How to correctly configure automated campaigns or workflows

B2B Dash allows for you to have ALL or PART of your campaigns and workflows automated. 

Understanding the logic of how a workflow fires/runs will help you figure out where to put specific delays on emails and when to move a contact/record onto the next step in the campaign.

HOW DOES A CAMPAIGN STEP GET PROCESSED? WHAT IS THE ORDER OF THINGS?

  1. Record gets added to a campaign step, either manually (through the record detail pages), or automatically (by submitting a form, making a booking or when a payment is processed) .
  2. Dash will immediately look for any emails that should be sent based on both the time delays settings for each email AND any tag or open rules you've applied for an email, and then send anything due now
  3. It will then apply or remove any tags as per your step settings
  4. Then it will create any tasks for the step, with a start date relative to when the contact hit the step (e.g if the task to be created is "2 days after step selected", the task start time will be "now + 2 days"
  5. Finally, Dash will check if it should be moving onto the next step or not (see below for more detailed info)

HOW DO RECORDS MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP IN A WORKFLOW:

Once a record reaches step 5 above, Dash do the following:

  1. If the "MOVE TO NEXT STEP" setting is set to "MANUALLY", then it will stop and do nothing more. The record will stay here until you move them manually or change this to be a timed move.
  2. If there is a time set, it will determine the correct date to check, and then calculate from there. If that time has passed or is within the next 15mins, then the record will be moved onto the next step or out of the workflow if it's currently on the last step. (Below are some specific examples)
    1. 24hrs Before Booking Starts - This is only available in a Booking Campaign. It will look for the start time of the booking, then count backwards 24hrs. (NOTE if there are ANY emails in this step, they will need have been sent before this gets checked)
    2. 1 Day After Last Email Is Sent - This will look for the last email in THIS STEP, grab the date it was sent, and then add 1 day to it.

TYPICAL EMAIL CAMPAIGN BEST PRACTICES:

It may not be clear whether you should put a delay on the emails within a step or at the "Move to Next Step" settings. Below is a list of best practices for structuring your campaigns:

  1. Put 1 email per step
  2. Have the email send ASAP After Step is Selected
  3. Put the desired delay before the next email is sent in the "MOVE TO NEXT STEP" setting for that step. (e.g. 1 Day After Last Email Sent)

We recommend doing it this way so that when you are looking at a lead or client, you always know they have received the email for a particular step, and that they'll be moving onto the next step at the allocated time.

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