核心概念
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2 min read
What is an Automation?
An Automation is an always-on journey that runs a sequence of actions over time — like a welcome email series.
An Automation is a saved, always-on journey that carries out a sequence of Actions over time — the "set it up once and it runs forever" part of Zalify.
In plain terms
An Automation is a workflow on autopilot. Instead of a single action happening once, it's a multi-step journey that unfolds over hours or days: send a welcome email, wait two days, send an offer, and so on. You build it once; it runs for every person who qualifies, around the clock, without you.
A typical example
A welcome series:
- Someone joins your "Newsletter" List — this starts the automation.
- Immediately: send a welcome email with a coupon.
- Wait 2 days.
- Then: if they haven't bought, send a reminder.
Every new subscriber goes through the same journey automatically, each starting from their own signup moment.
What starts an Automation
An Automation begins when someone meets its entry condition — most often joining a List. That moment is an Event picked up by a Trigger, which starts the journey.
Automation vs. a one-off send
An Automation is ongoing and personal — it runs continuously and each person moves through it on their own timeline. A broadcast, by contrast, is a single message sent to a whole List or Segment at one moment (a launch announcement, say). Use automations for journeys; use broadcasts for news.
How it connects
An Automation ties the other concepts together: an Event and Trigger start it, a List or Segment defines who's in it, and a chain of Actions is what it carries out.
See the whole picture
For how all eight concepts fit together, read How Zalify fits together.