Email ↔ iMessage Bridge (via Blooio + Gmail)
Email ↔ iMessage Bridge (via Blooio + Gmail) A 2-branch bidirectional bridge. Email a customer from Close (or any CRM) — they get a blue-bubble iMessage. They reply on iPhone — it lands in your Gmail with the phone number in the subject. Reply in Gmail — it goes back out as iMessage. No database, no state store. The subject IS the routing table. How it works ⏰ 📬 Gmail Trigger polls a dedicated bridge inbox every minute for new outbound email 🔍 IF node validates the subject contains a phone number (\+?\d{10,15}) — drops everything else 🧹 Set node extracts the phone from the subject and strips HTML + quoted reply chains from the body 💬 Blooio Messaging node sends the cleaned text as iMessage to the extracted phone 📡 Blooio Webhook fires on message.received — inbound iMessages arrive in real-time 📧 Set node builds a consistent subject iMessage from +15551234567, Gmail Send delivers to your main inbox with Reply-To set back to the bridge — so your reply re-enters Branch 1 🗂️ In parallel, the workflow looks up the lead in Close by phone and logs the inbound iMessage as an email activity — attaches it to the lead timeline AND triggers Close Sequence exit The 2 branches | Branch | Trigger | What it does | |--------|---------|--------------| | 🟢 Email → iMessage | Gmail Trigger (1-min poll) | Phone-in-subject → strip quoted chains → send iMessage via Blooio | | 🟣 iMessage → Email | Blooio Webhook (message.received) | Build threaded subject → send to main inbox with Reply-To → log to Close | Why this matters | Metric | Manual | This workflow | |--------|--------|---------------| | ⚡ Speed | Switch apps every reply, lose context | Stay in Gmail, customers get blue bubbles | | 🔁 Consistency | Some texts in Messages, some in a 3rd-party app | Every conversation in one Gmail thread | | 📉 CRM gaps | Texts never reach Close — lead timeline is half a story | Every inbound iMessage logged + Sequence exits fire | | 🧠 Staff time | 30–60 sec per reply jumping apps | Zero — reply in the inbox already open | Sales teams using SMS or iMessage close ~3× faster than email-only follow-up, but every minute spent app-switching erodes that edge. This workflow keeps the speed AND the inbox you already live in. What you need | Tool | Cost | Why | |------|------|-----| | Blooio | ~$39/mo + per-message | Warmed iMessage number that delivers as blue bubble | | Gmail (bridge inbox) | Free | Dedicated address that only this workflow watches | | Gmail (main inbox) | Any provider | Where inbound iMessage notifications land | | Close (optional) | From $59/seat | CRM lead lookup + Sequence exit logging — skip the 3 Close nodes if you don't use it | | n8n | Free self-host / cloud tier | Runs the bridge | ⚠️ Blooio P2P notice: Blooio is opt-in only. Perfect for replies to inbound traffic and warm conversations. Cold outreach requires explicit consent per Blooio ToS. Set up steps Takes about 20 minutes Create a dedicated bridge Gmail account (e.g. bridge@yourgmail.com) — keep its inbox clean, this workflow watches it Sign up at blooio.com, activate a warmed iMessage number, grab the API Bearer token Branch 1 — connect bridge Gmail credential to Gmail Trigger, connect Blooio credential to Send iMessage via Blooio Branch 2 — copy the Blooio Webhook production URL, register it in the Blooio dashboard for message.received, connect bridge Gmail credential to Send Email via Gmail, replace the <USER_MAIN_INBOX...> and <__BRIDGE_GMAIL_ADDRESS...__> placeholders with your real addresses (Optional Close logging) Bind a Close API Bearer token credential to both Close: Find Lead by Phone and Close: Log Inbound iMessage — or delete those 3 nodes if you don't use Close Test outbound: email the bridge inbox with subject +1YOURPHONE - test → confirm iMessage hits your phone Test inbound: text the Blooio number from your phone → confirm an email lands in your main inbox with subject iMessage from +1YOURPHONE Test the loop: reply to that email → confirm a second iMessage arrives Toggle workflow Active Learn more at SMB Excel. An n8n automation workflow template by David Schreiber.
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