What is an automation?

An automation is a program you build once that keeps running: when someone joins a list, gets a tag, or confirms a form signup, that contact starts moving through a chain of steps: send an email, wait, add a tag, remove a tag, or branch. Set up a welcome series once and every new subscriber gets it, on time, without you doing anything else.

It’s different from a campaign, which is one message you send once to an audience you choose at send time. An automation keeps running on its own, watching for a trigger and taking whoever fires it through its steps.

What always holds true

• Three trigger kinds: a contact joining a list, getting a tag, or confirming a form signup. See Automation triggers.
• Five step types: send an email, wait, add a tag, remove a tag, and a yes/no split. See Automation steps explained.
• A contact enters a given automation once, ever, even after finishing it or leaving early. See A contact enters an automation only once.
• Branches never rejoin. Once a split sends someone down the “yes” or “no” path, that path runs to its own end. See Branch with a condition step.

Build one

1. Open Automations from the sidebar.
2. Click New automation (or Create your first automation if you have none yet). This drops you into the editor with a placeholder name and your first list already set as the trigger.
3. Build the flow: use the + connectors to add steps, and the Starts when card at the top to set the real trigger.
4. Click Go live when it’s ready. Anything still missing shows up as a checklist on the page.

Starting from a proven flow is often faster. See Create a welcome series from a recipe.

Once it’s live, see Go live, pause, resume or archive and Read an automation report.