When you create a workflow run in EzyMarketing, you answer two questions:
  1. Which workflow, for which group of customers? For example: the "Welcome email" workflow for the "New sign-ups" group.
  2. How should it run? Just once, repeatedly for the whole group, or repeatedly but only for newcomers?
The second question is the Workflow run type field. There are three options:
Run typeIn plain wordsGood for
One timeRuns exactly once, then stopsSending a Black Friday promotion email
LoopRuns on a schedule for the entire group, every timeSending a weekly newsletter to all customers
ContinuationRuns on a schedule, but only for people new to the groupSending a welcome email to new sign-ups

How does it work?

You don't need to watch over it. Once you save and activate a workflow run, the system keeps checking in the background, and when the scheduled time comes it will:
  1. Get the list of customers in the participant group you selected.
  2. Carry out the workflow steps for each person (for example, sending an email).
  3. Remember how far it got, so nobody is skipped or processed twice.
  4. Depending on the run type, either stop for good or schedule the next run.
For large groups, the system works through people in small batches, so it may take a while to finish the whole group.
You can follow the progress on screen:
  • Run count: how many rounds have been completed.
  • Next run time: when the system will run next.
  • Status: whether the run is still active or has completed.

One time

The workflow runs exactly once at the time you choose. After every customer in the group has been processed, the run switches to Completed and never runs again.
When to use it:
  • Announcing an event or a promotion.
  • Sending an apology or a policy change notice.
  • Anything that only needs to happen once for a group of customers.
How to set it up: pick the date and time you want it to run. On the "create campaign from mail template" screen, leaving the time empty makes it run right away.

Loop

The workflow runs repeatedly on the schedule you set (every day, every week, every month...). Each time, the system goes through the entire customer group from start to finish.
Example: The "Loyal customers" group has 1,000 people, and the schedule is every Monday.
  • Monday, week 1: sent to all 1,000 people.
  • Monday, week 2: sent again to all 1,000 people (plus anyone newly added to the group).
  • And so on, until the campaign ends.
When to use it:
  • Regular newsletters for all customers.
  • Recurring reminders, such as a monthly renewal reminder.
Heads-up: the same person will receive the content many times, once per round. If you want each person to receive it only once, use Continuation instead.

Continuation

The workflow also runs repeatedly on a schedule, but the system remembers where it left off and only processes people added to the group since the last run. Anyone already processed is not processed again.
Example: The "New sign-ups" group, scheduled every hour.
  • 9:00: the group has 50 people, so all 50 get a welcome email.
  • 10:00: 8 more people signed up, so only these 8 get the email.
  • 11:00: nobody new, so nothing is sent and the system waits for the next run.
When to use it:
  • Welcome emails for new customers.
  • Gifts or discount codes for people who just joined a program.
  • Anything that should happen once per person, while new people keep arriving.

Setting the schedule

The settings screen has a built-in helper for picking a schedule, so you don't need to know how to write a "cron expression":
  • For One time: pick a specific date and time.
  • For Loop and Continuation: pick how often it repeats, such as every minute, hour, day, week, month or year, along with the time of day.
Once you've picked, the **Cron expression** field is filled in automatically. You don't need to touch it unless you want a special schedule the helper doesn't support.
When does a run stop by itself? For Loop and Continuation, the system stops once the next run would fall after the campaign's end time. So remember to set an end time on the campaign if you don't want it to run forever.

Which one should I choose?

Ask yourself, in this order:
  1. Does this only need to happen once? Choose One time.
  2. On every run, should everyone in the group receive it again?
    • Yes: choose Loop.
    • No, only newcomers: choose Continuation.

Frequently asked questions

I chose "Loop" but only want to reach new people. Is that a problem?
Yes. Existing customers will get the content again every round, which can be annoying and may lead them to unsubscribe. Switch to Continuation.
I chose "Continuation" but nobody new has joined the group. Will I get an error?
No. The system simply does nothing and waits for the next run.
I see run types other than these three in the list. What are they?
They may be custom types added by your technical team for your system. Check with them before using one, so you know exactly how it behaves.