Build an automation
Create triggered sequences of emails, texts, and tasks that run automatically.
Automations run in the background — once a client meets a trigger condition, they're enrolled and the sequence begins. You set it up once; Arketa handles the rest.
Automations require the Marketing Suite add-on. Contact Arketa support to enable it.
Create an automation
- Go to Marketing → Automations
- Click Create new (if the Arketa Agent dialog opens, click Start from scratch)
- Choose a trigger — what event starts the automation
- Optionally set a goal to measure success
- Click + to add actions (email, SMS, task, time delay, tag)
- Turn on the status toggle (it reads Active) when you're ready
You can also start from a pre-made automation and customize it.
Step 1: Choose a trigger
The trigger is the event that enrolls a client. See the full triggers reference for descriptions of each option.
Common starting points:
- New client added — welcome new clients automatically
- Client purchased pricing option — send onboarding sequences after a purchase
- Checked into first class — follow up after someone's first visit
- Class milestone (per location) or Class milestone (all locations) — celebrate loyalty milestones
- Canceled or expired subscription — start a win-back sequence
Filter who gets enrolled
By default, an automation starts for every client who triggers the event. Add filters to narrow it to the clients you want. Filters are optional.
- Click the Trigger node, then find the Filters section under the trigger settings.
- Click + Add filter and choose one, such as Home location, Tags, Lifecycle stage, Source, or Membership or pack.
- Click the new row to edit it. Choose is or is not, tick the values, and click Done. Press Escape to cancel. A row left with no values is removed.
Each filter shows as one line, such as "Lifecycle stage is Lead" or "No active membership or pack". Click the × on a row to remove it.
With two or more filters, the section shows All must match: a client has to satisfy every filter. Within one filter, several values mean any of them, so "Tagged VIP or Founder" matches a client with either tag.
The panel footer describes your whole trigger in plain English, for example "Starts when a client books any class and is in lifecycle stage Lead and has no active membership or pack."
If you manage several locations from one dashboard, filter on Home location and keep one copy of each automation per location. A client from one location then never receives another location's messages.
For booking triggers, use the Class location filter with "their home location" to treat clients booking away from their home location differently from clients booking at home.
Filters are checked at the moment the trigger event happens, against the client's current profile. Clients already in the automation aren't re-checked, except for win-back triggers, which check again before each step. See the filters reference for every filter.
Step 2: Configure behavior
Re-enroll — At the bottom of the Trigger panel. If a client triggers the automation again (e.g., purchases a second time) after completing it, should they re-enter the sequence? Toggle on to allow re-enrollment. Off by default on new automations.
Restrict communication hours — In the Behavior step, which also holds the goal. Turn on Restrict communication actions to specific hours to limit when emails and SMS go out. Enter a time range in 24-hour format based on your business timezone. If a message would send outside that window, it waits until the next valid hour.
Step 3: Add actions
Actions are the steps in your sequence. Mix and match:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Send an automated email to the client | |
| SMS | Send a text message |
| Task | Create a reminder for you or a team member |
| Tag | Add or remove a tag on the client's profile |
| Lifecycle Stage | Move the client to a lifecycle stage |
| Time Delay | Wait before the next action runs |
| Conditional | Split the sequence based on whether the client fits criteria |
See actions reference for details on each.
Use time delays between messages and before/after conditional statements to avoid overwhelming clients and ensuring your automation has time to work effectively. A welcome email followed immediately by an upsell feels pushy — space them out by a few days.
Step 4: Set a goal (optional)
Goals let you track whether the automation is working. For example, if your goal is for a client to purchase a membership, you can measure how many enrolled clients converted.
Step 5: Go live
When the automation is ready, turn on the status toggle in the top right corner (it reads Active). From that point forward, any client who meets the trigger condition will be enrolled automatically.
Automations only enroll clients whose trigger event happens after the automation goes live. They don't reach back and enroll clients who already met the condition in the past — for example, someone who purchased an eligible pricing option before you created the automation won't be enrolled. To include a specific past client, open the automation's Enrollments tab and use Enroll user to add them manually.
Managing automations
To edit a running automation:
- Go to Marketing → Automations
- Open the automation's ⋯ menu and click Edit
- Make your changes — they take effect going forward for clients not yet enrolled
- To pause it, toggle the automation Off
An automation set to Off stays in your list but stops enrolling clients and doesn't run any actions.
To remove one client mid-sequence, open the automation's Enrollments tab and click the X (Unenroll) next to their Enrolled status. To stop it for everyone, toggle the automation Off.
Client statuses
The Enrollments tab shows a status for each client:
- Enrolled — still moving through the sequence.
- Complete — went through every action in the sequence.
- Exited — left before the end: they reached the goal, you unenrolled them, the automation was turned off, or they no longer met the trigger conditions.
- Failed — an action couldn't run.