Automations & Workflows
If you manage a website or blog, you know that there are a million little tasks that need to be done on a daily basis. From keeping your content fresh to promoting your site on social media, it can be easy to get bogged down in the details.
That's where automations and workflows come in. By taking care of the little things for you, automations and workflows can free up your time to focus on the bigger picture. In this lesson, we'll explore how automations and workflows can help you streamline your website or blog management.
Getting Started
We will be using the Buyer's Journey Workflow Series from the Demo Snapshot to demonstrate automations in this lesson.
* Demo Snapshot
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Automations
Automations are computer-generated triggers and actions that perform tasks without the need for a human being to intervene. With the use of automations, you will be able to eliminate the human factor from the equation and save yourself lots of time and money.
There are a number of ways to create automations. Here, we've listed the different types of automations in order by difficulty:
- Workflows (easy)
- Automated Attendants
- Integrations (Zapier, etc.)
- Advanced
- Webhooks
- Service workers (difficult)
In this lesson, we will cover each type of automation and how to use them.
Tip: Some automations are more difficult than others. Use what you can to help save you time and money and if you need help, feel free to reach out to your account manager for further assistance.
Workflows
In your dashboard, navigate to Automation > Workflows. You'll notice that you have a Folder titled "Buyer's Journey". Open the Buyer's Journey workflow and navigate to the "Buyer's Journey: Awareness" Workflow. Your screen should look like this:
Here we have a single Trigger * that listens for a form submission and then starts the workflow. The Buyer's Journey form that we are using came with the Demo Snapshot and you are able to integrate that form directly into your site using the Page Builder or an iframe.
The first Action ** in this Workflow will add the lead into a Pipeline *** (more about this in the next lesson). From there, they are tagged **** with "Buyer's Journey" so that you can distinguish leads who have entered this workflow using tags.
Then, the lead receives an email from the system. This email uses a Template with Custom Values to send the lead a personalized message with their name, their assigned user (or account manager), and an email signature that you can set up by navigating to Settings > Custom Values.
In this example, we are setting up an automated follow-up messaging system from a form submission. When the lead responds, we place them in a "Responded" column in the Pipeline for the assigned user to follow up and then we notify the assigned user that they have a warm lead that requires Manual Action on their part.
* What is a Trigger?
A trigger is an action that is performed by an end user that starts a Workflow and provides the subsequent Actions with information about the user.
** What is an Action?
An Action is an automation that is performed by the system that performs an operation before continuing to the next step (or Action) in the Workflow.
*** What is a Pipeline?
A Pipeline is a system similar to a Kanban board that is used to assist users in maintaining leads in the system. You can see an overview of your Pipeline from the Dashboard.
**** What is a Tag?
A "Tag" is an identifier that is used to either distinguish certain contacts in the system. You can also use Tags to trigger another Workflow.
Tip: Instant Forms (specifically Facebook Instant Forms) are great way to capture leads! You can add an Instant Form Submission Trigger by clicking "Add a New Workflow Trigger" and searching for "Instant Form".
Tip: There are many different types of Triggers and Actions. Browse through the Trigger/Action menus to view more options.
Example
In the next lesson, you will learn about Pipelines. To help prime you for that lesson, let's create a Workflow that will add a Customer to a Pipeline using a Form.
First, navigate to Automation > Workflows and create a new Workflow selecting "Create workflow", then "Start from scratch", and then confirm by clicking "+ Create new workflow".
From here, click "Add New Workflow Trigger", search for "form" and then click "Form Submitted".
Now, click "Add filters" and select "Form is" and then "BUYER'S JOURNEY" and then "Save Trigger".
Great! You have just created your first Trigger.
Now, to continue with the example, let's create an Action to add the Contact into a Pipeline. Select "Add your first Action" and then search for "Opportunity". Click "Create/Update Opportunity", select the "Buyer's Journey" Pipeline, select the "Awareness" stage, use the Contact's name as the Opportunity name by clicking the tag icon on the Opportunity Name field, and then set the Source to "example". Set the Lead Value to "1000", set the Status to "Open", then click "Save Action", and then Save the Workflow by clicking the green button in the top right of the Workflow Editor.
Congratulations!! ????
You have just created your first Workflow!
When a Contact fills out the BUYER'S JOURNEY Form, they will be added to the Buyer's Journey Pipeline in the Awareness column. From here, you can follow the Buyer's Journey Workflow from the Demo Snapshot by opening the Workflow in the Editor and seeing everything that we've added in here for you. You receive a notification when a lead comes in, they're assigned to a user, they receive and email and a text message, and the list of possibilities here are endless.
Later in this lesson, we will discuss third-party integrations with Webhooks, but that's sort of an advanced subject. From here, you have pretty much everything that you would need to run your business online. Browse through the list of Triggers and Actions to learn more! Happy automating!
Tip: Automations save you time and money by reducing the number of manual actions that you have to perform. In the Buyer's Journey Workflow from the Demo Snapshot, the Contact will receive a list of 20 emails and text messages over the course of ~30 days asking them to schedule an appointment. When the contact replies to an email or text message, the assigned user is notified and the Opportunity moves to the "Responded" column in the Pipeline. From there, the agent should handle the opportunity by confirming the appointment and then moving the Opportunity into the appropriate column in the Pipeline.
Automated Attendants
Have you ever called a number and you got an automation that asked you to select an option from a menu using the dial pad (or voice)? That's an automated attendant.
While this is optional, you can get set up with an automated attendant by signing up with Google Workspace. The account is $6 per month for Google Workspace and $20 per month for Google Voice Standard.
Tip: Automated attendants are not an IMG Funnels feature, but they're easy to set up with Google Workspace and Google Voice. You can redirect callers from Google Voice to a number in your IMG Funnels account by setting up Call Handling with the appropriate phone number. There is currently a request to add automated attendants to IMG Funnels.
Update: We will be adding a plug-in for this feature to Dr. HighLevel. Visit https://drhighlevel.com for more info. (4/20/2023)
Integrations (Zapier, etc.)
There are a number of different platforms that you can integrate with ImgFunnels by using the LeadConnector App. LeadConnector is a thirdy-party company that manages the integrations and apps for ImgFunnels. While there are a number of different platforms that provide the same functionality, we recommend Zapier as it has the largest market share.
Simply add the LeadConnector app to your Zap and browse through all of the different integrations that you can create with Zapier.
Make has a similar flow to Zapier, but their Workflows take on a different look. There may be some features in Make that exist in Zapier and vice versa. With Make, you will use the HighLevel integration, which is another third-party that manages integrations and apps for ImgFunnels.
Tip: If you need help, feel free to reach out to your account manager for further assistance.
Warning
The following automation methods (webhooks and service workers) are for advanced users only! You will not need to know these for the quiz.
Advanced Integrations
Webhooks
Webhooks are a great way to get started with automations. If you don't know what a webhook is, it's a "shim" that is located at a specific URL that will accepts input and produces a desired result.
Webhooks are similar to integrations. The only difference is that, with webhooks, there is little (or no) user interface. To get started with Webhooks, select the Webhook Action from the Action menu and paste your webhook endpoint into the URL field.
In this example, we are sending a webhook to https://workers.blog.imgfunnels.com/webhook-example that receives a query parameter of "email" containing the contact's email address.
* What is a Query Parameter?
A query parameter is usually synonymous with a form field that is submitted by the contact. If your webhook endpoint has a "signature", the signature is usually fulfilled using query parameters.
Tip: There is a feature request for Inbound Webhook Workflow Triggers on the roadmap.
Service Workers
Service Workers are similar to webhooks in that they receive information and produce a desired result. The difference with service workers is that they can output to multiple endpoints or even modify the system itself. Think of a webhook as a "forwarding service", whereas a service worker is a standalone function that receives a call over HTTPS and outputs to multiple endpoints.
We recommend Cloudflare Workers, but you can also spin up your own service workers using webhooks and a server.
Tip: Service Workers are a highly advanced topic and a complete explanation is out of the scope of this lesson. If you need help, contact your account manager.
