My automation does not work!

Sometimes an automation does not function as expected. In principle, this could be due to our systems, but if there is no known failure (you can check this on this page), there is usually something else going on. The following are a few common pitfalls.

The automation has not been activated

The automation must be activated in the overview of automations. Have you made changes? These will only become active if you click on 'Activate changes'.

A subscriber is already included in the list

To test an automation, people often enter their own email address. When performing a second test, the address will already appear in the list, and the automation will not start anymore. Please use a new address or delete the old one first (unsubscribing is not sufficient!).

The automation has been changed in the meantime

It is possible to change an automation while it is active. For example, many people add extra email addresses. Subscribers that started before these addresses were added may have already gone through the entire automation and will therefore not receive the extra emails.

In the case of more complex changes, it is not always obvious how the progress will be for subscribers that are already in the automation.

If/then does not seem to work

We often see the following set-up: a start event, an email, and immediately afterwards an if/then (for example: has the newsletter been read?). The problem here is that the if/then is viewed immediately after the email is sent, and will therefore never result in a 'Yes'.

The solution is to wait first (by adding a pause block in front of it), or to use a 'Wait until' block.

Find out what is happening

To find out what is happening, it may help to look at a subscriber's details. There, it is indicated exactly which steps of the automation(s) have been completed.

Do you still have questions?

Feel free to ask our helpdesk. However, if you have a free account, we might not be able to find out exactly what happened.