The language of automated flows

This page brings together the main terms related to workflows in magnews and aims to clarify the core concepts that help you design, read, and interpret a workflow in a more informed way.

One workflow for each goal

A flow, or workflow, is a sequence of automated actions that magnews triggers when a contact performs a specific action, such as completing a survey, making a purchase, or abandoning a cart. 
A workflow is built through nodes, meaning the individual steps that define what happens from the initial event to the following actions.
It is one of the key tools of marketing automation, the process that relies on technology to execute repetitive marketing activities, such as the automated and scheduled sending of communications. In this way, the data synced with your account becomes the foundation for sending email or SMS messages and guiding the contact along their journey.

Depending on the goal, you can use different types of workflows:

• Conversion workflows
  Guide contacts toward a clear goal, such as a purchase or a repeat purchase

• Lead acquisition workflows
  Support the first moment of interaction with a new lead through welcome messages. They typically start from a subscription or a first interaction and help kick off the relationship, for example with a welcome email that confirms the sign-up, presents the brand’s value, or introduces the next steps of the journey

• Loyalty workflows
  Focus on retention by strengthening the relationship of trust with contacts over time, for example through a post-purchase feedback request

• Nurturing workflows
  Build and grow valuable relationships through relevant and ongoing communications, for example with a birthday greeting email

• Re-engagement workflows
  Help reactivate inactive or low-engagement contacts by bringing them back into a relationship with the brand, for example through dedicated discounts

Other useful concepts

When working with workflows, you will also come across some cross-cutting terms that help you better understand what happens in the flow and how contacts behave:

• A/B Test
  Allows you to compare multiple versions of the same communication to understand which performs better. 
  Contacts are automatically distributed across variants according to a defined probability and continue through the workflow based on the assigned path. Performance is evaluated on concrete goals such as clicks, form submissions, or purchases.
  Example: one group of users receives version A, another version B, and another version C, so you can analyze which one achieved the best results.
• Bounce
  Refers to an email communication that is not delivered because the recipient’s mail server rejects it
• Entry limits
  Used to control who can enter a workflow by filtering contacts based on their behavior or profile attributes
• Draft or active message
  A draft message is the initial state of a communication: as long as it remains in draft, no contact receives the email. An active message, on the other hand, is automatically sent when the contact reaches that point in the workflow. 

To see the full list of nodes and understand how to use them, visit the dedicated page.