Date-Based Automations: Fixed vs. Property-Based

Date-based automations allow you to schedule workflow actions—such as emails, tasks, or follow-ups—relative to a specific date. These workflows help automate time-sensitive actions like membership reminders, contract start tasks, or subscription renewals.

Overview of date-based automations

Date-based automations help you schedule workflow actions around known dates. These dates can either be a static calendar date (manually selected), or pulled from a contact’s data using a system or custom date field.

There are two supported automation types:

Fixed Date-Based Automation: Schedules actions around a manually selected date
Property Date-Based Automation: Automatically schedules actions based on a date field

How Fixed Date-Based Automation works

Fixed Date-Based Automation allows you to schedule actions relative to a fixed date & time (e.g., June 1 2025 @ 9 am ). This date is manually selected when creating the workflow. A separate trigger condition is required to enroll contacts.

Steps

Choose the Automation type, Fixed-Date Based Automation
Set a trigger condition
Select a static calendar date & time as the anchor
Set Actions

Behavior

Contact must meet the trigger to enter the workflow.
If the contact qualifies after the anchor date, past-dated actions are skipped.
Automations run daily to check for new matches.

How Property Date-Based Automation works

In Property Date-Based Automation, the date field itself is the trigger. You can use any system or custom field of type “Date” to automatically enroll contacts and schedule actions.

Steps

Select a date field
Any custom or standard field of type “Date” can be used.
Schedule actions:
1. X days before the date
2. On the date
3. X days after the date
System runs automation daily
When a contact’s field value matches the timing logic, the corresponding actions run.

Behavior

Contacts are automatically enrolled when the date condition is met.
Automations run daily to check for matching records.
If the anchor date is in the past, actions are skipped.

Key differences

Feature	Fixed Date-Based	Property Date-Based
Anchor type	Static calendar date	Custom or system date
Trigger required	✅ Yes	❌ Not mandatory
Enrollment logic	Based on trigger	Based on Anchor Date
Best for	Follow-ups after form submissions	Auto-running actions from known dates
Field types supported	Calendar Date field	Custom or system Date fields
When it runs	After trigger, based on date	Automatically when date matches anchor date

Behavior rules

Automations evaluate daily in the user’s timezone.
Fixed Date-Based Automations require a qualifying trigger.
Past-dated actions are skipped if the contact qualifies late.
Property Date-Based Automations run automatically once the field is populated and the condition is met.

Common examples

Reminder before a scheduled event (static date)

Type: Fixed Date-Based Automation
Trigger: Joins group
Static Date & Time: June 1 @ 9 am
Action: Send email on the specified date

Follow-up email after subscription ends

Type: Property Date-Based Automation
Field: Subscription Renewal Date
Action: Send reminders 3 days before
No separate trigger required

Conclusion

Date-based automations give you control over when actions are executed in relation to key dates—whether they’re manually set or pulled from contact data. Use Fixed Date-Based Automation when you want to schedule actions around a specific date but control enrollment separately. Choose Property Date-Based Automation when the date field itself should trigger the workflow automatically.

Both options help streamline time-sensitive communications and reduce manual follow-up.

If you're planning lifecycle campaigns, reminders, or renewal workflows, these automation types can save time and ensure consistency. For help setting up your automations or deciding which option is best for your use case, contact our support team at help@tieit.ai.