Automations - Part 4: Actions

Updated: July 16, 2024

In the last article, Automations - Part 3, we covered the second main part of automations dealing with conditions and how they affect automation executions. In this article, we cover the third and last part of automations with "Actions."

Go to: Data > Automations

Automation Actions

In a nutshell, "Actions" are the tasks you want executed such as web hooks, emails, contact updates, tagging contacts, creating calendar events, etc.

In the "Automations Actions" section, click +Add Action to open the "Action Creation" window.

This window displays all of the available automation actions. The actions are divided by categories such as "Communications," "Contact Updates," "Funnel Control," "Progress Updates," and "User Alerts." Clicking any of the actions opens an additional window that displays an unfilled form. Based on the action, the forms will require details pertaining to the action.

For example, let's use the "Email Contact" action.

This form has optional and required information to be filled:

• "Name" of the action (optional).
• A "Description" of the action (optional).
• Check "Active" to enable the action.
• Check "Email All Addresses" to email all addresses associated with the contact (optional). 
• "From Email" (required).
• "Email Subject" (required).
• Fill in the "Email Message Body" (required).

The "Subject" and "Body" of the email have the blue + icon. This allows for macros to be inserted. Macros auto-populate with client information.

• In order to compose email with HTML:
  • A) First leave "Is HTML" unchecked.
  • B) Compose the email with HTML.
  • C) Then check "Is HTML."

Macros can be added with HTML as well.

Click Save to finish.

This is what the finished email may look like in the contact's inbox.



Note: If the email doesn't appear in their inbox, check the spam folder.

Multiple Actions

Additionally, multiple actions can be created. Simply click +Add Action again to view the "Action Creation" window and select another action. In this example, one automation action emails the contact and another action sets the contact to a "Ready" status.

Multiple Automation Levels

Lastly, multiple automations can be executed three levels deep.

Example:

• Automation 1 (A1) = trigger: call disposition > condition: "Los Angeles" city > Action: email
• Automation 2 (A2) = trigger: email > condition: contains the word "hello" > Action: contact tag
• Automation 3 (A3) = trigger: contact tag > condition: tag = "hot leads" > Action: add contact to bucket = "hot lead campaign bucket"
  • A1's action is A2's trigger. A2's action is A3's trigger.

Conclusion

While this series was introductory, it's easy to see that there are many more configurations to explore. When the right automations are set, they can greatly increase productivity, making processes much more efficient, which saves an enormous amount of time throughout the day. As mentioned and demonstrated, automations can become complex. Our recommendation is to always test your automations before committing to ensure they execute as intended.

If you need further assistance with automations, please reach out to our support team.