In your automations, both Time delay and Wait until an event happens are used to pause a contact’s journey, but they serve different purposes. Understanding how each one works will help you choose the right condition based on your goal.
Time delay
Time delay lets you pause a contact's journey for a fixed amount of time (months, days, hours, or minutes) before they move on to the next step. Once the delay is over, the contact automatically continues through the automation, regardless of any specific action or event.
Use this step if you want to:
- Space out messages or actions over several days, weeks, or months.
- Make your automations feel more natural and less immediate.
Wait until an event happens
Wait until an event happens lets you pauses a contact's journey until they perform a specific action within a set timeframe (e.g., opening an email within 1 week). Then, depending on the contact's behavior:
- If they complete the action in time, they move to the Yes branch.
- If not, they move to the No branch.
Use this step if you want to:
- Send different messages or trigger different actions depending on whether contacts complete a specific action within a certain timeframe.
- Only continue the automation for contacts who engage with your content or complete an action in time.
⏭️ What's next?
- Differences between the new and classic automation editors
- Add a conditional split to an automation based on contact details and behavior
- Add a percentage split to an automation for A/B testing and random distribution
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