Branching and tags
Sending different emails to different people, and tagging them as they go.
A sequence does not have to treat everybody the same. Adding a condition splits it in two: contacts who match carry on down the Yes path, everyone else takes No. Each path has its own emails, waits, tags and ending, and a path can contain another condition inside it.
Adding a branch
- 1Open an automation and press “Add a branch” beneath the step list.
- 2The automation switches to the flow view, where both paths are laid out side by side.
- 3Click the condition to choose what it asks.
- 4Use the + on either path to add steps to just that path.
Once an automation branches it stays in the flow view, because a list cannot show two paths at once. Every path has its own +, and either side can be folded away with hide paths while you work on the other.
What a condition can ask
| Condition | Matches when |
|---|---|
| Opened the previous email | They opened the email immediately before the condition. |
| Clicked a link | They clicked any link, or one whose address contains text you specify. |
| Has a tag | The contact carries that tag. |
| Is in a segment | The contact currently matches that segment. |
Segments are chosen from a list of the brand’s own segments — a condition is always evaluated against the contact’s brand, so another brand’s segment could never match. Tags are suggested from those already in use, and you can type a new one.
An unconfigured condition sends everybody down No. It is drawn with a dashed border until you set it, which is the warning that it is not yet doing anything.
Steps you can put on a path
| Step | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sends an email. Opens in a full-page editor, the same one campaigns use. | |
| Wait | Pauses before the next step. |
| Condition | Splits the path in two again. |
| Add tag | Puts a tag on the contact, then carries straight on. |
| Remove tag | Takes a tag off, then carries straight on. |
| Exit | Ends the journey here. Nothing after it runs. |
Tagging people as they go
Tags set inside an automation behave like any other tag — build a segment from them, target a campaign at them, or branch on them later in the same automation with a Has a tag condition. That last one is how a sequence remembers what somebody did earlier in it.
- Adding a tag someone already has does nothing, so passing the same step twice is safe.
- Removing a tag they do not have does nothing either.
- Tags are case-insensitive. “VIP” and “vip” are the same tag, stored in lower case.
Removing a condition
A condition has two paths and removing it can only keep one, so you are asked which. The other path’s steps are removed with it.
If the discarded path contains an email that has already been sent to somebody, Nectazo refuses to remove the condition — doing so would erase the record of who received that email. Delete those emails individually first if you really mean to.
Availability
Branching is included on Growth and above. Timed sequences without branching are on every plan, and an automation you already built keeps running if you move to a plan without branching — you simply cannot add another condition to it.
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