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Triggered Messaging - How it Works

In addition to knowing the purposes for which you can use event triggered messaging, it is helpful to understand at least in general terms how event triggered emails or conversations actually work. We'll address both as we walk through the following examples, from simple autoresponder to advanced profile-driven, multi-path event triggered conversations.

The following examples are from Listrak Conductor™, Listrak's new event triggered messaging system. With Listrak Conductor you plot your conversations, whiteboard style, on a simple interface that lets you see each path from start to finish. Conversations are made up of five key steps - trigger, message, wait, GoTo, and terminate. The trigger step is what kicks off the conversation. The message step is the email that is sent out in response to the trigger. Every message needs a wait step attached to it to give recipients time to read and respond to the message. The built-in wait step gives the system a place to hold recipients in the conversation until the next step is triggered. The GoTo step gives you an easy way to send recipients to another part of the conversation automatically, based on their profiles or actions. And, finally, the terminate step ends the conversation.

Here are some examples:

Simple Autoresponder

Example: Email Subscription

• Recipient subscribes online
• Welcome message is deployed
• Because no action is needed from subscriber, conversation is terminated

This simple conversation could easily be expanded to further engage the subscriber. For example, your welcome or confirmation message can include a link for further information or content. Based on the recipient's response you can take him or her in multiple directions. You'll see this in action when we talk about multi-path conversations below.

Birthday, Anniversary or Reminder Triggered Message

Example: Birthday coupon

• Recipient subscribes to restaurant list online and enters birthday info
• One week before the birthday, the system sends out a "happy birthday" email and a coupon for a free appetizer
• Conversation cycles back into a wait step as no other actions are needed
• Next year, one week before the birthday, the restaurant sends another "happy birthday" email with a coupon for 20% off the entire bill
• Conversation cycles back into wait step to wait for the following year
• Conversation is terminated when the person unsubscribes from the lists or chooses to stop receiving birthday emails

Advanced Multi-Path Event Triggered Email Conversation

Using profiling and dynamic content in conjunction with ETM enables email marketers to get even more targeted and granular with their message threads. Most sophisticated ETM systems integrate website analytics and customer behavioral profiling data to create dynamic content, allowing you to deliver high-value engagement campaigns.

In Listrak Conductor for example you can set up a profile filter inside a Goto step. When contacts match the filter, they are moved to the point in the conversation the Goto button is pointing to. If not, they will continue on and pass through the next step. By setting up a number of steps in a row, each with a set profile filters, you can get even more granular with your segmentation.

The graphic below shows an example of a multi-link message. In this example we'll imagine the initial trigger event was a click that occurred in an email that was sent to the entire list.

Example: Multi-Path Email

• The organization sends out an email to its entire list announcing a sale on DVDs in the comedy, western, and Sci-Fi categories.
• Recipients have one week to click on one of the links in the message. If no action is taken, the recipients are terminated from the conversation.
• If the recipient clicks one of the links (comedy, western, or Sci-Fi), another email is sent with more information on DVDs in that genre.
• Because no further action is needed, the conversation is terminated.

To ensure a recipient only receives one follow up email even if they click on more than one link, you can set the priority dictating which click you will respond to (first click, last click, specific link, etc).

If you wanted to continue the conversation after that point you could easily extend the conversation thread on the fly. The final terminate step allows contacts to exit the conversation. If any contact unsubscribes from your list at any point, they are automatically removed from any automated conversation they may be in at that time.

Segmenting your subscriber lists and providing relevant dynamic content based on subscriber's actual behaviors and indicated interest, is easily within reach using ETM.

ETM gives you the ability to segment and automatically build dynamic conversations based on demographics, purchase history, life-cycle, last open, last read and much more, instantly increasing relevancy and increasing your response rate, and new conversations may be triggered from almost any customer touch point.

Using Event Triggered Messaging to automate your customer conversations not only enhances your campaign performance and customer relationships, it is also reduces staff time previously spent on manual processing and involved programming. That's a powerful message in today's challenging economy.

To schedule a demo of Listrak Conductor, or to learn more about how event triggered messaging can enhance your email marketing campaigns, contact us today.