Automations

Automations allow you to automate parts of your workflow based on specific triggers and conditions. This powerful feature helps you save time, improve customer experiences, and ensure consistent communication.

Overview

Automations consist of:

• Triggers: Events that start the automation
• Conditions: Logic that determines the next steps
• Delays: Pauses actions for a period of time
• Actions: Tasks that are automatically performed

Setting Up an Automation

To set up a new automation:

1. Navigate to Automations on the main navigation (you will need permissions to access Automations)
2. Select the inbox the automation will apply to
3. Click the Create Automation button
4. Configure your trigger, conditions, and actions
5. Name your automation and click Save

Types of Triggers

Existing Triggers

Automations can currently be triggered by these events:

Message-based Triggers

• First Incoming Message: Triggers when a contact sends their first message to your inbox
• Keyword(s) in Incoming Messages: Monitors all incoming messages for specific keywords (not case-sensitive)
  • Exact Match: If this checkbox is selected, the message must only contain that specific keyword
  • Contains: If the Exact Match checkbox is not selected, the message must contain the keyword but can also include other words
  • Email:  if a user configures the keyword automation, email body and subject line text match criteria can now be used to initiate an automation
• Time of Incoming Message: Triggers based on when a contact sends a message, there are several options to set schedules for the desired days and times
• Incoming Call: Triggers when a contact makes an incoming call
• Message Channel: Triggers based on which channel the message came from (SMS, Facebook, Instagram, etc.)
• Close Chat: Triggers when a chat is closed

Examples:

• Create an automation that triggers when a contact sends their first message to automatically send a welcome response

• Set up an automation that triggers when a message contains the keyword "Salesforce" to send information about Salesforce

• Configure an automation that triggers when a chat is closed to send a satisfaction survey or to un-assign the chat

New Triggers (New!)

Custom Field-based Triggers

Please note: If you are not seeing custom fields in the automation drop downs, navigate to: https://app.heymarket.com/admin/fields/ and click "add" by Custom Fields.
 

• Date-based Custom Fields: Trigger automations based on date milestones
• Number-based Custom Fields: Trigger automations when numeric fields meet specific conditions
• Text-based Custom Fields: Trigger automations when text fields match specific values

Examples:

• Date-based: Create an automation that triggers 7 days before a contact's "Contract Renewal Date" to send a renewal reminder message
• Number-based: Set up an automation that triggers when a contact's "Purchase Total" field exceeds $1,000 to send a VIP status message
• Text-based: Configure an automation that triggers when a contact's "Subscription Plan" field changes to "Premium" to send premium feature highlights

Response Based Triggers

• Contact has responded to a sent message within a specified timeframe
• Contact has not responded to a sent message within a specified timeframe

Examples:

• Create an automation that triggers when a contact sends a message after 30 days of inactivity to notify the account manager
• Set up an automation that triggers when a contact hasn't responded within 48 hours to send a follow-up message

Date-based Automations 

For date based contact custom field you can specify the following date 

• On date - Date matches exactly 
• Days before - Before the date
• Days after - After the date

Examples:

Trigger on anniversary date 

Trigger 2 days before anniversary date 

Trigger 1 day after payment date

Note: When adding contacts via CSV, the format on the Date field must be MM/DD/YYYY.

Numeric-based Automations

For numeric custom fields, you can specify these comparison operators:

• Equals: Value matches exactly
• Greater: Value is greater than specified amount
• Less: Value is less than specified amount
• Between: Value falls within a specified range

Examples:

• Equals: Trigger when "Order Count" equals 10 to send a loyalty reward message
• Greater: Trigger when "Days Since Last Order" is greater than 60 to send a re-engagement message
• Less: Trigger when "Customer Satisfaction Score" is less than 3 request a meeting
• Between: Trigger when "Average Order Value" is between $75 and $150 to send a mid-tier customer promotion

Text-based Automations

Text-based automations use equals comparisons to match specific text values.

Examples:

• Trigger when "Service Request Type" equals "Technical Support" to send troubleshooting resources
• Trigger when "Lead Source" equals "Web" to send industry-specific content
• Trigger when "Preferred Communication" equals "SMS" to update contact preferences

Automation Conditions

New Conditions (New!)

Message Response Conditional

This new conditional checks whether the contact has replied within a specified delay period before proceeding to the next action.

Examples:

• Wait 24 hours after sending a price quote, then check if the contact responded. If yes, do nothing. If not, send a follow-up message.
• After sending a meeting confirmation, wait 4 hours and check for a response. If no response is received, send a reminder message.

Important Note: The Message Response trigger functions differently than the Message Response conditional:

• Message Response Triggers check a contact's inbox activity in the period specified prior to now. For example, with the setting "If contact responded within 2 days," if the contact has an incoming message within the last 2 days, they will be enrolled. The opposite applies for "No Response."
• Message Response Conditionals are always paired with a delay. Once the delay time has been reached, the contact's message activity will be calculated since the start of the delay and proceed to the next action, if qualifying.

Automation Actions

Existing Actions

Actions that can currently be performed automatically include:

• Send a message (immediate send or scheduled)
• Send a survey (immediate send  or scheduled)
• Assign to team member
• Assign to team
• Change contact status
• Add to list
• Remove from list

Example: Create an action sequence that immediately sends a welcome message, changes the contact status to "Active Customer," and adds them to your "New Customers" list.

New Action Enhancements (New!)

Update custom field

You can now update a custom field based on a trigger.

Examples:

If response has a keyword “Soccer” 

Update contact custom field, Sports = Soccer 

Scheduled Message and Survey Sends

For message and survey send actions, you can now:

• Send immediately (existing functionality)
• Schedule a specific send time with timezone selection (new functionality)

Examples:

• Schedule appointment reminder messages to always send at 9:00 AM in a a specific timezone
• Set up customer satisfaction survey messages to send at 5:30 PM after service appointments are completed

Delays

You can now add delays before proceeding to the next action or condition. This allows you to:

• Create timed sequences of messages
• Wait for customer responses
• Schedule follow-ups at appropriate intervals

Examples:

• After sending a welcome message, add a 3-day delay before sending product recommendations
• Add a 1-day delay after sending a time-sensitive offer before sending a reminder
• Create a nurture sequence with 7-day delays between educational content messages

Complex Automation Examples

Examples with Existing Features

Example 1: Keyword-Based Support

1. Trigger: Incoming message contains keyword "help"
2. Action: Send immediate response with support options
3. Action: Change contact status to "Support Needed"
4. Action: Assign to Support Team

Example 2: New Lead Follow-up

1. Trigger: First incoming message from contact
2. Action: Send welcome message with business information
3. Condition: Check if message came through SMS channel
   • If yes: Add to "SMS Leads" list
   • If no: Add to "Web Leads" list
4. Action: Assign to Sales Team

Examples with New Features

Example 3: Onboarding Sequence

1. Trigger: Contact status changes to "New Customer"
2. Action: Send welcome message
3. Delay (New!): Wait 2 days
4. Action: Send setup guide message
5. Delay (New!): Wait 3 days
6. Condition (New!): Check if contact has responded
   • If yes: Assign to Customer Success team
   • If no: Send follow-up message with support contact information

Example 4: Renewal Management

1. Trigger (New!): "Contract End Date" custom field is within 30 days of current date
2. Action: Send renewal notification message
3. Delay (New!): Wait 7 days
4. Condition (New!): Check if contact has responded
   • If yes: Update custom field "Renewal Status" to "In Progress"
   • If no: Continue to next action
5. Action: Send reminder message with special offer
6. Delay (New!): Wait 7 days
7. Condition: Check "Renewal Status" field
   • If "Completed": Send thank you message
   • If "In Progress": Assign to Account Manager
   • Else: Assign to Retention Specialist

Example 5: Customer Satisfaction Follow-Up

1. Trigger (New!): "Customer Satisfaction Score" numeric field is less than 4
2. Action: Send apology message
3. Action (New!): Schedule follow-up call reminder to send at 9:00 AM tomorrow
4. Delay (New!): Wait 24 hours
5. Condition (New!): Check if contact has responded
   • If yes: Assign to Support Manager
   • If no: Continue to next action
6. Action: Send follow-up message offering a call
7. Delay (New!): Wait 3 days
8. Action: Update custom field "Follow-up Required" to "Yes"
9. Action: Add contact to "Service Recovery" list

Enrollment Process

Enrollment Triggers (New!)

When you start an automation you will be prompted to either enroll existing contacts or only apply the automation to changes that are made after the automation is started

If enrollment is selected, in addition to existing enrollment triggers, contacts are now also checked for eligibility if they:

• Match the trigger criteria of the automation (e.g., they send a message, match a custom field, or haven’t replied in a set time).

• Have their custom field updated (e.g., via the contact pane or a contact import), and the new value matches the automation’s trigger rules.

For custom field updates, the system checks active team automations to see if any are based on the custom field that has been changed. If the changed field is not part of any automation, no action is taken. If it is, then the value is checked against the trigger condition.

Best Practices

• Name your automations clearly (e.g., "30-Day Onboarding Sequence" rather than "New Customer Flow")
• Ensure your team or inbox members are aware of any active Automations which may be triggered
• Test automations before activating them for all contacts
• Review automation performance regularly
• Keep your automation sequences concise and relevant
• Use consistent naming conventions for related automations
• Document your automation strategy to ensure team alignment

Need Help?

If you have questions about setting up automations, contact Heymarket Support.