
To begin constructing an automation in ActiveCampaign, start with a “trigger.” There are a variety of ways you can set off an automation, including: When a tag is included When a contact registers for a list When a contact sends a form E-commerce and on-site alternatives (available in the “Pro” strategy) When the contact reaches a particular point in another automation.
From there, you can start developing the actions in your automation. Some actions that are readily available in ActiveCampaign’s automations are: Send an e-mail Notify an employee Wait conditions If/then conditionals Split traffic for screening Skip to other parts of the automation Track goals (The contact can avoid to the goal’s location in the automation.) Start or end another automation, or end the present automation Post a webhook Subscribe or unsubscribe the contact to/from lists Update contact details Add and eliminate tags Add a note Lead scoring, SMS and site messages, and Facebook Custom-made Audience management are all “Pro” functions – .
Contrast with ConvertKit‘s Automations, which are more limited. On ConvertKit, you can trigger an automation when: The contact sends a type The contact makes a purchase A tag is included to the contact A customized field is updated with a certain value From there, you can create Conditions, to examine whether the contact has a particular tag or customized field worth.
You can also develop Events, which are a bit like ActiveCampaign’s Objectives, but without the reporting. You can track an Event when: A tag is included or eliminated The contact purchases A date takes place A custom-made field is updated with a specific value You do not create e-mails in ConvertKit’s Automations.
For more on how ActiveCampaign compares to ConvertKit, read my ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign comparison. The main way I build my list is through an email course. ActiveCampaign makes it easy for me to build my email course exactly how I want to construct it. Many online marketers build extremely simple email series for their “email courses.” A contact register, and after that that contact immediately starts getting lessons.
It was simple to develop with ActiveCampaign, but impossible when I was with MailChimp. I do not do that approach. My e-mail course is manually synced with this countdown timer on my website. You need to register by Friday night, and a new course begins each Monday morning. When I first attempted this approach, I was on MailChimp.
Here’s the automation I use to invite brand-new students to my Style Pitfalls course. There’s a couple of things going on here: The automation sends all contacts a “welcome email ().” The automation confirms that it’s not Friday. If it’s not Friday, the automation waits up until it is Friday. At 11am, it sends out a “pump up” email to get the students ready for next week’s course, and motivate them to share it with friends.
The contact will start getting lessons the following Monday early morning. If it is Friday and after 7pm, the contact missed enrollment for next week’s class. They’ll get the pump up e-mail the following Friday early morning, and lessons the Monday after that. It was difficult for me to automate this with MailChimp.
When I run a webinar, I don’t wish to send out the same email to every person on my list. I want to send them the appropriate email for their level of engagement – . . Here’s the automation I use to promote an evergreen webinar: First it validates that they have not currently bought the item I pitch in the webinar.
Then it sends out a series of emails to get them interested in the webinar, and to encourage them to register. If they register, they instantly struck the “Goal” towards completion of the webinar, and the automation ends. If they do not sign up, they get added to an automation promoting a rebroadcast of the webinar. .
This allows me to customize my messaging, in other automations, based upon the contact’s engagement with the webinar. Here’s the WebinarJam integration panel: I can include tags based upon whether the contact registered, attended, missed out on, or based upon for how long they remained in the webinar. These tags can then activate automations within ActiveCampaign.
It costs me cash, and it makes it most likely that my e-mails go to spam or Gmail’s promos tab. People who don’t open my e-mails make it harder for other emails to get to individuals who truly want them! The “Pro” strategy of ActiveCampaign has actually lead scoring integrated in.
Here’s an automation I got from ActiveCampaign’s library of automations, which I use to inform which contacts aren’t engaging with my e-mails. When a contact subscribes, this automation adds a “0 days” tag. As time passes, it adds brand-new tags for 7 days, 30 days, 60 days, etc Each time they open an e-mail, a separate automation eliminates them from this automation, removes all of those tags, and starts this automation over again.
This automation can be frustrating at initially, and this is one of those cases where I want ActiveCampaign had a more out-of-the-box option. However, since you can do anything with ActiveCampaign, often you need to build things from scratch. ActiveCampaign has a choice to delete inactive subscribers, which I don’t recommend.
Some subscribers do not have tracking switched on, so their opens aren’t taped. Others still desire to be subscribed but have actually been hectic. Here’s my reactivation series: I send out one email asking if they still desire to be subscribed, and briefly describing why I keep my e-mail list clean. In one week, I send them another email (if they already clicked the verification link in the previous e-mail, they have actually already been eliminated from the automation using a different automation) – .

The automation then unsubscribes them. My emails also have a link to a kind where they can enter their email address to let me know that they don’t have tracking allowed. This kind adds a tag that I use to filter those contacts out. . I utilized to add this tag when they clicked a link, but when individuals don’t have tracking on, it makes those links not work so reliably! I only send out a simple “do you still want my e-mails?” confirmation.