Plan and run marketing workflows

Set up a workflow for your business#

Open Marketing Automation in the corporate workspace where the work will happen. Choose the operating timezone and give the people who will prepare, activate and complete work the relevant permissions.

A plan can start with local work. Link a source when its app is installed, configured and available to you in the same workspace. The linked app continues to own its content, audience, permissions, approvals and provider records.

1. Choose the correct corporate workspace.
2. Confirm the workflow timezone and the people who will manage plans.
3. Open the plan editor and decide which steps are local and which depend on a linked source.

Give each person the access their work requires#

Grant access to all plans or to selected plans. Preparation, activation, completion and export are separate permissions. An assigned person needs current access to the plan before they can complete work.

A linked app has its own access rules. If a person cannot read that source, the workflow hides its private details. Revoking access or reinstalling the app requires a fresh grant before restricted work can continue.

Build a plan you can review from start to finish#

Start with one entry point. Add an assigned task, a wait, a condition or an end. Give each step a descriptive name and connect it to the next step. A plan can have up to 20 steps and 10 linked sources.

For parallel work, name the steps that must finish before the join can continue. An unselected branch is skipped. Keep an explicit end for each route through the plan and resolve unreachable or circular steps in the editor.

1. Name the plan and write the intended outcome.
2. Add the work, decisions and waits in order.
3. Review what happens on every branch, including missing information and deadlines.

Link an original record and choose the fact to watch#

Use the source picker to choose an existing permitted record in this workspace. Open it in its own app if you need to review its content, permissions or status. The first linked source is Social Publishing. Email Marketing and SMS and WhatsApp remain available in their own apps while their Automation source checks are being developed.

Choose the exact fact your step needs. Approval, queueing, provider acceptance, rejection and a later delivery observation can occur separately. A human-recorded publication is a separate source fact.

Workflow steps observe linked records. To approve, send or publish, use the reviewed action in the source app.

Give unavailable and unknown results a deliberate path#

A condition can be true, false or unavailable. Route unavailable data to an access check, a local review task or a hold. This includes a source that was disabled, a permission that was revoked or a fact that the source app cannot provide.

A source may record an unknown outcome after attempting an external action. Keep the original record and follow its investigation process. A wait deadline or missing provider identifier leaves that original status as recorded.

Choose when a run starts and when a wait ends#

Start a run manually or review a specific local date and time. Check the timezone and corresponding UTC time. If daylight saving repeats a local time, choose the intended occurrence. Choose another time if the local clock skips the one you entered.

Give waits a deadline where the plan needs a decision by a certain time. Add a local timeout action or a review path. If an existing run becomes overdue, inspect that run and its original start rather than creating a duplicate.

Review the saved revision before activating it#

Check the selected plan revision, linked originals, assignees, deadlines and all available branches. Activation records this reviewed revision and the current source evidence.

If the source changes materially, inspect the original and the affected run. Deliberately review a fresh plan revision or a new binding where supported. Earlier runs keep their original decisions and events.

1. Open the plan review and check what the run can do.
2. Confirm the start time and the current source choices.
3. Activate once, then open the original run or check its receipt if the acknowledgement was interrupted.

Complete an assigned step and follow the original run#

Use the work inbox to find assignments. Open the run to see which steps completed, which are waiting and when source facts were last checked. Record completion from the actual work item after the task is done.

A local work item can record that someone reviewed a source or took another local action. An independent source step continues to use its own original factual evidence.

Pause, resume or cancel an existing run#

Pause stops new Automation work for the selected scope. Existing assignments and recorded facts stay visible. To pause a queued external action, use the protection controls in its source app.

Review current access and the original source before resuming. Resume continues eligible pending steps in the same run. Cancel closes unstarted local work and preserves the run history. An active owner can review and clear a workspace hold. Paused runs stay paused until separately reviewed.

Find the result of the original request#

If an acknowledgement is interrupted, check the receipt for the original request before issuing another command. A completed receipt points to its original result. Reopen the current run to see later changes.

A source action has a separate receipt in its own app. Use that receipt to check the original approval, submission or observation.

Protect retained workflow records after disable#

The current owner can review retained workflow metadata and use the available protection actions after Automation is disabled. This includes stopping pending local work and removing Automation-owned notes where allowed. The linked app owns its own data and provider history.

Export uses the currently authorized scope and returns a bounded segment. If the download reports more records, deliberately request the next segment while its cursor is current.

Practise the workflow in Demo#

Use a Demo workspace to practise drafting, reviewing, activating and completing local work. The linked Demo apps own their simulated facts. The existing Demo expiry applies to the run and its source records.