How to Trigger an Automation Using a Date

The Date Field Automation trigger lets you trigger an Automation based on a Custom Field with a date field type.

Use the Date Field trigger to create Automations based on Contacts’ birthday, anniversary, pregnancy due date, and more!

🚦 Before Getting Started

Create a date based Custom Field
Collect data for the Custom Field

🚨 Date fields trigger Automations based on month and day only

🚨 Data in date fields must be formatted correctly

Wherever you collect data for date fields, include examples of accepted date formats:

January 1, 2023
Sun, Jan 1, 2023
Sun, Jan 1, 23
Sunday, January 1, 2023
1st Jan 2023
YYYY/MM/DD
YYYY-MM-DD
YYYYMMDD
MM/DD
MMDD

Create an Automation

Click the Automation icon
Click New Automation
Click Start From Scratch
Enter a name for the Automation
Click Start

Add a Date Field Trigger

Click + Add Trigger
Click Date Field
Select a Date Field
Set options
1. Start Automation
  1. On the date will trigger the Automation on the date in the Custom Field
  2. Before the date will trigger the Automation the specified number of days, weeks, or months before the date in the Custom Field
    
    💡 Pro Tip
    
    Want to trigger an Automation leading up to and on the same selected date? Check out the instructions below!
2. Time - Set the time (in the account’s timezone) for the Automation to be triggered on the specified date
3. Wait until the selected day(s) of the week - Select this option to only trigger the Automation on specified days of the week. Contacts whose date field falls on a day that is not selected will trigger the Automation on the first selected day after the date stored in the Custom Field.
  
  For example, if Contact A has 1/1/24 (a Monday) as the date in the Custom Field and you select Tuesday and Thursday to trigger the Automation, Contact A will trigger the Automation on Tuesday 1/2/24.
4. Repeat Automation:
  1. None - The Automation will not repeat
  2. Monthly - The Automation will repeat every month on the day stored in the date field
  3. Yearly - The Automation will repeat every year on the day and month stored in the date field

Add Additional Nodes

Review our guide to Automation actions for detailed information on how to add email or SMS nodes.

When you are satisfied with your date Automation, make sure to activate it!

Send Messages In Advance of and on the Custom Field Date

Two Automations are required if you’d like to send emails or SMS to Contacts in advance of and on the date in their Date Field.

Let’s say you want to send your Contacts a coupon to use before their birthday, a reminder to use the coupon, and a message wishing them a happy birthday on their birthday:

1

Create an Automation to trigger before the custom date

The Automation containing nodes that lead up to the Date Field should be set up first.

For our example, we’ll send our Contacts a coupon two weeks before their birthday and a reminder to use the coupon one week before their birthday.

To create this Automation:

Select the Date Field trigger
Under Start Automation, select Before the date and set the wait time to 2 Weeks
Add an Email node and create an email that contains a coupon
Add a Wait node set to 1 week
Add another Email node and create an email that contains a reminder to use the coupon
Click Activate in the top right corner to activate your Automation!

The completed Automation should look like this:

2

Create an Automation to trigger on the custom date

The Automation that sends out the happy birthday message will be triggered on the date in the Contact’s Date Field.