A decision tree allows you to set a number of conditions and design campaigns to match your needs. While Automate Actions feature in Campaign Step 1 is designed to condition the whole campaign in the same and upfront way, Decision tree enables a more email-oriented approach with keeping in mind how and when recipients react to the email.

To enable this feature and start creating conditional campaigns get in touch with Autoklose sales team.

Once campaign initial steps are created, in Step 3 (Select Template) choose either a Blank Template to start from scratch or select the desired template. Click Next to go to Step 4 (Customize Templates). The decision Tree campaign can be enabled using the switch. Please note that enabling Decison Tree deactivates all Automatic actions set in Step 1. In case there is a need to use them instead of the Decision Tree feature, use the switch to disable it.
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In case of templates, they will be converted to a plain decision tree campaign, without any conditions or actions in between them. Emails highlighted in red are not ready for sending, do not have a subject line or email body, or contain square brackets that should be deleted and replaced with personalized text. After email is shown in the grayed-out box, conditions or actions can be added.

The first option inside the Decision Tree feature is a switch to "Stop campaign for any recipient that replies". With this option enabled, the Decision tree campaign will be more similar to a standard one, where replies will be automatically removed from the campaign without the need to set up conditions.

The first action in the decision tree is always the Initial email. At least one email must be created to be able to add more triggers and actions afterward. Click on the "No Subject" line and a standard email editor will appear.

The A/B test is not available in the Decision tree type of campaigns. If there is a need to test out different emails and subject lines, please use a regular campaign to access the A/B test feature.

Once the initial email is created, additional options will appear by clicking on the "plus" button.

Available options are:

Send Email enables the creation of an additional follow-up. Standard email editor will open up. Previously Saved Emails can be used and added in the editor too. Delay and threading options are available directly in the editor or in the Decision tree setup.
The delay entered here shows how many days need to pass for an added email to be sent out.

Note that 2 emails one after another, without any conditions in between, will act as a drip campaign. The recipient will be removed only in case of Bounce or Unsubscribe requests.
Additional conditions or actions can be added when hovering and clicking on the plus sign in between 2 actions.

Add condition - here is where the fun starts and what in fact differs the Decision tree from a regular campaign. A regular campaign has conditions set at the start of the campaign, and can not be specified for each email of the sequence separately. The decision tree "Add condition" brings more options to the table, where each email and branch can have different conditions:

Contact opened email - wait x days for this action, and depending on whether an email was opened by the recipient, put it in the YES or NO branch. Positive action will immediately put the recipient in the YES branch. For example, an email is sent and the condition wait time is 5 days. If an email is opened during the 5-day period, the recipient will move to the YES branch, and if the condition is not met to the NO branch.
​Contact clicked on the link from email - this condition is similar to the previous one with one major difference. An additional dropdown menu shows link options. Condition can be "Any link in the email is clicked" or some specific link. All links added to the body of the previous email will show up in the dropdown, including the links from the signature. Links added to the campaign via custom tokens will not be recognized and included in the condition dropdown. Campaign will wait for a set number of days, and if the specific or any link is clicked during this period, it will move the recipient to the YES branch, and the NO branch, if the condition is not met.

Contact replied to an email - the campaign will wait for a set number of days, and if a reply to an email is registered during this period, it will move the recipient to the YES branch, and to the NO branch if the condition is not met. Only recipients that replied in a positive or neutral way will continue to the YES branch. Recipients that did not reply to an email in a set number of days will proceed to the NO branch.
Out of Office (OOO), Auto replies, Not Interested replies will be just removed from the campaign, will not go to either the YES or NO branch, while bounces and Unsubscribe requests will be removed from the campaign and added to the Do Not Email list.

Contact downloaded an attachment from email - the campaign will wait for a designated number of days for either ANY or a SPECIFIC attachment download. If there is a download within the specified time frame, the recipient will proceed to the YES branch. Otherwise, they will be directed to the NO branch.

The YES branch is required and it must have an action that will follow the condition, while the NO branch can have a condition, but it is not required. If the NO branch is left without any actions and additional conditions, recipients from this branch will get to the end of the campaign. The Stop campaign action can be used but it is not required.
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This condition is not necessary in case the switch to "Stop campaign for any recipient that replies" is enabled.

The Apply Tag to a Contact action allows adding already created tags to contacts that reached that part or branch of the campaign. Multiple tags can be applied at once using the checkbox left of the tag name.

The Add to Campaign action pushes contacts that reached that part or branch to another campaign. The Dropdown menu adds an option to push recipients directly to an existing campaign. New campaigns can be created too, by typing in the name of a new campaign and choosing the appropriate option from the dropdown.
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The Stop Campaign action is used to stop a campaign or branch. This action is not required, and the campaign will automatically finish if there are no remaining actions to perform.

Add to Do-Not-Email List is the action that moves recipients that reached the specific part of the Decision tree campaign, to the Do not email list. This means that recipients will be removed from all currently existing and future campaigns. Check this articleto find out more about the Do not email list feature.

Add Domain to Do-Not-Email Domains action adds the whole domain of the recipient to the list of domains that will not be reached out. This action moves all contacts from this and any other team campaign to the Do not email list. Also, all contacts from such domains will not be uploaded to any future campaigns. Read more about this feature here.

Add/Sync Contact to Pipedrive - if contact doesn't already exist inside Pipedrive, it will be added as a Person, and synced if it is already inside the Pipedrive account.

Record Activity in Pipedrive - Contact activity will be saved in the Pipedrive Person Activity log.

Pipedrive-related actions are available only in case integration is active. For more information about this great integration, please check the article.

Convert Lead in Salesforce - once the predefined campaign condition is reached, the Lead Status will be changed. The action will not automatically convert leads. Due to various possible outcomes, the conversion process must be finished manually inside Salesforce.

Close Lead in Salesforce - upon specific action (usually the Not interested or Unsubscribe reply), set the status of the lead to Closed Lead. The action will not automatically close the lead. Due to different possible outcomes, the closing process must be finished manually inside Salesforce.

Update/Create Lead in Salesforce - in case a lead already exists in Salesforce, update the record. If no matching lead is found and no SFDC contact is associated with the recipient, create a (new) Lead.

Update Lead in Salesforce - in case a lead already exists in Salesforce, update the record.

Update/Create Contact in Salesforce - in case a contact already exists in Salesforce, update the record. If no matching contact is found and no SFDC contact is associated with the recipient, create a (new) Contact.

Update Contact in Salesforce - in case a contact already exists in Salesforce, update the record.

Add Event to Salesforce - create an event inside a lead or contact inside Salesforce.

Add Task to Salesforce - create a task inside a lead or contact inside Salesforce.

Salesforce actions are available if this integration is active and the Salesforce account connected. While the team manager is the only one that can connect the Salesforce account, all members of the team are able to use actions in campaigns. Please check the article for more information about Salesforce integration.

The Remove button will remove the condition or action and the whole branch below, including the emails. If you don't want to lose the emails, save them as a template.

"Add to Campaign" and "Apply a Tag" have additional options to remove only Action and save the branch below.

The maximum number of conditions in the whole campaign is set to 7.
In case there is a need to switch YES and NO branches, an option for that is available in the form of a dropdown directly on YES and NO boxes.
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It is not possible to add a condition right after another condition, as the "Add condition" option will be grayed out. Some actions must happen before another condition can be added.

Once the Decision tree campaign starts sending emails, editing is allowed, but NOT RECOMMENDED for actions that started resolving. Any change of order or deletion of the "Send email" action can produce issues and the campaign will not be able to continue.
Adding more Recipients and more Actions at the end of the Decision tree is always allowed, and will not cause campaign issues.

A Decision tree campaign can be changed to a regular campaign by disabling the option at the top.

Plain Emails without any conditions will be presented in standard linear form. The threading option and delay between emails will be saved.

Once the Decision tree is converted to regular, there is no Undo option, meaning that conditions and actions are permanently deleted.

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If you have any questions do not hesitate to initiate a live chat.
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Your autoklose.com team!

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