Creating simple automations (rules and link triggers) in ConvertKit
Before you dive into the more complex topic of visual automations, you can dip your feet into a simpler functionality of ConvertKit that still offers great time savings and automation: automation rules!
These rules are easy to understand, you don’t need to do brain acrobatics to figure out what is happening and you don’t have to make mistakes (such as inadvertently emailing a draft message to everyone on your list like I did!).
Automation rules in ConvertKit function just like that famous website IFTTT (If This Then That) - meaning, they work in a ‘trigger > action’ fashion. When something occurs (trigger) - something happens (action). That’s what makes them easy to create and easy to monitor and keep track of what they do.
Add a new automation rule in ConvertKit
This is how you add a new automation rule: go to the ‘Automations’ menu and then click on ‘Automation rules’. After you click ‘+ Add rule’ you are presented with this screen:
The ‘triggers’ are on the left - decide what event you would like to happen to trigger the rule. You can select from several triggers:
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When a user subscribes to a sequence or a form
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When a subscriber completes a sequence
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When a subscriber clicks a link
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When a tag is added or removed from a subscriber
You have to bear in mind that these rules do not trigger when you perform these actions manually. The triggers run when these events happen in an automated fashion, such as from another automation or rule. This prevents actions from performing when you manually modify your subscribers (individually or in bulk).
You can add multiple triggers AND multiple actions for each rule. This saves you from having to repeat rules that perform the same action(s) for multiple triggers. Be careful when you create them though! You have to make sure you understand what the actions do.
If you create more than one trigger for a rule, then the actions will run when ANY of the triggers launch.
If you create more than one action for a rule, then ALL the actions will run when any of the triggers launch.
To put it simply: ALL actions will run ALL the time, no matter which trigger causes it. However, NOT ALL triggers must occur for the actions to run - just one.
The actions can be:
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Subscribe or unsubscribe a user from a sequence or a form.
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Add or remove tags
It sounds quite simple, but you can combine any number of rules, triggers and actions to achieve quite complex stuff. However, visual automations might be a better choice for more complex workflows.