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01.15.2025

 | 5 min read

Keap’s Automation Builder Got a Makeover: Create Advanced Automations in Less Time

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Caroline Burk

A man and woman smiling while looking at a computer monitor

The core of business automation software is the technology that powers and executes automated campaigns. At Keap, we call this essential feature the Automation Builder.

It’s a fan favorite and the engine behind countless businesses' automation efforts, but we wanted to provide a more seamless, simple way to build advanced automations, so we set out to do just that and make our system better than ever.

More specifically, we spent hours upon hours making intentional changes to our Automation Builder that will help you do three main things:

  • Build complex automations in less time
  • Experience a more intuitive, user-friendly building process
  • Have fewer mistakes and confusion involved in your automated campaigns

Keep reading to discover the fresh features and modifications that make these benefits possible.

Our new look

For starters, we gave the builder a brand new design. It’s pretty nice to look at — we can’t lie — but it’s so much more than that.

Each design modification we made was done with strategy and thought behind it so you can enjoy the process of crafting automations while saving time.

It’s hard to recognize the impact these design changes will have on your building experience without seeing a before and after. So, below you’ll find the new and improved Automation Builder’s look, which was designed to be modern, minimalist and straight-forward. Then scroll down a bit further to see what the old builder looked like. It may feel a bit dated when compared to the fresh interface.

New Automation Builder:

Screenshot of the new automation builder


Previous Automation Builder:

Screenshot of old automation builder


You’ll notice these design changes in every nook and cranny of the Automation Builder as you explore. However, as you poke around, you’ll also discover that the changes go beyond aesthetics because a new guided experience and intuitive features come along with it.

The enhanced, guided experience

The guided experience you’ll find in Keap’s Automation Builder was crafted to provide you a seamless, user-friendly business automation experience and walk you through every step of the process. With helpful tips and expert insight at every step, this enhanced experience will level up the building efforts of automation newbies and experts alike.

How does it work? It all starts with our new When/Then modules.

The When/Then module

On the left side of the Automation Builder, the previous “Goals” and “Sequences” options will be replaced with a column where you can toggle between “When” and “Then” actions. This is more common, straightforward language — “when I do [insert trigger], then [insert action] will happen.”

The “When” category is full of automated trigger options. Once you pick the “When” action that you want to kickstart your automated sequence, such as a product purchase or submitted form, then you’ll choose the result that you want to happen from the “Then” category.


Drag and drop

To put “When” and “Then” options to work, you can simply drag and drop your selections to the automation building canvas in the center of the screen. From there, you can move triggers and actions around and customize your sequence to your heart's content with ease and efficiency.

The new pop-up module

Building complex automated sequences doesn’t mean it has to be a confusing process, and thanks to our new pop-up module with helpful insights, it never will be.

As you build out campaigns, our pop-up builder will instruct and guide you with explanations along the way. These explanations will also notify you if any part of your automation is broken so you can fix it, eliminate the guesswork, and get to your final result quickly.

Additional alerts

You may see yellow and red dots pop up across your automated sequences. These are indicators on the published status for certain actions. The yellow indicator alerts if you have changes that aren’t yet published, and the red lets you know if you have outstanding things to set up before something can be published.

A few additional changes

Some actions will be sunset and unavailable in the new builder. Those include: Fax, Legacy Emails, Legacy Landing Page Editor, Traffic Sources and Voice Broadcast.

But there’s no need to panic. We are confident you’ll be wowed by our robust list of “When” and “Then” options. Plus, you’ll still have access to the same reports as you did in the legacy builder, but in a fresh, new format!

Getting started

Our brand-new Automation Builder and the features that come with it are available in the Pro, Max, and Ultimate editions of Keap right now!

Max Classic users can access it too by simply toggling their app to Ultimate — just head to Settings, navigate to General application settings, and scroll down until you see "Enable Keap Ultimate Navigation?". Then simply select “Yes” and you’ll be good to go!


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