In ActiveCampaign, you can use "Wait" actions to determine if a contact should move to the next step in an automation on the day, a certain number of days before, or after a date stored in a custom date-based field for that contact.
You may want to use this to send a promotional code or coupon prior to a contact’s birthday or send follow-up emails to a contact after an event date.
There are two ways to do this:
- (Recommended) Use the “Wait until custom date field matches” configuration option in the “Wait” action
- Use the plus/minus option in the “Wait until specific conditions are met” configuration option using the segment builder
It is best practice to use the “Wait until custom date field matches” option in the “Wait” action, as it is the most straightforward way to configure. We only recommend using the plus/minus option in the “Wait until specific conditions are met” configuration using the segment builder if you want to combine those conditions with others like “Has a tag” or “Is active on a list.”
With either option, you must first create the event date as a date-based custom field. Date and time fields cannot be used with the plus/minus option in wait conditions. Learn how to create a custom contact, deal, or account field.
Use the “Wait until a custom date field matches” option
The “Wait until a custom date field” configuration option is the best practice and the most straightforward way to use a custom date field in the “Wait” action. Learn how to use the Wait until a custom date field matches option.
Use the plus/minus option in the “Wait until specific conditions are met” option
You can replicate many of the exact date and date field configurations in the segment builder that are available with the “Wait until specific date and/or time” or “Wait until custom date field matches” wait types. We only recommend replicating these configurations using the instructions below with the segment builder in the “Wait until specific conditions are met” option if you want to combine those conditions with others like “Has a tag” or “Is active on a list.”
It is important to note that when creating a date-based wait condition:
- “Plus” translates to “X amount of days BEFORE the date stored in your custom date field”
- “Minus” means “X amount of days AFTER the date stored in your custom date field”
For example, let’s say my contact has a webinar date of August 11th. In my automation, I want to send:
- A reminder 7 days before their webinar date
- A reminder the day of the webinar
- A follow-up email the day after the webinar
This is the wait condition I would set up for the 7-day reminder:
When a contact reaches that Wait Until action, they will queue there until August 4th because August 4th (current date) plus 7 is August 11th (webinar date).
This is the wait condition I would set up for the day-of reminder:
And this is the wait condition I would set up for the 1-day follow-up:
When a contact reaches that Wait action, they will queue there until August 12th because August 12th (current date) minus 1 is August 11th (webinar date).