Email Flow

An email flow is an automated sequence whose messages depend on an entry trigger, timing and conditions. A contact can enter after signup, a change to their account, or an event sent by your application. Loops calls these sequences workflows.

The flow describes what the system does for each person. It can support onboarding, trial conversion or another part of the customer relationship.

A flow with an explicit stopping rule

For an illustrative onboarding flow, your app sends a signedUp event and maintains a custom projectCreated Boolean property. Start with a welcome message linking to project creation. Add a one-day timer, then an audience filter requiring projectCreated to equal false before the reminder. These names and the delay are example choices for your own product.

In Loops, apply the filter to “All following nodes” when later reminders must also depend on the unfinished task. The filter is checked again when the contact reaches each following node. “Next node only” checks the condition once. The workflow documentation describes both options.

Keep the property synced when a project is created. Define what happens if it is missing and whether another signup event can put the contact through the sequence again. Test the completed, incomplete and missing-data paths before enabling the flow.

Choose the right entry point

Loops supports contact-added, contact-updated, mailing-list-added and event-received triggers. A newsletter welcome can start from joining that list. An in-app milestone can start from an event. Pick the trigger that describes the action you intend to respond to.

Other useful flows include setup help, a trial-end explanation, and re-engagement after a meaningful period of inactivity. The timing should reflect the product’s usage pattern. An application used once a month needs a different inactivity definition from one used every day.

Campaigns and transactional messages

A campaign sends to a chosen audience at a chosen time. A flow lets eligible people enter and progress individually. Both need clear audience rules and current contact data.

Keep receipts, password resets and other service messages distinct from promotional workflows. Loops’ subscribed property controls campaign and workflow email eligibility, while transactional email uses a separate sending path. That technical distinction is not a legal determination. The FTC explains that a message’s primary purpose affects its treatment under US CAN-SPAM.

Review what the flow does in practice

Check entry counts, email delivery and the action the sequence supports. Investigate repeated reminders, contacts stuck on the wrong path and overlapping messages from different flows. Use clicks as one signal rather than assuming they mean the task was completed.

For your first flow, choose a task you can observe, such as account setup. Define the trigger, the next useful message and the condition that makes that message unnecessary. A drip campaign is a simpler sequence driven mainly by timing. A flow can also branch or stop based on changing data.

Related reading

Email automation · Drip campaign · Autoresponder · Welcome email