How to Create an Automation that Starts on a Special Date

With SendPulse, you can send automated messages to subscribers on special dates specified in your mailing list. Send automations on your subscribers' birthdays, webinar dates, customer registration anniversaries, or first order dates.

Create a Variable

First, make sure that you have created a variable using the "Date" type in your mailing list.

If there is no such variable, create it. To do this, go to the "Mailing Lists" section, and click Create variable.

Enter your variable name, and select the "Date" type.

Click Add.

Create an Automation

Go to "Automations360" section and click Create automation.

Configure Automation Settings

Enter your automation name, specify the sender, connect Google analytics, and select the unsubscribe page and unsubscribe form's language.

Set Your Series Start

With the start of the series on a special date, the automation flow will start when the date specified in the contact variable comes.

Select a mailing list and a variable with the desired date. Specify when you want to start the flow — yearly or once.

The option "Yearly (on month and day)" means that the flow will be launched for the selected mailing list contacts every year on the date specified in the variable. The "Use date from variable" option means that the flow will be launched on the date specified in the variable once.

Additionally, you can configure the flow start before or after the specified date.

Check whether you want the series stop to be triggered by an event, and select this event. You can also count the series stop as a conversion.

Add an Element to Send a Message

In Automation 360, you can send a message to the user via "Email," "SMS," "Push," and "Messenger" elements.

Email

Drag the "Email" element into the editor field, and specify the start message’s sending time. Enter your email subject and preheader, and add your variables from the mailing list. Select a template. Additionally, you can attach files to your email.

Read more about block execution conditions in the article: Element (block) execution time.

SMS

Drag the "SMS" element into the editor field, and specify the start message’s sending time. Enter the SMS sender's name and SMS text. You can personalize the message text and insert more variables.

You can enter up to 11 Latin characters in combination with numbers as your SMS sender name, including spaces. Entering numbers without letters is not allowed.

Additionally, you can add the unsubscribe link, which will add from 23 to 25 characters to the overall length of your message text.

Push

Drag the "Push" element to the editor, and select the recipients of your push message. Enter the start notification’s sending time, title, text, and a web push link. Specify the web push lifetime.

Additionally, you can replace the standard push notification image.

Messenger

Drag the "Messenger" element into the editor field, and specify the start message’s sending time. Select the chatbot with the help of which you want to send a message to subscribers.

Note: the recipient must be subscribed to the chatbot using which you will send the message and have an email or phone number included in your chatbot's Audience. Read more about how to get additional variables: Messenger in Automation 360 and How to Manage Subscribers and Their Data in Your Chatbot Audience.

Choose an action: send a message or start a flow.

In the "Message" block, enter your message text. You can also add variables and emoji to the text.

Add Additional Elements

Additionally, you can add other elements to diversify the functionality of the flow. For example, you can add the "Condition" element to track your email opens and deliverability or the "Filter" element to branch the flow based on the variable value.

Save and Launch

Once you've finished setting up your flow, save and launch it.

As soon as the date from the variable in your contact's mailing list comes, they will receive your message.

Last Updated: 17.01.2023