Automations Setup

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Overview

When needed: When implementing Engage (email/SMS marketing automation) Reach’s automation system allows your customers to run sophisticated marketing campaigns without building them from scratch. Instead of expecting SMBs to understand email marketing strategy, you provide them with pre-configured, industry-specific automations that work out of the box.

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Understanding the Automation Architecture

Automations (Campaigns): Multi-step workflows triggered by customer behavior or events. Examples: welcome series after first purchase, win-back campaigns for inactive customers, appointment reminders, renewal notifications. Broadcasts: One-time messages sent to a segment. Your customers can create these themselves from scratch using the message builder. Segments (Audiences): Groups of customers defined by attributes or behaviors. Examples: “customers with 1+ pets who haven’t booked boarding,” “policy holders up for renewal in 30 days,” “customers who spent $500+ last quarter.” Merge Fields: Dynamic placeholders that insert personalized data into messages. Examples: {{First Name}}, {{Business Name}}, {{Upcoming Appointment Date}}. Key Distinction: Your customers can edit automation templates you provide, but they cannot create new automations from scratch. They can, however, create one-time Broadcasts whenever they want. This keeps the experience simple while preventing them from reinventing wheels you’ve already built.

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The Automation Template Process

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Step 1: You Define Your Automation Library

Reach provides you with a template document to define all automations you want available to your customers. For each automation, you’ll specify: Basic Information:

• Name: What customers will see (e.g., “Welcome New Clients,” “Win Back Inactive Customers”)
• Description: Brief explanation of what the automation does and when it triggers

Message Sequence: For each email or SMS in the automation:

• Channel: Email, SMS, or both
• Timing: When to send relative to the trigger event (e.g., “immediately after purchase,” “3 days after last visit,” “30 days before renewal date”)
• Subject Line (for email): The email subject
• Message Content: Full email or SMS copy, including merge fields

Segment Definition:

• Trigger Conditions: What causes someone to enter this automation (e.g., “customer makes first purchase,” “appointment is completed,” “invoice is 30 days past due”)
• Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: Additional filters (e.g., “location is in California”, “has more than one pet”, “does not have auto policy”)

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Step 2: Deciding What Data to Expose

Your automation templates will reference data from your schemas (customer attributes, transaction details, custom fields). You control which fields become available as: Merge Fields: Data that can be inserted into message content Segmentation Attributes: Data that can be used to build audience filters This is done in your schema definition by setting the fields to expose.

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Step 3: Reach Builds Your Automation Library

Once you submit your completed template, Reach will:

1. Create Automation Templates: Configure each automation exactly as specified in your template
2. Build Default Segments: Set up the audience logic for each automation’s trigger conditions
3. Configure Merge Fields: Map your schema fields to the message builder so they’re available for dynamic insertion
4. Test Thoroughly: Verify all automations trigger correctly, messages render properly, and segments identify the right customers

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Step 4: Automations Deploy with Each New Tenant

When one of your customers activates Engage for the first time: Automatic Setup:

• They will be prompted to go through an onboarding flow that collects their business and branding details
• All your defined automations are instantly available in their account and the customer decides which to activate and which not to
• Automations set to “Active” by default start running immediately
• Automations set to “Inactive” are visible but won’t send until the customer turns them on

What Customers See:

• Clean list of pre-built campaigns relevant to their business
• Toggles to turn each automation on/off
• Preview of message content
• Ability to edit message copy and design

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Customer Customization Capabilities

Your customers can personalize the automations you’ve provided without breaking them: What Customers Can Edit:

• Message copy and subject lines
• Merge field insertion (selecting from available fields you’ve exposed)
• Turning automations on/off

What Customers Cannot Do:

• Create new automations from scratch (they can create one-time Broadcasts instead)
• Access data fields you haven’t exposed
• Delete automations you’ve provided (they can deactivate them)
• Change timing/sequencing of automations
• Modify segments used for automations

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Iteration and Updates

Adding New Automations: Work with Reach to define additional automations for your library. These will be added to all customer accounts during a scheduled deployment. Updating Existing Automations: If you want to modify default content or logic, Reach can push updates to the templates. Customers who haven’t customized a specific automation will receive the updates automatically; those who have edited will keep their customizations. Seasonal or Event-Based Campaigns: You can work with Reach to create timely automations (holiday promotions, end-of-year reminders, etc.) and schedule them to become available to all customers at the right time.

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Example Automation Definitions

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Example 1: Welcome New Customer

Name: Welcome New Customers Description: Sent immediately after a customer’s first purchase to thank them and set expectations Trigger: Customer makes first purchase (transaction count = 1) Messages:

1. Email - Immediately after purchase
   • Subject: Welcome to {{Business Name}}!
   • Body: Thank you for choosing us, {{First Name}}! We’re excited to serve you…
2. Email - 3 days later
   • Subject: Here’s what to expect next
   • Body: Hi {{First Name}}, just wanted to follow up…

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Example 2: Win-Back Inactive Customers

Name: Win Back Inactive Customers Description: Re-engage customers who haven’t made a purchase in 90 days Trigger: Last purchase date > 90 days ago Exclusion: Already received this automation in last 180 days Messages:

1. Email - When they become inactive
   • Subject: We miss you, {{First Name}}!
   • Body: It’s been a while since we’ve seen you. Here’s 15% off your next visit…
2. SMS - 7 days later (if no purchase)
   • Body: {{First Name}}, your 15% off code expires soon! Use: WELCOME15

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Phase 6 Checklist

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Next Steps