Tern doesn't have a "Form submitted" trigger. To automatically send a confirmation email when someone fills out a form, use a Contact workflow with the Automation Added trigger.
Before you start
Create the email you want to send in Library > Email Templates > New template and save it.
How it works
When someone submits your form, Tern creates or updates their contact record. A Contact workflow with Auto-Apply set to "When contact is created" attaches to that new contact automatically. The Automation Added trigger fires the email the moment the workflow is applied to the contact.
For contacts who already exist in Tern before they submit the form, use Bulk Apply ahead of time so the workflow is already attached when they submit. Read Step 4 carefully before doing this.
Step 1: Create a Contact workflow
Go to Library > Workflows and click + New.
Set the type to Contact.
Give it a name that matches your form — for example, "Ireland interest form: Confirmation."
Click Create.
Step 2: Add the email automation
Inside the workflow, click + Add Automation > New Automation.
Set the trigger to Automation Added and the timing to Immediately.
Set the action to Send email and choose your template.
Turn on Set automation to active when applied. This is what makes the email send automatically when the workflow is applied to a contact. If it's off, the automation is created but never fires.
Click Save.
Step 3: Turn on Auto-Apply for new contacts
In the workflow, click Edit Settings.
Under Apply Trigger, select When contact is created.
Turn on Auto-Apply and save.
Any new contact created from a form submission will now receive the email automatically.
Step 4: Prepare existing contacts (before sharing your form)
Auto-Apply only fires for contacts created after you turn it on. If someone already in your contacts submits the form later, they won't receive the email automatically.
To cover existing contacts, run Bulk Apply before you share the form:
In the workflow, click Bulk Apply.
Choose All Contacts, or a specific tag if you want a narrower group.
Confirm.
⚠️ Bulk Apply fires immediately. The email sends to every contact in the batch right away, not when they submit the form. Only run Bulk Apply when you are ready for every selected contact to receive the email. If you want to send the email only to specific people after they actually submit the form, apply the workflow to those contacts manually instead of using Bulk Apply.
Test before going live
Before sharing your form, create a test contact manually and confirm the email arrives. This verifies the trigger, template, and active setting are all correct before real submissions come in.
Common issues
The email went to contacts who haven't submitted the form
This happens when Bulk Apply is run while "Set automation to active when applied" is on. The email fires for every contact in the batch immediately — not just form submitters. There is no way to recall an email after it has sent. To avoid this: only run Bulk Apply when you're ready for everyone selected to receive the email, or apply the workflow manually to individual contacts after they submit.
Existing contacts aren't getting the email after they submit
Auto-Apply only fires for new contacts. If an existing contact submits your form, the workflow won't attach automatically. Either run Bulk Apply before they submit (Step 4), or apply the workflow to that contact manually after their submission.
The email isn't sending at all
Check that "Set automation to active when applied" is turned on inside the automation. If it's off, the automation exists but never fires.