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| FEATURE TUTORIAL - Triggers Triggers are robust auto responders. They can be programmed to send a message to your user based on some activity in their profile. This tutorial is intended to show you all the aspects of triggers. There are three parts to triggers: |
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| Trigger Message : The creation of the trigger message
is exactly the same as the creation of a regular message in the system.
Just click on the Create Message link and proceed
as normal. After clicking on SAVE AND FINISH at the
end of the message creation process, you will be returned to the trigger
page below.
By default your message will be scheduled for immediate deployment after a user matches the criteria of the trigger. You can adjust when the message deploys by clicking on the Edit schedule & delivery link. |
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On the edit schedule and delivery page you'll find the following: 1. Allows you to schedule this trigger immediately (as soon as the triggerable action is completed and the trigger criteria is evaluated the message is sent). 2. Allows you to delay the trigger x number of days from the triggerable action. In these types of triggers the criteria is evaluated twice: once to set the trigger (upon the triggerable action) and next right before the message is scheduled to send. 3. Allows you to send the message x number of days before/after the value of a date demographic and allows you to send at a specific time. This is particularly useful for birthday/anniversary triggers. The check box for "ignore year in comparison" should be checked when using this trigger for birthday and anniversaries. NOTE: This option only appears if you have a demographic of type DATE enabled. Activation Time: Activation time is a time relevant to when the user committed the action. For example, if user joined your list at 2:35pm then the Activation Time will be 3:00pm. This insures that the user can never miss their trigger window. 4. Allows you to send the message to another address other than the one that set off the trigger. This is particularly useful when you would like a notification when someone joins a list or fills out a survey. 5. This setting allows you to alter the default behaviors of the triggers. By default, the trigger will fire/schedule only once for joins (because a user can only join the list once) and will fire/schedule every time for an update trigger. 6. This setting allows users to send the message only once on an update or only once every x number of days. 5 and 6 are dependent on the trigger history. If it is set to only fire once on an update then it will check the trigger history to see if that user has received this message. If they have, it will not fire/schedule it again. If that trigger history is cleared then they are free to receive another message. 7. Proportional limiter allows you to send the trigger only every x time the trigger is activated, i.e. you can send a message to every 10th person to join the list. 8. Allows you to limit the number of times that trigger will fire over a finite time period, i.e. you can send a message to the first 30 people who join in 30 days. |
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Trigger Criteria : The trigger criteria define the conditions under which the trigger will "set" and "fire". To add trigger criteria, click on the add new action button. Each trigger must contain a "triggerable action". They are denoted below by the checkmark. If you wish to add demographic restrictions you can use the non-checkmarked button but only in conjunction with another "triggerable action" . |
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When using the Whose demographic is a specific value option you will see the following screen: 1. Allows you to select the demographic you want to add as criteria. Once you have selected the criteria, click on SAVE & NEXT >>. To add additional criteria, repeat the above process until you have all the demographic restrictions you desire. |
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Trigger Logic: Once you've added your trigger criteria and created the trigger message you now need to adjust the trigger logic. You can do this by clicking on the Edit link found next to the Logic Statement section on the main trigger page. |
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Step 1: Clear the statement. Step 2: Click on the criteria (1) and then an operator (2) and begin to combine the statements. When using the demographic restriction it must be combined with a triggerable action. For example if your trigger is: The logic should be: When a user joins this mailing list AND when a user whose
demographic is a specific value Or you can use parenthesis: When a user whose demographic is a specific value AND (When a user joins this mailing list OR When a user updates their profile) Once you've finished combining your logic click on Save. |
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| Your completed trigger should look similar to this. When you are done, click on SAVE & FINISH. |
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