Delays - Fanaura Documentation

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

Open the Add Menu

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

Select Delay

Select “Delay” from the node type menu.

Choose Your Delay Type

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

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.

Time Delay
Fan-Action Delay
Until Date

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:

Fan presaves -> Wait 1 minute -> Send thank-you email

The 1-minute delay prevents the email from arriving before the presave confirmation page has loaded.Drip email sequence:

Send welcome email -> Wait 3 days -> Send "Here's my story" email -> Wait 3 days -> Send "Check out my latest" email

Three days between emails keeps fans engaged without overwhelming them.Release day countdown:

Send "1 week to go!" SMS -> Wait 4 days -> Send "3 days!" SMS -> Wait 2 days -> Send "Tomorrow!" SMS -> Wait 1 day -> Send "It's live!" SMS

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.

Wait until the fan takes a specific action — or until a timeout period expires.

Configuration

Select the action to wait for: Choose from available fan actions:
- Fan opens an email
- Fan clicks a link in an email
- Fan replies to an SMS
- Fan streams your music
- Fan purchases merch
- Fan RSVPs to an event
- Fan clicks a ticket link
Set a timeout: How long should the delay wait before giving up?
- Example: “Wait for email open, timeout after 3 days”
On timeout: What happens if the fan does not take the action within the timeout?
- Continue: Move to the next node in the flow (the fan proceeds even though they did not act)
- Exit flow: Remove the fan from the flow entirely

Examples

Email open follow-up:

Send email -> Wait until fan opens email (timeout: 3 days) -> Send SMS follow-up

If the fan opens the email within 3 days, the SMS fires immediately after the open. If they do not open it within 3 days, the timeout kicks in.Purchase confirmation:

Send merch promo email -> Wait until fan purchases (timeout: 7 days) -> Condition: Did they purchase?
|-- Yes -> Send thank-you email
|-- No  -> Send discount offer email

SMS reply collection:

Send SMS: "What city should I tour next? Reply with your city!" -> Wait until fan replies (timeout: 2 days)

Collects fan replies for a fun, interactive campaign.

Set reasonable timeouts. A 30-day timeout on a fan-action delay means the fan might forget why they are hearing from you. Keep timeouts under 7 days for most use cases.

How It Works Behind the Scenes

Fan-action delays set up a listener for the specified event. When Fanaura detects the fan action (via webhook, API, or real-time update), it immediately advances the fan past the delay. A scheduled timeout acts as a fallback.

Wait until a specific calendar date, typically derived from your asset metadata.

Configuration

Select the date source: Choose from:
- Release date (from your music asset)
- Event date (from your tour asset)
- On-sale date (from your tour or merch asset)
- Pre-order date (from your merch asset)
- Custom date (enter manually)
Optional offset: Add or subtract time from the date
- “Release date minus 3 days” (fire 3 days before release)
- “Event date minus 1 hour” (fire 1 hour before the show)
- “On-sale date plus 0 days” (fire at midnight on on-sale day)

Examples

Release day blast:

Fan presaves -> Send thank-you email -> Wait until release date -> Send "It's live!" email

The fan presaves weeks or months before release. The delay holds them in the flow until release day.Pre-show text:

Fan buys ticket -> Send confirmation -> Wait until event date minus 1 day -> Send "See you tomorrow!" SMS

The fan might buy a ticket months in advance. The delay waits until the day before the show.Presale code delivery:

Fan RSVPs -> Wait until presale date minus 24 hours -> Send presale code email

Delivers the presale code exactly 24 hours before presale opens.

If you update the date on your asset, existing delays will respect the new date. Until-date delays dynamically read from your asset metadata.

How It Works Behind the Scenes

Until-date delays read the relevant date from your asset metadata, apply the offset, and schedule the next action for that exact timestamp.

Timezone Awareness

Delays respect timezone settings configured in Flow Settings:

Account Timezone
Fan Timezone

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:

Trigger: Fan presaves
  |
Wait 1 minute
  |
Send thank-you email
  |
Wait 3 days
  |
Wait until fan opens email (timeout: 2 days)
  |
Condition: Did they open it?
  |-- Yes -> Wait until release date -> Send "It's live!" email
  |-- No  -> Send re-engagement SMS -> Wait until release date -> Send "It's live!" SMS

This flow uses all three delay types:

Time delay (1 minute) — Brief pause before the thank-you
Time delay (3 days) — Spacing between messages
Fan-action delay (email open, 2-day timeout) — Waiting for engagement
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

Always include a delay after the trigger

Even 1 minute prevents your message from arriving before the fan’s browser has finished loading the trigger confirmation page.

Respect your fans' attention

Space messages at least 1-2 days apart in a drip sequence. More than one message per day feels aggressive.

Use fan-action delays for engagement gating

Only send follow-ups to fans who engaged with the previous message.

Set reasonable timeouts

A 30-day timeout means the fan might forget why they are hearing from you. Keep timeouts under 7 days for most use cases.

Test your delays

Activate a flow and trigger it yourself. Make sure the timing feels right from the fan’s perspective.

Combine with conditions

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.

​Adding a Delay

​Delay Types

​Configuration

​Examples

​How It Works Behind the Scenes

​Configuration

​Examples

​How It Works Behind the Scenes

​Configuration

​Examples

​How It Works Behind the Scenes

​Timezone Awareness

​Combining Delays

​Tips and Best Practices

​What Happens Next

Adding a Delay

Delay Types

Configuration

Examples

How It Works Behind the Scenes

Configuration

Examples

How It Works Behind the Scenes

Configuration

Examples

How It Works Behind the Scenes

Timezone Awareness

Combining Delays

Tips and Best Practices

What Happens Next