How to use Automation Goals

A Goal tells Transpond that a contact has finished an Automation. You can place a Goal at the end of a workflow, or set it to watch the whole workflow so contacts leave as soon as they meet it.

What you can use Goals for

• Mark a contact as complete when they reach the end of the workflow.
• Stop a sequence early when a contact does what you wanted, such as replying to an email or clicking a link.
• Remove contacts who join (or leave) a segment, so they stop getting emails that no longer apply.
• Let contacts re-enter the same Automation later, or move them into a different one.

How to add a Goal

1. Open your Automation and click the + icon where you want the Goal.
2. Select Stop when a Goal is reached and give it a name.
3. Choose the Goal type. Goals have the same options as Condition steps, for example:
   • Reached this Step: the contact is complete when they get to this point.
   • Campaign Activity or Workflow Campaign Activity: the contact opened, clicked, or replied to a campaign.
   • Segment Membership: the contact is in a segment.
4. Under Then..., choose what happens next:
   • End this Automation: the contact leaves and can't join again.
   • End this Automation, but allow contacts to re-join: the contact leaves and can enter again if they meet the trigger later.
   • Enter Another Automation: the contact moves straight into a different Automation.
5. Under For contacts who are..., choose when Transpond checks the Goal:
   • Anywhere in the workflow: Transpond checks the Goal before every step. As soon as the contact meets it, they leave the Automation. The Goal step can sit anywhere in the workflow.
   • At this position in the workflow.
6. Save your Automation.

Examples for using Automation Goals

Example 1: Stop emails when a contact joins a segment

Say you send a series of nurture emails to new leads. When someone becomes a customer, a tag adds them to your Customers segment, and you want the nurture emails to stop.

1. Add a Goal anywhere in the nurture Automation.
2. Set the Goal type to check whether the contact is in the Customers segment.
3. Choose Anywhere in the workflow.
4. Under Then..., choose End this Automation.

Transpond now checks the segment before every step. If the contact joins Customers partway through, they leave before the next email goes out. You don't need a Condition step after every email.

Example 2: Stop a sequence when someone replies

1. Make sure each email in the Automation has reply tracking turned on. Add a reply address in the email step. If you use Conversations, pick one of your Conversations inboxes when it appears.
2. Add a Goal with the type Workflow Campaign Activity and choose the reply activity for each email (one Goal per email).
3. Choose Anywhere in the workflow and End this Automation.

Good to know

• Goals are optional, but they matter if you want contacts to be able to re-enter the same Automation later.
• A Goal set to Anywhere in the workflow works like a single Condition step that runs before every step.