Skip to main content
Delays are what turn a barrage of messages into a thoughtful sequence. Without delays, every action in your flow would fire instantly — one email, one SMS, and one DM all arriving within seconds of each other. Delays give your fans breathing room and make your automation feel natural.

​
Adding a Delay

1

Open the Add Menu

In the Flow Builder canvas, click the add button (”+”) below any node.
2

Select Delay

Select “Delay” from the node type menu.
3

Choose Your Delay Type

Choose from Time Delay, Fan-Action Delay, or Until Date.
4

Configure Duration

Set the duration, timeout, or date for your delay.

​
Delay Types

Fanaura offers three types of delays, each designed for different timing needs.
The simplest type: wait a fixed amount of time before continuing.

​
Configuration

Set the duration using:
  • Seconds: Wait 30 seconds (useful for rapid sequences like IG DM conversations)
  • Minutes: Wait 5 minutes (good for a brief pause after a trigger before the first message)
  • Hours: Wait 2 hours (allow time for the fan to take an action before following up)
  • Days: Wait 3 days (standard drip sequence spacing)
  • Weeks: Wait 1 week (longer nurture sequences)

​
Examples

Quick follow-up after presave:
The 1-minute delay prevents the email from arriving before the presave confirmation page has loaded.Drip email sequence:
Three days between emails keeps fans engaged without overwhelming them.Release day countdown:
A countdown sequence that builds anticipation.

​
How It Works Behind the Scenes

When a fan hits a time delay, Fanaura schedules the next action using a reliable message queue. The scheduled message fires at exactly the right time — even if your Fanaura account is not actively being used. Delays are reliable to the second.

​
Timezone Awareness

Delays respect timezone settings configured in Flow Settings:
All delays use your account’s default timezone. A “Wait until 9 AM” delay fires at 9 AM in your timezone for all fans.This works well when your fan base is concentrated in one timezone or region.
If your fan base is primarily in one country, account timezone works fine. If you have international fans, enable fan timezone for a better experience.

​
Combining Delays

You can chain multiple delays for sophisticated timing:
This flow uses all three delay types:
  1. Time delay (1 minute) — Brief pause before the thank-you
  2. Time delay (3 days) — Spacing between messages
  3. Fan-action delay (email open, 2-day timeout) — Waiting for engagement
  4. Until-date delay (release date) — Scheduling the release announcement
A delay followed by a condition is a powerful pattern — “Wait 3 days, then check if they opened the email, then branch accordingly.”

​
Tips and Best Practices

Even 1 minute prevents your message from arriving before the fan’s browser has finished loading the trigger confirmation page.
Space messages at least 1-2 days apart in a drip sequence. More than one message per day feels aggressive.
Only send follow-ups to fans who engaged with the previous message.
A 30-day timeout means the fan might forget why they are hearing from you. Keep timeouts under 7 days for most use cases.
Activate a flow and trigger it yourself. Make sure the timing feels right from the fan’s perspective.
A delay followed by a condition is a powerful pattern — “Wait 3 days, then check if they opened the email, then branch accordingly.”

​
What Happens Next

Delays control when things happen. Conditions control what happens. Learn about branching logic in Conditions.