Creating a basic welcome Flow is a great way to introduce yourself to configuring Flows. Let's begin by covering the options controlling how and when the Flow will execute.
A Scheduled Flow
When you set up a scheduled Flow, you need to have a Target Group attached to the root Step of the Flow. Once you reach the time you scheduled your Flow for, the Flow is executed for the recipients in the Target Group at that point in time.
It's important to put filtering processes in place for recipients who have already gone through the Flow once.
Examples:
- The last Step of the email has a Side Effect which updates a Person Data field to indicate that the recipient has successfully passed through this Flow. Use this as a filter in your Target Group.
- Flow Setting 'Max Repetition per Recipient = 1'. On the root Step of the Flow, click Settings and enable 'Max Repetition per Recipient = 1'.
A scheduled Flow, set to execute every Monday at 10:00:00
A Triggered Flow
For a Triggered Flow, you don't need a Target Group as, for example, an Event or Person Data change will act as a trigger. The action or data change is directly tied to a specific recipient so no Target Group is needed. In fact, Flow Triggers override any Target Group you might have on the Flow.
Let's take a look at an example. Here, we will be using an Event as the Flow Trigger.
We've created a signup Portal Page which contains a 'questionnaire' app. This questionnaire has an Event attached to completing or submitting the form.
Signup form has the Event 'send_opt_in_email' attached to the submission button
On the Flow, don't attach a Target Group or set a Schedule. Instead, click the 'Triggers' section in the right sidebar, select 'Event', and select the Event attached to the signup form. In the number input field below the Event, input the number of Event activations required to trigger the Flow.
Learn more about Events.
A Flow configured to be triggered by a recipient activating 'send_opt_in_email' (Event) once
You've now created a basic single-step welcome Flow. From here, you may want to look into implementing Wait Steps or a Double Opt-in Campaign to ensure high data quality.