NOTE: Newsletter Plan users can set up one basic Visual Automation. Unlock unlimited Visual Automations by upgrading to our Creator or Creator Pro plans.
A Visual Automation is a series of automated steps that your subscribers go through when they meet certain conditions.
For example, you can use a Visual Automation to:
Send subscribers a series of welcome emails when they subscribe to your Form or Landing Page
Send different emails to subscribers depending on whether they've been added to a certain Tag
Send emails to subscribers on your product launch day—and not earlier or later
Visual Automations differ from Sequences, which are sets of automated emails. However, Sequences don’t send themselves—you’ll need to add your subscribers to a Sequence for them to start receiving the Sequence's emails.
☝️ Visual Automations let you automate the process of adding subscribers to Sequences.
Ready to put your emails on autopilot?
Let’s get into how to create a Visual Automation in Kit.
1. Create a new Visual Automation
Go to Automations under the Automate tab in the top navigation. Then, click the + New automation button.
You'll be taken to a page where you can choose whether to build your Visual Automation:
Using one of our Visual Automation templates, or
From scratch.
For this guide, let's assume you're creating a Visual Automation from scratch. So, click Start from scratch.
The Visual Automation builder will launch. Click Start building to pick your first entry point.
2. Add an entry point
A Visual Automation's entry point is an event that triggers the Visual Automation to start running.
Your entry point can be one of these:
Joins a form: When a subscriber signs up via a certain Form or Landing Page (or any Form or Landing Page)
Tag is added: When a certain Tag is added to the subscriber
Custom field: When there are changes to a subscriber’s custom field
Purchase: When a subscriber makes a purchase from an ecommerce store you’ve integrated with Kit
You can also add more than one entry point (up to five) to your Visual Automation—just click the ➕ button to the right of your entry point(s) to do so.
NOTE: We autosave your Visual Automation setup as you go along. So, you don’t have to worry about losing any of your work. 💪
3. Set up your Visual Automation steps
Next, click the ➕ button below your entry point. This will create a new step to specify what should happen to subscribers who enter the Visual Automation.
Your Visual Automation step can be one of these:
Event: Move the subscriber forward in the Visual Automation when a specific thing happens. For instance, you can move subscribers forward on a certain date or if they've purchased a product. Events function in the same way as entry points, except they apply only to subscribers already in the Visual Automation.
Action: Take a certain action with the subscriber, such as adding them to a Sequence or Tag
Condition: Check if the subscriber meets certain conditions to decide their next steps in the Visual Automation
Check out this quick guide for more on how to use a Visual Automation.
For example, to send a subscriber a series of welcome emails after they’ve signed up for your newsletter, you could set up your Visual Automation like this:
Add your newsletter Form as the entry point
Set up an Action to add subscribers to a Sequence containing your welcome emails
Go ahead and create all the steps you need to get your Visual Automation to work as intended.
4. Activate your Visual Automation
Finally, click the Active toggle at the top right of the builder to turn your Visual Automation on.
Don’t skip this step, or else your Visual Automation will not work.
Congrats—you’ve just created your first Visual Automation!
NOTE: Visual Automations don't work retroactively. This means that, for example, if you create a Visual Automation triggered by Form signups, the only subscribers who will enter the automation are those who subscribe via that Form after you create—and activate—the automation.
Check out this next article for a further look into Visual Automations, as well as templates you can use. 👇