Workflows are most effective when in-product experiences (Flows, Banners, Checklists) and out-of-product messages (emails, push notifications) reinforce each other. This article covers the patterns for connecting them.

Trigger in-app experiences from a Workflow

Use a Flow node

The most direct approach: add a Flow node to your Workflow canvas. When a user reaches the node, they become qualified to see the Flow the next time they're in your app and match the triggering conditions.

Qualify experiences based on email or push activity

Target any in-app experience — Flows, Banners, NPS, Checklists, Pins — based on whether a user has received, opened, or clicked a Workflow email or push notification. In the experience's audience settings, select the email or push message and use a condition like "has been delivered" or "has been opened."

For reuse across multiple experiences, put the same condition in an Appcues Segment and reference that Segment in each experience's targeting.

Qualify experiences based on a Track Event

Add a Track Event node at the point in your Workflow where you want users to become eligible for an in-app experience. Then target the experience to users for whom that event has occurred.

The event must have been tracked at least once before it appears as a targeting option. If it's a brand-new event name, trigger it first by running the Workflow on a test audience, using the event on an in-app button, or calling Appcues.track() directly.

There can be a delay of up to 10 minutes for a user to move between Workflow nodes, so Flow qualification may not happen instantly.

Qualify experiences by updating a user property

Add an Update User Property node to change a property value when a user reaches a specific point in the Workflow. If you have in-app experiences targeted based on that property, the update changes the user's eligibility in real time.

For example, set onboarding_stage to activated in the Workflow, and target a congratulations Banner to users where onboarding_stage equals activated.

Trigger Workflows from in-app engagement

Segment users by experience interaction

Create a Segment based on how users interact with in-app experiences — for example, users who saw the last step of an onboarding Flow (meaning they completed it). Refine with a time window so you don't accidentally email longtime users. Then use that Segment as the audience for a Workflow.

Use a button track event as a Workflow trigger

1. Add a Track Event to a button in your in-app experience (for example, a "Learn more" CTA in a Flow).

2. In your Workflow's Start node, set the trigger to "When an event occurs" and select the event name from step 1.

The event must have been tracked at least once before it appears in the Workflow trigger dropdown. Publish the experience and click the button (on a test audience if needed) to register the event.

Trigger a Workflow from NPS responses

Use NPS auto-properties in your Workflow's audience settings to enroll users based on survey activity:

• NPS Last Collected At — When the user last submitted an NPS score. Set this to "between 0 and 1 days ago" to enroll users immediately after they respond.
• NPS Feedback Last Collected At — When the user last left written feedback. Useful for following up with users who provided qualitative input.
• Ask Me Later Selected At — When the user last deferred the survey.

To send different follow-ups based on the score itself, add a True/False Branch or Multi-path Branch and evaluate the Most recent NPS score property. For example, branch on score ranges 0–6 (detractors), 7–8 (passives), and 9–10 (promoters).