The Zero-Budget Starter: Automate Your Lead Funnel for $0

You're manually emailing lead magnets to new subscribers from your inbox. This process is slow, error-prone, and creates an unprofessional first impression. The delay between a prospect signing up and receiving their content damages their initial excitement and your credibility.


This playbook provides a step-by-step guide to building a fully automated lead delivery system using completely free tools. We'll show you how to use a simple Google Form to capture leads, which then automatically triggers a professional welcome email from Brevo containing your lead magnet. This 'set-it-and-forget-it' system works 24/7, ensuring every new lead gets what they asked for instantly.

Expected Outcomes

  • Instantly and automatically deliver your lead magnet 24/7.
  • Eliminate slow, manual, and error-prone lead management.
  • Create a professional and trustworthy first impression with new prospects.
  • Establish a foundational automated marketing funnel with a total cost of $0.
  • Begin building and nurturing an email list in a proper CRM from day one.

Core Tools in This Stack

Google Forms

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A free and easy-to-use tool for creating and sharing online forms, surveys, and quizzes. It allows for real-time response collection and analysis, with data automatically organized in Google Sheets.

Key Features
  • Variety of question types (multiple choice, short answer, checkboxes, etc.)
  • Customizable themes, colors, and fonts
  • Real-time response collection and analysis
  • Conditional logic and question branching
  • Automatic quiz grading and feedback
  • Real-time collaboration with team members
  • Seamless integration with Google Sheets for data analysis
  • Responsive design for mobile and desktop
  • File upload capabilities for respondents
Ideal For

Company Size: Micro, Small, Medium, Large

Industries: Technology & Software, Business & Professional Services, Retail & E-commerce, Creative & Media, Education & Non-Profit, Health & Wellness, Other

Pricing

Model: Free, Freemium

Tier: Free

Ease of Use

Very High


Brevo is an all-in-one platform to build customer relationships across email, SMS, chat, and more. It combines a marketing platform, sales platform, and transactional email services to help businesses grow.

Key Features
  • Email & SMS Marketing
  • Marketing Automation
  • Sales Platform (CRM)
  • Transactional Email API
  • Live Chat & Chatbots
  • Landing Page Builder
  • WhatsApp Campaigns
  • Advanced Segmentation
Ideal For

Company Size: Micro, Small, Medium, Large

Industries: Technology & Software, Business & Professional Services, Retail & E-commerce, Creative & Media, Education & Non-Profit, Health & Wellness, Other

Pricing

Model: Freemium, Subscription

Tier: Low-Mid

Ease of Use

Medium

The Workflow

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Integration Logic

  • Zapier

    This integration uses Zapier to monitor MailerLite for new subscribers. When a new subscriber is added to a specific group in MailerLite, it triggers a Zap. This Zap then passes the subscriber's data, specifically their phone number and name, to Twilio. Twilio uses this data to automatically send a pre-configured SMS message to the new subscriber. The data flow is one-way: from MailerLite (trigger) to Twilio (action).

Get Your Free Lead Automation Playbook

Instantly deliver your lead magnet and make a professional first impression, without spending a dime.