How to add wait steps after emails in an automation

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When using the "Send Email" automation action, it's best practice to add a timed or conditional Wait action afterward. Doing so gives your contacts time to open and interact with your email. This is especially important if your automation includes more than one “Send Email” action in a row or if you’re using an “If/Else” branch or any other action dependent on a contact opening, clicking links, forwarding, or replying to that email.

Take note

If you're updating an “Active” automation, make sure to set the automation to “Inactive” first. Once you’re done editing the automation, set it back to “Active” so contacts can continue to enter your automation and proceed through your workflow

Add a "Wait" action to your automation

  1. Click Automations on the left menu.
  2. Click "Edit" for the automation you want to update.
  3. Click "Conditions and Workflow" on the right pane.
  4. Drag the "Wait" action to your automation.
  5. Configure the "Wait" action, by choosing the type of Wait you wish to use.
    • "Wait for specific period of time"
      This "Wait" action can be thought of as a timer. As soon as a contact encounters this step, the timer starts, and the contact will queue in that action until their time is up. They will then proceed to the next action in your automation
    • "Wait until conditions are met"
      This "Wait" is condition based—as soon as a contact meets the criteria set in the conditions, they will be released from that "Wait" action and proceed to the next step in your automation. With this Wait, you can also include a time limit. By including a time limit, you are saying that a contact will queue in that action until they meet the conditions to be released OR until they reach that time limit.
    • Follow the remaining prompts to configure the "Wait" action
    • Click “Save”
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