This article introduces users to our new tool, Journeys, and functionality to build custom campaigns for email and SMS

Ⓘ Available to Essentials, Teams, and Corporate accounts

Custom Journeys allows you to build flexible workflows with branching, allowing contacts to follow different paths based on segment membership or interactions such as email opens, email clicks, and SMS clicks. Custom Journeys also allows the use of Wait steps to control pacing and give contacts time to engage before determining what happens next.

Branching

Branching logic creates dynamic paths within a Journey based on contact behavior and audience segments.

A branch can create two or more paths from a single decision point, allowing contacts to receive different experiences based on the criteria they meet. Each selected segment or condition can create its own path, while contacts who do not meet any of the defined criteria can be routed to a default fallback path.

Supported behavioral conditions and segmenting include:

• Contact has opened an email
• Contact has clicked an email
  • For email click conditions, choose whether a contact clicked any link within the campaign or a specific link. 
• Contact has clicked an SMS
• Segments available under Audience > Segments

When a contact qualifies for multiple paths within a branch, you can choose whether the contact should proceed down all qualifying paths or be routed to a single path. Single-path routing is the default, with the first qualifying segment or condition determining the contact's route.

You can continue adding Campaign and Logic steps to each resulting path, including additional Branch logic to create more complex, nested Journey experiences.

Wait Steps

Wait steps give you control over when a contact progresses to the next Journey step.

This enables you to introduce a fixed delay, such as waiting two days before sending the next email, or align the next action with a specific date and time.

Communications can now be appropriately paced–providing time for contacts to interact with a message before evaluating a branch condition, or coordinating messages around important dates or deadlines.

 

	In This Article
	Creating a Custom Journey Building a Custom Journey Send Email Send SMS Reporting Frequently Asked Questions

Creating a Journey

Building a Journey

• Navigate to your Campaigns tab and click on Journeys.
• Click Create New Journey.
• Select journey type Custom Journey, then click Next.
• Choose your audience and confirm sender information, then click Save.
• Click Add the first step of your journey, and choose Send Email or Send SMS.
• Choose to add any optional Wait steps or Branching.
• Set the send date and time for the journey.
• Click Activate Journey. Qualifying contacts will be automatically enrolled in the journey after activation.

Send Email

• Click Create Email.
• Build the email from scratch or use a template from the account.
• Add a subject line and preheader text, and send date/time.
• Click Save

✎	Note
	All emails have to be built in the Journey workflow builder. If you need to convert an existing drag-and-drop email for use in Journeys, use the Save as Template function in the editor. Legacy templates are not accessible.

 

Smart Subject

Smart Subject uses AI to generate subject lines based on a campaign's content and proven best practices.

• Click on the Smart Subject button.
• Click on the dropdown menu to select a tone for your subject line.
• Optional: Check the box next to "Include preheader text" if you also want to generate preheader text.
• Click on the Generate Smart Subjects button.
• Click on your preferred subject line or click on the Refresh button to generate new options.
• Once you're satisfied with your choice, click Select.

Send SMS

• Enter an SMS name and create the SMS campaign
• Click Save

Reporting

Ⓘ	Info
	All reporting for Journeys has now moved from the Response tab in the top-navigation bar to within Campaigns > Journeys. This change simplifies the journey experience for users by providing all of the journey building and reporting in one place. All other standard, campaign reporting remains under Response.

• Head to Response, and click on Journeys.
• Select an Active or Completed journey to view performance metrics.
• Overall Performance shows combined email and SMS performance across the journey
• Campaign Metrics break down results for each individual email and/or SMS (delivered, opens, clicks, bounces, opt-outs).

For further information, including details on our new Smart Summaries feature, please refer to our article on Journeys Reporting.

Frequently Asked Questions about Custom Journeys

How many campaigns can be added to a Custom Journey?

There is no limit on the number of campaigns you can add to a Custom Journey.

Will I be able to use my legacy templates in Journeys?

No. This functionality is built with our drag-and-drop editor, and legacy templates are not accessible.

Why are we rebuilding automations instead of updating the current system?

The existing Automations product is built on a legacy codebase that is difficult to maintain and evolve. Rebuilding allows us to deliver a modern, scalable solution that better meets customer expectations.

Will Automations be deprecated with this Journeys release?

No, Automations will still be available in the product for use.

What can I branch on?

You can branch using segments or supported engagement conditions, including email opens, email clicks, and SMS clicks..

Can I create branches inside other branches?

Yes. Custom Journeys support nested branching and combinations of segment- and condition-based logic.

Can a Custom Journey contain more than one branch?

Yes. Branching allows customers to create multiple paths from a single decision point, including a fallback path for contacts who do not meet the configured criteria.

Regarding Conditions, what happens if a contact clicks or opens the email after the defined wait time?

The contact will follow the path at the defined wait time based on their current action with the email.

If they click or open the email after the wait time has triggered, the engagement metrics will be amended. They will not be resent the engagement path email, only the default path campaign that they were enrolled in when the wait time triggered. 

Are Touchpoints supported as branching criteria?

No. Touchpoints are planned as a future extension of branching.

Currently, it is intended to display Touchpoints as a disabled "Coming Soon" option to show that additional logic capabilities are planned.