Triggering a Workflow

Workflow is a powerful tool that automates tasks based on specific events within your ClickFunnels workspace. Triggers can be set based on various user actions across the platform, such as purchasing a product, completing a course module, or opting in on one of your pages. Imagine you want to send a warm thank-you email to every customer who completes a purchase. In this scenario, the trigger would be a successful purchase, ensuring the email automatically goes out after someone finalizes their order on your funnel’s checkout page. Understanding and effectively utilizing these triggers can help you automate your marketing and follow-up processes efficiently. This article will equip you with the knowledge to add, configure, and manage triggers effectively within your ClickFunnels workflows.

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Requirements

• An active ClickFunnels account

• A workflow created in your workspace

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Adding a Trigger in a Workflow

1. From your ClickFunnels dashboard, click on the Automations app in the left-hand menu.

2. Create a new workflow or access an existing workflow from the list.

3. If the workflow doesn’t have a trigger yet, click the No Trigger set node at the top of the workflow. The Add a trigger form opens.

   If the workflow already has triggers, click the Workflow Triggers node at the top of the workflow, then click + Add a Trigger.

4. Add Trigger Criteria:

   • Event Type: Select the specific event that will initiate the workflow. Examples include Opt-In, Order - Successful Purchase, Applied Tag and more. An event type is required.

   • Event Filters: Depending on the event type you selected, more fields appear, such as Funnel, Page, Contact Tag, or Course. Use them to narrow down when the trigger fires. Each event type and its fields are explained below.

   • Activation: Toggle the Active? switch to enable/disable the trigger.

   • Allow anonymous contacts? (Optional): Anonymous contacts are visitors who haven’t shared an email address or phone number. Turn this on if you want the workflow to run for them too, for example to tag everyone who views a page. This option is only available for the Pageview, Applied Tag, and Removed Tag event types. Anonymous contacts can’t receive emails and won’t appear in contact lists.

5. Save Changes: Click the Save Changes button to add the trigger.

6. To add more triggers, click the Workflow Triggers node, click + Add a Trigger, and repeat the same process explained in step 4.

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Triggering a Workflow from the Funnel Step

You can also attach a workflow directly to a funnel step. When you do, ClickFunnels adds the trigger(s) for the events you select to the workflow automatically. Learn how in Adding Workflows to Funnel Steps.

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Supported Workflow Trigger Event Type

In ClickFunnels, workflow trigger event types are listed alphabetically. Use the search or scroll bar to find your desired event. Detailed explanations for each event type are provided below.

Important:

Every trigger requires an Event Type. The other fields are optional, and any field you leave blank matches every value. For example, an Applied Tag trigger with no Contact Tag selected runs the workflow whenever any tag is applied to any contact. Be cautious when setting up your workflow to avoid unintended triggers.

Note:

The MessageHub event types appear in the list only after MessageHub is set up in your workspace.

Applied Tag

• Trigger: This event type initiates the workflow when a specific tag is added to a contact’s profile. ClickFunnels allows assigning multiple tags to contacts, but this trigger can only target one tag at a time.

• Select “Contact Tag”: The dropdown menu lets you choose the specific tag whose application will trigger the workflow.

• Multiple Tags Scenario: If you need a workflow to activate when any of several tags are applied, create separate triggers within the same workflow, each specifying a relevant tag.

• No Tag Selected: Leaving the “Contact Tag” option blank creates a universal trigger, initiating the workflow whenever any tag is applied to the contact’s profile.

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Appointments - Appointment Scheduled

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a customer schedules an appointment with you through your ClickFunnels Appointments app.

• Calendar: Refine the trigger by selecting the specific calendar associated with the appointment scheduling.

• Appointment Event Type: Choose a specific event type to further narrow down when the workflow triggers.

Note:

• Selecting a calendar without an appointment event type will trigger the workflow for all appointment types associated with that calendar.

• Leaving both calendar and appointment event type selections blank will trigger the workflow for any appointment scheduled within your ClickFunnels workspace.

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Community Events

These event types activate the workflow when a contact does something in one of your communities:

• Community Ban: A customer is banned from a community on your workspace.

• Community Enrolled: A customer joins a community on your workspace.

• Community Group Enrolled: A customer joins a community group on your workspace.

• Community Post: A customer creates a new community post on your workspace.

• Community Post Viewed: A customer views a community post on your workspace.

• Community Topic Enrolled: A customer joins a community topic on your workspace.

• Community Unban: A customer is unbanned from a community on your workspace.

Note:

Community triggers don’t have any filters. They fire for any community, group, or topic in your workspace.

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Countdown Event - Contact Registered

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a customer registers for a countdown event within your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Funnel: If the registration occurs through a specific ClickFunnels funnel, choose that funnel here for a targeted workflow.

• Page: Similarly, select the specific landing page within the funnel where the registration happens.

• Calendar Event: ClickFunnels allows the creation of different countdown events. Choose the specific event the registration pertains to.

Note:

The “Funnel”, “Page” and “Calendar Event” options can only be selected if a countdown event is added to a funnel step.

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Course Completed

• Trigger: This event launches the workflow upon a customer completing a designated course within ClickFunnels.

• Course: Select the specific ClickFunnels course completion that should trigger the workflow.

Note:

Leaving the “Course” option blank creates a universal trigger, initiating the workflow whenever any course is completed in the workspace.

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Course Enrolled

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a customer enrolls in a specific course within your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Course (Optional): Choose the specific course that should trigger the workflow when a customer enrolls.

Note:

Leaving the “Course” field blank creates a universal trigger, meaning the workflow will initiate whenever any course enrollment occurs across your workspace.

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Course Lesson Completed

• Trigger: This event triggers the workflow when a customer finishes a specific lesson within a course.

• Course: Choose the ClickFunnels course that contains the lesson.

• Course Module: Select the specific module within the chosen course where the completed lesson resides.

• Course Lesson: Pinpoint the exact lesson completion that should trigger the workflow.

Note:

• Selecting a specific Course and Module without choosing a particular Lesson will trigger the workflow whenever a customer completes any lesson within that module.

• Leaving both Module and Lesson selections blank will initiate the workflow upon completion of any lesson within the chosen course.

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Course Lesson Viewed

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a customer views a specific lesson within a course in your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Course (Optional): Choose the specific course that contains the lesson.

• Course Module (Optional): Select the module where the lesson is located.

• Course Lesson (Optional): Pinpoint the exact lesson that should trigger the workflow when viewed.

Note:

Leaving all fields (Course, Module, and Lesson) blank creates a universal trigger, meaning the workflow will initiate whenever any lesson is viewed across any course in your workspace.

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Course Module Completed

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow upon completion of a particular module within a ClickFunnels course.

• Course: Select the specific ClickFunnels course that contains the module.

• Course Module: Choose the specific module within the course whose completion should trigger the workflow.

Note:

Leaving the Course Module selection blank will initiate the workflow upon completion of any module within the chosen course.

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Course Unenrolled

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a customer is unenrolled from a course in your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Funnel (Optional): Choose a specific funnel to narrow down the trigger.

Note:

This event type doesn’t let you choose a specific course. The workflow runs whenever a customer is unenrolled from any course in your workspace.

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Email Broadcast - Bounce

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when an email broadcast sent to a contact bounces.

• Broadcast: Select the specific email broadcast to monitor for bounces. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for any email broadcast bounce event.

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Email Broadcast - Click

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a contact clicks on a link within an email broadcast sent through ClickFunnels.

• Broadcast: Select the specific email broadcast that you want to monitor for link clicks. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for any email broadcast click event.

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Email Broadcast - Open

• Trigger: This event initiates the workflow when a contact opens an email broadcast sent through ClickFunnels.

• Broadcast: Choose the specific email broadcast for tracking open events. Leaving this field blank will apply the trigger for any email broadcast open event.

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Email Broadcast - Sent

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when an email broadcast is sent to a contact.

• Broadcast: Specify the email broadcast to monitor for send events. Leaving this option blank will apply the trigger for any email broadcast sent event.

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Email Broadcast - Spam Complaint

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a contact marks an email broadcast as spam.

• Broadcast: Select the specific email broadcast to monitor for spam complaints. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for any email broadcast spam complaint.

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MessageHub - Agent Conversation Started

• Trigger: This event initiates the workflow when an agent working within your ClickFunnels account initiates a conversation with a contact through MessageHub.

• Inbox (Optional): ClickFunnels allows you to set up multiple inboxes for categorizing conversations. Selecting a specific inbox here refines the trigger to only activate the workflow for conversations initiated by agents within that particular inbox.

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MessageHub - Agent Responded

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow when an agent working within your ClickFunnels account replies to a message within an existing conversation on MessageHub.

• Inbox (Optional): ClickFunnels allows you to create multiple inboxes for organizing conversations. Selecting a specific inbox here refines the trigger to only activate the workflow for agent replies within that particular inbox.

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MessageHub - Contact Conversation Started

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow when a contact initiates a conversation with an agent within ClickFunnels MessageHub.

• Inbox (Optional): ClickFunnels allows you to set up multiple inboxes for categorizing conversations. Selecting a specific inbox here refines the trigger to only activate the workflow for conversations initiated by contacts within that particular inbox.

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MessageHub - Contact Responded

• Trigger: This event initiates a workflow when a contact replies to an existing conversation within ClickFunnels MessageHub.

• Inbox (Optional): ClickFunnels allows you to create multiple inboxes for organizing conversations. Selecting a specific inbox here refines the trigger to only activate the workflow for contact replies within that particular inbox.

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Opt-In

• Trigger: This event launches a workflow whenever a contact opts into your ClickFunnels account through an opt-in form.

• Funnel (Optional): If the opt-in occurs within a specific ClickFunnels funnel, you can choose that funnel here to create a more targeted workflow.

• Page (Optional): Similarly, you can select the specific landing page or opt-in form within the chosen funnel where the opt-in happened.

Note:

• If you have chosen a specific funnel, only the pages within that funnel will be displayed.

• If you leave the funnel selection blank, all pages in your workspace, including landing pages, site pages, and funnel pages, will be shown.

• Leaving the page field blank applies the trigger to all pages within your workspace.

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Order - Successful Purchase

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer completes a successful purchase within your ClickFunnels account. This encompasses any scenario where a customer finalizes a one-time product purchase, subscription signup, or any other order completion process.

• Funnel (Optional): You can choose a specific funnel within your ClickFunnels workspace to refine the trigger. This allows you to create workflows that target successful purchases made within a particular funnel.

• Page (Optional): Selecting a specific page within the chosen funnel further narrows down the trigger. This enables workflows to focus on purchases initiated from a particular checkout page within the funnel.

• Product (Optional): The ClickFunnels checkout page supports multiple products. ClickFunnels allows you to specify a specific product within the checkout page to trigger the workflow only for successful purchases of that particular product.

• Product Variant (Optional): If your product has variants (e.g., different sizes, and colors), you can select a specific variant to trigger the workflow only for purchases of that variant. This provides the most granular control over the successful purchase event.

Note:

• Leaving “Funnel” option blank will trigger the workflow for successful purchases made within any funnel in your ClickFunnels workspace. This is useful for capturing all successful purchases regardless of the specific sales funnel.

• Selecting a specific product while leaving both Funnel and Page options blank, will initiate the workflow for successful purchases of that exact product anywhere within your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Leaving “Product” option blank will trigger the workflow for successful purchases of any product in your workspace.

• Selecting a product without a variant (If available) will run the workflow when there is a successful purchase of any variant in the product.

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Pageview

• Trigger: This event launches a workflow whenever a visitor views a specific page within your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Funnel (Optional): If the pageview occurs within a specific ClickFunnels funnel, you can choose that funnel here to create a more targeted workflow.

• Page (Optional): You can select the specific page within your ClickFunnels workspace that triggers the workflow.

Note:

Leaving both Funnel and Page fields blank within the “Pageview” trigger functions as a universal selection. This initiates the workflow whenever a visitor views any page within your ClickFunnels workspace.

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Removed Tag

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a specific tag is removed from a contact’s profile within your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Contact Tag: The dropdown menu lets you choose the specific tag whose removal triggers the workflow.

Warning:

Leaving the “Contact Tag” option blank in the “Removed Tag” event will trigger the workflow for any tag removal. However, this might also trigger the workflow for unintended tag removals caused by mistakes or data cleanup. To avoid this, consider selecting a specific tag from the dropdown menu.

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Sales - Contact Entered Stage

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer enters a specific stage within your ClickFunnels sales pipeline, managed through the Opportunities app. A sales pipeline visually represents the journey of your leads as they progress toward becoming customers. ClickFunnels allows you to create custom pipelines with different stages to model your specific sales process.

• Pipeline (Optional): Choose the specific sales pipeline from the Opportunities app that you want to monitor. Selecting a pipeline will populate a dropdown menu for selecting the desired stage within that pipeline.

• Stage (Optional): Once you select a pipeline (if desired), you must choose the specific stage within that pipeline that triggers the workflow otherwise, leaving this field blank will activate the workflow for any contact entering any stage with the selected pipeline.

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Sales - Contact Exited Stage

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer exits a specific stage within your ClickFunnels sales pipeline, managed through the Opportunities app.

• Pipeline (Optional): Choose the specific sales pipeline from the Opportunities app that you want to monitor.

• Stage (Optional): Once you select a pipeline, it will allow you to select the specific stage within that pipeline that triggers the workflow when a contact exits it.

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Send Email Step - Bounce

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when an email sent by a workflow’s Send Email step bounces.

• Workflow Step: Select the specific email step to monitor for bounces. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for bounces from any email step.

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Send Email Step - Click

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a contact clicks on a link within an email step in a workflow sequence.

• Workflow Step: Select the specific email step within the workflow sequence that you want to monitor for link clicks. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for click events for any email step in your workspace. Steps are listed as “Workflow name - Step name”.

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Send Email Step - Open

• Trigger: This event initiates the workflow when a contact opens an email step in a workflow sequence.

• Workflow Step: Choose the specific email step to track open events. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for open events for any email step in your workspace.

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Send Email Step - Sent

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when an email step in a workflow sequence is sent to a contact.

• Workflow Step: Specify the email step to monitor for send events. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for sent events for any email step in your workspace.

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Send Email Step - Spam Complaint

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a contact marks an email sent by a workflow’s Send Email step as spam.

• Workflow Step: Select the specific email step to monitor for spam complaints. Leaving this blank will apply the trigger for spam complaints on any email step.

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Subscription - Cancelled

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer cancels a subscription within your ClickFunnels workspace.

• Subscription Cancelation Reason: This allows you to tailor workflows based on the specific reasons customers provide for canceling their subscriptions.

• Specific subscription: This lets you create workflows targeted towards cancellations of a particular product subscription within your workspace.

• Variant (Optional): After you select a subscription, you can choose a specific variant to further narrow down the trigger.

Note:

• Leaving the “Subscription Cancelation Reason” field blank triggers the workflow for all cancellation reasons.

• Leaving the “Specific subscription” field blank will run the workflow for cancellations of any product subscription price in your workspace.

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Subscription - Churned

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer’s subscription fully terminates within your ClickFunnels workspace. Churned refers to the point where a customer’s access to the subscribed product is completely revoked. This happens when the customer’s subscription has ended, meaning the next payment date has passed without renewal, and the customer no longer has access to the product subscription. Unlike a subscription cancellation, where the customer may still have access until the end of their billing cycle, a churned subscription indicates that the service has entirely ceased.

• Subscription (Optional): This dropdown menu allows you to select a specific subscription product within your workspace. By selecting a particular subscription, the workflow will only be triggered when a churn event occurs for that specific subscription. Leaving this field blank will trigger the workflow for churn events associated with any subscription product in the workspace.

• Variant (Optional): If your subscription product includes different variants, you can specify a variant to further narrow down the trigger. This is useful if you want the workflow to activate only when a customer churns from a specific variant of the subscription product.

Note:

Leaving both the “Subscription” and “Variant” fields blank creates a universal trigger, meaning the workflow will initiate whenever any subscription churns within your workspace, regardless of the specific product or variant.

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Subscription - Downgraded

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer downgrades their existing subscription plan within your ClickFunnels workspace. Downgrading refers to a customer changing their subscription to a plan with fewer features or a lower price point.

• Subscription (Optional): This dropdown menu allows you to select a specific subscription product within your workspace. Only subscriptions that have a downgrade option are listed. Leaving this field blank will trigger the workflow for downgrades of any subscription product.

• Variant (Optional): After you select a subscription, you can choose a specific variant to further narrow down the trigger.

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Subscription - Recurring payment declined

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer’s recurring payment for a subscription within your ClickFunnels workspace is declined. A declined payment can occur due to various reasons, such as insufficient funds, expired credit cards, or other payment processing issues.

• Subscription (Optional): This dropdown menu allows you to select a specific subscription product within your workspace. Leaving this field blank will trigger the workflow for declined payments on any subscription product in the workspace.

• Variant (Optional): After you select a subscription, you can choose a specific variant to further narrow down the trigger.

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Subscription - Upgraded

• Trigger: This event activates a workflow whenever a customer upgrades their subscription plan within your ClickFunnels workspace. An upgrade refers to a customer changing their subscription to a plan with more features or a higher price point.

• Subscription (Optional): This dropdown menu allows you to select a specific subscription product within your workspace. Only subscriptions that have an upgrade option are listed. Leaving this field blank will trigger the workflow for upgrades of any subscription product.

• Variant (Optional): After you select a subscription, you can choose a specific variant to further narrow down the trigger.

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Survey Completed

• Trigger: This event activates the workflow when a visitor completes a survey form you’ve created in the “Survey Workflows” app.

• Survey (Optional): Refine the trigger by selecting the specific survey form you want to track completions for. Leaving this blank will trigger the workflow for any completed survey.

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Updating a Trigger

1. Navigate to Automations and select Workflows to access your existing workflows.

2. Click on the Workflow Triggers node at the top of your workflow. The Triggers list for the workflow opens.

3. Click the Pencil (edit) icon next to the trigger you want to update. The Edit Trigger form opens.

   

4. Modify the Trigger Settings as required to meet your needs.

5. Click the Save Changes button to apply your updates.

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Deleting a Trigger

1. Navigate to Automations and select Workflows to access your existing workflows.

2. Click on the Workflow Triggers node at the top of your workflow.

3. Click the Pencil (edit) icon next to the trigger you want to delete.

4. Click the red Trash Can icon at the bottom-left of the Edit Trigger form.

Note:

If you delete the last Countdown Event - Contact Registered trigger in a workflow that has Countdown Event Delay steps, ClickFunnels asks you to confirm, because those delay steps are deleted too.

Alternative Method: Removing from Funnel Step (if applicable):

If the trigger was created by attaching the workflow to a funnel step, you can also remove it by disconnecting the workflow from that funnel step. Learn how in Adding Workflows to Funnel Steps.

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Activating / Deactivating a Trigger

ClickFunnels workflows allow you to create multiple triggers that initiate the workflow automation. However, you might not always need all triggers to be active simultaneously. Here’s how to enable or disable triggers within your workflows:

1. Navigate to Automations and select Workflows to access your existing workflows.

2. Click on the Workflow Triggers node at the top of your workflow. This displays the list of triggers associated with the workflow.

3. Locate the trigger you want to manage and click the toggle switch next to it. A blue toggle indicates the trigger is active, while a gray toggle indicates it’s inactive.