How to Create a Simple Systeme.io Funnel to Grow Your Email List

Disclosure: This tutorial contains affiliate links. If you sign up for Systeme.io through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The steps below follow Systeme.io’s official help articles for funnels, forms, campaigns, and automation rules.

A funnel sounds more complicated than it needs to be. For a beginner email list, you only need two pages and one follow-up: a page where someone enters their email, a thank-you page after they subscribe, and an email that actually arrives.

You can do this on Systeme.io’s free plan, which includes three funnels, unlimited emails, one email campaign, and one automation rule. If you do not have an account yet, create a free Systeme.io account.

What you will build

• A sales funnel whose goal is to build an audience

• An opt-in page with an email form

• A thank-you page as the next step

• A short email campaign

• One automation rule that adds new subscribers to that campaign

1. Create an audience funnel

1. In your dashboard, open Sites, then Sales funnels.

2. Click Create.

3. Choose the goal Build an Audience. Systeme.io sets this up as an opt-in page plus a thank-you page.

4. Give the funnel a clear name, such as Beginner email list, and save it.

You should now see two steps in the funnel. The first step is the opt-in page. The second is the thank-you page.

2. Set up the opt-in form

Open the first funnel step and edit the page.

• The form must include an email field. That is how Systeme.io creates the contact.

• The button should submit the form, not just open a link. In the button settings, choose the action that submits the form.

• After a successful submit, send the visitor to the next step in the funnel (the thank-you page), rather than leaving them on the same page.

Keep the page simple: a headline about what they will get, one or two sentences of explanation, the email field, and the button. Extra fields can wait until you have a reason to ask for more than an email address.

3. Edit the thank-you page

Open the second step and tell people what happens next. A short message is enough: they are subscribed, and they should check their inbox for your first email. You can add a link to a blog post or a resource if you already have one.

Save the page when you are done.

4. Write a short email campaign

1. Open Emails, then Campaigns.

2. Create a campaign. The free plan includes one campaign, so give it a name you will recognize later.

3. Add one email to start. A useful first email thanks them for subscribing and points them to one helpful next step, such as a beginner guide.

4. Save the campaign.

You do not need a long sequence on day one. One clear email is enough to confirm the whole path works.

5. Connect the form to the campaign

A form and a campaign stay separate until you add a rule that ties them together.

1. Open Automations, then Rules.

2. Create a rule.

3. For the trigger, choose Funnel step form subscribed and select the opt-in step you just built.

4. For the action, choose Subscribe to campaign and select the campaign you created.

5. Save the rule.

The free plan includes one automation rule, and this is a good use of it: every new subscriber from that form is added to the campaign.

6. Test it yourself

Open the opt-in page with the preview or public URL, subscribe with an email address you can check, and confirm three things:

• You land on the thank-you page

• The contact appears in your Systeme.io contacts

• The first campaign email arrives

If the email does not arrive, check spam, confirm the rule is saved, and confirm the campaign is turned on or ready to send according to the campaign settings.

Official help if you get stuck

Systeme.io’s help center has step-by-step articles for this same flow, including creating a funnel, editing funnel pages, setting up forms and buttons, creating a campaign, and adding an automation rule. Search those topics in the help center if a menu label in your account looks slightly different from the wording above.

What’s next

Once this path works, you can improve the opt-in offer, add another email to the campaign, or send new subscribers to a blog post. The structure stays the same: a simple form, a thank-you page, and one automation that delivers the follow-up.