What is email marketing automation?

It may be a confusing term for those that are new to email marketing. But do not worry, the whole process is easier than you think.

In simple terms, email marketing automation is a futuristic-sounding name for a tool that takes your email marketing to a whole new level. It makes your campaigns more personalized and precise (time-wise). It converts manual tasks into automated sequences.

Developing an automated workflow could appear difficult at first, though the entire process is user-friendly and straightforward. In practice, any needed sequence can be built using different steps, conditions, and triggers. 

Here’s how it looks in motion.  

Automation triggers 

Automated workflows allow you to create thousands of different scenarios of sending automated emails without lifting a finger. Nevertheless, every automated sequences must start with a trigger.

At the start, you will be asked to select a starting trigger. Starting triggers are:

• A Date – To activate the date trigger subscriber’s custom field must have the “date” type selected. For example, you have the  ‘last purchased’ date as a custom field next to each subscriber. 
• An Anniversary Of A Date –Perfect for sending Birthday cards or for any other anniversary date. For this trigger, you need to have a defined date custom field information for each subscriber. The automation will start each year automatically.
• Subscriber is added to a group – This automation workflow will be started when a subscriber is added to a certain subscriber list via a subscription form or API call.
• Subscriber Is Removed From a group – The automation will start whenever the subscriber is removed from a defined group via an API call or a separate automation workflow. Manually removing subscribers will not trigger the automation.
• A link Is Clicked – Automation starts its first action whenever a subscriber clicks on a specific link. It might be a link to a particular product or any other link used in previous campaigns. After subscribers click on a link, they automatically participate in a secondary automation sequence which starts after the “A link is clicked” trigger.
• Cart Is Abandoned – Abandoned cart reminders might be a great source of revenue. It starts the automation workflow once a cart is abandoned. Requires e-commerce integration!
• A Product Is Purchased – Send customers Thank-you letters, post-purchase feedback requests, or get notified when somebody buys your product or service. Requires e-commerce integration!
• An order is fulfilled – This trigger gets activated once a seller marks an order as fulfilled in Shopify.
• An API Call Is Made – Start the automation with any of your system events. Send an API call from any other system or program and start the automation.

When the automation trigger is set, continue by adding the following steps.

Automation Steps

Each automation sequence is a combination of different steps: condition, delay, email, SMS, action. 

Continue the workflow in a different way depending on whether conditions are matched.

 

Wait for a certain period of time.

 

A newsletter which will be sent to a subscriber.

An SMS which will be sent to subscriber.

 

Change subscribers details or list membership, notify yourself or sent a web-hook.

The condition step is one of the most effective ways to create a unique route for different occasions. What activity can be selected?

• Subscriber details (any custom field)
• Subscriber status
• Workflow email activity 
• Campaign activity 
• Group membership 
• Abandoned cart (can be chosen if the trigger “A cart is abandoned” is selected)
• Purchase product (can be chosen if the trigger “A product is purchased” is selected)

The Delay step is pretty self-explanatory.  Delay can be set for a set amount of:

• Minutes
• Hours
• Days
• Weeks
• Months

Email step is pretty basic, firstly, enter these fields:

• Email title
• From name
• Reply-to address
• Email Subject
• Email preview text (optional)

then click on “Create” button and Drag & Drop design builder will be launched.

SMS setup is all done within the sidebar. Fill in the following information:

• Campaign name
• Sender
• Message text
• Add Opt-out instructions

Then click “Save,” and the SMS is prepared.

The action step is used for executing activities for specific conditions. These are possible actions:

• Move subscriber to another group
• Copy subscriber to another group
• Remove subscriber from a group
• Mark subscriber as unsubscribed
• Update subscriber’s custom field
• Remove subscriber’s custom field
• Notify me
• Send webhook

Automation reports

Automation’s reports are located in the particular automation workflow itself, open automation to view extensive report statistics. 

In order to view the complete report of a particular action step – click on the step and select the “Full Report” button. Next, a new window with comprehensive statistics will appear. 

That’s it! 

If you are stuck on a specific task or can’t find a way to execute a particular job, contact our support team via LiveChat or [email protected] – we’re here to help 24/7.