Email Marketing by the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level

Chapter 12. Triggers, Transactions, and Integration

What, exactly, is a triggered email? Often referred to as “event-driven email,” these are emails that are automatically sent to a subscriber when an event happens.

Earlier in the book, we talked about listening as a key component of any dialogue. Typically, an organization will have several systems in place that help them listen to each constituent. The dialogue usually starts with real conversation, either in person or over the phone. Marketers then listen for web visits, form submissions, downloads, and purchases since they indicate the stage of the relationship.

With that said, a transaction occurs when a constituent tells you something. Any time your constituent engages with you on any level, he or she is telling you something. Each of these actions is an “event.”

The second element to the relationship dialogue is the appropriate response. What’s cool about marketing (and real life) is that with experience, you can learn what’s appropriate to say under almost any circumstances. Over time, most of us have learned how to respond appropriately for 80 percent or so of our interactions. Triggered email gives us the same ability. How do you talk to a new constituent? How about someone who hasn’t made a regular purchase in three weeks? What are the five things you want someone to know about you and your organization?

There’s been a lot of talk about email triggered from an abandoned shopping cart that includes an incentive for the ...