Automations send a message for you when something happens at your school, such as a student's birthday, a membership about to expire or a rank change. This guide shows how to create, edit and track automations.
Automations or workflows?
Automations send a message when one event happens. Use them for simple notices, like a birthday message or a renewal reminder.
Workflows send a series of messages in order, with waits and yes/no checks in between. Use them for follow-up sequences, like welcoming new leads. See How to Build a Workflow.
Before you start
To send texts, you need SMS credits. See How to Set Up Two-Way SMS in NextKick.
Emails go out from your school's sender email. See How to Verify Your School's Sender Email Address.
Step 1: Review your automations
Go to Marketing Tools → Automations.
Use the filters at the top to show Active or Inactive automations, or one category such as Memberships or Birthday.
Each card shows the automation's name, description, status and the channels it uses (email, text and push).
Your school starts with a set of ready-made automations that are already turned on. Review them, and edit or turn off any you don't want.
Step 2: Choose the event
Click Add New Automation.
Enter an Automation title and a description.
Under When this event happened, choose the event that starts the automation.
For most events, choose which members it applies to under Target Member Status, such as Active or On Trial.
Some events ask for more details:
Rank Changed: choose the Target Ranks.
Change Tag: choose the tag.
Submit intake form: choose the form.
Attendance Milestone Reached: enter the Number of days attended.
Events you can use
Members: New Member Welcome, Website Lead Submitted
Attendance: Attendance Milestone Reached, Self Check-in, Over Absent
Memberships: Membership Will Expire Soon, Student Membership Assigned, Membership Renewal
Event & Testing: Student Testing Status Updated, Testing Invited, Event Invited
Homework: Homework Created, Feedback for Homework
Ranks: Rank Changed
Birthday: Student Birthday
Profile Status: Profile Status Changed
eStore: Order Products
Learning Center: Learning Center (new content added)
Tags: Change Tag
In-take forms: Submit intake form
Step 3: Add a condition (optional)
Use Only when to narrow down when the message goes out. It's available for these events:
Over Absent: choose Exceeded Absence Limit and enter the Number of days absent.
Profile Status Changed: choose the new status, for example New Profile Status Assigned (Inactive).
For other events, Only when is grayed out.
Step 4: Choose how to send and write the message
Under Do this automatically, choose Send email, Send text message, Send push notification, or any mix.
Click Customize message.
Edit the message for each channel. NextKick fills in a sample message you can change.
To add details like the member's name, click a custom field such as School Name or Member Full Name, or type @.
Click Preview to check it, then click Save.
Email: a title and up to 5,000 characters. You can attach up to 5 files, 10MB each.
Push notification: up to 200 characters.
Text message: each text uses 1 SMS credit per recipient.
Step 5: Choose when to send
Under At this time, check Immediately, or set how many days, weeks or months before or after the event, and the time of day.
For example, Membership Will Expire Soon can go out 3 days Before at 9:00 AM. Student Birthday goes out on the Same Day.
The bar at the bottom of the page sums up your automation in one line, for example: "When Membership Will Expire Soon then send email and push notification 3 days Before at 9:00 AM."
Step 6: Add more messages (optional)
Click + below the message to add another message for the same event. Each one has its own condition, channels and timing. For example, send a renewal reminder 7 days before and again 1 day before.
Use the copy icon to duplicate a message, or the trash icon to remove it.
Step 7: Save the automation
Turn on Notify to Parents to also send the message to the parent contacts on the member's profile.
Click Save.
Step 8: Edit, turn off or delete an automation
On the automation's card, click More and choose Edit, Set to Inactive or Delete.
Step 9: See what was sent
Click the Automation History tab. It lists each message with the Time Sent, Recipient, Automation Title, Category and Delivery Method.
Common questions
Why is Only when grayed out?
Conditions are only available for some events, such as Over Absent and Profile Status Changed.
Can I stop automation messages for one member?
Yes. Go to Settings → Communication and use Exclude members from automation messages.
Do automated texts cost credits?
Yes. Each text uses 1 SMS credit per recipient.
How do I check that an automation is working?
Open Automation History and look for the automation's title.
If I have an automation and a workflow for the same event, will members get both?
Yes. Turn one of them off so members don't get two messages.
Should I use an automation or a workflow?
Use an automation for one message after one event. Use a workflow when you need several messages in a row, waits, or different paths based on what the member did.