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Connect Gmail to Twilio

Some people read email, others only read texts. Connecting Gmail and Twilio reaches customers on both, for lead replies, reminders and receipts, and gets urgent alerts to your phone as well as your inbox.
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Ideas

What you can do with Gmail and Twilio

Follow-ups, reminders and alerts sent by both email and SMS. These are ready-made starting points. Anything else you can describe works too.
The moment it happens

Reply to new leads by text and email within seconds

Every new lead, from a form, a missed call or a voicemail, gets a text and an email within seconds, and you're told about it.

See how it works
Collects as they arrive, acts daily

Win back abandoned carts by email, then text

Shoppers who leave checkout get a reminder email after an hour and a text the next day if they still haven't bought.

See how it works
The moment it happens

Get a text for each sale and thank the buyer by email

Each new sale sends you a text with the amount and the buyer a thank-you email from your Gmail.

See how it works
Hourly

Confirm appointments, remind clients and rebook no-shows

Clients get an email and text confirming their appointment, a reminder the day before, and a rebooking message if they don't turn up.

See how it works
Every 5 minutes

Get a text and an email when a value crosses your limit

When a value you watch, like a price, temperature or reading, crosses your threshold, you get a text and an email once, not every check.

See how it works
Daily

Send polite payment reminders by email and text

Customers or tenants with overdue payments get polite reminders by email and text, stepping up gently over time.

See how it works
The moment it happensAI

Ask for a review after each job by text and email

After each completed job the customer gets a text and email asking for a Google review, and if they reply unhappy you're told straight away.

See how it works Your own logic

Any other automation you can describe in words

Your own rules, schedule and AI steps with Gmail and Twilio, plus any other app. Describe it and your assistant builds it.

See how to build your own

Build your own

Build any Gmail and Twilio automation you can describe

The ideas above are ready-made starting points, not a fixed list. Describe what should happen between Gmail and Twilio in your own words, with your conditions, other apps or an AI step, and your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

For example, ask your assistant

Text me only for Gmail emails that the AI rates as urgent from my top 20 clients, and keep the SMS under 160 characters.

When someone replies to a lead text, email the reply to the sales rep who owns that lead in Gmail with the full conversation.

Use cases

Why people connect Gmail and Twilio

How the two apps work together

  • The script checks Gmail for matching messages every few minutes.
  • Incoming SMS reach a trigger link right away through the Twilio messaging webhook.
  • Texts can create emails, and emails can trigger texts, with each step recorded to avoid duplicates.

  • Sales teams text new leads right away

    A lead email triggers an SMS to the lead's phone. Leads hear back within minutes instead of hours.

  • Owners get important emails as texts

    Emails from key clients or about payments are summarised in an SMS. The owner sees them without checking email.

  • Ecommerce stores follow up by both channels

    Order or cart emails are followed by an SMS for customers who opted in. More customers complete the purchase.

  • IT teams escalate alerts

    Alert emails from monitoring tools trigger SMS to the on-call person. Critical issues are not missed overnight.

More apps

Gmail, Twilio and other apps in one automation

An automation isn't limited to two apps. Add the next step in another app and it runs as part of the same automation.

Lead text and email with HubSpot logging

When a lead form email arrives in Gmail, text the lead from my Twilio number, send a welcome email and log both on their HubSpot contact.

Log every text and email in a sheet

Each time an alert email triggers an SMS, add the email subject, the number texted and time to my Alerts sheet.

Escalate unanswered texts to PagerDuty

If an alert text sent from Gmail is not acknowledged by reply within 10 minutes, trigger a PagerDuty incident.

Setup

Connect Gmail and Twilio once

Every idea on this page uses the same two connections, so you set them up once. If one is missing, your assistant tells you and links to the right place.

Gmail

Email

  1. At console.cloud.google.com, create a project and enable the Gmail API under APIs & Services → Library.
  2. Set up the OAuth consent screen. On Google Workspace choose Internal. On a personal Gmail account choose External, then under Audience click Publish app so it is In production, not Testing.
  3. Under Data Access, add the scopes you need, such as https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify, or gmail.send if you only want to send.
  4. Under Clients, create an OAuth client of type Web application with the redirect URI https://clickruntime.com/oauth/callback.
  5. In the ClickRuntime dashboard, open Connections, choose Gmail and enter the client ID and secret. On a personal account Google shows an unverified-app screen: click Advanced, then go to your app.

Twilio

SMS / Voice

  1. Sign in to the Twilio Console and note your Account SID from Account Info.
  2. Go to Account, API keys & tokens and create a Standard API key.
  3. Copy the key's SID (it starts with SK) and its Secret. Twilio only shows the Secret once.
  4. In the ClickRuntime dashboard, open Connections & secrets and save the Account SID, key SID and Secret as secrets for Twilio.

FAQ

Questions about connecting Gmail and Twilio

Which phone number do texts come from?
A Twilio number you buy in your Twilio account. Save your Account SID and Auth Token in your ClickRuntime dashboard and set the number once.
Which address do emails come from?
Your own Gmail or Google Workspace address, so replies come back to your inbox.
Will customers get both an email and a text?
Only where the automation is set up that way. You can choose email only or SMS only for any step.
Do I need customers' consent to text them?
Yes. Only text people who have agreed to hear from you by SMS, and include a way to opt out.
Can customers reply by text?
Yes. Replies reach a trigger link, and the script can forward them by email or log them.
Does it work outside the US?
Yes, where Twilio supports sending to that country. Rules and costs differ by country.
How much does each text cost?
Twilio charges per message based on country and message type. Check Twilio's pricing page for current rates.

Related pages

Keep exploring

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