A Flow is made of connected nodes (triggers, actions, delays, splits, integrations). Personas enter a Flow when they match the trigger criteria, and each node determines what happens next.

You can start from scratch with a Trigger-Based Flow or from a prebuilt Flow Template.

Before getting started, ensure you have:

The following roles have access to create Flows:

The Flow Builder uses a drag-and-drop interface. Nodes must be connected, no standalone or disconnected nodes.

Key builder functions:

Once you start building, each node must be configured before the Flow can launch.

Nodes define the actions taken as personas move through the Flow. There is no limit to how many nodes a flow can contain.

A Flow can start with either a Trigger or a Split. Both nodes contain Traits, that qualify (or not) personas from entering the flow. There are also new Flow-specific Traits you can use as well.

Defines how personas enter the Flow.

Routes personas into Yes/No paths based on an audience.

AI evaluates a yes/no condition and routes personas accordingly.

Send a message through all of our available channels (excluding Loops)

Attach a discount to personas moving through the sequence.

Pause the Flow before moving to the next step.

Modify a persona's traits or opt them out of specific channels when they reach this step. See Persona Update Node for more info.

Node representing events from external systems.

When you go to save or launch a flow for the first time, you will be prompted to fill out the Flow Details. You can also access these settings in the flow builder, click on the (...) more menu > Edit Details.

Traditional Audiences are not updated in real time and typically become available after an overnight capture. Audience-based campaigns can only message customers once this overnight process completes.

Flows process events and traits more frequently than traditional audiences, allowing for faster follow-up in many cases. However, timing varies by trait type:

Available in 5–20 minutes:

Traditional Audience Capture:

Real-Time:

Do not use opt-in status as a trigger when flow re-entry is enabled.

For example, using a trigger like Email Opt-In = True can cause personas to repeatedly re-enter the flow because opt-in status rarely changes. This can unintentionally create looping behavior.

Instead, trigger the flow using an actual event or behavior, then use a split inside the flow to check opt-in status and route personas to the appropriate channel.

Customers are not always reachable through a single channel.

Use splits within your flow to check available channels and route personas accordingly, such as:

This ensures more customers receive your messaging instead of being excluded from the flow.

Flows perform best when triggered by customer actions or events, such as:

Avoid triggering flows on static profile traits that rarely change, as this can cause unintended re-entry or low relevance messaging.

Use delays between steps to avoid overwhelming customers with multiple messages in a short time.

Spacing messages improves engagement and reduces opt-outs.

Each flow should have one clear purpose, such as:

Avoid combining too many objectives in one flow, as this makes performance harder to measure and optimize.

Message (campaign) content can be edited; personas who haven’t reached the message node will receive the updated version.

AIQ provides two ways to view flow performance, depending on the level of detail you need.

A Flow can only launch if all nodes are fully configured and valid. Check the following:

If your Flow shows zero entrants, the issue is almost always related to triggering or data availability. Possible causes:

If a persona enters the Flow but stops progressing, check the following:

Partially. You can only edit Time Delay nodes in a live Flow. You cannot edit triggers, campaigns, discounts, gift points, splits, or any other node type once the Flow is active.

If you need to change anything other than a Time Delay, duplicate the Flow, make updates, and launch the new version.

No. Flows follow the same pattern as our Campaign Builder, where you can manually Save as Draft and if you try to close the builder with unsaved changes, a confirmation modal will appear.

No. Messages created inside Flows are not standard campaigns. They only contain content (no campaign-level settings) and inherit rules from the Flow itself.

Yes. All discounts created or attached in Flows are available in the normal Discounts list.

No. Attribution is set at the Flow-level, not per message (aka campaign).

Yes. You can add as many Split or AI Split nodes as needed.

Yes. Multiple triggers are supported.

No. Campaigns inside Flows do not use campaign-level features. All sends follow the Flow’s logic and global compliance rules.

Not in this version. A/B testing will be considered for a future release.

No. You can have as many nodes as you want.

Yes. The time delay cannot exceed 365 days, or 1 year.

Traditional AIQ Audiences are evaluated during an overnight processing cycle, meaning customers may not become eligible until the next day.

Flows evaluate triggers and traits more frequently, allowing customers to enter a Flow much sooner after an action occurs. See info above.

Yes, use the Is in audience(s) to select from your existing list.

See AI Prompts in Flows.

Yes, but with limitations. You can enable re-entry with optional cooldown periods for flows which start with certain triggers. For more information, check out Flow Re-entry . This allows retailers to enable "ongoing" or recurring flows.

Use delays and conditions within the same flow.

If you need to wait for a future event or evaluate a condition at a later time, add a delay step followed by the appropriate condition. Customers will continue moving forward through the flow as those steps are reached.

No. If your flow contains email steps, messages will only be sent to customers who are opted in to email. Customers who are not opted in will simply not receive the message.

However, if the flow continues to other steps after an email node, customers who cannot receive that email may stop progressing through the flow unless you add splits or alternate paths.

If a customer reaches a step for a channel they are not opted into, they cannot proceed past that step unless you add a conditional split or alternate path.

Example:

To avoid this, add a split or alternate path around channel-specific steps.

No. Contact Cards are not supported in this version of Flows. We are considering it for a future version.

If you have a start date set on your flow, this will prevent AIQ from analyzing your trigger until that date/time occurs. Check back after the flow flips to live.

Yes, after you launch your flow, you can edit both your daily and lifetime max credits.

If you need assistance, reach out to AIQ Support anytime via the chat widget in your AIQ Dashboard.