How To Test Your Automation Workflows

You just built your first workflow, and now it's time to run it! Do you feel happy as a kid but a bit anxious at the same time too? That's normal. We all went there too 😉.
So now it's time. Let's launch it and hit that play button to see how it goes...
Wait... not yet, you have one more thing to do: you have to test your workflow!
So, how do you test your automation to ensure it will work from point A to point B?
Don't worry; it's easy to do.
Let's say you build this automation that goes through one month:

Ok, the above automation workflow is a bit extreme for starters but illustrates our topic very well.
Will you wait one month to know if it finally works? Surely no!
So how can you be sure it will operate as expected? Let's find out.
To test a long automation workflow, you need to play with these two parameters:
- number of profiles entering the campaign
- delays duration between each automation in the workflow
You need to test with a small batch of profiles and reduce the delays to test faster.
While we don't recommend the above advice in a production environment, it's acceptable for testing purposes.
So if your delay pauses between automation are 1 hour or 3, 5, 7 days long, you can reduce those to 15 minutes each:

For profiles, instead of processing a massive list of profiles at the start of your workflow, reduce the number of profiles to 3 or 5:

If you are still unconfident to launch it on a list of real profiles, you can also do the following as the starting point of your test campaign:
- Create a dummy LinkedIn group or event and invite your friends or colleagues there
- Add your colleagues from LinkedIn or Sales Navigator search filter
- Use a selected list of followers you know on a personal level and make them join the experience
- Same for your Twitter following
- And if you are still reluctant to test in real-life conditions, you can also create a dummy profile behind a proxy. But honestly, the above should be more than enough.
At some point, you'll be confident enough to predict how your workflow workflow will behave and launch it without prior testing. It's all about understanding how the tool works and thinking with logic in mind.
Last checklist before launching your automation workflow:
- Double-check, triple check all your variables are in order and correct
- Check all your inputs
- Be sure you mapped the correct column on your CSV file or Google Sheet
- If you are using TexAu in your browser, check your proxy connection is active, and you enabled it before launching
- If you don't have a proxy, use the desktop app
Ready now? 3, 2, 1, and go! Let's see you on the other side!
If after this small test all went well from start to finish, now you are 100% sure it will be ready for production.