Build your first Journey

Create your first automated customer workflow in minutes.

Learn how to start building powerful automated customer journeys using Bird's visual builder.

What you will learn

• How to start with templates or build from scratch

• Setting up trigger events like checkout abandonment

• Adding WhatsApp messages with template variables

• Creating backup communication paths across channels

• Configuring journey end logic

Step by step guide

Journeys are automated, personalized flows that guide your customers through the buying process and encourage them to take action. While you can choose from a variety of templates (like abandoned cart recovery), let’s walk through how to build one from scratch.

1. Start from the Journeys dashboard

• Go to Marketing > Journeys.

• Click Create journey in the top right corner.

• Choose Start from scratch.

2. Name your journey and add a trigger

• Give your journey a descriptive name.

• Choose a trigger event that starts the journey.

• For this example, select Checkout Abandonment.

• Select the relevant connector (e.g. Shopify) and choose the correct instance.

• Click Save.

3. Add a wait step

• Add a Wait action to allow some time before sending the next message.

• Set the wait time to 1 hour using the dropdown options (minutes, hours, or days).

• Click Save.

4. Add a WhatsApp message step

• Add a Send a Message action block.

• Select WhatsApp as the channel.

• Choose a template from your pre-approved template library.

• Fill in any template variables using Shopify data (e.g. product name or abandoned cart details).

• For default values, you can enter placeholders like “there”.

• Click Save.

5. Add a condition for unopened WhatsApp messages

• Add a Condition block.

• Select “If an event did or didn’t happen”.

• Set the event type to WhatsApp events, then choose Opened message.

• Use the condition Does not equal 1 since the journey started.

• Click Save.

6. Add an email fallback message

• Under the “No” path of the condition block, add another Send Message action.

• Select Email as the channel.

• Choose a sender email address and sender name.

• Select a previously created email template, or choose from the template library.

• Customize the message as needed.

• Click Save.

7. End the journey

• Drag in the End Journey action and place it at the end of your flow.

• This marks the completion of the journey and ensures it finishes cleanly.

8. Publish your journey

• Once everything looks good, click Publish to activate your journey.

Congrats! Your first journey is now live.