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Action Groups Overview

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Forest Myers
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SharpSpring provides ways for you to create powerful automations based on your lead behaviors. Automations in SharpSpring are composed of workflows and action groups, which themselves are composed of various actions or events. This article will provide an overview on action groups.


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The Visual Editor

The Visual Editor shows how action groups are configured, as well as the logic that defines the group as a whole.

This is done by way of a workflow. Every trigger, action, filter, and the like are on full display in how they interact with one another.

As such, the Visual Editor allows you to create action groups in a point-and-click fashion in real time.

  


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Creating Action Groups

SharpSpring allows you to create standalone reusable visual action groups. With reusable visual action groups, you do not have to continuously recreate common action groups. SharpSpring's Visual Editor allows you to create these reusable action groups. SharpSpring recommends using the Visual Editor when creating action groups.

To create action groups using SharpSpring's Visual Editor, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Click New Action Group.
  3. Enter a name for the action group.
  4. Optionally choose a non-default action group folder.
  5. Optionally, click any of the following checkboxes:

     •   Create a time-based action group with
          a custom DateTime field

     •   Make this action group available in the
          Contact Manager

     •   Make this action group repeatable
  6. Click Add Action Group.
  


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Setting Actions

Once you have created the blank action group, you will need to add and set actions and options in order for it to function.

To set actions for an action group, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Create or edit an action group.
  3. Click + Add > Action under Start or an applicable branch.
  4. Select the actions to use in this visual action group.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Add branch options as necessary.
  7. Set the action group toggle to Active.
  


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When creating action groups and setting actions, consider the following:

  • Action groups can be set as reusable. Reusable action groups are a collection of standalone events that can be referenced within a visual workflow or be manually scheduled to a list.

  • Action groups can have multiple branches. Branches refer to a collection of actions created for use only within a visual workflow. As the name implies, this collection of actions branch out from the action group and are dependent upon additional criteria in order to function. This means that action groups can be complex and have multiple branches stemming from a single action.

  • Branches are not action groups. Branches will not be added as reusable, standalone action groups.

 

Available Branch Options

When setting actions, the following options are available when creating action group branches:

Option   Description
Actions

The available actions.
Triggers

Starts a branch from the initial action group. 
Filters

Criteria that must be fulfilled before moving on to actions.
Time Delay

Sets a time delay for actions.
Action Groups

Multiple actions previously constructed together as a group.

 


Navigating Action Groups

Once created, you can view action groups in the Action Groups menu. Click Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar to access the Action Groups menu and navigate its features.

 

Filter Menus

The Automation Action Groups page offers many different viewing options in that you can filter your various action groups.

The first filter on the Action Groups page is for action group types. This menu allows you to separate Visual Editor automations from Legacy automations.

Though Visual Editor and Legacy automations differ in input mechanics and presentation, the action group content is the same.

  

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The second filter available on the Action Groups page is the active/inactive filter. This filter separates action groups that are active from those action groups that are inactive.

The filter search bar allows you to type in custom search parameters to find applicable action groups.

 

Folders

folder.png  Folders house action groups within.

The folders state how many action groups the house. Clicking on a folder opens the folder and displays all associated action groups.

Folders will display only active or inactive action groups, but not both at once.

The Miscellaneous folder is open by default.

  

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Action Groups Information

The Automation Action Groups page displays information associated with action groups.

When viewing action groups in a folder, the following information is displayed:

  • The action group name
  • The action group's creation date
  • The number of actions in the action group
  • The number of workflows the action group is attached to
  

Click to enlarge.

When comparing visual and repeatable action groups at-a-glance, consider the following:

  • Visual Editor action groups are represented by the  flow-branch.png  Visual icon.

  • Repeatable visual action groups are represented by the  loop.png  Repeatable icon.

In addition, visual action groups are listed under Workflows. If an action group is attached to a workflow the word will appear blue. Clicking these blue words will open a pop-up window detailing what the action group is a part of.



Options

The  cog.png  Options menu allows you to configure an action group. The available options are as follows:

  • Rename action groups
  • Activate or deactivate action groups
  • Copy action groups
  • Schedule action groups
  • Move action groups to specified folders
  

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Deactivating Action Groups

You cannot delete action groups. You can, however, deactivate them. Deactivated action groups will not fire their actions and will otherwise be disabled. Deactivated action groups will be placed in a collection of similarly deactivated action groups.

To deactivate an active action group, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Set the menu listing to Active.
  3. Locate the desired action group.
  4. Click  cog.png  Options > Deactivate.
  5. Click one of the following toggles, depending on need:

     •   Do not allow currently scheduled
          events to fire.

     •   Allow currently scheduled events
          to fire.
  6. Click OK.
  

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Activating Action Groups

You can activate a deactivated action group at any time.

To enable a deactivated action group, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Set the menu listing to Inactive.
  3. Locate the desired action group.
  4. Click  cog.png  Options > Activate.
  

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Removing Contacts from Action Groups

To prevent actions from a scheduled action group from occurring, the contact must be removed from the action group.

To remove contacts from action groups, do the following:

  1. Click Contacts > Contacts in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Click the desired contact's name.
  3. Click the Memberships tab.
  4. Click  flow-branch.png Action Groups.
  5. Locate the action group that the contact will be removed from.
  6. Click  cog.png  Options > Remove.
  


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Scheduling Action Groups

You can schedule an action group to a list.

To schedule action groups, do the following:

  1. Click Contacts > Lists in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Locate the desired list.
  3. Click  cog.png  Options > Schedule Action Group for List.
  4. Select an action group from the action group menu.
  5. Select the time and date parameters.
  6. Click Schedule Action Group.
  

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Creating Action Group Folders

You can create a new folder to house action groups.

To create action group folders, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Locate the desired action group.
  3. Click  cog.png  Options > Move to Folder.
  4. Select New Folder.
  5. Enter a name for the folder.
  6. Click OK.
  

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After creating an action group folder, you can edit the folder name at any time in the Action Groups menu. Click the  pencil.png  Edit icon next to a folder to edit the name.


Moving Action Groups

You can move an action group from one folder to another.

To move action groups, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Locate the desired action group.
  3. Click  cog.png  Options > Move to Folder.
  4. Select the folder to move the action group to.
  

Click to enlarge.


Renaming Action Groups

You can rename action groups as necessary.

To rename an action group, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Locate the desired action group.
  3. Click  cog.png  Options > Rename.
  4. Enter a new name for the action group.
  5. Click OK.
  

Click to enlarge.


Copying Action Groups

You can copy existing action groups.

To copy an action group, do the following:

  1. Click Marketing > Automation > Action Groups in SharpSpring's top toolbar.
  2. Locate the desired action group.
  3. Click  cog.png  Options > Copy.
  4. Enter a name for the copied action group.
  5. Click OK.
  


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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Make this action group available in the Contact Manager option?
A: This option allows you to add contacts to this action group directly from their contact profile.


Q: What is the Make this action group repeatable option?
A: This option allows for the lead to go through this action group more than once.

Q: What happens to leads who enter automation before actions are added or removed?
A: When a lead enters an action group and you add or delete actions from that action group, the changes will not reflect upon that lead. This is because when a lead enters the action group, the events present at that time will write to the lead's individual contact record. Additional actions or edits will not occur for those leads.

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