Move subscribers back to a Visual Automation you'd pulled them out of
While your subscribers are going through one Visual Automation, you can temporarily pause this Visual Automation to put them through a secondary Visual Automation that does something else.
Then, when they've finished that secondary Visual Automation, you slide them back into their place in the initial Visual Automation where they'd left off!
A common situation for this is when you're sending your subscribers a Sequence containing your evergreen newsletter. One of your evergreen newsletter emails contains a link to your course that, when clicked, will cause your subscribers to receive emails pitching that course to them.
And after they've finished receiving all emails in that course pitch Sequence, you want them to resume receiving the rest of your evergreen newsletter emails.
You can set this up using the Move subscriber Visual Automation Action, which lets you add and remove subscribers from Visual Automations.
Here's how to set up Visual Automations for implementing the above situation.
1. Create your default and secondary Sequences
The default Sequence is the Sequence your subscribers should receive (regardless of how they interact with the emails in the Sequence, if at all).
For example, this default Sequence could be your evergreen newsletter.
On the other hand, your secondary Sequence is the Sequence your subscribers will receive if they click a link in your default Sequence.
Feel free to skip this step if you already have Sequences you intend to use as your default and secondary Sequences.
2. Set up a Link Trigger in your default Sequence
A Link Trigger is a link that automatically takes an action in your ConvertKit account when a subscriber clicks it. These actions include adding the subscriber to a Tag—which is what we need here.
So, in the appropriate email in your default Sequence, set up a Link Trigger for a link that adds a subscriber to a certain Tag. You'll use this Tag to trigger the Visual Automation that sends the subscriber the secondary Sequence.
3. Set up your default Sequence to not be repeatable
Ensure your default Sequence is set up to not be repeatable. This is so that subscribers will receive only the emails they haven't received yet when they are re-added to the Sequence.
If the Sequence is set to be repeatable, subscribers will restart it from the beginning when they are re-added to the Sequence—and will receive emails they've already received.
You can set your Sequence to not be repeatable by navigating to the Settings tab in the Sequence editor.
Select the No, only allow subscribers to receive emails once option. Then, click Update Sequence at the bottom to save your changes.
4. Set up the Visual Automation for the main Sequence
Set up the main Visual Automation that sends your subscribers the default Sequence.
For example, if your main Visual Automation is for the sending of your evergreen newsletter, you could set it up like this:
Entry point: When a subscriber joins any Form or Landing Page
Action: Add the subscriber to your "Evergreen Newsletter" default Sequence
5. Set up the Visual Automation for the secondary Sequence
Next, set up the second Visual Automation that will pause the main Visual Automation to send the subscriber your secondary Sequence (and take any other actions you set up for it). It will also move the subscriber back to the main Visual Automation after that.
The second Visual Automation's steps should look like this:
Entry point: When a subscriber is added to a Tag (where this Tag is linked to the Link Trigger you set up earlier)
Action: Move subscriber > Remove from another automation > select your main Visual Automation
Action: Add the subscriber to your secondary Sequence
(Add more steps to your Visual Automation as needed)
Action: Move subscriber > Start another automation > select your main Visual Automation
6. Turn on both Visual Automations
Turn on both Visual Automations, and you're done!
Now, your subscribers will seamlessly move from the main Visual Automation to the secondary one midway when they click a Link Trigger in your main Visual Automation's Sequence.
And after they've finished going through your secondary Visual Automation, they'll rejoin your main Visual Automation where they'd left off. ⚡
These steps are helpful if you want to move subscribers to and from multiple Visual Automations. But if you want to repeatedly send subscribers through a single Visual Automation instead, then check out this article! 👇