How to use Automations
Automations are made up from two key components - Triggers and Steps, with added options such as actions, conditions, goals, notifications and more. This article will go through the different parts of an Automation and how to use them for reaching your customers, improving your business and automate your processes.
If you need some help creating your first Automation then we have details on that in our article on creating an Automation.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What is an Automation Trigger?
An Automation Trigger is the step that dictates how contacts enter the Automation. Common choices are When a contact joins a Group or a Segment but it could also be When a contact signs up to a form or based on Email activity e.g. When a contact clicks a link in an email you’ve sent them or if they’ve unsubscribed.
There are triggers based on our Site Tracking feature as well as triggers for our integrated services. For example you can trigger an Automation for when a Sales Opportunity has been created in Capsule.
Triggers are split out into eight categories:
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Groups and Segments | For when a contact joins a Group or joins/leaves a Segment |
| Date Triggers | For when a date comes around, either as an anniversary or an exact date |
| Email Activity | When something happens around an email active e.g. they've been sent an email, the open an email or click a link etc. |
| Site Tracking | When a contact visits a page on your website |
| Form Activity | When a contact signs up from a form |
| List Cleaning | When a contact fails a list clean |
| Integrations | When something happens in an integration that supports Automation triggers |
| Other | When a contact is sent to this Automation from another Automation |
What is an Automation Step?
An Automation Step is what your contacts flow through in your Automation. The Steps available in Transpond are:
| Automation Step | Description |
|---|---|
| Sends an email to the contact | |
| Delay | Waits until a time or date you have defined has elapsed. If using a date from the past, this step will be ignored. |
| Wait | Waits for something specific to happen e.g. a custom field being set or the contact joining a segment. |
| Condition | Uses a rule to split up contacts into separate paths based on them meeting the condition or not |
| Action | Does something like adds a tag, changes the contact status or update a custom field |
| Split | Evenly splits the contacts into two paths |
| Goal | Looks for a goal e.g. when they've reached the step or something else has happened and then ends the Automation, with the ability to rejoin or not. |
| Notification | Sends an email notification to a specific email or emails |
| Score | Changes the score of the contact |
| Redirect | Redirects the contact to a previous step in the automation |
| Integration steps | If you have any integration enabled e.g. Capsule or Slack, then actions specific to that integration will be available too. |
What is an Automation Action?
An Automation Action is any action that the Automation can perform after being triggered. When you add your Actions you'll see a list of everything available.
Below is a list of Actions you can use:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Add a tag | Adds a specific tag to the contact |
| Remove a tag | Removes a specific tag from the contact |
| Update a Custom Field | Updates a custom field on the contact |
| Add to a Group | Adds the contact to a specific Group |
| Delete from a Group | Removes the contact from a specific Group |
| Unsubscribe from All Groups | Removes the contact from all Groups its currently in |
| Change the contact Status | Changes the status e.g. sets it to Active or In-Active etc |
| Add to the Denylist | Adds the contact to the Denylist |
| Remove from the Denylist | Removes the contact from the Denylist |
How to use Automation Goals?
Automation Goals are used to indicate that a contact has "completed" the Automation. You don't necessarily need to have a Goal in your Automation however it is needed if you want contacts to be able to re-join the Automation.
To add a Goal, click the + where you want it in your Automation (often at the end) > Goal > give your Goal a name and then set the Goal type.
A common Goal type would be 'Reached this Step'. At that point you can set the 'Then...' option which would be to either 'End this automation' or 'End this Automation bu allow contact to re-join' or 'Enter Another Automation'
How to use integrations with Automations
Automations get extra powerful when you combine them with one of our great integrations.
You can use events in an integrated service like Capsule to trigger steps in Transpond, which can streamline your entire business process with minimal manual input from you.
A simple example would be to trigger a custom email sequence in Transpond when a Sales Opportunity has been created in Capsule.
Another option would be to send email notifications to a management team when a Sales Opportunity has been won.
You can also use Automations to trigger messages in Slack when someone has filled in a contact form, ensuring your entire team can stay up to date with activities in Transpond.
Transpond Integrations are setup from your Company Profile > Integrations.
Once setup, they'll automatically show up when you create your Automations, in any place where the integration is supported, be it in Triggers, Steps or Actions.
How to pause and edit an Automation
Any time you need to update your Automations you need to first pause it.
To pause your Automation, go to Automations > Click on the Automation name > then use the Pause toggle at the top of the Automation editor page.
Once paused you can make any changes you need. When you're ready to start using the Automation again, don't forget to switch it back on with the same toggle.
How to add Contacts to an Automation
While Automations are activated by certain Triggers, such as a a contact entering a particular Group or a change made via an Integration, you can also manually add contacts into an Automation.
To do that, go to the Automations tab > Click on the Automation you would like to enter the contact into > use the option to Add Contact > here you can search for the email address of the contact you would like to join the automation > click to + Add Contact to confirm your selection.
Note: The Automation must be Running in order to add a Contact into it.
How to remove Contacts from an Automation
If you would like to manually remove a Contact from an Automation, for example if you've been in touch with them personally and the Automation is no longer relevant, you can do that from their Contact record.
To do that, navigate to the Contacts tab at the top of the screen > All Contacts > enter the email address of the contact who you would like to remove from the Automation and open the Contact. Head to the Automations section on the left > here you can find all of the Automations they belong to. Simply click on the name of the Automation and use the option there to Remove them > confirm your changes.
Note: If a contact is removed, they can re-enter the Automation if they later match the trigger step.