Managing Workflows
What are the different workflow reports available, and what do they track?
Contact-based report
This tracks the number of contacts who have entered, exited, re-enrolled, and achieved the goal within the overall workflow.
Message-based report
The message-based report provides email performance metrics for contacts who entered the Send Email component within the workflow.
Workflow view report
This report shows the contacts entered, exited, and skipped count in each component.
What are conditional workflows, and what are their types?
There are three types of conditional workflows: instant, time-based, and activity-based.
Instant conditional workflow
An instant conditional workflow is a type of automated workflow that executes actions immediately when contacts meet a predefined set of conditions. It’s called “instant” because there’s no time delay or scheduling involved. Once a contact meets the configured criteria you’ve set, the associated actions are triggered instantly. It’s called “conditional” because the configured actions occur only when specific conditions (criteria) are met.
Time-based conditional workflow
A time-based conditional workflow is a type of automated workflow where a series of actions are triggered based on a scheduled time or recurring intervals for contacts who meet specific criteria at the configured time.
Activity-based conditional workflow
An activity-based conditional workflow is specifically triggered by a contact’s direct actions or activity related to sent campaigns or signup forms. Unlike instant or time-based conditional workflows, activity-based workflows are based on what the contact performs.
When do different types of workflows trigger, and who do they trigger for?
Instant workflows
The workflow will trigger for any contacts as soon as they meet the specified criteria.
Time-based workflows
This type of workflow will be triggered for any contacts who meet the specified criteria. You can make these workflows run once or periodically at a specific time.
Activity-based workflows
This workflow will be triggered for contacts who perform specific actions. For example, if you set an activity-based workflow for campaign opens, it will trigger when any of the contacts open the campaign.
Activity-based workflows will trigger for contacts as soon as they perform the specified action.
What actions can be performed in instant and time-based conditional workflows?
Available workflow actions include: Push to Custom Function, Remove Contacts from List, Add Contacts to List, Send Email, Push Data to CRM, Update Fields, Add Score, Assign Tags, Remove Tags, and Add Webhook.
How do you create workflows in Zoho Campaigns?
In the navigation tool bar (left panel), go to Automation → Create Workflows. You can choose from the available templates or create a custom workflow. To create a custom workflow, go to Automation > Create Workflows > Custom Workflow.
What sections are on the custom workflow creation page?
The custom workflow creation page is divided into three core sections that work together to automate your marketing actions: Trigger, Process, and Actions.
How do criteria and criteria patterns work in workflows?
You can give a maximum of six conditions as criteria and change the pattern as you wish.
If you choose to use all six criteria, the default pattern is:
“( ( ( ( ( 1 and 2 ) and 3 ) and 4 ) and 5 ) and 6 )”.
However, you can choose between the operators “And” or “Or” between the conditions. If you want to change the position of the parentheses, click Change pattern to edit the pattern.
What are entities?
Entities are the items that can be linked to an activity-based workflow to define where the workflow should track or respond to activities. In activity-based workflows, the supported entities are campaigns and signup forms.
How are entities associated with activity-based workflows?
You can associate campaigns and signup forms with an activity-based workflow. Make sure that the workflow is active before you associate them.
You can associate any number of entities with one workflow provided the workflow is active.
The workflow has to be activated before associating it with any entities.
What happens when time-based workflows are reordered?
Reordering time-based workflows in the list view won’t have any impact on the execution order of your workflows, because time-based workflows trigger on the scheduled date and time.
When will a workflow stop?
Instant and time-based workflows will stop when:
The source list has been deleted.
All of the defined actions have been stopped.
Custom fields used in the workflow criteria have been deleted.
One-time workflows will stop after triggering at the scheduled time.
Activity-based workflows will stop when:
Activity-based workflows will stop when:
All of the defined actions have been stopped.
Custom fields used in the workflow criteria have been deleted.
What will cause actions in a workflow to stop?
Actions will stop for the following reasons:
- If the action is “Add to another list”, the target list (i.e., the list you’ve selected to add the subscribers to) may have been deleted.
- If the action is “Push to Zoho CRM”, the custom field mapped to Zoho CRM may have been deleted.
- If the action is “Update fields”, the custom field may have been deleted.
- If the action is “Assign tags”, the tags set for contact assignment may have been deleted.
- If the action is “Remove tags”, the tags to be removed from contacts may have been deleted.
Can you view, edit, or delete another user’s workflow?
You can view and edit another user’s workflow provided you have the required permissions to do so. You can only delete another user’s workflow if you’re the organization administrator. Organization users cannot delete other users’ workflows.
Who are skipped contacts, and how can you view them?
Contacts who didn’t have actions performed on them are listed as “skipped contacts”.
To view skipped contacts:
- From the Navigation toolbar, choose Automation and select Workflow.
- Select the intended workflow from the List view.
- Navigate to the action you want to view and click the Report icon.
- Click Skipped Contacts.
To learn why your contacts are skipped, read this article on how contacts get skipped in your workflow components.
Why are contacts skipped in specific actions?
While sending an email
Contacts will be skipped when:
- The email address is invalid.
- There are deliverability issues and soft bounces.
- While pushing subscriber data to Zoho CRM
Contacts will be skipped when:
- There’s data missing in mandatory fields of the Standard Layout in Zoho CRM that have been mapped against the Zoho Campaigns fields.
- Data entry in certain fields of the Standard Layout in Zoho CRM is invalid.
- There’s a permission denial for the contact in Zoho CRM.
- There’s a permission denial for the account in Zoho CRM.
What is a smart list, and how does it work in workflows?
A smart list contains only those contacts who meet the criteria specified in the workflow. If at any point a contact stops meeting the criteria you’ve set for the smart list, they’ll be removed from the smart list automatically.
To add a smart list in your instant workflow:
- From the Navigation toolbar, select Automation and choose workflows.
- Click Create Workflow (in the top-right corner).
- Click Conditional Workflow, select Instant, and click Create.
- Provide the following information:
- The name of the workflow for future reference.
- Select a mailing list to associate with the workflow. If necessary, you can create a new mailing list.
- Set up criteria defining the conditions under which your contacts should be categorized. You can set up to six criteria and set the criteria pattern as of your choice. You can also define the conditions based on consent status as a criteria.
- Select the “Add contacts to another list” action to be performed. Contacts who meet the criteria will be added to another mailing list, i.e, a target list. Select your target list from the dropdown or create a new mailing list.
- Select the “Mark as Smart List” option. When you mark your target list as a smart list, the workflow will add the contacts that meet the specified criteria to the list.
- Click Activate Now to enable the workflow immediately or click Save as Draft for use in the future.
After the workflow is activated:
- If you’ve selected an existing mailing list from the dropdown as your target/smart list, contacts already present in the list will be removed automatically if they stop meeting the criteria.
- If any new contact added to the smart list through the workflow (i.e., those who met the specified criteria) stops meeting the criteria, they will be removed from the list.
- The smart list, at any point of time, will hold only those contacts who match the criteria specified in the workflow.
Note: The contacts who don’t meet the specified criteria in your workflow will be removed only from the smart list, but will remain active in your mailing lists.
What happens if the same smart list is associated with multiple workflows?
Workflow triggers are sequential; at any point, the smart list will only contain contacts who match the criteria of the last triggered workflow.
Why can’t you delete your workflow?
In Zoho Campaigns, you must first freeze the workflow, then shut it down and finally delete it.
To delete a workflow:
- From the Navigation toolbar, select Automation then choose Workflows.
- Hover over the workflow you want to delete and click the Freeze icon.
- Once your workflow is frozen, click the Shutdown icon.
- Wait for the workflow to shut down completely and click the Delete icon.
Alternatively:
- From the Navigation toolbar, select Automation then choose Workflows.
- Select the workflow you want to delete and click the Freeze button.
- Once your workflow is frozen, click Shutdown.
- Wait for the workflow to shut down completely and click the Delete button.
What are freezing and shutting down a workflow?
Freezing a workflow
When you freeze a workflow, it will stop accepting new contacts and perform actions only for subscribers who have already entered the workflow. You can resume the workflow anytime.
Shutting down a workflow
A workflow that is shut down will not perform actions on any contact, even those who have already entered the workflow. You cannot activate a workflow once it’s shut down.
What are the limits related to workflows and components?
You can create multiple workflows; there are no limits for this.
Generally, there’s no limit to workflow components, but we recommend keeping the number of components minimal to maintain simplicity and avoid complexity.
What happens to workflows during account downgrade or suspension?
The workflow would stop and can be resumed manually once the account is upgraded.
The reasons may include the contact limit being exceeded, which breaches the subscription limit, or it may be due to a downgrade of the subscription because the renewal wasn’t successful.
Can contacts be part of multiple workflows or re-enroll into workflows?
Yes. Contacts can enter multiple workflows if they meet different trigger conditions. Contacts can re-enroll into active workflows if they meet the required trigger conditions.
Re-enrollment using the Enter a Segment trigger
- Select the active workflow with the “Enter a Segment” trigger configured.
- Click the Settings icon above your workflow canvas.
- Under For contacts to re-enroll into your workflows, enable re-entry.
- Select the Enter a Segment option and click Apply.
Re-enrollment using the List Entry trigger
- Select the active workflow with the “List Entry” trigger configured.
- Click the Settings icon above your workflow canvas.
- Under For contacts to re-enroll into your workflows, enable re-entry.
- Select the List entry option and click Apply.
How does editing an active workflow affect contacts and components?
1. If a component is deleted, some of the old contacts may become stuck and fail to proceed.
User scenario
You have an active workflow for a list of contacts who've attended your “How to be a good content marketer” webinar. You've set up the workflow so that the list of contacts entering the workflow through the selected list will have their job title updated to “Content Marketer” and be assigned a new tag.
Realizing that everyone who attended the webinar aren’t content marketers, you decide to delete that component. So you edit the workflow and delete the “update field” component and reactivate the workflow. Here, the contacts who've already entered the “update field” component will be stuck and won’t move forward in the workflow, and only the new contacts will be assigned with the new tag.
2. If a component is moved from one path to another, all contacts present in the component will move along with it.
3. If a component is moved above another component, old contacts who’ve already performed the actions will not move further.
User scenario
You have an active workflow for a list of contacts who've attended a special content marketers event. You've set a simple condition when the contacts enter the component. If a contact is a content marketer, you’ll add a score, create a task to be performed in CRM, and move them to a new list. If contacts don't satisfy the condition they’ll be removed from the list.
However, you need the contacts to perform the tasks in CRM first before proceeding in the workflow. So you edit the workflow and move the components as intended and reactivate the workflow. Contacts who satisfy the condition will first perform their tasks in CRM, a score will be added to them and then they’ll be moved to a new list. In this case, old contacts who've already performed the task will not re-enter the “Create task” component and won’t enter the new list. Only new contacts will move further in the workflow.
4. If the email activity component is edited, only new contacts will enter the component.
User scenario
You have an active workflow for a list of contacts who've performed some actions on an email campaign sent to them. You set up the workflow using a predefined list and configured the email activity component for the delivered and opened actions. All contacts who have received an email will be added to a list and contacts who have opened the email will be assigned a new tag.
You want to change the tag to be assigned to contacts who've opened the email. So you edit the workflow and delete the previous tag. Now you add a new tag to be assigned to the contacts and reactivate the workflow. Here, only new contacts will be assigned to the new tag and the old contacts assigned to the previous tag won’t re-enter the workflow because an action has already been performed on them.
5. If the email response action is edited, both new and old contacts will enter the component if they satisfy the set criteria.
User scenario
You have an active workflow that sends an email to the contacts entering the selected list. You've configured the email response for contacts who have received the email to be assigned a tag, and a score will be added to contacts who have opened the email.
However, you edit the email response by removing the delivered path and adding the “Clicked on any link” path to the workflow. Here, both old and new contacts will enter further processes of the workflow when they satisfy the set condition.
6. If workflow paths are reorganized, some old contacts may not move forward and further actions may not be performed on them.
User scenario
You have an active workflow that will be triggered for a list of contacts who have entered the workflow through a signup form. You've set up the workflow for these contacts to be added to a new list. Then you update their job title field to “Content Marketer” and assign them a “Marketer” tag.
You realize you want to assign the tag to the contacts first and then update their job title. So you reorganize the workflow by placing the “assign tag” component over the “update field” component and reactivate the workflow. In this case, all of the old contacts whose job titles have already been updated won’t be assigned the new tag; only new contacts entering the workflow who have opened the email will be assigned a new tag first and then have their job titles updated.
7. The wait time process that hasn’t yet expired is unlikely to be affected.
Contacts will not enter the path that precedes the wait time component of the workflow if the wait time process has expired or completed.
What is a workflow template in Zoho Campaigns?
Workflow templates are pre-designed templates available in the application. They consist of a series of steps using components configured in a specific order to achieve the planned outcomes. We offer pre-defined workflow templates tailored to various use cases, including Welcome/Onboarding, Nurture Series, Re-engagement, Customer Retention, E-commerce, and Conditional Workflows.
You can also add the predefined templates to the Library or create a custom template from scratch and save it for future use. All saved workflow templates can be found under Library > Workflow Templates.
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