Triggered campaigns
What is a triggered campaign?
Triggered campaigns are automated emails that provide a unique experience for every subscriber. Instead of generic email blasts, each subscriber gets personalized content based on the actions they take or the data assigned to their contact record.
These emails save you time so you can focus on the other aspects of email marketing. And, because they reach your audience at the right time, they typically will be among your strongest, most engaging emails.
How do I create a triggered campaign?
The set up process includes two steps, in two dashboards in your account:
1) building a segment with a trigger clause (Contacts/Segments)
2) creating a campaign with trigger settings (Campaigns)
The example we'll use to outline the process will be a welcome email to new subscribers in the US.
Building a triggered segment
In the Contacts dashboard click "Segments" from the left menu. Then click the "Create Email Segment" button to open the design workflow. Through this process you will choose the type of segment to create and build a clause to evaluate contacts.
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Step 1—Choose the segment type In the "Segment Type" box, click Triggered Segment. |
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Step 2—Name your segment In the "General Information" box, provide a name for the new segment. Optionally, enter a description for additional context and place the segment in a folder. |
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Step 3—Build the trigger clause. In the "Builder" box, click open the trigger event menu. Scroll to find the "Date Joined" field and click to select it. Leave "Exact Date and Time" selected. This means that when the trigger event is evaluating contacts, it will look for the current month, day, and year to find a match. |
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Step 4—Add the next clause. Click the "Add Clause" button. Then click to open the Select field menu to display segment clause options. Scroll through the list, or use the search box to find the "Country" field. Click on the field name to insert it into the clause builder. |
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Step 5—Choose the clause operator. Click to open the "Is" operator menu. Choose the operator for the clause evaluation. In this example, we want to find contacts in the US. The operator used would be "equal to", so that we find exact data matches. |
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Step 6—Enter data value. Lastly, type in the value for the clause evaluation. In this example, we'll enter "USA" to find contacts that have this value stored in the country field on their profile. Click the "Save and Next" button to continue. |
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Step 7—Test for results. In the last step of the workflow, you can see how many contacts currently match the clause criteria. Note: Triggered segments require a start/end date range to test for results. The default date range selected for both will be current date & time. Use the calendar to select a new range. Click "Exit" to jump out of the workflow. |
Building a triggered campaign
You can create a triggered campaign using a guided workflow that requires only a few steps to complete. If you are not there already, navigate to your Campaigns dashboard to begin. Then click the “Create Campaign” button in the top right corner of your screen.
Step 1—Setup
In this step you will configure a few required components like choosing the campaign type, assigning a campaign name, choosing an email template, and setting your From & Subject lines.
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Campaign Details Enter a name for your campaign and choose the type of campaign. Click the Automated Email type, then the Triggered subtype. Optionally, assign the campaign to a folder for organization. |
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Design If from a template, is it a custom template or a stock template? Mark the radio button to choose the template file. |
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Email Setup
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Once the campaign settings are complete, click “Save and Next” to move to the next step, Design.
Step 2—Design
In this step you’ll use the drag-and-drop email editor to design your email message.
On the left you will find Layout, Content and Action elements that you can add into your design.
In the middle of the page you click on an element to edit it. This opens edit tools on the right side of the page. Design tools will vary based on the type of element: text, button, image, etc. |
Once your email design is complete, click “Save and Next” to move to the next step, Contacts.
Step 3—Contacts
In this step you’ll choose the audience to receive your campaign.
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From the left column click on your new triggered segment and use the arrow to move it to the right column. Note: Only triggered segments will be displayed for selection. |
Click “Save and Next” to move to the next step, Preview.
Step 4—Preview
In the Preview step of the workflow you can see a browser preview of the email.
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The Preview step includes:
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When you’re done using the Preview tools, click “Save and Next” to move to the next step, Test.
Step 5—Test
The Test step allows you to send copies of the campaign as an email for review ahead of sending to ensure that the email generally renders as expected, that all images display, and that all links are working.
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Here you will configure these options:
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Note: Triggered campaigns require a start/end date to test for results. Use the calendar icons to select a new range.
Click “Test and Next” to move to the last step, Schedule.
Step 6—Schedule
In the final step of the workflow you’ll configure trigger settings.
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Minimally, you will configure these trigger settings:
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Definitions of all trigger settings:
- How far back do you want to check for recipients? (optional)
- One-time look back to pull in contacts that may have previously matched the segment criteria. Use only if the email message would still be applicable.
- How frequently do you want the trigger to run?
- How often the segment will be evaluated automatically by the system to see if new contacts match the criteria. Options include hours, days, weeks.
- When the trigger runs, how soon should the recipient receive the message?
- When the segment evaluation occurs (above), determine when the email will be sent. Options include immediately (the next scheduled trigger time), before the date used in the segment, or after the date used in the segment.
- When should the trigger run for the last time? (optional)
- An expiration date to stop the trigger evaluation & sending of email.
FAQ
How are advanced trigger scheduling options used?
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