Conditions are the visual automation equivalent of a fork in the road.

They ask 'yes' or 'no' questions that direct your subscribers down the appropriate path based on the answer that applies to them.

Within your visual automations, events are blue. 🚙

Using conditions is a great strategy to send personalized content that is still automated.

You can check whether a subscriber...

...and much more. Then you can customize the different paths in your automation accordingly.

Let's dive into how to utilize this powerful feature!

To add a condition to your visual automation, click the plus (+) sign symbol, then select 'Condition':

There are 3 options for conditions: Tag, Custom Field, and Advanced filter. Let's cover how each condition works!

This option will check whether a subscriber has a particular tag. Selecting the tag option will also reveal a toggle for you to select between Yes/No or Split Path:

Here's how each of those options work, with examples:

a. Yes/No

The Yes/No option will check for the presence of a single tag. Simply select the tag you want to check for from the dropdown, and then click 'Add Condition'.

For example, the condition in the screenshot below will check whether the subscriber has the 'Purchased Photography Course' tag, and send them down the path accordingly:

b. Split Path

Split paths allow you to check whether a subscriber has one of multiple tags.

First select 'Split path' from the toggle, and then select each of the tags you want to check for:

Once you click 'Add Condition', the split path will look something like this:

The subscriber will be sent down the path of the first positive match. Make sure you order the tags accordingly if you want one to take priority over another.

If they don't have any of the selected tags they'll be sent down the last 'Everyone else' path.

This option will check the value of a custom field. You'll have the option to toggle between Yes/No and Split Path:

Again, keep on reading for how each option works, with examples:

a. Yes/No

The Yes/No option will check the value of a single custom field against a criteria of your choosing.

From the top dropdown, select the custom field you'd like this condition to evaluate.

Using the second dropdown, select the option that you want to check the custom field against. There are several options — here's a breakdown:

For example, the condition below will check whether the value of the 'Photography Experience' custom field matches 'Expert':

And here's what that condition would look like in your automation once you click the 'Add Condition' button:

b. Split Path

A custom field split path will check whether the custom field you select matches one of several possible values.

Let's say you want to check whether the 'Photography Experience' custom field matches 'Beginner', 'Intermediate' or 'Expert'. You could set your custom field split path up like follows:

Once added to your automation, it'll look like this:

NOTE: The 'Everything else' option on the far right is a catch-all for subscribers who don't qualify for any of the other paths.

The advanced filter allows you to select and combine different criteria. If your subscriber matches the criteria you select, they'll go down the 'yes' path, and vice versa.

These filters are the same as those you'd use when creating a segment, with a few exceptions: products, segments, and engagement score cannot be used as filters within conditions.

Here's an example of how the setup for an advanced custom field might look:

In the above condition, the subscriber will proceed down the 'yes' path if they have both the 'Purchased Photography Course' tag and the 'Attended Webinar' tag.

Once added to your automation, this type of condition will simply say 'Matches Advanced filter':

To review or edit the condition criteria, simply hover over the condition and then click 'Edit step':

That's it!

Keep reading to learn more about how visual automations work in ConvertKit. 👇