Starting and Managing Automations
Once an automation is built, there are three ways to start it for a contact, plus a handful of settings that control who can edit it and how its steps are timed. This article walks through all of that.
How to Start an Automation
Directly Adding a Contact to an Automation Flow
1. Click the Contacts tab on the main navigation menu.
2. Check the box beside the name(s) of the contact(s) you'd like to add.
3. Click the green Start Automations button in the Contacts menu.
4. A popup will list automations to choose from. When you've found the one you'd like to kick off, click Select.
5. To check in on the automation's progress, you can look directly at the contact profiles for the recipients or take a look through Automation Reporting.
Using Tagging to Start an Automation Flow
1. Click the Contacts tab on the main navigation menu.
2. Check the box beside the name(s) of the contact(s) you'd like to add.
3. Click the blue Tag button on the Contacts menu.
4. Select the corresponding tag.
5. Start the automation.
Using a Start an Automation Step
1. Create an automation.
2. Add the Start an Automation step as the last step in an automation or an automation segment.
3. Choose the automation to kick off at the finale of the automation you are creating.
The Automations Tab
• Active Automations are ready and available to be started.
• Inactive Automations can only be accessed and edited by Admins and Super Admins.
• Sample Automations are created by Levitate and can be duplicated by Admins and Super Admins.
Access & Permissions
• Only Admins and Super Admins on an account can create and publish automations.
• Levitate Users, Admins, and Super Admins can enable automations for a contact, and can modify the automation for a specific contact once it's in progress.
Automation Timing
Each step can be set to coincide with the actual day that the automation is in progress. Automations can start immediately or a designated time period after they are initiated. Each following step is set a designated number of days after the automation is initiated.
For certain automations — like Renewals or Milestone Birthdays — you can choose to send an email a certain number of days prior to the key fact date (like the renewal or birthdate).
Automation Step Types
• Send an Email — Create a new email to send, or choose an existing email from the content library.
• Send an HTML Newsletter — Choose an existing HTML newsletter.
• Send a Text — Write a text and add attachments and/or emojis if desired.
• Create or Update an Opportunity — Opportunities can be created or updated through an automation step. The step allows the user to choose the opportunity board, the stage, and the dollar value. Each automation associated with an opportunity will be marked on the corresponding opportunity board.
• Create an Action Item — Create an action item to be assigned to either the creator of the automation, the contact owner of the recipient, or a selected user. This is an internal step; it will only apply to Levitate users and will not be shared with the recipient.
• Add a Tag — Add a selected tag to the recipient.
• Delete a Tag — Remove a selected tag from the recipient.
• Send a Card — Choose an existing Handwritten Card design and add content. Be sure to allow enough time for the card to be sent and received. When the automation step for the card kicks off, the card will be sent, and it generally takes 7–10 days to be delivered via USPS.
• Conditional Branching — Different paths can be created per automation and per user based on tags. If a contact has a certain tag, they go through one automation flow; if they do not, they go through another. This allows for nested sub-segments under steps in automations created.
• Conditional Logic on Link Clicks — Supports if/then/else branching based on whether a recipient clicked or didn't click on a link.
• Start an Automation — This step triggers another automation to begin for each contact that flows through this step. This allows a "daisy chain" of automations: if a contact flows through one automation — especially through a specific segment — and meets a criteria, they will be automatically added to the next chosen automation.