Pro Tips: Combining Automator Filters, Delays and Tokens

Automate like a pro! Learn the fundamental steps of combining Automator filters, delays, tokens and other advanced features.

Are you trying to figure out how to combine filters, delays and tokens in your Automator Pro recipes? Well, you’re in luck. You’ve “filtered” your way to the right page. Whether you’re altogether new to workflow automations or you’re an experienced automator seeking to master advanced techniques, this is the guide for you.

Want to zero in on inactive customers in your WooCommerce store? There’s an Automator filter for that. How about waiting a day before processing a large order cancellation? Automator has a filter, delay and token for that too.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the fundamental steps of combining Automator filters, delays, tokens and other advanced features into your recipes. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to create your own advanced WordPress automations, tailored to your specific needs and workflows. So, without further “delay”, let’s get started!

Why Use Filters, Delays and Tokens

Combining Automator filters, delays and tokens in your recipes gives you granular control over your workflows. It also allows you to integrate all of your apps and plugins in surprising and exciting new ways. We could fill an encyclopedia with the potential use cases (and believe me, we’re trying) but, for now, we’ve put together three examples that illustrate different ways to incorporate these advanced features.

1. Create Integrated Win-Back Campaigns

The best CRM apps and plugins like ActiveCampaign and MailPoet come equipped with some form of win-back feature. But, without an expensive add-on or extension, it’s not possible to tie your win-back campaigns into your ecommerce store or the rest of your WordPress website.

With Automator tokens, however, you can easily create an automated and integrated win-back campaign that ties your ecommerce store into your CRM. In order to accomplish this, we’ll make use of Automator tokens, a filter and a delay. The steps below will walk you through setting up the entire recipe but we’ve placed an emphasis on configuring the actions because that’s where the magic happens.

Here’s how it’s done.

Step 1: Create a New Recipe
From your WordPress Admin Sidebar, navigate to Automator > Add New. In the pop-up window that appears, select Logged-in users.

Step 2: Name Your Recipe
Give your recipe a name that makes it easy to recognize at a glance. For example, we’ve named this recipe Win-Back Campaign.

Step 3: Configure Your Trigger(s)
In the Triggers panel, from the menu of available integrations, click on WooCommerce. From the drop-down list that appears, select A user completes, pays for, lands on a thank you page for an order with a product.

For the Trigger condition, select completes, then Any product and click Save. Your trigger should look like this:

Step 4: Configure Your Actions with Filters, Tokens and Delays
We want to define an inactive customer as someone who hasn’t made a purchase in 30 days. In order to do this, we need two pieces of dynamic information (i.e., tokens). First, we need the current date. And, secondly, we need to know the date of the customer’s last order. Then, using Automator’s calculations feature, we can use the difference between those two dates to set the filter.

4.1: Create last_order_date User Meta

WooCommerce stores users’ order data (including their last purchase) in an array. However, we want the flexibility to create our own user meta data. (As a side note, there are tons of cool ways to use this Automator feature. Click here for a few different ideas.)

1. 1. 1. In the Actions panel, click Add action and select WordPress from the menu of available integrations.
      2. From the drop-down list that appears, select Set user meta.
      3. Set your meta key/value pairs, using the WooCommerce trigger tokens as values.

With this action, every time a user makes a purchase, Automator will update their last_order_date meta value to match the date of the order.

4.2: Format the last_order_date User Meta

The WooCommerce token that we used to create the last_order_date user meta is stored in a date format. Fortunately, Automator has a powerful feature that can alter the format of just about anything you put into it. Using Automator’s Formatter, we’re going to convert the last_order_date user meta into a Unix timestamp so that we can use it in various calculations. (Note: If you’re unfamiliar with Unix timestamps, read this nifty guide to get you started. It’s a lot easier than you might think.)

1. 1. 1. In the Actions panel, click on Add action. From the menu of available integrations, click on Formatter.
      2. From the drop-down list that appears, select Convert date into format.
      3. In the Input field, click on the Asterisk then select Meta – Row 1 – Value under the WordPress action

1. 1. 4. In the Output format field, select Unix timestamp. Before you click Save, make sure that your fields look like this:

4.3: Connect the User to Your Win-Back Campaign

You probably already have a well-thought out and beautifully designed email win-back sequence in your CRM. Using Automator’s many CRM integrations, you can either add the user to your win-back list or add a tag to their profile to begin the email sequence.

If you’d rather not use your CRM, Aumator has a native Send an email action. In our example, we’ll be using Automator’s native feature but that won’t change the way this recipe works if you decide on a CRM-based action in this step.

1. 1. 1. In the Actions panel, click on Add action. From the menu of available integrations, click on Emails.
      2. From the drop-down list that appears, select Send an email.
      3. Draft your email and click Save.

4.4: Create a Delay

You should now have three (3) actions in your Actions panel. The next thing that we want to do is to add a delay to the Send an email action (or the action to add a tag if you’re using a CRM).

1. 1. 1. Hover over the Send an email action and click on Delay in the upper-right hand corner.
      2. In the pop-up window that appears, set your delay. We’ve chosen a 30 day delay. After you’re finished, click Set delay.

4.5: Add a Filter

Now comes the fun part! We’re going to add a filter to our Send an email action so that it only fires if the difference between the current date and the user’s last_order_date is greater than 30 days. (And because we’re using Unix, we can time the action down to the very last second!)

1. 1. 1. Hover over the Send an email action and click Filter.
      2. In the Condition window, click A token meets a condition. Another pop-up window will appear with a field labeled Token. This is the field where we want to calculate the difference between the current date and the date of the user’s last purchase.
      3. In the Token field, click the Asterisk then select Modifiers > Calculations.

1. 1. 4. A Calculation pop-up window will appear. Fill in the Formula field by subtracting the user’s last_order_date token from the Current Unix timestamp token. Follow the steps in the video below:

1. 1. 5. In the Configure the rule window, set the Criteria and Value fields as follows then click Save filter:

(Note: the number in the Value field is 30 days represented in Unix time. Depending on how long you’ve set your delay, you’ll want to adjust that number. Each day in Unix time is 86,400.)

Step 5: Win-Back Your Customers!

Toggle your recipe from Draft to Live then give yourself a pat on the back! You’ve just created one seriously pro Automator recipe.

With this recipe, if a 30-day period lapses where a customer has not made a purchase, then they’ll get a win-back email. You can make adjustments to this recipe to get it to fit your workflows by tweaking the number of times that you want it to run per customer. Also, don’t hesitate to add more actions, filters, delays and tokens to create entirely personalized win-back email sequences.

2. Create Preemptive Automated Support Workflows

If a customer opens a ticket, they’re probably already a little unhappy. But, using filters and delays, you can create preemptive support workflows that show your customers just how engaged you are. In this example, we’re going to create a customer support ticket in Fluent Support if we notice that an order hasn’t yet been fulfilled. We can then let our customer know that we’re looking into their order to make sure that they get the goods.

Step 1: Create a New Recipe

From your WordPress Admin Sidebar, navigate to Automator > Add New. In the pop-up window that appears, select Logged-in users.

Step 2: Name Your Recipe

Give your recipe a name that makes it easy to recognize at a glance. We’ve named this recipe Preemptive Order Fulfillment Workflow.

Step 3: Configure Your Trigger(s)

In the Triggers panel, from the menu of available integrations, click on WooCommerce. From the drop-down list that appears, select A user completes, pays for, lands on a thank you page for an order with a product.

For the Trigger condition, select pays for, then Any product and click Save. Your trigger should look like this:

Step 4: Configure Your Action(s)

Our normal fulfillment window for any order is five (5) days. As such, we’ll want to preemptively create a ticket for our customers five days after they paid for their order. But only if their order status is still pending.

4.1: Create a Ticket with Fluent Support

In the Actions panel, click Add action and select Fluent Support from the menu of available integrations. In the drop-down list that appears, select Create a ticket then fill out the details using tokens. Click Save. Your action should look like this:

4.2: Add a Delay

Hover over the Fluent Support action and click Delay. Set the delay to five (5) days or whatever period of time your fulfillment window is.

4.3: Add a WooCommerce Filter

Hover over the Fluent Support action and click Filter. In the pop-up window that appears, select A token meets a condition. In the Configure the rule window, fill out your fields as follows:

Step 5: Get Proactive!

Toggle your recipe from Draft to Live and stay on top of your order fulfillment with ease.

3. Automate Your Conversions

No one likes to miss a sale. And with this recipe, using filters, delays and user tokens, your customers won’t have to.

The recipe sends a gentle reminder to the customers who have expressed interest in our sale by clicking on the link that the sale is ending soon. We’re able to identify the users who haven’t purchased the sale item by the scheduled time by using a filter. And action is scheduled to fire as the end of our sales approaches.

Stay Tuned for More Pro Tips

Who knew going pro was so easy? Automator’s advanced features allow you to create any kind of workflow you can think up. The only limit is your imagination! And, maybe, your experience with these advanced features.

What are some of the advanced WordPress automations that you’re trying to set up? Let us know in the comments section below or open a ticket and we’ll show you how Automator’s advanced features can help you pull it off.