Introduction
Automations are a powerful tool that help you leverage Swiftwebsites.ai functionalities and streamline your lead and email marketing strategy.
By using automated processes, you can perform actions immediately following a trigger without missing emails or quickly tag contacts to manage their status accordingly.
Before We Start: Essential Checklist
Make sure all the following points are TRUE:
The user meant to enter the automation MUST be an email subscriber
The automation is turned on
You have a trigger configured
The user you expect to see in the automation met the trigger condition after the automation was turned on
Your email marketing is not limited due to poor reputation or reaching your email subscriber plan limits
If all the above are true (or you believe they are but aren't sure how to verify), we'll investigate possible reasons, including those mentioned above, to fully troubleshoot a non-starting automation.
Let's Begin
The first and most important part of troubleshooting a non-starting automation is to fully understand how the automation is intended to work and what the user's journey looks like. Are they filling out a form, making a purchase via checkout, or receiving the attribute needed to trigger the automation manually?
Example 1: Form Submissions
For this example, let's assume you're collecting leads via a newsletter subscription form and want to place them into an automation that sends one or a series of emails.
Normally, on the newsletter subscription form, you would enable a tag option with a specific tag selected. In this case, we have the "automation start" tag. The tag is selected in the Form settings and added as a Trigger to the automation.
You would expect this to start the automation when a user submits the form. However, as per the checklist above, you also need to add this user to an email subscribers list—otherwise they're prohibited from entering an automation or email campaign.
The solution is simple. In the form settings, you'll see a button prompting you to "Select Lists" next to "Connect to Email Marketing."
Click it and select a list to add the user to, along with the tag, when they submit the form. If you haven't set up any lists in the Lists & Subscribers section of the Messaging & Workflows Tab, click the "+Add list" option instead, give it a name, and click Ok → Confirm. Save the form settings.
Now, when someone submits the form, they'll receive both the "automation start" tag and be added to the list you created, making them an email subscriber and enabling them to participate in your automations and email campaigns.
If your automation is on, test it now. Complete the form using an email that doesn't already have the tag and wait 1-2 minutes. Refresh the automation's page and see if the user is now part of it.
Example 2: Product Purchase/Checkout Completion
Another popular use case is adding a user to an automation upon product purchase. There are usually two ways:
Using the same settings in the checkout form as in the example above (addition to an email list and tag provision)
Having a product give the user a specific tag (not the checkout form). In this example, the automation operator has decided to only start the automation if a specific product is purchased, not just any checkout completion. By adding a tag to the product directly, the operator ensures clients only enter the automation if they purchase that specific product by receiving the designated trigger tag.
What to look for in these examples is similar:
Check if the checkout is adding the client to an email subscriber's list
Check if the client is receiving the tag by going to the CRM, finding the contact, and accessing their profile to see if they have it. You can also see if they're part of the email list there.
The best way to troubleshoot is to replicate the customer's journey.
Access your website from an incognito window or entirely new browser and simulate the customer's steps to purchase the product using an email not associated with an existing contact.
Once done, return to your builder and see if both the tag and list addition were successful and if the automation was triggered for the user (Wait 3-5 minutes if it doesn't update immediately). If not, check if the automation is turned on and if the trigger condition matches the tag they receive.
If you confirm everything matches and each point in the checklist above is true, please contact the Customer Support Team.
Important Things To Remember
The user should not have previously met the trigger for the automation, as they won't be picked up unless the "repeat" trigger option is turned on in your Trigger step
Always ensure the user is a subscriber (part of an email subscriber list)—otherwise they cannot enroll
Confirm that your trigger matches what the user receives in terms of tags or other properties
Make sure that if you have a Goal, it's not the same as the Trigger, as this will prevent the automation from starting
When testing the user's journey to reach the automation, use an email that isn't already in the CRM and wasn't previously in the automation, even if it was deleted and re-added
If you're sure all of the above is correct but the automation still isn't firing, please contact Customer Support using the Live Chat inside our platform (much faster) or email us at support@swiftwebsites.ai and provide your troubleshooting findings so we can inspect the automation setup further.