Automation actions are a series of processes that a contact goes through as soon as they enter your automation. The action is executed as soon as the contact encounters it in the automation. In this article you will learn which automation actions exist, how they work, and which ones are available within your subscription level.
Important to know:
- The available automation actions depend on your subscription level. Some users have access to all automation actions, while others have a more limited set of options.
- Make sure to set an automation to “inactive” before making any changes. Only set it back to “active” when you are finished editing.
- With a Starter subscription you can use up to a maximum of 5 automation actions per automation.
Table of Contents
- Overview of automation actions and availability per subscription type
- Explanation of automation actions per basic subscription
- Explanation of automation actions per add-on
- Automation actions available with specific apps
Overview of automation actions and availability per subscription type
Below you will find a comprehensive overview of all automation actions, sorted by subscription level. This overview gives you a quick insight into the possibilities of your current subscription and what is available with an upgrade.
Basic subscriptions:
Automation Action | Enterprise | Professional | Plus | Starter |
Send an email | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Wait | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Subscribe | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Unsubscribe | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Add a tag | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Remove a tag | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Send an internal notification email | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Send a website message | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
If / Else | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Go to | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Goal | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Webhook | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Update a contact | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Add a note | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Change a contact score | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Add to custom Facebook audiences | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Remove from custom Facebook audiences | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 |
Split | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Start automatic series | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 |
End another automation | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Make calculations | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Convert | ✅ | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Create a contact in Salesforce | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Create a lead in Salesforce | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Add a lead or contact to a Salesforce campaign | ✅ | 🚫 | 🚫 |
🚫 |
Add-ons:
Automation Action | CRM Essentials | CRM Advanced | MailBlue SMS | Postmark |
Add a deal | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update a title | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update a status | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update a deal owner | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update a value | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update a phase | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update a custom deal field | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Add a deal task | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Add a deal note | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Complete a deal task | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update an account field | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Add an account note | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Update an account owner | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Add a contact to an account | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Change a deal score | ✅ | ✅ | ||
Send a 1:1 email immediately | 🚫 | ✅ | ||
Send an SMS | ✅ | |||
Send a transactional email | ✅ |
Explanation of automation actions per basic subscription
Automation actions available from a Starter subscription
Send an email
Found under the “Send” category.
With this action you send an automated campaign to every contact who reaches this step in the automation. You can design the email and set the timing by adding a wait period before this action. Note: The contact must have an email address to receive the message.
Contacts must be subscribed to a list to receive automated campaigns.
Wait
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “Wait” action pauses the automation for the contact at this step. You can specify how long they should wait before proceeding to the next action in their automation path.
There are two types of wait actions you can create:
- Timed wait action – Contacts wait for a period specified by you and then proceed to the next action.
- Conditional wait action – Contacts wait until certain conditions are met. For example, until they perform a specific action or you have gathered more information about them. Wait conditions are created using the segment builder. In addition, you can set a time limit for how long a contact may wait if the conditions are not met.
Subscribe
Found under the “Contacts” category.
The “Subscribe” action adds a contact to a list, giving the contact an “Active” status. For more information about contact statuses, please refer to this article:
What does a contact’s status mean?
This action affects the list associations within the automation.
Unsubscribe
Found under the “Contacts” category.
The “Unsubscribe” action removes a contact from a list. For example, when a new customer places an order, you can remove them from your “lead” list and, using the “Subscribe” action, add them to your “customer” list.
Add a tag
Found under the “Contacts” category.
With this action you can add a tag to a contact when they reach this step.
Remove a tag
Found under the “Contacts” category.
With this action you can remove a tag from a contact when they reach this step.
Automation actions available from a Plus subscription
Send a notification email
Found under the “Send” category.
With this action you can send a notification email to someone within your organization when a specified action occurs.
Send a website message
Found under the “Send” category.
With this action you can display messages to a contact who has given permission when they visit a specific page on your website or any page on your site. You can use this, for example, to display information about a new offer or a discount code for a product so that the contact completes a purchase.
To use this feature, site tracking must be installed and enabled on your website.
If / Else
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “If / Else” action creates a split in your automation. There are two paths in this split: a “Yes” path and a “No” path. The conditions for this action are set using the segment builder.
- The “Yes” path is for contacts that meet the conditions you defined.
- The “No” path is for contacts that do not meet the conditions.
This action is useful to treat contacts differently based on various factors. In the segment builder, you can create splits based on any condition, such as actions, tags, custom fields, site and event tracking data, 1:1 interactions, and more.
Go to
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “Go to” action moves contacts to another step in your automation. You can use this action to send contacts to a specific branch or to create loops.
There is a limit of up to 10 “Go to” actions within a 24-hour period.
Goal
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “Goal” action makes contacts jump directly from their current position in your automation to the goal step, provided they meet the conditions.
The conditions for this action are set using the segment builder. You can use this action to trigger other automations, send targeted messages, adjust contact and deal scores, or move a contact to a specific step in your automation.
Webhook
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “Webhook” action sends a webhook to another application, allowing you to automate actions with apps outside MailBlue.
For example: you can use this action to send a webhook to your helpdesk software so that a support ticket is automatically created when a new order is received.
Update a contact
Found under the “Contacts” category.
With the “Update a contact” action you can add data to the contact record. For example, you can use this action to update a custom field. If someone shares a campaign on social media, you can change the “Status” field to “Promoter.”
Add a note
Found under the “Contacts” category.
The “Add a note” action adds a note to the contact record. This is useful during the marketing or sales process. For example, if a lead is handed over to the sales team, representatives can read the notes to better understand the lead, helping them close the sale.
Change a contact score
Found under the “Contacts” category.
With the “Change a contact score” action you can increase or decrease a contact’s score. For example, if a contact is engaged with your actions, you can add points. For negative actions, such as unsubscribing or inactivity, you can subtract points. You can also set the score to a specific value or reset it to 0.
Add to custom audience for Facebook
Found under the “Contacts” category.
With this action, available via the Facebook Custom Audience integration, you can add contacts to a custom Facebook audience that you specify. You can also create a new audience of the “Customer List” type.
Remove from custom audience for Facebook
Found under the “Contacts” category.
With this action, available via the Facebook Custom Audience integration, you can remove contacts from a custom Facebook audience that you specify.
Automation actions available from a Professional subscription
Split
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “Split” action allows you to create split-test automations.
There are two types of split actions:
- Equal distribution – A traditional A/B split test determines a winning path.
- Conditional split – With this split, all contacts go through one path until specific conditions are met. Then they proceed through a different path. This is not a traditional split test and no winning path is determined. The conditions for this split are set using the segment builder.
Start automatic series
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “Start an automation” action starts a specified automation when a contact reaches this step.
End another automation
Found under the “Workflow” category.
The “End another automation” action stops a contact’s participation in all automations or in a specific automation that you choose.
Make calculations
Found under the “Workflow” category.
With the “Make calculations” action you can perform calculations on existing custom contact fields or custom deal fields. With this action you can adjust a numerical value of an existing field by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
If you have the CRM Essentials or CRM Advanced add-on, you can also use the “Make calculations” action with custom deal fields.
Convert
Found under the “Contacts” category.
The “Convert” action allows a contact to trigger a conversion while they are in an automation. In this action, you can select an existing conversion to trigger or create a new conversion.
Automation actions available from an Enterprise subscription
Create a contact in Salesforce
Found under the “Salesforce” category.
You must have the ActiveCampaign Salesforce integration to use this action.
When a contact reaches this step in your automation, they are added to your Salesforce account as a contact. Read more about how to use the “Create a contact in Salesforce” action.
Create a lead in Salesforce
Found under the “Salesforce” category.
You must have the ActiveCampaign Salesforce integration to use this action.
When a contact reaches this step in your automation, they are added to your Salesforce account as a lead. Read more about how to use the “Create a lead in Salesforce” action.
Add a lead or contact to a Salesforce campaign
Found under the “Salesforce” category.
You must have the ActiveCampaign Salesforce integration to use this action.
When a contact reaches this step in your ActiveCampaign automation, they are added to your Salesforce campaign. Read more about how to use the “Add contact to Salesforce campaign” action.
Explanation of automation actions per add-on
Automation actions available from a CRM Essentials add-on
The following automation actions can be found under the “CRM” category in the action menu.
Add a deal
The “Add a deal” action creates a deal record for a new sales opportunity. With this action you can automatically create deals for contacts that are sales-ready. You can, for example, combine this action with a “Score changes” trigger so that a deal record is automatically created and placed in your pipeline when a contact’s score reaches a threshold.
Update a title
The “Update a title” action edits the title of a deal.
Update a status
The “Update a status” action can be used to change the status of a deal to “Open,” “Won,” or “Lost.” For example, you can use this action to mark a deal as “Won” when the associated contact makes a purchase.
Update a deal owner
The “Update a deal owner” action changes who is responsible for a deal. You can use this action to change ownership when a deal reaches a transfer point. For example, when deals are qualified and close to being won, the deal can be handed over to a more experienced sales representative.
Update a value
The “Update a value” action changes the estimated value of a deal.
Update a phase
The “Update a phase” action moves a deal to another phase in your pipeline. This action is essential for automating your sales process and is likely to be used frequently. For example, if a contact responds to an email or visits a link you sent, you can automatically move them further along in the pipeline.
Update a custom deal field
With this action you can update the value of a custom deal field. You can use this action to automatically enter a new value, copy data from an existing contact field, or clear the value of the custom deal field.
Add a deal task
The “Add a deal task” action creates new to-do items for your deals. This action is useful for staying organized and ensuring that no lead is overlooked. Tasks can be automatically added when a pipeline phase changes and can be assigned to any user with access to the deal pipeline.
The “Account owner” in the “Assign to” field is the owner of the primary account of the contact.
Add a deal note
The “Add a deal note” action adds a note to the deal record. (Note: The “Add a note” action under the “Contacts” category adds notes to the contact record.)
Complete a deal task
The “Complete a deal task” action closes a task by marking it as complete. You can use this action to automate your workday and stay organized by automatically closing tasks when you or the contact performs certain actions.
Update an account field
The “Update an account field” action allows you to add data to or change the value in an account field. For example, you can use this action to add data to a custom field.
Add an account note
The “Add an account note” action adds a note to the account record. When configuring this action, you can use personalization tags from contacts, deals, and accounts to insert dynamic values into the text of the note. Once a contact reaches this step in your automation, a note is added to that contact’s account record.
Update an account owner
With this action you can update the owner of an account.
When contacts go through this action in your automation, the account owner of the account associated with the contact is updated. You can use this action to transfer account ownership, for example when a contact relocates.
Add a contact to an account
The “Add a contact to an account” action allows you to add contacts to a new or existing account.
With this action you can automatically assign new contacts to existing accounts, create new accounts using data gathered from a contact record, or ensure that the data of accounts and contacts remain accurate.
Change a deal score
The “Change a deal score” action increases or decreases the score of a deal.
You can set the deal score to a specific value or reset the score to 0 with this action.
Automation actions available with the CRM Advanced add-on
Send a 1:1 email
You can send a 1:1 email from a connected email address via an automation action. This feature allows sales-oriented ActiveCampaign users to send automated emails to contacts who have not yet subscribed to your email lists.
After you connect an email address via Deals → Connected emails, the option to choose a Preferred email address appears. When “%deal_owner_email%” is selected as the “From email” in the 1:1 email block, the Preferred email address is used for all automated 1:1 emails. However, you can also select any other connected email address from the dropdown.
Within this automation action you can do the following:
- Link responses within the same automation.
- Set CC and/or BCC addresses (use a comma to separate multiple email addresses).
- Use personalization tags from contacts, deals, and accounts for the subject line and the content of the email.
- Use formatting options such as bold, italics, underline, hyperlinks, bullet points, and numbered lists in the email text.
This automation action can be found under the “Send” and “CRM” categories. You can use any trigger with this automation action.
Note: If you use a trigger that is not linked to a deal, you must select a specific email address as the “From email”. In that case, you cannot use the “%deal_owner_email%” option.
Automation actions available with the MailBlue SMS add-on
MailBlue – Send an SMS
This action is found under the “MailBlue” category. You must have purchased MailBlue SMS and have credits available to use this action.
When a contact reaches this action in your automation, a text message is sent to them.
Automation actions available with the Transactional Email add-on
Send a transactional email
Found under the “Send” category. You must connect Postmark to MailBlue to use this action.
With this action you can send a transactional email from Postmark to a contact.
Automation actions available with specific apps
The “Apps” category offers a variety of actions that you can perform in your automation using an external application or integration. For example, you can add a contact to Google Sheets, send an SMS via Twilio, update contact details in Zendesk, and much more.
The availability of these actions depends on your subscription.
Still have questions?
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