Welcome to Marketing Automation
Marketing Automation in Apsis One lets you build automated customer journeys that respond to real-time profile behaviour. Instead of manually sending emails or SMS to individual segments, you design a flow once — and the platform takes care of the rest.
What is Marketing Automation?
Marketing Automation is a visual, drag-and-drop tool for building event-triggered communication flows. Each flow starts with a trigger (something a profile does or something that changes in their data) and continues through a series of nodes — actions, conditions, and timing controls that determine what happens next.
A simple example: a profile subscribes to your newsletter → they wait 1 hour → they receive a welcome email. A more advanced example might include branching logic, SMS follow-ups, profile updates, and webhook integrations — all within the same flow.
💡 Important to know: Marketing Automation is event-triggered marketing. It reacts to something a profile does (e.g. subscribes, clicks, completes a purchase) or to a change in their data. It is not designed for transactional messages like order confirmations or password resets — those require a transactional email setup. Nor is it designed for Sales Automation — use your CRM, Outlook or other Sales Automation tools for those use cases. Want to discuss your use case? Reach out to us in the chat or email customerservice.apsis@efficy.com.
When should you use Marketing Automation?
Marketing Automation is ideal whenever you want communication to happen automatically in response to profile behaviour or data changes. Here are some of the most common scenarios:
Welcome & onboarding
Trigger a welcome series when a profile subscribes. Send a first email immediately, a second after 3 days, and a third after a week — without lifting a finger after setup.
Lead nurturing
Guide new leads through a sequence of educational or value-driven touchpoints. Use Check Profile nodes to branch the journey based on engagement or attributes (e.g. industry, role, or conversion events).
Churn prevention, re-engagement & win-back
Automatically reach out to profiles who haven't interacted with an email or visited your brand in a defined period. Combine time delays, email nudges, and SMS reminders to recapture attention.
Customer retention & loyalty
Celebrate milestones (e.g. 1-year anniversary, 10th purchase) with automated messages. Use the Achievement node to flag loyalty events and the Update Profile node to tag VIP customers.
Internal notifications & workflows
Marketing Automation isn't only for customer-facing messages. Use the Notification node to alert your sales or support team when a profile takes a high-value action, like requesting a demo or downgrading a subscription.
Data enrichment & hygiene
Use flows to update profile attributes automatically. For example, when a profile clicks a specific link category, update their interest tags via the Update Profile node — keeping your data fresh without manual imports.
💡 Tip: Not sure which use case fits your needs? See Marketing Automation Use Cases for detailed walkthroughs with flow blueprints you can replicate. Or reach out to us in the chat or email customerservice.apsis@efficy.com.
How does it work? Let's quickly walk through the steps
Here's the high-level process for building and activating a Marketing Automation flow:
1. Create a new flow. Go to Marketing Automation in the left-hand navigation and click Create Flow in the top right view. Give it a name and optional description.
2. Choose the template that fits your case best. You may already have your own templates created in your account.
3. Give it a name (internal use only) and click on Next.
4. Configure the Listen node (trigger). Every flow starts with a Listen node. This defines what event causes a profile to enter the flow — for example, subscribing to a newsletter, being added to a segment, or a custom event firing.
5. Build your journey with nodes. Drag nodes onto the canvas and connect them. Common patterns include: Time node (add a delay) → Email node (send a message) → Check Profile node (branch based on an attribute or event).
6. Configure each node. Click on a node to open its settings. Every node type has different configuration options — for example, the Email node lets you select a previously created email, while the Time node lets you set delays in minutes, hours, or days.
7. Activate the flow. When all nodes are configured and connected, click Activate. The flow is now live and will process profiles as they trigger the Listen node. You can pause or stop to edit the flow at any time.
Key concepts at a glance
Concept | What it means |
Flow | The complete automated journey, from trigger to end. A flow can be in Draft, Active, or Paused status. |
Node | A single step in the flow. Each node performs an action (send email), applies a condition (check attribute), or controls timing (wait 2 days). See Marketing Automation Nodes. |
Listen node (trigger) | The entry point of every flow. Defines which event causes profiles to enter. Every flow requires exactly one Listen node. |
Canvas | The visual workspace where you drag, connect, and configure nodes. See Navigate the Canvas. |
Profile | The person moving through the flow. Profiles enter via the Listen node and progress through nodes based on conditions and timing. |
Event | A tracked action or data change that can trigger a flow or be evaluated by nodes — e.g. "profile subscribed", "email opened", or a custom event you define. |
Custom Event | An event you send to Apsis One via the API, typically from your website, app, or CRM. See Use Custom Events. |
Please note - For a complete list of terms, see Marketing Automation — Key Terms Glossary.
What you'll need before you start
Before building your first flow, make sure these foundations are in place:
At least one Subscription created — flows often trigger on subscription events, and email nodes require a subscription context for consent compliance.
Profiles imported or collecting — you need profiles in your account to enter flows. Profiles can come from file imports, API integrations, or signup forms.
A trigger for the listen node — Marketing Automation is consent based, event-triggered marketing and reacts on something a profile does or important changes in their data.
Pro Tip! Segments (optional) — if you want to use Check Profile nodes to branch flows based on segment (target audiences), create your segments first.
How profiles move through a flow (technical deep dive)
Understanding profile movement helps you troubleshoot and design more effective flows.
Entry
When the event defined in the Listen node fires for a profile, that profile enters the flow. By default, a profile can only be in one instance of the same flow at a time. If the same event fires again while the profile is still in the flow, they will not re-enter (unless the flow is configured to allow re-entry - setting found in the bottom bar under Flow settings).
Progression
Profiles move from node to node based on the connections you've drawn on the canvas. At each node, the platform evaluates the node's logic for each profile:
Channel & Action nodes (Email, SMS, Update Profile, Notification, Webhook, Integrations) execute immediately and pass the profile to the next connected node.
Time nodes hold the profile for the configured duration before releasing them.
Condition nodes (Check Profile, Split, Wait for Event) evaluate the profile against criteria and route them down the matching branch.
Exit
Profiles leave the flow when they reach an End Flow node, or if the flow is stopped (deactivated). If a flow is paused, profiles stay where they are and resume when the flow is reactivated.
If you DELETE a node in a paused flow, all profiles currently in that node are removed from the flow entirely. Always check the Marketing Automation Report for active profile counts before deleting nodes.
Marketing Automation vs. Campaigns — When to use which
A common question: should I use a Marketing Automation flow or a regular campaign?
| Marketing Automation flow | Campaign (one-time send) |
Trigger | Event-based (profile does something) | Scheduled or manual |
Audience | Profiles enter individually, in real time | Entire segment receives at once |
Duration | Always-on (runs continuously) | One-time delivery |
Best for | Welcome series, nurture journeys, behaviour-triggered messages, internal alerts | Newsletters, product launches, seasonal promotions, announcements |
Multi-step | Yes — complex branching, delays, conditions | Single message (or A/B test variants) |
💡 Tip: Many marketers use both together. For example, run a campaign to announce a new product, then use a Marketing Automation flow to nurture profiles who clicked through but didn't convert
Watch the short video:
What's Next?
Ready to build your first flow? Follow these articles in order:
Create a Marketing Automation Flow — Step-by-step guide to building and activating your first flow.
Navigate the Marketing Automation Canvas — Learn how to work with the drag-and-drop canvas, connect nodes, and manage your flow layout.
Marketing Automation Nodes — Overview of every available node type and what it does.
Profile Data in Marketing Automation Nodes — How to use profile attributes and events within your nodes for personalisation and logic.
Marketing Automation Use Cases — Pre-built flow blueprints for common scenarios.