Steps, waits and conditions
Email them, tell your team, change tags, set a field or end the journey, each after a wait and only when a condition holds.
Updated 2 min read
An automation is a list of up to 20 steps. Each step has a wait, an optional condition, and something it does. Add one with Add a step, and remove one with its delete button.
What a step can do
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Email them | Sends an email with a subject, a preview line and a message. |
| Tell your team | Sends a handover email to someone on your account or any address at your own domains, naming who the contact is, what they did and your note. Replying to it writes to the contact. |
| Change their tags | Adds and removes tags, separated by spaces. Campaigns and later steps can use them. |
| Set a contact field | Sets a field, like stage, to a value, like onboarded. |
| End the journey | Anyone who reaches it finishes here; nothing after it happens for them. |
Writing the email
The message uses the same writing as campaigns: # Heading, **bold**, [words](https://link), [[Button](https://link)] for a button, - for a list item, and merge fields like {{ name | there }}. Your postal address and an unsubscribe link are added to every email. The preview on the right updates as you type, in light or dark.
Waits
Each step waits a number of minutes, hours or days: after they subscribe for the first step, after the previous step for the rest. A new email step starts at 2 days. Waits can be up to a year.
Conditions
Only when decides whether a step happens for each person:
- Always.
- If they opened the last email, or did not open it.
- If they clicked in the last email, or did not click in it.
- If they have a tag, or do not have a tag.
Open and click conditions need an earlier email step, and look at the most recent email the person was sent. A step whose condition does not hold is skipped, and the journey carries on with the next step. To make two branches, put two steps one after the other with opposite conditions.