Learning Objective
By the end of this guide, you'll know how to set up a Zapier automation that automatically adds leads who reply to your campaigns into a specific list or campaign, streamlining your workflow and eliminating manual lead management.
Why This Matters
When leads reply to your campaigns, you want to act fast, nurturing them, adding them to a different sequence, or flagging them for sales follow-up. Manually moving replied leads wastes time and creates delays.
Automating this with Zapier:
Saves time – No manual lead transfers between campaigns or lists
Ensures speed – Replied leads are instantly added to the right workflow
Prevents missed opportunities – Every reply is automatically captured and organized
Prerequisites
Before setting up this automation:
You have a lemlist account with campaigns running
You have a Zapier account (free or paid)
You know your lemlist credentials from Settings → Integrations
You have the destination campaign or list ready, where replied leads should be added
Core Lesson: Set Up the Automation
Step 1: Create a new Zap
Go to zapier.com and click Make a Zap!
Step 2: Select lemlist as the trigger app
In the trigger step, use the app search bar to search for lemlist, then select it from the results.
Step 3: Choose the trigger event
Click the Trigger event dropdown, search for New Activity, then select it.
Step 4: Connect your lemlist account
In the Account section, click Select and either choose an existing connected account or click Connect a new account to add a new one.
Step 5: Configure the trigger (in-use vs not-in-use activity types)
Configure the trigger so Zapier only runs when the activity you care about occurs:
Campaign: Click Choose value and select the campaign you want to monitor.
Event Type: Click Choose value and select the activity type to trigger on. For “leads who reply”, choose Replied (this is the in-use activity for this automation). Other options like Sent, Opened, and Clicked are not in use for a “reply” workflow.
Only First: Set this to True if you only want the Zap to fire on the first matching activity per lead (recommended to reduce duplicates).
Step 6: Continue and test the trigger
Click Continue, then click Test trigger. If Zapier finds a matching activity, you’ll see sample data. When you’re ready, click Continue to move on.
Step 7: Set up the action (lemlist)
For the action step, choose lemlist as your Action App.
Step 8: Choose the action event
Select Create a Lead and click Continue.
This action will add the replied lead to a new campaign or list.
Step 9: Select your lemlist connection
Choose the same lemlist account connection you set up earlier.
Step 10: Fill the form with trigger data
Map the fields from the trigger to the action:
Email → Use the email from the trigger (the lead who replied)
First Name → Map to firstName from trigger
Last Name → Map to lastName from trigger
Campaign → Select the destination campaign or list where you want the replied lead added
Step 11: Test and save your Zap
Click Test & Continue to verify the action works.
If successful, a lead will be added to your destination campaign.
Click Turn on Zap to activate the automation.
How It Works
Once your Zap is active:
A lead replies to your lemlist campaign
Zapier detects the reply (via New Activity trigger with Replied event type)
Zapier automatically creates a lead in your destination campaign with the replied lead's information
The lead is now in your nurture sequence, sales follow-up campaign, or any other workflow you've set up
Result: Instant, automatic organization of engaged leads without manual work.
Use Cases
Nurture sequence for engaged leads: Automatically add leads who reply to a follow-up campaign with more detailed information or case studies.
Sales handoff workflow: Add replied leads to a "Sales Qualified" campaign that alerts your sales team or feeds your CRM.
Re-engagement campaigns: If someone replies after being inactive, automatically add them to a re-engagement sequence.
Troubleshooting
Issue: Zap isn't triggering when leads reply
Fix:
Verify the trigger campaign is correct
Ensure the trigger is set to New Activity and the Event Type is set to Replied (not “Sent”, “Opened”, or another type)
Check that the Zap is turned ON in your Zapier dashboard
Test the trigger manually to confirm Zapier can access recent replies
Issue: Leads aren't being added to the destination campaign
Fix:
Verify field mapping is correct (email, firstName, lastName)
Ensure the destination campaign exists and is active
Check Zapier task history for errors
Re-test the action step to confirm it works
Issue: Duplicate leads are being created
Fix:
Turn on Only First in the trigger configuration (so it only fires on the first reply activity per lead)
Check lemlist's duplicate prevention settings in the destination campaign
Consider adding a Zapier filter step to check if the lead already exists before creating them
Optimization Tips
Use filters to segment replies: Add a Zapier filter step to only add leads who replied with specific keywords (e.g., "interested", "yes", "tell me more").
Connect to multiple campaigns: Create multiple Zaps for different source campaigns, each routing replied leads to different destination workflows based on campaign focus.
Integrate with CRM: Instead of (or in addition to) adding to another lemlist campaign, send replied leads to your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive) for sales follow-up.
Monitor Zap performance: Check your Zapier dashboard weekly to ensure Zaps are running without errors. Fix any failed tasks promptly.
Tag replied leads: When creating the lead in the destination campaign, add a tag like "Replied to [Campaign Name]" so you know their origin.