a short delay (1 minute) between sends using Zapier's "Delay Each" option

Variations

  • Simpler version: Use Gmail's built-in Scheduled Send feature to manually schedule your follow-up emails. no Zapier needed, just more manual work
  • Extended version: Add a third step that adds high-value attendees (VIPs, potential repeat clients, speakers) to a separate Google Sheet and sends them a personalized re-booking conversation starter email, not just the standard thank you

What to Do Next

  • This week: Build the simple 2-step version (thank you + survey) for your next event and test with a small attendee list
  • This month: Refine the email templates based on what gets the highest survey response rate (try subject line variations)
  • Advanced: Connect the survey response data (via Zapier or Google Forms' native integration) to auto-populate a summary report template in Google Sheets

Advanced guide for event planner professionals. Multi-step Zapier workflows require a paid Zapier plan.