How to use Goals in ActiveCampaign Automations

by | Jun 7, 2021 | ActiveCampaign Basics

You’ve been wondering… what do Goals actually do in ActiveCampaign automations?

I’m right here to show you what Goal steps do to simplify automations, solve of use cases, help you move contacts around automations, and measure success as well.

Goas are the magicians of ActiveCampaign automations – and they’re well worth taking a little of your time to get friendly with them, with Kay Peacey (ActiveCampaign power-user & Certified Consultant) as your expert guide.

Get ready to say goodbye to using a ton of If/Else steps in your ActiveCampaign automations…

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Follow these steps to get to grips with Goals in ActiveCampaign:

Watch Kay Peacey explain ActiveCampaign Goals (12 mins)

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Learn what ActiveCampaign Goals steps are for

ActiveCampaign goals look scary because they’re one of the most flexible and creative automation steps in ActiveCampaign.

What actions can Goals do in ActiveCampaign Automations?

An ActiveCampaign Goal step can do any combination of a few actions, involving waits, conditions, gatekeeping and measuring.

Each ActiveCampaign goal step is a sort of hybrid of some or all of these things:

  • a wait step
  • an if/else step
  • a magical teleporter that picks contacts up and drops them where you want them to be
  • a turnstile gate that only lets certain contacts through
  • a measuring and monitoring thing that records and reports on who met the goal

If you’re not familiar yet with automations, wait steps, if/else and working with contacts, go do our free Accelerated ActiveCampaign training before reading on…

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Understand the 3 things Goals can do in ActiveCampaign automations

Imagine an automation as a marble run, and the contact is a marble, running down through the automation.

1 – Use a goal to skip steps in an ActiveCampaign automation

  • A goal behaves like a Giant’s hand that will pick up the contact and move it to the goal step
  • The conditions you set in a goal tell the Giant to pick up and move the contact
  • When the goal conditions are met any steps in between are skipped

Watch the video above to see this explained with visuals

2 – Use a goal to decide what to do in an ActiveCampaign automation

When a contact doesn’t meet the conditions on its way down to the goal step, the Giant just leaves it to trickle on down the run as far as the goal step, without skipping anything.

There are extra options to decide what happens in that case

  • Let the marble pass through the turnstile and carry on 
  • Make the marble wait there until it meets the conditions 
  • Keep the gate shut, and kick the marble off the run 

3 – Use a goal to record what happened in an ActiveCampaign automation

ActiveCampaign keeps a record of what happened every time a contact reaches a goal step.

This is a fabulous way to track how well your automations are working at getting contacts to do what you want.

How ActiveCampaign records outomes of Goals steps in automations

  • achieved = they met the goal conditions
  • skipped = they did not meet the goal conditions but were allowed past anyway
  • waiting on = they’re waiting there until they meet the conditions
  • not achieved = the were kicked out of the automation for not meeting the conditions

ActiveCampaign keeps goal activity on every contact record without you needing to do anything.

And you can see the % of contacts who passed through the automation and achieved each goal really easily – nice! Goals are a great way to measure conversions in ActiveCampaign.

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Discover 4 use cases for ActiveCampaign Goals

ActiveCampaign goals are very versatile (understatement!) but there are simple use-cases that every business needs.

Here are four examples of how to use Goal steps in your ActiveCampaign automations

1 – Skip steps in an ActiveCampaign automation using a Goal step

When you have a series of automation emails asking the contact to do something, you don’t want to keep on sending more of those emails after they did the action.

Use a goal to have a contact skip reminder emails when a they have already done did the thing you were trying to get them to do.  

For example, if someone has made the appointment, or purchased or filled out the form you need done.

Put an ActiveCampaign Goal step at the very end of the automation to jump the contact there when they have purchased / scheduled / filled out the form.

You can see this in action in our free Accelerated ActiveCampaign training – it’s super-easy to build, and once you’ve seen it step by step, you’ll wonder why it ever seemed scary or difficult.

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2 – Stop an ActiveCampaign automation part way through using a Goal step

Sometimes you will want to stop certain contacts from continuing – the ones who aren’t doing what you want them to do…

For example, if they did not click on the lead magnet link, or anywhere in the first three emails you sent them, maybe they’re not a great lead. Use the ActiveCampaign goal to stop un-promising contacts from going any further.

(Check out my tutorial on how to set up an easy lead magnet funnel in ActiveCampaign to see this one in action.)

Put an ActiveCampaign Goal step at the decision point, to end the automation if the contact did not do what you wanted them to.

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3 – Start a contact part way through an ActiveCampaign automation using a Goal step

Sometimes you need to drop a contact (or a whole bunch of them) into the middle of an automation.

By setting goal conditions to look for a tag (like FIX: lost my marbles) and then adding the tag to the contacts, they will jump to the goal step.

Put an ActiveCampaign Goal step where you want them to jump to, add the tag to the contacts you want to start at that spot, then add them to the automation.

4 – Jump or pause using a date in ActiveCampaign automations using a Goal step

There are lots of awesome use cases using date fields in goal steps – they get fiddly, but they’re totally worth it.

  • Email a contact the day before their call
  • Jump them to where everyone else is at if they joined the webinar funnel at the last minute
  • Hold them until a week before their membership expires then send some “why you should stay” incentives

This is a more advanced way to use a goal, and you need to use a date in a custom field.

Put an ActiveCampaign goals where you want them to wait until a date, or jump there on a certain day relative to that date

Date based goals are the trickiest ones to work with, but also extremely useful.

We do a lot of support, training, guidance and troubleshooting on these in our ActiveCampaign Academy so hop on in when you want to master these incredibly useful goal step use cases.

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Learn how to set up Goal steps in ActiveCampaign automations

Here’s what you need to know when adding a goal step in any automation for ActiveCampaign.

There are four settings areas.

When your goal isn’t working how you want, go check these four settings – one of them at least will be in need of fixing.

If you need more help, come find me in the ActiveCampaign Academy – we’re stone-cold pros at troubleshooting goal steps.

1 – The ActiveCampaign Goal name

Does what it says on the tin – it’s a name, for this goal.

You’ll see it on the automation step, and it’s what you use to find this goal in searches, reports, contact activity etc.

Say what the goal is looking for, in as few words as you can sensibly manage, eg. “clicked to lead magnet” or “purchased” or “tag FIX exists”.

2 – The ActiveCampaign Goal conditions

This is where you set the rules for when the Giant will go pick up the contact-marble and move it past the turnstile.

It’s the same conditions editor we see all over ActiveCampaign. 

Start simple with single easy conditions, eg. Tag > Exists > FIX: lost my marbles.

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3 – Where the ActiveCampaign Goal will be applied – “And when this goal is:”

This tells the Giant where marbles are allowed to be picked up from on the marble run.

If you want the Giant to pick up marbles after they’ve gone past the turnstile, and put them back at the goal step, choose the second option “Anywhere”.

4 – What will happen if the contact does not meet the ActiveCampaign Goal conditions

This is for when a contact-marble gets to the goal step under its own steam, having not come to the attention of the Giant, because it has not yet met the goal conditions.

  • Let the marble pass through the turnstile and carry on = Continue anyway
  • Make the marble wait there until it meets the conditions = Wait until conditions are met
  • Keep the gate shut, and kick the marble off the run = End this automation

I bet you’d love to see a step by step walkthrough of setting up a goal in an ActiveCampaign automation…

Well you’re in luck – head to our free Accelerated ActiveCampaign training for exactly that, with Kay Peacey as your guide.

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Read 10 best-practice tips for using Goals in ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign goals are brilliant to use to simplify, streamline and control automation paths.

Goals solve thousands of use-cases and problems, and unlock potential to create really personal experiences for your contact.

Here’ are my top ten pro tips for best practice when you use goals in ActiveCampaign

  1. Be patient
    Goals run on 15-minute cycles so be patient when testing
  2. Goals only run once per pass
    A goal can only be achieved once per contact pass through an automation
  3. Use step notes
    Add a note on the goal step to say what it’s doing
  4. Wait until
    Remember to change it to a “wait until” if that’s what you need
  5. Sensible goal names
    Name it sensibly, and if the conditions get an edit, the name gets an edit too
  6. Start simple
    Goals are wondrously useful, but can be fiddly – handle with care and start easy
  7. Do you even need a goal?
    Maybe an if/else step, or a wait step, may be a better choice than a goal
  8. Use goal data in other automations
    You can use “Goal is Achieved” in triggers and conditions in other automations!
  9. Goal completion metrics
    You can see the rates on the main automations screen – handy!
  10. Duplicate goal names
    Give more than one goal the same name and you have trouble on your hands

Phew! There’s more of course – join us in the ActiveCampaign Academy for all the goals juicy details, dos, don’ts and strategy wins.

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FAQ for Goals in ActiveCampaign Automations

How can I avoid sending pitch emails from ActiveCampaign to someone who’s already purchased?

Simple! Use a goal at the end of your sales automation that checks for a purchase tag. If the contact has bought your item, they get teleported to the end.

What happens if a contact doesn’t meet the goal conditions in an ActiveCampaign Automation?

There are three options: they can wait until they meet the conditions, continue anyway, or be kicked out of the automation (end automation)

How do I fix a contact who’s in the wrong place in my ActiveCampaign automation?

Use a “fix me” goal. Tag the contact and set up a goal that teleports them to the right spot in the automation.

Why is working with date-based goals in ActiveCampaign so challenging?

ActiveCampaign uses some counterintuitive language for date-based conditions. Always test these goals thoroughly, because they can be tricky to get right.

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Get more help to use Goals in ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign Academy training with Kay Peacey

Checking goal conditions, testing things, knowing when to use them, and exactly how to set them… it’s a lot, I know…

We support every member of our ActiveCampaign Academy any time they need a sanity-check, fix or inspiration on when and how to use goals for big wins in ActiveCampaign.

Come join us, for consult calls with Kay, a fast trustworthy support community, trainign courses, and a big library of real life use cases, tutorials and walkthroughs. It’s the treasure-trove of ActiveCampaign know-how you’ve been looking for.

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