Workflow Best Practices

A few practical guidelines to get more reliable results from your workflows.

When you set up a trigger, you choose whether it applies to new only, new and existing, or existing only contacts (see Understanding Workflow Triggers). Start with new only for a new workflow so you can watch a small, fresh group go through it before deciding to also catch up on your full existing contact base.

It sounds most logical to use the "Landing Page Registration" trigger if you're setting up a landing page for a pre-registration campaign. The downside is that the workflow then only triggers for that specific landing page, so if you later duplicate it, the workflow won't run for the copy. A tag-based trigger avoids this, because tags are carried over when a landing page is duplicated, which means the original workflow keeps working for the new page as well.

An If branch doesn't just filter people out; it lets you send a different message down each path. For example, branch on Has Bought a Product to send VIP ticket holders one message and everyone else a different one, rather than only using the branch to silently drop the "no" group.

If you find yourself creating a second, third, or fourth workflow on the same trigger for slightly different purposes, consider combining them into a single workflow with If branches instead. It's easier to see the full picture, and to spot when two flows are accidentally sending a contact two messages at once, when it's one workflow instead of several running in parallel. See How to Use If Branches in a Workflow.

It's tempting to chain a trigger straight into a message with no delay, but a short Wait for Time Period often makes a workflow feel less automated and more considered, for example, waiting an hour after a tag is applied before sending a follow-up, instead of firing instantly. The same principle behind spacing out a domain warmup applies here: gradual, deliberate pacing tends to perform better than an instant blast.

Note: this does not apply for confirmation messages. People expect to receive it right away.

The Allow user to enter workflow more than once setting is on by default. For a one-time flow, like a welcome message after an ambassador is approved, turn it off, otherwise a contact who's re-tagged or re-approved could receive the same workflow again.

If you need to pause a workflow temporarily, to update a template, fix a mistake, or wait out a busy period, use Deactivate rather than removing nodes or deleting the workflow. It's reversible, and your setup is exactly as you left it when you reactivate it. See How to Activate, Deactivate, or Edit a Workflow.

If you edit or archive an email or WhatsApp template that a workflow's Send Email Template or Send WhatsApp Template action depends on, check that the workflow still points at what you expect. A workflow won't warn you if the template it references has changed meaning since you built the workflow.