An action is what the automation does after its trigger fires. Add actions by clicking Add an action on the automation canvas, which opens the Choose an action panel. You can chain several actions one after another, and insert delays or conditional branches between them. The available actions are listed below; conditional branching (Add conditions (If/Then)) is covered in its own guide.
Update custom fields
"Set or update custom fields on a contact." Use this action to change the value of a custom field automatically.
- Choose Which contact will be updated? (the target). The options are grouped — Affected Contact appears under the trigger, while Specific People and Specific Orgs appear under Custom:
- Affected Contact — the contact tied to the trigger.
- Specific People — pick a specific list of people.
- Specific Orgs — pick a specific list of organisations.
- Choose Which Custom Field you want to update.
- Choose What sort of change to make:
- Set — sets the field to this value. For a select field, all existing selected options are replaced.
- Add — adds this value to the field. For a single-select field, only adds if the field is currently empty.
- Remove — removes this value from the field. No effect if the value isn't present.
- Clear — clears the value for this field.
- Set What value should be set (where applicable). For date custom fields, the picker also accepts relative dates like @today, @tomorrow or @today(+7d), set relative to when the automation runs.
Send an email
"Deliver a personalised message or notification to contacts." Use this action to send an email automatically.
- Choose Who is the recipient of your email?:
- Affected Contact's Email — the email address of the contact tied to the trigger.
- Specific email addresses — type a list of addresses, separated by commas (for example, an internal team).
- Set the Sender name and Sender email. The sender email is a Username field plus a Domain dropdown (for example, swiftfoxcrm.com). Sender name, sender email, subject line and email body are all required.
- Enter the Subject line.
- Compose the Email body in the rich-text editor. You can also Browse templates to start from a saved template, Save as template, or select Go to full builder to compose on the full email canvas.
- Insert merge field values (type @) where you want contact, form or transaction details to appear. The fields available depend on the trigger that started the automation — not all fields are available in every journey. See the merge fields availability guide.
Send a text message
"Reach contacts directly via SMS for urgent or quick updates." Use this action to send a text message automatically.
- Choose Who is the recipient of your text? (the target).
- Under Sender details, choose the Sender Number (a sender name plus number) your recipients will recognise and trust, from the dropdown.
- Write the Message. A live counter shows the character count and number of SMS units used.
- Choose an Unsubscribe (opt-out) method for campaign recipients:
- Create a custom message (recommended).
- Recipients can reply UNSUB to opt-out.
- No unsubscribe option (not recommended).
- Insert merge field values (type @) where needed. A Message preview shows how the text will appear. Availability of merge fields depends on the trigger.
Delay automation
"Wait a specific amount of time before moving to next step." Use this action to pause the journey before the next action runs — this is what turns a single action into a staged, multi-step journey.
- Set the Duration (a number) and the Timeframe: Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, or Weeks.
- The next action only runs once the delay has elapsed.
Create a task
"Generate a new to-do item for yourself or your team." Use this action to raise a follow-up task automatically.
- Enter a Task name describing the task.
- Optionally set a Due date. As well as a fixed date, the picker accepts relative dates like @today, @tomorrow or @today(+7d), so the due date is worked out from when the automation runs (for example a task due seven days after it triggers).
- Assign to a User or a Team, then choose who from the list.
- Set Permissions via Sharing permissions to control who can view or edit the task.
Manage Categories
"Add or remove categories from a person or organisation." Use this action to update the categories on a record.
- The Record Type is determined automatically from the trigger.
- Under Add Categories, select the categories to add to the record.
- Under Remove Categories, select the categories to remove from the record.
Combining actions
- Click Add an action again after any action to chain another one.
- Mix emails, text messages, custom field updates, category changes, tasks, delays and conditional branches in a single automation to build a complete journey. See the multi-step journeys guide.