Workflows are multi-step visual sequences that let you build automated journeys for your contacts. Unlike simple automations (which are a single trigger paired with a single action), workflows let you chain together emails, delays, conditions, A/B splits, drip subscriptions, and other actions into branching paths. This gives you full control over how contacts move through a process based on their behavior and attributes.
When to Use a Workflow
Workflows are the right tool when your automation needs go beyond a single trigger and action. Common use cases include:
Welcome sequences where you want to send a series of emails with delays, then branch based on engagement
Onboarding journeys that evaluate contact attributes at each step and send them down different paths
Re-engagement campaigns where inactive contacts receive targeted content, then get unsubscribed if they still don't engage
E-commerce flows like abandoned cart sequences or post-purchase follow-ups with conditional logic
A/B testing different email strategies within the same journey to see what drives more conversions
If your scenario is a straightforward "when X happens, do Y," a simple automation is the better choice. But if you need delays between steps, conditional branching, multiple actions in sequence, or split testing, use a workflow.
Step 1: Create a New Workflow
Go to Automate in the main navigation
Click Workflows
Click Create New Workflow
You'll see a template selection screen. SendX offers several pre-built templates to help you get started quickly:
New promotion – Send promotions and update custom fields based on campaign interaction
Welcome Email – Greet new subscribers and encourage a purchase after signup
Shopify Order Created – Send a receipt and seamless shopping experience after purchase
Simple welcome email – A quick workflow to welcome new contacts
Win back inactive contacts – Re-engage unengaged contacts and unsubscribe inactive ones
Retarget contacts – Send a new offer based on contact interests
Abandoned Cart Workflow – Reach shoppers who added items to cart but didn't check out
Start from scratch – Build your workflow from a blank canvas
Each template has a Choose Template button to use it and a Preview button to see the workflow structure before committing. For this guide, we'll start from scratch.
Step 2: Configure the Trigger Node
The trigger node is the first element in every workflow. It controls which contacts enter the workflow, under what conditions, and when contacts should exit. The trigger node has four sections.
Entry Triggers
Entry triggers define the event that brings a contact into your workflow. Whenever a trigger condition is met for any contact, that contact enters the workflow.
To set up an entry trigger:
Click the Trigger node on the canvas
Under Enter Triggers, click to add a trigger
Select the trigger type and configure it
The trigger types available here are the same ones you'll find in SendX automations, including contact subscribed to a list, tag added, form submitted, link clicked, and integration events like Shopify triggers.
Trigger | What it does | You'll also need to select |
Contact subscribes to a list | Fires when a contact is added to a specific list | Which list |
Contact unsubscribes from a list | Fires when a contact leaves a specific list | Which list |
Tag added to contact | Fires when a specific tag is applied to a contact | Which tag |
Tag removed from contact | Fires when a specific tag is removed from a contact | Which tag |
Form submitted | Fires when a contact submits a specific popup, embedded, or landing page form | Which form |
Form page visited | Fires when a contact visits a page containing a specific form | Which form |
Tips for choosing a trigger:
"Subscribes to a list" is the most common trigger. Use it for welcome series, onboarding, or any list-based sequence.
"Tag added" is the most flexible. Since tags can be applied from automations, bulk actions, API calls, or manually, this trigger lets you connect workflows to almost anything.
"Form submitted" is ideal for lead magnet delivery — trigger a workflow that sends the promised content immediately after form submission.
Multiple entry triggers: You can add more than one entry trigger. These work in OR logic, meaning a contact enters the workflow if any one of the triggers fires for them.
Triggering Workflows with Integration Events
Beyond SendX-native triggers, you can start workflows based on events from connected integrations. This lets you automate email responses to actions happening in your ecommerce platform, payment processor, or lead generation tools.
Available integrations:
SendX (native triggers like list subscription, tag added, form submitted)
Shopify
Woo-Commerce
Stripe
Intercom
Meta Leads
Each integration provides its own set of specific triggers relevant to that platform.
Shopify triggers
Trigger | What it does |
Placed order | Fires when a customer completes a purchase |
Cart abandoned | Fires when a customer abandons their shopping cart |
New customer | Fires when a new customer account is created |
Cancelled order | Fires when an order is cancelled |
Fulfilled order | Fires when an order is marked as fulfilled |
WooCommerce triggers
Trigger | What it does |
Placed order | Fires when a WooCommerce order is completed |
New customer created | Fires when a new customer account is created |
Example: Stripe triggers
When you select Stripe as your trigger source, you can choose from events like:
New customer created
Customer charge succeeded
Customer charge failed
Customer charge refunded
For instance, you could build a workflow that triggers when "Customer charge failed" to automatically send a payment reminder email, wait 3 days, check if the issue is resolved, and send a follow-up if not.
To use integration triggers, the integration must first be connected in your SendX account under Settings > Integrations. Once connected, the integration's triggers become available in the workflow trigger dropdown.
Audience Filters
Audience filters add another layer of qualification on top of your entry triggers. They define which pool of contacts should even be considered for this workflow.
For example, if your audience filter requires "custom field Age is greater than 18," then only contacts who are over 18 and meet an entry trigger will enter. Contacts under 18 would be ignored even if the trigger fires for them.
Audience filters can use:
Contacts – Filter by contact-level statuses like "Unsubscribed from all email communication," "Email address bounced," or "Marked spam"
Lists – Filter by list membership
Tags – Filter by tag assignment
Custom Fields – Filter by any custom field using operators like equal, not equal, less, or greater
You can add multiple audience filters, and they work in OR logic. If any one filter is met, the contact is considered for the workflow.
Exit Triggers
Exit triggers define conditions that remove a contact from the workflow while they're going through it. If any exit trigger fires during workflow execution, that contact exits and won't continue to further steps.
The same trigger types available for entry triggers are also available as exit triggers. For example, you might set an exit trigger so that if a contact's tag gets removed at any point during the workflow, they're pulled out immediately.
Important: If a contact is in the middle of a delay step when an exit trigger fires, they won't exit until the delay completes. The exit happens after the delay, not during it.
Exclude Contacts
The exclude contacts setting prevents contacts from re-entering the workflow within a certain timeframe. This is especially important for workflows with ongoing triggers that could fire repeatedly for the same contact.
You have two options:
Do not exclude any contacts – Contacts can re-enter the workflow whenever the trigger fires
Who entered this workflow – Block re-entry for contacts who previously entered. You can set a timeframe (e.g., "in the last 2 days") using a number and a unit (Days), or choose to never allow re-entry
Once you've configured all four sections, click Save to lock in your trigger settings.
Step 3: Add Steps to Your Workflow
With your trigger configured, it's time to build the actual journey. Click the + icon below any step to add the next one. SendX offers seven step types.
The email step lets you send an email to the contact at that point in the workflow. When you add an email step, you'll configure:
Email name – An internal name for your reference
Subject line – What the contact sees in their inbox
Preview text – The snippet that appears after the subject line
Sender – Who the email comes from
After setting these details, you can edit the email content using any of SendX's email editors and choose from pre-built templates if you prefer.
Delay
The delay step pauses the contact's journey for a specified amount of time. It has two modes:
Set number – Wait for a specific duration. You enter a number and select a unit:
Days
Hours
Minutes
Until custom date & time – Wait until a specific date and time. You pick the exact date, time, and timezone. This is useful for event-based workflows where you want all contacts to converge at the same moment, regardless of when they entered.
Condition
The condition step evaluates a contact against criteria you define and sends them down one of two paths: Yes (condition met) or No (condition not met).
Conditions can evaluate:
List membership – Is the contact on a specific list?
Tag assignment – Does the contact have a specific tag?
Custom fields – Does a custom field value meet your criteria (equal, not equal, less, greater)?
Engagement with workflow emails – Did the contact open or click an email that appeared earlier in this workflow (above the condition step)?
The engagement option is particularly powerful. It lets you branch contacts based on whether they actually interacted with the emails you sent them in previous steps of this same workflow.
Actions
The action step performs an operation on the contact. Available actions include:
Subscribe to a list – Add the contact to a list
Confirm to a list – Confirm the contact on a list
Remove from a list – Remove the contact from a list
Tag added – Add a tag to the contact
Tag removed – Remove a tag from the contact
Add to a drip campaign – Subscribe the contact to a drip
Remove from a drip – Remove the contact from a drip
Unsubscribe contact – Unsubscribe from a specific list
Global subscribe – Re-subscribe a globally unsubscribed contact
Call webhook – Send data to an external URL
Delete contact – Permanently delete the contact from SendX
Warning: The Delete Contact action is irreversible. Use it carefully and make sure you truly want to remove the contact from your account entirely.
Drip
The drip step subscribes a contact to one of your existing drip campaigns. When you add this step, you'll select the drip from a dropdown and can preview it before saving.
Keep in mind that drip enrollment is one-time only. If a contact has previously been enrolled in that drip (whether they completed it or were removed), they won't be added again, and the step will be skipped for that contact.
The contact continues through the remaining workflow steps while also progressing through the drip independently. These are two parallel processes.
A/B Split
The A/B split step divides contacts into two paths so you can test different approaches. You configure:
Name – A label for the split test (e.g., "A/B Split Test")
Participants Splitting – A slider that sets the percentage split between Path A and Path B
The slider lets you adjust the ratio freely. For example, 80/20, 50/50, 66/34, or any split that fits your testing needs. Contacts are randomly assigned to each path based on the percentage you set.
After the split, you build out each path separately with its own steps, emails, delays, and conditions. The paths are always labeled A and B, and cannot be renamed.
Paste
The paste step lets you paste a previously copied step into the workflow. This is a shortcut, if you've configured a step elsewhere (like an email or delay) and want to reuse it, you can copy that step and paste it at a new position in the workflow.
Step 4: Set a Goal
Goals let you measure the success of your workflow by tracking how many contacts reach a specific outcome. You'll find the Goal tab at the top of the workflow editor, alongside Edit, Timeline, Report, and Aggregated Report.
To set a goal:
Click the Goal tab
Toggle Enable goal on
Select the trigger source (e.g., SendX)
Choose the condition (e.g., "Subscribed to a list")
Select the specific entity (e.g., which list)
The goal tracks a condition being met, not a specific step being reached. So if your goal is "Contact subscribed to Event Attendees list," it will count any contact in the workflow who ends up on that list, regardless of which step added them.
The goal condition options are the same as those available for entry triggers. This gives you flexibility to track outcomes like list subscriptions, tag additions, or other events.
Step 5: Name and Publish Your Workflow
Before activating, give your workflow a clear name that describes what it does (e.g., "Signups Workflow" or "Post-Purchase Follow-up").
To publish:
Click the pencil icon next to the workflow name at the top to edit the name
Click Publish in the top-right corner
Once published, the workflow status changes to Active and contacts who meet the entry trigger conditions will start entering.
Managing an Active Workflow
Workflow States
Workflows have three states:
Draft – The workflow is being built and is not processing contacts
Active – The workflow is live and accepting new contacts
Paused – The workflow is temporarily stopped and not accepting new contacts
Pausing a Workflow
When you pause an active workflow, SendX asks what to do with contacts currently inside it:
Let contacts complete the workflow – Contacts already in the workflow will continue through the remaining steps. No new contacts enter.
Exit contacts from the workflow – All contacts currently in the workflow are dropped and won't execute any further steps.
Editing an Active Workflow
You can edit a published workflow. When you publish changes, SendX shows a dialog explaining that changes will only apply to newly entered contacts. You'll choose what happens to contacts already in progress:
Let contacts complete the workflow – Existing contacts will complete the workflow based on the old rules (before your edits)
Exit contacts from the workflow – Existing contacts will no longer be part of the workflow
This means you don't need to worry about edits disrupting contacts who are mid-journey. They either finish under the original setup or get exited cleanly.
Deleting a Workflow
If you delete a workflow, all contacts currently active in it will be exited.
Duplicating a Workflow
You can duplicate an existing workflow to create a copy. This saves time when you want to create a similar workflow with minor changes.
Monitoring Workflow Performance
High-Level Stats
At the top of your workflow, you'll see four key metrics:
Enrolled – Total number of contacts who have entered the workflow
Active – Contacts currently in between steps (mid-journey)
Exited – Contacts who left the workflow before completing it (due to an exit trigger firing)
Completed – Contacts who reached the final step in the workflow
The distinction between "Exited" and "Completed" is important. A contact is marked as Completed only when they reach the last step of the workflow. If they leave because of an exit trigger, they're counted as Exited.
Per-Step and Detailed Analytics
Beyond the high-level stats, SendX provides per-step analytics so you can see how many contacts passed through each individual step. You'll also find detailed reporting under the Report and Aggregated Report tabs for deeper performance analysis.
Important Notes
Multiple workflows: A contact can be active in multiple different workflows at the same time. Enrolling in one workflow doesn't affect participation in others.
Exit trigger timing: If a contact is in the middle of a delay when an exit trigger fires, they won't exit until the delay finishes.
Drip one-time enrollment: The one-time enrollment rule applies to drip steps. If a contact was previously enrolled in that drip (completed or removed), they won't be added again.
Workflow chains: A workflow action can indirectly trigger another workflow if the action (e.g., adding a tag or subscribing to a list) matches a different workflow's entry trigger.
Templates are pre-built only. You can start from any of the available templates, but you cannot save your own custom workflows as templates.
No step or workflow limits. There is no maximum number of steps in a workflow or maximum number of workflows on your account.
Workflows are available on all SendX plans.
Workflows vs. Automations: When to Use Which
Feature | Automations | Workflows |
Structure | Single trigger → single action | Multi-step journey with branching |
Conditional logic | No | Yes, with condition steps |
Delays | No | Yes, with delay steps |
A/B testing | No | Yes, with A/B split steps |
Email sending | No | Yes, with email steps |
Goal tracking | No | Yes |
Best for | Simple, immediate responses to events | Complex journeys with multiple steps |
Use automations when you need quick, straightforward reactions to events. Use workflows when the contact's journey involves multiple steps, timing, conditions, or experimentation.
Troubleshooting
Contacts aren't entering my workflow
Check that the workflow is Published (not in Draft or Paused state)
Verify the trigger is configured correctly — right list, right tag, right form
Check audience filters — they may be excluding the contacts you expect
For integration triggers, verify the integration is connected in Settings → Integrations
Triggers only capture events after publishing. Pre-existing contacts won't retroactively enter.
Too many contacts are entering
Add audience filters to restrict entry to a specific segment or custom field value
Use the Exclude contacts option to block specific groups
Consider using a more specific trigger (e.g., a specific tag rather than a broad list subscription)
A contact entered but isn't receiving emails
Check if an exit trigger removed them before they reached an email node
Check if they're stuck on a Delay node (they may just be waiting)
Check if a Decision node sent them down a path that doesn't have an email
Use the Timeline tab on the workflow report to trace the individual contact's journey
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use the same trigger for entry and exit?
Yes, you can use the same types of triggers. However, using the exact same configuration for both wouldn't make practical sense. Typically, you'd set related but opposite conditions, for example, entry when a tag is added and exit when that same tag is removed.
What happens if a contact meets the entry trigger but doesn't pass the audience filter?
They won't enter the workflow. Audience filters are evaluated first. The contact must pass at least one audience filter and meet an entry trigger to enter.
Can contacts be in the same workflow twice at the same time?
This depends on your Exclude Contacts setting. If you select "Do not exclude any contacts," then yes, a contact could re-enter the workflow while still active in a previous run. If you set exclusion rules, contacts will be blocked from re-entering within your specified timeframe.
What happens to contacts if I delete a step from an active workflow?
When you publish changes, you'll be asked what to do with existing contacts. You can let them complete under the old rules or exit them from the workflow.
Can I add steps after a condition's Yes/No paths merge back together?
Yes. You can add steps after a condition split to rejoin contacts onto a common path.
How does the A/B split decide which path a contact takes?
Contacts are randomly assigned to Path A or Path B based on the percentage you've set. If you set 80/20, roughly 80% of contacts will go through Path A and 20% through Path B.
What's the difference between the Report and Aggregated Report tabs?
The Report tab shows performance data for individual workflow runs, while the Aggregated Report combines data across all runs for a bigger-picture view of workflow effectiveness.
Can I test a workflow before publishing it?
The best approach is to use a test contact. Set up the workflow, publish it, trigger the entry event for your test contact, and then monitor their progress through the Timeline tab.
What happens if a workflow's action (like adding a tag) triggers another workflow?
If the action matches another workflow's entry trigger, the contact will enter that second workflow as well. This lets you chain workflows together indirectly. Just be careful to avoid creating infinite loops where workflows trigger each other back and forth.