Start a nurture flow with a Joined Waitlist event
A waitlist submission records a Joined Waitlist event in Klaviyo, so the nurture flow starts the moment someone signs up.
New submission on a waitlist or early-access form
Track a custom event (metric) such as Joined Waitlist on the Klaviyo profile to start an automated flow
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
A waitlist is a promise to tell someone first. The list membership alone does not say when they joined or what they signed up for, and a flow that fires on a list add cannot look at either.
Tracking an event instead gives the flow something to read. Brands gating a launch — a skincare drop, a limited run, an early-access build — use this so the nurture sequence starts at the moment of signup and can branch on what the person said they wanted.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the waitlist form on the launch page with the email field required, since Klaviyo cannot attach an event to a profile without an identifier.
- 2
Settle the metric name before you build anything. Joined Waitlist is what the flow will listen for, and renaming it later strands the history under the old metric.
- 3
In Zapier, start the Zap with the New Submission trigger and pick your waitlist form.
- 4
Add Klaviyo's Track Event action and type Joined Waitlist as the metric name, exactly as you settled it.
- 5
Map Email Address to the profile identifier and Your Name to the profile name, so the event lands on a recognisable record rather than a bare address.
- 6
Pass the remaining answers as event properties: What are you hoping to use this for? and How did you hear about us? belong to the event, not the profile.
- 7
In Klaviyo, create a flow with Joined Waitlist as its trigger and build the emails that run between signup and launch day.
- 8
Send one test submission, watch the event appear on your own profile's activity feed, then turn the Zap on.
What maps where
Using the Waitlist Signup Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | Klaviyo |
|---|---|
| Your Name | The profile name attached to the event, so the activity feed shows a person rather than a bare email |
| Email Address | The profile identifier the Joined Waitlist event is recorded against |
| Company (optional) | An organisation property on the profile, useful when a waitlist mixes trade buyers with individual shoppers |
| What are you hoping to use this for? | An event property the flow branches on when choosing which nurture email to send |
| How did you hear about us? | An event property that shows which channel filled the waitlist |
Variations worth knowing
Track Event does not put anyone on a list. If waitlist members should also receive your regular sends, add Subscribe Profile to List as a second Klaviyo step — but only when your form asked for that consent separately from joining the waitlist.
Rather than a metric per product, keep Joined Waitlist as the single metric and pass the product name as a static event property in the Zapier mapping. Klaviyo flows filter on that property, and your metrics list is still readable by the fifth launch.
If something isn't arriving
A Klaviyo flow only picks up events created after it went live, and it ignores metrics it has never seen. Check the metric name in the flow trigger matches the Zapier step character for character, then send a fresh submission rather than replaying the old task.
Track Event creates a bare profile when the email is new to Klaviyo. The event is recorded but no marketing consent is, which is why they look empty. Map the name attribute, and add a subscribe step if you intend to email them beyond the launch.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a tracked event and a list subscription?
A list says someone is on it. An event says something happened, with a timestamp and its own properties. Flows can trigger on either, but only an event carries the answers from that particular submission, which is what lets a single flow branch on them.
Can I backdate events for people who joined earlier?
Not through this Zap — it fires on new submissions only. Earlier waitlist members need a CSV import into Klaviyo or a manual push through Klaviyo's own API. The connection has no view of anything submitted before the Zap was switched on.
Does the form know if someone already joined?
No. Nothing is written back from Klaviyo into the form, so it will accept the same person twice and Klaviyo will record a second event on that profile. Add a flow filter on has joined the waitlist zero times if the nurture should only ever run once.
Related automations
- Add text message opt-ins to your SMS audience
Only people who answered yes to text updates reach Klaviyo, with their mobile number and SMS consent set on the profile.
- Grow your marketing list from a signup form
Each signup on your discount or newsletter form becomes a consented Klaviyo profile on the marketing list, ready for the welcome flow.
- Put workshop registrations on their own reminder list
Each registration lands on a session-specific Klaviyo list and tracks a Registered event, so confirmations and reminders send themselves.
- Store review scores on the customer's profile
Every review updates the customer's Klaviyo profile with their score and tracks a Submitted Review event for the follow-up flow.
- Turn quiz answers into Klaviyo profile properties
Quiz answers arrive as custom properties on the Klaviyo profile, so budget, goal and experience level become segments you can send to.
- Add buyers to a customers list after each order
Each order form submission adds the buyer to a Customers list in Constant Contact for updates and repeat-purchase emails.
Build the form first
The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.
Start free