How Wait Periods Work in Engagement Programs
When you add or edit a program step, you can choose to hold prospects for a specific period before moving them to the next step. How wait periods function in a program depends on whether the step is a trigger, action, or rule.
Required Editions
| Available in: All Account Engagement Editions |
Wait Options
The options available for waits depend on the type of step you’re working with. Action and rule steps can be evaluated immediately or after a specific period of time. For email send actions only, you can specify the date that you want the email to be sent. If no date is specified, the email is scheduled to send immediately when the prospect lands on the step.
Triggers wait for a prospect to take action, so you have the option to set a specific wait time or a maximum wait time. If the trigger occurs within a specific wait time, Engagement Studio still waits the full time before moving the prospect to the next step. If the trigger occurs during a maximum wait time, the prospect moves to the next step as soon as the trigger is met.
This table defines the different wait period options and shows which steps each is available for.
| Wait Option | Available In | Evaluates |
|---|---|---|
| Immediately | Action Steps, Rule Steps | When the prospect lands on the step. |
| Wait | All Steps | After the specified amount of time. |
| Up to a max of | Trigger Steps | After the specified amount of time. If the trigger is met during the wait, the prospect moves to the next step immediately. |
| On date | Send Email Action Step Only | On the specified date. If the prospect lands on the step after the specified date, the email isn’t sent to them and they move to the next step. |
Pausing an Engagement Program
If a prospect is waiting on a step when a program is paused, the wait period is also paused. When the program resumes, the prospect remains at the step until the wait period ends. This example shows how this process works.
If you change a program’s time zone and a prospect is waiting on a step when the program is paused, the wait period isn’t paused. If the program is set to send emails only during business hours, the program uses the business hours for the new time zone when it resumes.
For date-based wait periods on email send actions, waiting prospects don’t receive the email at all if the program is in a paused state on the date specified. When the program resumes, they move to the next step. This example shows how this logic works.
If a wait time is removed while the program is paused, prospect activity is evaluated from the time the prospect landed on the trigger step to the amount of time the program was paused. Depending on the circumstances, waiting prospects can automatically be sent down the “no” path for the trigger action when the program is resumed. This example shows how this logic works.
