Automations

Build automated email flows triggered by user actions or timeframes. Brew’s AI makes automations easy and on-brand

What are Automations?

Automations are multi-step email flows that are automatically triggered by specific contact actions, behaviors, or timeframes.

Automations are most commonly used for onboarding new customers, driving product adoption, nurturing leads, retaining customers, upselling customers, and winning back those who have become inactive.

Common Automation Examples

Welcome

Introduce your brand and set expectations

Sample prompts:

Create a 3-email welcome flow for new leads: first email introduces our brand and value, second shares a customer success story, third sets expectations for future communications.

Build a triggered welcome flow for new newsletter subscribers: send a welcome, then a follow-up with top resources, then a check-in asking for their main goal.

Create a 3-email welcome flow for new subscribers that introduces our product features and includes helpful getting started tips.

Introduce your brand and set expectations

Sample prompts:

Create a 3-email welcome flow for new leads: first email introduces our brand and value, second shares a customer success story, third sets expectations for future communications.

Build a triggered welcome flow for new newsletter subscribers: send a welcome, then a follow-up with top resources, then a check-in asking for their main goal.

Create a 3-email welcome flow for new subscribers that introduces our product features and includes helpful getting started tips.

Guide customers to their first success and build trust

Sample prompts:

Create a 4-step onboarding flow for new customers: send a setup guide, then a product tour, then a usage tips email, then a check-in to schedule a success call.

Build an onboarding flow triggered by account activation: first email shares a checklist, second provides a video walkthrough, third offers best practices, fourth requests feedback on setup.

Design an onboarding flow for new users: send a welcome, then a personalized getting started plan, then a reminder to complete their profile, then a case study from a similar customer.

Keep your customers engaged and reduce churn

Sample prompts:

Create a monthly engagement flow: send a product update, then a usage summary, then a tips & tricks email, then a feedback request.

Build a triggered retention flow for customers with declining usage: first email offers help, second shares advanced features, third invites them to a customer roundtable.

Design a renewal flow for annual contracts: send a 30-day reminder, then a 7-day reminder, then a day-of-renewal email, each with a summary of value delivered.

Recommend complementary products or upgrades

Sample prompts:

Create a 3-step upsell flow for basic plan users: first email introduces premium features, second shares a case study, third offers a free trial upgrade.

Build a cross-sell flow triggered by a product purchase: send a thank you, then a recommendation for a complementary solution, then a bundled offer.

Design an upgrade flow for power users: first email highlights usage analytics, second shares ROI examples, third invites them to schedule a call with sales.

Reactivate dormant customers

Sample prompts:

Create a 3-email win-back flow for users inactive 60+ days: first email recaps new features, second shares a customer testimonial, third offers a limited-time consultation.

Build a reactivation flow for churned customers: first email is a personalized message from the founder, second summarizes recent improvements, third offers a special return incentive.

Design a feedback and re-engagement flow for recently canceled accounts: first email requests feedback, second offers a call to discuss, third shares a new feature relevant to their needs.

Creating an Automation

To create an automation, go to the Create page, select Automations from the dropdown in the top left corner, and describe your goal. Brew’s AI handles the heavy lifting—instantly building a flow where both the logic and every email are tailored to your selected audience, written in your brand voice, designed to match your design system, and informed by your knowledge. Review the flow and each email, make any tweaks you want, and launch high-converting automations in minutes.

1. Describe your automation

   Tell Brew what you need:

   Create a 3-email welcome flow for new subscribers that introduces our product features and includes helpful getting started tips.

   The more specific you are about purpose, length, and content, the better your flow will be.

   What are merge tags? Merge tags let you insert dynamic content (like a contact’s name or company) into your emails. Brew automatically adds merge tags for you, so every message feels personal and relevant.

   For automations tied to customer journeys, use a dedicated contact property (like subscriptionStatus) to trigger onboarding, payment issue, or re-engagement flows. Update this property via API or integrations to automate user journeys and ensure contacts enter the right flows at the right time.

2. Review the generated flow

   Brew does the heavy-lifting, creating the entire automation flow—including triggers, timing, branching, and email content. Now you can review and edit it. To do this, you’ll want to understand the main building blocks of an automation: Triggers & Nodes.

   What are Triggers & Nodes?

   • Triggers are what start your automation flow. They answer the question: “When should this flow begin, and for whom?” For example, a trigger could be when a new contact is added, when someone joins a subscription group, or when a specific event happens.

   Show Triggers

   You can choose from four trigger types:

   1. Contact added: Starts the flow when a new contact joins your audience (great for welcome or onboarding flows).
      • How it works: Contacts added via API, form, or integration will trigger this flow. Contacts added manually or via CSV upload will only trigger if you select the “Trigger automations” option during upload. Contacts added individually to the audience table will not be included unless specified.
      • Best practice: Use for onboarding, welcome, or activation flows to ensure every new contact receives a tailored experience.
   2. Added to subscription group: Starts when a contact is added to a specific subscription group (ideal for segment-specific journeys).
      • How it works: Select the subscription group from the trigger node. This trigger fires every time a contact is added to the group, even if they are removed and re-added. Learn more about Subscription Groups.
      • Best practice: Use for flows that should only target specific segments or audiences. For example, send a special onboarding flow to new members of your “Product Updates” group.
   3. Contact updated: Starts when a contact’s property changes (perfect for status-based or engagement flows).
      • How it works: You can specify which property change should trigger the flow (e.g., “plan” changes from “free” to “paid” or a custom property like subscriptionStatus).
      • Best practice: Use for upgrade, downgrade, payment issue, or milestone-based flows. Updating these properties via API or integrations is the best way to automate customer journeys at scale.
   4. Event received: Starts when a specific event is sent via API or integration (enables behavior-based and product-triggered flows).
      • How it works: This trigger is great for events like payment received, order placed, or a new message received.
      • Best practice: Use for flows that should react to real-time product or user activity.

   Trigger frequency: You can choose whether a flow should run only the first time a contact matches the trigger (“Once”) or every time the condition is met (“Every time”). For example, send a welcome email only the first time a contact is added, or send a notification every time a property is updated.

   Changing trigger type: You can change the trigger type for your flow at any time. This gives you flexibility to adapt your automation as your needs evolve.

   • Nodes are the steps that happen after the trigger. Each node tells Brew what to do next—like sending an email, waiting a certain amount of time, filtering your audience, or splitting the flow into different paths (branching).

   Show Nodes

   There are four types of nodes you can use to build your flow:

   1. Send email:
      • How it works: Sends an email to your audience at a specific step in the flow. For each email node, you can do one of two things:
        1. Choose an existing email from another automation, which will then be copied into your flow.
        2. Generate a new email—just like the campaign create flow: provide a prompt for the email, and Brew will generate the content for you. Every generated email is on-brand, using your brand voice, design system, and knowledge, and is based on best practices for high conversion. Brew’s AI automatically creates the subject line and preview text, and includes merge tags to tailor content to each recipient.
      • Best practice: Use clear, action-oriented content and personalize with contact or event properties (merge tags) for maximum impact.
   2. Timer:
      • How it works: Waits a set amount of time before the next action. Add a Timer node to space out emails or actions (e.g., wait 3 days after signup). Choose from preset intervals or set a custom duration. You can add multiple Timer nodes anywhere in your flow.
      • Best practice: Use timers to avoid overwhelming recipients and to optimize send times for engagement.
   3. Audience filter:
      • How it works: Targets or excludes specific contacts based on their properties or behaviors. When adding an audience filter, you can choose between two options:
        • Next node only: The filter applies only to the next node. Any changes to the contact’s value after the filter will not be taken into account for subsequent nodes.
        • All following nodes: The filter applies to every following node. If a contact’s value changes and they no longer match the filter, they will be removed from the flow.
      • Best practice: Use “All following nodes” for global filters (e.g., only send to paid users throughout the flow). Use “Next node only” for one-time checks. Combine audience filters with property-based triggers for precise targeting of lifecycle stages.
   4. Branching:
      • How it works: Splits your flow into different paths for personalized journeys. Branching allows you to send different emails or actions based on a contact’s properties or behaviors within a single flow. For example, you can send one set of emails to free users and a different set to paid users, or tailor follow-ups based on whether a user has completed a key action. When you add a branching node, two audience filter nodes are automatically created—one for each branch. You can edit the filter settings for each branch to target different segments. After a branch, audience filters can be set to:
        • All following nodes: The filter applies to all nodes downstream of the branch, removing contacts from the flow if they no longer match the filter.
        • Next node only: The filter applies only to the next node after the branch.
      • Best practice: Use branching to create highly personalized journeys, such as onboarding flows that adapt to user type, or re-engagement flows that change based on recent activity. Combine with audience filters and merge tags for even more precise targeting.
3. Customize if needed

   You don’t have to manually edit your flow—just tell Brew what you want to change, and it will do the work for you. Want to add a new email, change the timing, or split your flow? Just describe it in the assistant and Brew will update your flow instantly.

   Editing actions:

   • Add, remove, or rearrange nodes (emails, timers, filters, branches)
   • Edit email content, subject lines, and design
   • Adjust timing between messages
   • Add or remove branches for personalized journeys
   • Copy emails from other flows to reuse content
   • Use audience filters to target or exclude specific contacts
   • Save your changes before activating

   Testing & Preview:

   • Preview any email in your flow (send a test to yourself or a teammate)
   • Test your flow using contacts with example.com or test.com domains (no real emails will be sent)

   Personalization:

   • Personalize your emails with dynamic content: use contact properties (like names or custom fields) and event properties (data from triggering events) to tailor messages for each recipient. Brew’s AI automatically adds relevant merge tags based on your brand and audience data. Always provide fallback values for merge tags to ensure emails are sent even if some recipient data is missing.

   What are merge tags? Merge tags let you insert dynamic content (like a contact’s name or company) into your emails. Brew automatically adds merge tags for you, so every message feels personal and relevant.

   Brew automatically applies your brand voice and design system to every automation. You can further customize flows for specific customer journeys—such as onboarding, payment issues, or win-back—by editing content, timing, and branching as needed.

4. Activate your flow

   Once you’re satisfied with your flow, activate it to start sending automatically when trigger conditions are met.

   State	Color/Icon	Description
   Draft	gray	Flow is being created or edited and is not yet live. You can add, remove, or edit nodes in Draft mode. You must save before activating.
   Active	green with pulsating dot	Flow is live and processing contacts. Only flows with at least one Send email node can be set to Active. To make changes, pause or stop the flow first.
   Paused	orange with pause icon	Flow is temporarily suspended. New contacts that meet the trigger conditions will queue for up to 24 hours and enter the flow when you resume, as long as they still meet all criteria. After 24 hours, new contacts will not queue or enter until it’s active again. Pausing is useful for short-term changes or quick edits.
   Stopped	red with stop icon	Flow is fully halted. No new contacts will queue or enter the flow while stopped. Any contacts that were queued will not enter when resumed. Use stopping when you want to completely halt all flow activity.

   Not sure whether to pause or stop? Pause for quick edits or temporary changes. Stop if you want to fully halt all flow activity and prevent any new contacts from entering.

5. Monitor and analyze

   • Ask Brew: Click the “Ask Brew” button, select the flow you want to analyze, and ask any question about performance, trends, or improvement opportunities
   • Ask AI: Go to the Ask AI page in the side navigation, use @ to tag your flow, and ask specific questions about performance
   • View group metrics: see total sends, average open rate, and average click-through rate for each group of flows
   • View individual metrics: see sends, opens, and clicks for each flow
   • Use these insights to optimize your flows and drive better results

Managing and Monitoring Automations

The Automations dashboard displays all your email sequences in an organized view. You can filter by status, group automations, and view key performance metrics.

Understanding Automation status indicators

Each Automation has a status indicator showing its current state:

• Draft (Gray): Automation is created but not yet activated
• Active (Green with pulsating dot): Automation is currently running
• Paused (orange with pause icon): Automation is temporarily stopped
• Stopped (Red with stop icon): Automation is fully halted and will not process or queue any new contacts You can filter automations by status to focus on specific automation stages.

Creating Automation groups

Organize your automations into logical categories for better management:

1. Click “Add a new group” in the top left corner
2. Provide a descriptive name (e.g., “Onboarding,” “Recovery,” or “Lifecycle”)
3. Drag and drop automations into the appropriate groups Groups allow you to analyze performance across automation categories and identify which types generate the best results.

Performance metrics at a glance

The dashboard shows key performance metrics for each automation:

• Sends: Number of contacts who have entered the automation
• Opens: Average open rate across all emails in the sequence
• Clicks: Average click-through rate across all emails in the sequence Group headers display aggregate metrics, showing total sends and average engagement rates across all automations in that group.

Get AI-powered insights

Brew can analyze your automation performance in two ways:

1. Ask Brew: Click the “Ask Brew” button, select the automation you want to analyze, and ask any question about performance, trends, or improvement opportunities
2. Use Ask AI: Go to the Ask AI page in the side navigation, use @ to tag your automation, and ask specific questions about performance

Pausing, Stopping, and Testing Automations

• Pausing: Temporarily suspend your automation. While paused, new contacts that meet the trigger conditions will queue for up to 24 hours and enter the automation when you resume, as long as they still meet all criteria. After 24 hours, new contacts will not queue or enter until the automation is active again. Pausing is best for short-term edits or quick changes.
• Stopping: Fully halt your automation. No new contacts will queue or enter the automation while stopped, and any contacts that were queued will not enter when resumed. Use stopping when you want to completely halt all automation activity.
• Testing: Use test contacts with example.com or test.com domains to safely test your automations. No real emails will be sent to these addresses, so you can verify your setup without risk.
• Send preview emails from any node to see exactly what your contacts will receive.

Not sure whether to pause or stop? Pause for quick edits or temporary changes. Stop if you want to fully halt all automation activity and prevent any new contacts from entering.

Need Help?

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Click “Open in ChatGPT” at the top right of any page to analyze documentation with ChatGPT or Claude for deeper insights.

Search Documentation

Type in the “Ask any question” search bar at the top left to instantly find relevant documentation pages.

AI Assistant Chat

Click the sparkle ✨ icon next to the “Ask any question” search bar in the top left to chat with our AI assistant that’s been trained on our entire documentation.

ChatGPT/Claude Integration

Click “Open in ChatGPT” at the top right of any page to analyze documentation with ChatGPT or Claude for deeper insights.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the trigger type after creating an automation?

Yes, you can change the trigger type for any automation at any time. This allows you to adapt your automations as your business needs change.

What is trigger frequency?

Trigger frequency determines whether an automation runs only the first time a contact matches the trigger (“Once”) or every time the condition is met (“Every time”). Choose the option that best fits your use case.

Which contact addition methods trigger automations?

Contacts added via API, form, or integration will trigger automations. Contacts added manually or via CSV upload will only trigger if you select the “Trigger automations” option during upload. Always check your trigger settings to ensure the right contacts enter your automation.

How do audience filter scopes work?

When adding an audience filter, choose between “Next node only” (applies to the next node only) and “All following nodes” (applies to all subsequent nodes). After a branch, you can use these options for each branch to control targeting.

How do I use subscription groups in automations?

For the “Added to subscription group” trigger, select the group from the trigger node. For other triggers, use audience filters to target specific groups at any point in your automation.

Customer Journey Automation Templates

Use Case	Trigger Example	Audience Filter Example	Flow Contents
Onboarding	Contact added OR subscriptionStatus is empty	Match trigger	1–5 welcome/onboarding emails over 30 days
New Subscriber	subscriptionStatus changes to “Paying”	subscriptionStatus = “Paying”	1–3 emails about new features or benefits
Payment Issue	subscriptionStatus changes to “Failed”	subscriptionStatus = “Failed”	1–3 emails to resolve payment or account issue
Churn/Win-Back	subscriptionStatus changes to “Canceled”	subscriptionStatus = “Canceled”	1 goodbye/feedback email, then win-back flow