Here is a list of common mistakes made when creating automations:
Choosing Between an Auto-Campaign or Scheduled Emails/Plans
Automations are action-based, so if you want to ensure that whenever a customer does X they receive Y, and that’s on an ongoing basis, then choose an automation.
Scheduled Plans or Emails are for sending content to a specific group of Contacts (a Segment) at a specific date and time. Good examples of a Scheduled Email or Plan are a Black Friday promotion or a Date-Based Challenge. Scheduled Plans do not currently include texts - only emails, tasks, and phone call reminders.
Time Delays
When people test their automation, they expect things to happen immediately, but Xplor Growth communicates with your booking software once per hour, so there will always be a delay (up to 90 minutes) when testing or starting an auto-campaign.
The “time delay with an additional rule” sending option can be tricky to understand. If you choose this option, first, the time delay will happen, then the system will check to see if the person meets the rule chosen, and that’s it - the system will NOT continue to check the rule for that person more than once. This is a good option to use when someone is NOT doing something (has no reservation coming up ... etc.) and you want to follow up with them.
SMS Rule
If someone comes into an automation with no valid phone number in their Xplor Growth account, they will NOT get text messages. Similarly, if they spelled their email address wrong or unsubscribed, they will NOT get emails.
The SMS/text message system sends 50 text messages per hour, so if you create a new automation and set it live, it will take some time to get all those SMS messages sent.
Can I add emojis and images to SMS/text messages?
👍 Yes, you can add emojis to SMS/text messages.
👎 No, you cannot add images to SMS/text messages.
Joining and Removal Rules
Watch out for using the same rule for joining the automation AND sending the first email (avoid this!).
You can have more than one goal for an automation, and they are OR statements. If Goal 1 is "makes a purchase" and Goal 2 is "books a reservation", then if someone does EITHER of those things, they'll be removed from the automation. For goals to be "AND" statements, the conditions must be added to separate goals, not all in one goal.
You can remove someone from an automation manually, but if they have items already scheduled (emails or texts), they will still be sent.