Can you setup an automation that pulls from an "email address" column that's not a contact column?

Kristen Christman

While I was at Engage 2023, I attended the Advanced Automations session where it looked like I'd be able to setup an automation that would pull from an "email address" column to send out automated emails. The example used in the session was having the Smartsheet automation setup to send an email to a customer (who was not otherwise shown within a "Contact List" column, and didn't have a Smartsheet account), to their identified email address (which they had provided upon submitting their online order). This email address was sitting in a column named "email address" and the automation was using that email address/value in that cell to trigger an email to the customer based on an action that took place within that customer's order row in Smartsheet.

I was blown away by this capability (because I don't want to have to create and keep updating a contact list that's ever evolving for who are otherwise free users), so I validated what I heard in this session with someone from Smartsheet on the exhibit hall floor. They said it was possible to do this without the need/use of a Contact List column.

Now I'm back in the office and trying to setup this automation, and I'm getting no option to choose an "email address" column (or any non-contact list column for that matter). Is there something I'm not seeing or doing?

Help!

Razetto

@Kristen Christman It has to be a contact type column for the automation to read the email address provided upon submittal. You do not need to have a full list of contacts added.

Razetto

@Kristen Christman It has to be a contact type column for the automation to read the email address provided upon submittal. You do not need to have a full list of contacts added.