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Sequences are linear; automations are branching. The Visual Automations builder is where Kit becomes genuinely powerful — but also where most DIY accounts build complex flows that break silently and lose subscribers in dead-ends.
Who this is forKit Creator/Creator Pro users who've outgrown linear sequences and need conditional logic — different paths based on tags, behavior, or product purchase. If you're trying to do 'if/then' email logic, you need Visual Automations.
What you'll need
Step 1
Write the goal in one sentence BEFORE opening the builder. 'When X happens, send Y; if subscriber does Z, branch to A; otherwise B.' Vague goals = broken automations.
Open a doc. Write the automation goal in one sentence.
Examples that work: "When subscriber buys Course X, tag as customer + exit welcome sequence + enter post-purchase sequence." "When subscriber clicks launch link, tag as launch-interest + send 3-email launch sequence."
Bad goals: "Send the right emails to the right people." Too vague to build against.
Sketch the flow on paper before opening the canvas. Box per email, line per condition, arrow per branch. 90% of automation failures trace back to skipping this step.
Hold the goal sentence + sketch in front of you while building. Resist scope creep — automations that try to do 3 things at once are unmaintainable.
Step 2
Kit → Automate → Visual Automations → + New Automation. Name it with goal + version (e.g., 'Course-X Launch — v1 May 2026').
Kit → Automate → Visual Automations → + New Automation.
Name with goal + version. "Course-X Launch — v1 May 2026" is descriptive enough to recognize 6 months from now.
Choose a starting trigger. Options: 'Joins a Form,' 'Joins a Tag,' 'Joins a Sequence,' 'Subscribes to Product,' 'Webhook,' or empty/manual.
For most launch automations: 'Joins a Tag' → `behavior:clicked-launch-link` (a tag you'll apply via a click action in a broadcast).
Save the empty automation. The builder canvas is now open and ready.
Step 3
Click + after the trigger → choose Email. Write the email. Then add a delay block before the next email.
On the canvas, click + after the trigger node.
Choose "Email." Compose subject + body in the inline editor.
Save. The email now appears as a step in the canvas.
Click + after the email → choose "Delay" → set duration (e.g., 2 days).
Continue: + → Email → + → Delay until you have the linear backbone of the automation.
For a 3-email launch sequence: Email 1 (immediate) → 2-day delay → Email 2 → 3-day delay → Email 3 → exit. Six nodes total.
Step 4
Click + → choose 'Condition.' Pick the rule (has tag, opened email, clicked link). Two paths appear: Yes and No.
Click + at the point where the flow should branch.
Choose "Condition" (decision diamond).
Condition type: "Has tag" (most common), "Opened email," "Clicked link in email," or "Has purchased product."
Example: "Has tag `behavior:clicked-launch-link`?" → Yes path sends launch-interest emails. No path sends a single re-engagement email then exits.
Build each branch fully. Don't leave the No path empty — subscribers will sit in the automation indefinitely.
Validate by drawing the path with your finger on screen. Every branch should have a clear exit (either another condition, an end-of-automation node, or a tag application that exits to another flow).
Step 5
At key points, apply or remove tags to mark what stage subscribers are in. This makes the automation queryable and connectable to other flows.
After each email or condition, click + → "Add Tag" or "Remove Tag."
Example: after Email 3 of a launch sequence → "Add tag `behavior:completed-launch-sequence`." Now you can build a follow-up automation triggered by this tag.
After purchase confirmation → "Add tag `lifecycle:customer`," "Remove tag `behavior:clicked-launch-link`." Cleans up the trail.
If the branch ended in 'No' (didn't engage), apply `behavior:dormant-after-launch` so you can target them differently later.
Tags applied inside automations are the connective tissue between flows. Without them, every automation is an island.
Step 6
Automation → Settings → Entry Rules: prevent re-entry. Exit Rules: customer purchase. Smart Sending: ON to throttle.
Automation → Settings tab (gear icon).
Entry Rules: enable "Only allow subscribers to enter once." This prevents the same person from re-entering if their tag is reapplied.
Exit Rules: add "If subscriber gains tag `lifecycle:customer` → remove from automation." Stops the launch sequence for anyone who buys mid-flow.
Smart Sending: ON. Throttles to prevent multiple emails to the same subscriber within 16 hours.
Time-of-day sending: enable "Send during business hours" (10am-2pm in audience timezone). Off-hour automation emails drop open rate 15-20%.
Step 7
Tag yourself with the trigger tag. Watch Email 1 arrive. Wait through delays. Validate every branch by adjusting your own tags.
In the automation, set status to "Live" — automations are paused by default while you build.
On your own subscriber profile (Kit → Subscribers → search yourself), manually add the trigger tag (e.g., `behavior:clicked-launch-link`).
Email 1 should arrive within 5 minutes. Confirm subject, body, links.
Wait through the first delay. Email 2 should arrive on schedule.
To test the branching: add or remove the condition tag yourself, then check which path your subscriber profile is on (Kit → Subscribers → your profile → Automations tab → see which step you're at).
Run a full end-to-end test before announcing the automation to your list. Broken launch automations on launch day are a category of bug that's painful to recover from.
Common mistakes
Empty branch paths (No path with nothing in it)
What goes wrong: Subscribers who hit the No path sit in the automation forever. They never re-enter other automations triggered by the same tag. Over 6 months, 30-50% of your list can end up 'orphaned' in dead branches.
How to avoid: Every branch must terminate in an exit node (end-of-automation) OR a tag action that triggers their next flow. Audit automations quarterly to find orphans.
Automations triggered by the same tag without entry-once gate
What goes wrong: Subscriber re-enters the same automation each time their tag is re-applied. They receive the same launch sequence 3-5 times over a year. Unsubscribe rate spikes.
How to avoid: Settings → Entry Rules → "Only allow subscribers to enter once." This is the default-safe option for most automations.
No exit rule on customer purchase
What goes wrong: Subscribers who bought continue receiving launch emails with the same offer. Looks unprofessional; trains buyers to ignore your emails.
How to avoid: Settings → Exit Rules → "If subscriber gains tag `lifecycle:customer` → remove from automation." Plus set up the customer tag to apply via your checkout/Stripe integration.
Complex multi-branch automations with no version history
What goes wrong: You iterate the automation 5 times over 3 months. Each iteration breaks something. No way to roll back. Production traffic is going through a broken automation.
How to avoid: Always duplicate before iterating. Build 'Launch Auto v2,' disable 'v1' but don't delete. If v2 has issues, re-enable v1 instantly. Delete v1 only after v2 is stable for 30 days.
Conditions on opened/clicked tracking
What goes wrong: Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates opens by 30-50%. Branching on 'opened Email 1' sends the wrong subscribers down the wrong path. Engagement-based branching is fundamentally unreliable since 2021.
How to avoid: Branch on CLICKS (still reliable) or TAGS (always reliable). Avoid opened-as-condition unless you fully understand the MPP distortion in your audience.
Building automations before fixing the tag taxonomy
What goes wrong: Automations reference tags that conflict with each other, are misspelled, or duplicate existing logic. The automation looks like it works but routes subscribers wrong 20-40% of the time.
How to avoid: Fix taxonomy FIRST (tutorial #5). Then build automations on top of clean tags. Automation logic is downstream of taxonomy hygiene — never the reverse.
Recap
Done — what's next
How to build a ConvertKit/Kit sequence that converts subscribers
Read the next tutorial
Hand it off
Visual Automations are where Kit becomes powerful and also where DIY accounts most often build silently-broken systems. A specialist will design + build your full automation stack (launch, post-purchase, win-back) in 8-12 hours of work — typically $700-1,500 at $14-16/hr. The lift compounds for years.
See specialist rates
Sequence = linear (every subscriber gets every email in order). Visual Automation = branching (different paths based on conditions). Use sequences for predictable welcome arcs. Use Automations for launch flows, post-purchase sequences, or any 'if/then' logic.
No — Creator plan ($29+/mo) includes Visual Automations. Creator Pro adds advanced reporting + newsletter referral + subscriber scoring. Visual Automations alone work on the standard Creator tier.
Unlimited on paid plans. But practically: 5-10 active automations is the manageable ceiling for one creator. Beyond that, tracking which subscriber is in which flow becomes a job. Consolidate when possible.
Yes. Kit happily runs subscribers through parallel automations. Use Smart Sending (ON by default) to prevent same-day delivery overlap. If two automations both try to send on the same day, Smart Sending throttles to one.
Three usual culprits: (1) automation status is Paused, not Live; (2) trigger tag is spelled differently than the tag actually being applied (case sensitivity, hyphen vs space); (3) Entry Rule 'only allow once' is blocking subscribers who entered a prior version. Check each.
If you duplicated before iterating: re-enable the old version, disable the new one. Subscribers in-flight on the broken version stay where they are. If you overwrote without duplicating: there's no rollback — you'd have to manually rebuild from screenshots or git-style history (Kit doesn't have native version history).
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