If/Else branch
Automation mechanicsAlso called: condition step, decision node, conditional split
An If/Else branch evaluates a set of rules about the contact at the moment the run reaches it and sends them down one of two paths, letting a single automation behave differently for different people.
A branch is a question asked at a specific instant. That instant matters more than the rule: a contact who will buy tomorrow evaluates as not-a-customer today, and the branch is right to send them down the nurture path.
The failure mode is not wrong rules, it is orphaned paths. A branch creates two futures, and it is easy to build the interesting one carefully and leave the other pointing nowhere. Every branch deserves the question: what does someone on the boring side actually receive?
Branches also tempt over-segmentation. Three nested branches produce eight paths, of which you will maintain two. Prefer a shallow branch on something that genuinely changes the message.
How it works in FrazzleCRM
- ✓Rules match on all or any, and can read email, phone, name, tags, custom fields, incoming webhook or API payload values, and per-channel do-not-disturb state.
- ✓Rules also resolve CRM state at evaluation time: whether the contact is active in another flow, whether they have clicked a given automation's trigger link, who owns them, whether they have an upcoming appointment, and how they are related to other contacts.
- ✓Each side targets the next step, a specific step, or — as a deliberate construct — an End node.
- ✓Branches merge back to the join by default; the only way a branch stops is an explicit End step placed inside it.
Where teams get this wrong
Leaving the else path empty on the assumption that it means stop is how contacts get stranded one step short of the thing you wanted them to do. Branches fall through to the join unless you place an End node deliberately.
Common questions
What is the difference between an If/Else branch and a split test?
A branch decides using facts about the contact and is reproducible. A split test decides at random by weight, so the same contact could have gone either way.
Can a branch check what happened in another automation?
Yes — rules can test whether a contact is active, completed, exited or failed in a named flow, and whether they clicked a specific automation's trigger link.
See it on a real map
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Related terms
Tag
A tag is a simple label attached to a contact that records a fact about them — a source, an interest, a state — and which automations can react to, branch on, and use as an exit condition.
Custom field
A custom field stores a value on a contact that the standard fields do not cover — a renewal date, a plan name, a quoted price, an external system's id — for use in personalisation, branching and date-driven automation.
Split test
A split test randomly divides contacts reaching a point in an automation between two or more paths by weight, so different subject lines, offers or timings can be compared on comparable audiences.
Goal
A goal is a step that represents the outcome an automation is trying to produce. Contacts anywhere upstream jump straight to it the moment the goal's event happens, skipping whatever remained in between.
Or browse all 24 terms — grouped by what part of the funnel they belong to.
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