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Recommended CRM and email automation workflow

Understand how you can build reliable CRM and email automations alongside Membership.io

What can I use this for?

This guide shows you the recommended way to run CRM-style and email automation workflows with Membership.io by using Stripe as the billing source, Zapier for automation logic, and your CRM or email platform for contact management and email campaigns.

This is widely used by scaling creators because it keeps automations predictable, reduces sync issues, and allows each tool to focus on what it does best.

Why Stripe should be your automation trigger

Stripe provides reliable triggers, such as New Customer, New Subscription, New Payment, New Invoice (for subscription renewal), and Failed Payment.

These triggers contain the email, plan, product, and customer ID needed by CRMs

Common Stripe events used in automations

Most CRM/email workflows revolve around a small set of Stripe events:

Stripe Event

Example Use in a CRM/email platform

Checkout Session Completed / New Payment

Start onboarding emails, apply tags, or add contacts to a sequence

New Subscription

Move a contact into an active customer/member lifecycle stage

New Invoice

Send engagement emails or renewal confirmations

Failed Payment

Trigger reminder emails, dunning sequences, or internal alerts

Canceled Subscription

Remove tags, update lifecycle stages, or trigger win-back campaigns

These events contain the customer email, plan, product, and customer ID that your CRM needs.

Example automation flows using Zapier

Example 1: New Subscription > Onboarding + Hub access

  1. A member completes a purchase via Stripe (or Stripe-powered checkout)

  2. Stripe triggers a Zapier automation

  3. Zapier:

    1. Creates or updates the contact in your CRM/email platform

    2. Applies tags or adds the contact to a price ID or product

    3. Triggers onboarding or nurture sequences

  4. Membership.io grants access to the appropriate Hub (can be manual or automated)

Result: Emails, CRM records, and Hub access stay perfectly in sync.

Example 2: Subscription canceled > lifecycle update

  1. A subscription is canceled in Stripe
  2. Zapier updates the contact’s lifecycle stage or tags in your CRM/email platform
  3. Optional: Trigger a feedback or win-back email sequence
  4. Membership.io updates Hub access based on your rules

Result: Lifecycle status, messaging, and Hub access stay aligned.

Membership.io reacts to billing logic for Hub access, while your CRM/email platform handles communication and lifecycle logic.

    Email engagement and notifications

    In the recommended Stripe → Zapier → CRM workflow, each system handles a specific type of communication.

    • Use Membership.io for in-Hub communication, inclduing Welcome email (on Hub access), Admin broadcast posts (one per day), and in-Hub notifications.

    • Use your CRM or email platform for relationship-driven and lifecycle emails, such as Onboarding email sequences, scheduled updates, re-engagement or win-back campaigns, or renewal reminders (if not handled directly by Stripe).

    This keeps email logic flexible, measurable, and easy to adjust without touching Hub access rules.

    Renewal & billing emails

    Billing-related emails should be handled directly in Stripe (Settings > Billing > Subscription & Emails)

    Stripe natively supports renewal reminders, failed payment emails, and expiring card notifications. These emails are sent based on real billing events and do not require Zapier automation.

    For questions or additional help, please feel free to reach out to help@membership.io. We'd be glad to help!

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