Within campaigns, the workflow is an essential tool to manage influencers and campaign processes.
Influencers progress through the stages of the workflow as they complete tasks and receive approvals. There are several ways to use workflow automation to streamline and optimize your campaigns.
Overview
Before getting started with workflow automation, we recommend that you first customize the workflow stages of your campaign.
Once your campaign is set up, there are two main categories of workflow automation: automatic delivery of message templates and promotion between workflow stages.
Message Templates
Sending message templates to influencers automatically when they enter a workflow stage is a great way to automate key tasks in the campaign process.
When you create a new campaign, the default message templates are set to be delivered manually, meaning they will not be sent to influencers until you click Send. If you create a new campaign without customizing the default workflow stages, the initial message template configuration will look like the following:
Message templates can be set to deliver automatically based on date or based on workflow stage. Date-based options are described in Setting Up Message Templates.
Workflow-based options are described below:
Send Message Templates Automatically Based on Workflow Stages
- Navigate to the relevant campaign
- Select the Setup tab
- Select the Message Templates page
- Select Edit in the Delivery column of the relevant template
- In the dropdown menu, select Automatic: Stage Entry
- In the dropdown menu, select the relevant workflow stage
- Select Save
Automation Details
Message templates set to deliver automatically based on workflow stage entry will be sent to each influencer immediately upon their entry into the relevant stage.
Any workflow stage that is enabled in the campaign can be used for message template automation, including custom stages. Custom message templates can also be created and set to deliver automatically.
Each message template can be delivered automatically only once, even if an influencer enters the stage multiple times. You can send the same template manually as many times as needed.
Below is an example of how you might modify the default configuration shown above to automate message templates:
Promotion Between Workflow Stages
As an influencer progresses through a campaign, they move further along in the workflow sequence, passing through each stage as tasks are completed.
Automatic Promotion
While some stages are designed for you to review influencers and move them to the next stage manually when you're ready, there are certain stages that influencers are moved into and out of automatically.
The following workflow stages feature automation to move influencers into the stage or out of the stage into the next stage of the campaign:
- Into Applied: Influencers automatically enter the Applied stage after completing the application
-
Out of Confirmation: Influencers automatically enter the next stage after Confirmation when they confirm their participation
- If they opt out of the confirmation process, they enter the Dropped stage
- Out of Pre-Payment & Post-Payment: Influencers automatically enter the next stage following a payment stage once all of their incentives associated with the stage are fulfilled successfully through a payment integration
- Into Draft Review: Influencers automatically enter the Draft Review stage after submitting all requirements in the Draft stage
- Out of Content Creation: Influencers automatically enter the next stage after Content Creation after all required content is bound to their profile
Payment Stages
Most incentives are associated with a payment workflow stage when they are created, either Pre-Payment or Post-Payment. When all of an influencer's incentives associated with a workflow stage are fulfilled using an incentive integration (either PayPal, Stripe, or Tango Card), the influencer is automatically promoted to the following stage.
Influencers aren't automatically promoted in the workflow if any of the incentives related to a payment stage are fulfilled without the use of a payment integration. These include product incentives, promo code incentives, offline cash and gift card incentives, and other types.
See Incentive Fulfillment for additional detail.
Exceptions
Automation will never cause an influencer to move backward in the workflow.
In addition, influencers won't automatically enter a workflow stage if there is any blocker related to that stage. Blockers may include:
- Invalid email address: If an influencer has an invalid contact email, they cannot enter any workflow stage where a message template is set to send automatically
- Non-members: Influencers cannot be promoted past the Candidates phase of any campaign until they have become a member of your My Members database by opting-in
-
No remaining promo codes: If a promo code incentive has no codes remaining, influencers cannot enter the stage where it should be fulfilled
- If the incentive is fulfilled at the Pre-Payment stage, influencers will receive an error when they try to confirm their participation
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