Activate and test an automation

A new automation is a Draft and enrols nobody. It does nothing at all until you activate it.

Before activating

Work down the flow once:

1. The trigger is the right one. Audience-joined and segment-entered behave differently — see Automation triggers.
2. Every Send Email step has content and a subject.
3. The first delay is long enough. Too-short delays are the usual cause of complaints.
4. Any AI Step sits behind a Condition, so it does not run for everyone — see What an AI Step costs.

Test it on yourself first

Add yourself as a contact and trigger the flow the way a real contact would — join the audience, or match the segment. Then watch what actually arrives.

Trigger it the real way rather than assuming. Most automation problems are entry problems: the flow is fine, but nobody is getting into it.

Remember delays apply to you too. A flow with a two-day first delay will not email you today.

Activate

Set the automation to Active. From then on it enrols contacts that match its trigger.

Activating does not reach backwards. Contacts who matched the trigger before you activated it are not swept in. A welcome flow activated today greets people who arrive from today.

Watch the first day

For a new flow, check after a few hours:

• Are contacts entering at all? If not, see Why has nobody entered my automation?.
• Are they entering far faster than expected? A trigger matching more broadly than intended is easier to fix in the first hour than the first week.

Pausing

Set it to Paused to stop enrolling. Contacts already in the flow stop progressing and resume from where they were when you reactivate — they do not jump ahead or restart.

Archived retires a flow you are finished with.

Next: add yourself as a contact, trigger the flow the real way, and confirm the first email arrives before setting it Active.