Behavioural Trigger

What is Behavioural Trigger?

A behavioural trigger is an automated action that fires in response to a user’s behaviour. You define a signal—an event, lack of an event, or change in state—and attach a rule that sends a message, updates data, assigns a task, or moves the person into a journey. Use behavioural triggers to respond in the moment, reduce friction, and guide people to the next best step.

Why behavioural triggers matter

Behavioural triggers increase relevance because they match timing to intent. They lift conversion and retention by removing delays between a signal and your response. They scale personalisation without manual effort. They also improve measurement: each trigger has a clear cause and effect, so you can test impact with holdouts.

Core components of a behavioural trigger

Signal: the behaviour you watch for.
Rule: the logic that determines who qualifies and when to act.
Action: the thing you do—send, update, assign, or branch a journey.
Guardrails: limits that prevent over-contact or misfires.
Measurement: the metrics and experiments that prove value.

Types of signals

Action events: a user adds to basket, views a pricing page, installs an app, or completes onboarding.
Inaction (timeouts): a user starts checkout but doesn’t finish within 30 minutes; a subscriber doesn’t open any email for 30 days.
Attribute changes: plan downgrades, shipping delay, credit score change, tenure reaches 12 months.
Thresholds: cumulative counts or values cross a line (e.g., >3 failed logins, 5th session without activation, NPS drops below 6).
External events: stock replenishes, price drops, delivery status updates, service incidents.

Context and timing

The best trigger fires close to the behaviour. Aim for seconds to minutes for transactional or product moments, and hours to a few days for lifecycle nudges. Consider time zone, local quiet hours, and channel norms.

Segmentation and consent

Even perfect timing fails if the audience isn’t eligible. Filter by consent, geography, language, lifecycle stage, purchase history, and risk flags. Always respect channel-specific permissions.

Common examples across channels

Email

Abandoned basket: send a reminder with saved items and delivery estimate.
Browse recovery: highlight the exact category or product seen.
Welcome series: trigger on first sign-up; guide to core actions in the first 24–72 hours.
Replenishment: predict usage windows and remind before the product runs out.
Post-purchase: receipt, how-to content, setup checklist, and cross-sell timed to usage.

Push notifications

Price or back-in-stock alerts.
Feature discovery: unlock tips after a user reaches a milestone.
Streak saves: notify before a learning or fitness streak resets, with a single-tap action.

SMS

Time-sensitive confirmations, delivery slots, and two-factor prompts.
Service incidents with link to status and expected resolution time.
Appointment reminders with reschedule keywords.

In-app and on-site

Contextual tooltips when a user hesitates on a form field.
Smart banners for returning visitors with active carts.
Nudge modals after multiple failed attempts, offering help or a lighter path.

Ads and retargeting

Trigger audience inclusion after high-intent page views.
Suppress ads after conversion to save budget.
Sequence creative: education → comparison → offer based on actions taken.

Designing effective behavioural triggers

Start with the outcome. State the conversion you want in one line.
Map the journey. Place the trigger where the user shows intent but faces friction.
Choose the minimum viable signal. Overly complex logic delays value and increases errors.
Set clear entry and exit criteria. Define when people qualify, when they leave, and how often they can re-enter.
Craft the message to remove one barrier. Don’t restate benefits; fix the next problem.
Time the send. For carts, minutes; for re-engagement, days; for replenishment, predicted usage windows.
Cap frequency across all programmes. Use sliding windows (e.g., max 2 promotional sends per 7 days).
Personalise lightly. Reference the exact item, step, or page viewed; avoid creepy detail.
Provide a single call to action. Reduce decision cost; one button beats five.
Add a fail-safe path. If the action fails, route to support, live chat, or self-serve help.

Data sources and instrumentation

Event tracking: instrument client and server events (e.g., add_to_cart, checkout_start, subscription_renewed). Ensure consistent naming and properties.
Product analytics: session data, funnels, and cohorts feed trigger eligibility and experimentation.
CRM/CDP: unify identities, consent, and attributes like plan, tenure, and MRR.
Commerce and logistics: stock, price, order status, delivery updates.
Support systems: ticket creation, CSAT/NPS scores, churn risk tags.

Align identities via stable keys (user_id, email, phone) and hashed identifiers for privacy. Create a data contract so new events meet schema and PII rules. Add monitoring for event drop-offs and delays.

Trigger logic patterns

Entry conditions: event occurs AND user meets filters (consent, segment, eligibility).
Lookback windows: event must be the first within N hours to avoid duplicate sends.
Wait states: hold for a short window to allow organic completion; cancel if conversion occurs.
Branching: if high value, route to high-touch path; else send self-serve content.
Suppression: remove users who received a similar message within X days or who opted out.
Cool-off windows: after a send, block additional sends for N hours per channel.
Exits: leave the journey on conversion, unsubscribe, hard bounce, or negative signal.

Real-time versus batch: choose real-time for transactional and high-intent moments; choose batch windows for inaction and threshold triggers that need aggregation. For scale, process triggers via queues to avoid spikes.

Message and creative guidelines

Lead with the reason. “You left these in your basket” beats generic copy.
Reduce friction. Offer shortcuts: deep links, pre-filled forms, one-tap actions.
Provide value. Add delivery dates, return policy, or setup tips; don’t just push discounts.
Use behavioural nudges carefully:
- Social proof: “Popular with first-time buyers.”
- Commitment devices: “Schedule your weekly delivery.”
- Defaults: preselect the recommended plan but keep alternatives clear.
- Scarcity only when genuine. Fake urgency erodes trust.
Respect tone. Helpful and concise wins. Avoid guilt or fear.

Measuring behavioural triggers

Decision first: use holdouts to measure incremental lift; don’t rely on raw conversion rates. Key metrics:

Trigger rate: percentage of eligible users who receive the action.
Cancel rate: how often the wait-state cancels because a user completed organically.
Send rate per user: ensures you don’t overwhelm people.
Engagement metrics: open, click, and deep link tap.
Conversion: completion of the defined outcome within a chosen attribution window.
Incremental lift: difference between test and holdout.
Time to convert: median delay from trigger to conversion.
Long-term impact: retention, LTV, and churn changes over months.
Quality and safety: unsubscribe rate, spam complaints, soft/hard bounces, blocklist hits.
Revenue attribution: track order-level contribution and margin, not just gross sales.

Experiment designs:

Randomised holdout: withhold 5–20% to estimate incremental effect.
Triggered control: send a neutral message (e.g., receipt only) to distinguish content impact from timing.
Multi-armed bandit for creative after you prove the trigger adds value.
Sequential tests: adjust timing windows, then content, then audience filters.

Pitfalls and risks

Over-notifying: multiple triggers can stack. Use global caps and deduplication.
Misfires: incorrect eligibility or stale events cause irrelevant messages. Add schema validation and real-time monitoring.
Privacy and consent gaps: firing messages without permission damages trust and may breach law.
Dark patterns: false scarcity or hidden costs raise complaints and legal risk.
Channel mismatch: sending long-form copy via push or urgent alerts via email reduces performance.
Incentive addiction: discount-heavy triggers train users to wait. Use value and education first.
Seasonality and drift: triggers that worked last quarter may fade. Re-test quarterly.

Governance and compliance

Lawful basis and consent: capture and respect opt-in by channel. Provide simple opt-out.
Data minimisation: store only necessary properties for the trigger.
Quiet hours: configure per country and per user preference.
Accessibility: readable fonts, alt text, and clear contrast.
Security: avoid sensitive details in messages; use deep links with tokens that expire.
Audit trails: log who changed rules and when; version trigger logic.
Incident plans: if a trigger misbehaves, pause quickly and notify affected users where appropriate.

Behavioural triggers beyond marketing

Customer support: trigger outreach after repeated errors or failed payments; open a proactive ticket.
Onboarding and education: deliver lessons when learners hit friction points; celebrate milestones to reinforce progress.
Safety and compliance: alert after risky actions, then require a secondary approval step.
Employee productivity: suggest templates after repeated similar tasks; nudge to wrap up idle drafts.
Health and wellbeing: remind about prescriptions or activity goals, with strict privacy controls.

Operationalising behavioural triggers

Instrumentation checklist

Define a canonical event list with names, properties, and owners.
Track both client and server events to cover offline and error paths.
Include identifiers: stable user ID, session, device, and marketing consent flags.
Timestamp at UTC; include source and schema version.
Validate events before production; set alarms for volume anomalies.

Build and QA checklist

Write the trigger brief: outcome, signal, audience, message, timing, guardrails, and success metric.
Prototype logic in a staging environment with test users.
Add a visible “why am I getting this?” line or link for transparency.
Test fallbacks for missing data (e.g., remove product name if null).
Dry-run with logs only; confirm entry/exit counts.
Launch with a 10–25% traffic ramp and an active holdout.
Review metrics at 24 hours, 7 days, and 28 days.

Maintenance checklist

Re-validate data sources monthly.
Re-run experiments quarterly to counter performance drift.
Rotate creative to avoid fatigue.
Archive triggers with low incremental value or high complaint rates.
Document changes with dates and rationale.

Twelve practical behavioural triggers

Abandoned basket (email + push): send at 30 minutes; cancel on purchase; cap to 1 per 48 hours. Include items, price, delivery ETA, and a direct checkout link.
Browse recovery (email): after 2+ views of the same category within 24 hours, share bestsellers and size/fit guides; suppress if a purchase occurred.
Onboarding step uncompleted (in-app + email): if profile setup stalls at 50% for 2 days, show a one-click “finish my profile” action and explain benefits.
Activation nudge (push): after the first login, if no core action within 3 days, prompt with a short how-to and deep link to the feature.
Price drop alert (push/SMS): when a watched product falls by ≥10%, notify within 15 minutes; include stock level if available.
Back in stock (email): on restock, notify the waitlist in priority order (VIPs first), then general subscribers; suppress once purchased.
Replenishment (email/SMS): based on average usage cycle, remind 3–5 days before runout; add a one-tap reorder.
Failed payment recovery (email + in-app): after first failure, send a friendly fix link; after the second, add support and alternative payment options.
Churn save (email): if engagement falls below a threshold for 30 days, offer a lighter plan or pause option with clear steps.
Review request (email): 7–10 days post-delivery, ask for a rating; include a direct review link and support if there’s an issue.
Feature discovery (in-app): after completing a prerequisite feature, surface a small card introducing the next advanced tool with a 30-second tip.
Win-back (multichannel): at 90 days inactive, ask about needs, share what’s new, and offer an easy return pathway; stop after two touches.

Copy templates and micro-examples

“Still thinking it over? Your items are saved—checkout takes under a minute.”
“You’re one step away from exporting your first report. Open to finish in 30 seconds.”
“Running low? Reorder now for delivery by Friday.”
“We couldn’t process your payment. Update details securely—service won’t be interrupted.”
“Good news—your saved item just dropped 15%. Tap to view before it sells out.”

Choosing channels for your trigger

Email: rich content, receipts, and longer guidance. Not ideal for urgent fixes.
Push: real-time and lightweight. Requires app and opt-in.
SMS: urgent and high-visibility. Use sparingly; costs and regulations apply.
In-app: most contextual; great for teaching and completion. Only reaches active users.
Ads: good for broad reach; weaker for time-critical tasks; watch frequency and privacy.

Pick the channel that matches urgency and consent. If the action is time-sensitive or transactional, start with push or SMS. If education is needed, use email or in-app.

Quality standards and SLAs

Latency: transactional triggers under 60 seconds; lifecycle triggers under 15 minutes unless batching is required.
Accuracy: <1% of sends should reach ineligible users.
Availability: 99.9% for critical triggers like receipts and security alerts.
Freshness: event timeliness under 5 minutes for real-time use cases.
Privacy: 100% of sends respect channel consent and quiet hours.

When not to trigger

The user already completed the action in another channel.
You’re relying on inferred intent with low precision.
The only hook is a discount.
You can’t explain why the person received the message.
Legal or safety risk outweighs the benefit.

Frequently asked questions

How is a behavioural trigger different from a scheduled campaign?

A behavioural trigger responds to individual actions or inactions; a scheduled campaign sends to a list at a fixed time. Triggers are personalised and continuous; campaigns are periodic and broad.

Do I need real-time data?

Use real-time for transactional and high-intent steps (checkout, authentication, delivery). Batch works for inactivity or thresholds that require aggregation. Many programmes use both.

How often should someone receive triggers?

Set channel caps (e.g., no more than 1 push per 24 hours and 3 promotional emails per week) and programme-specific limits. Always test user satisfaction in parallel with conversion.

What should I test first?

Test the timing window and the wait-state cancel rule. These usually drive larger gains than copy tweaks. Then test the single CTA versus multiple options.

How do I avoid discount dependency?

Lead with value: delivery clarity, social proof, setup help, and tutorials. Reserve incentives for clear cases—stock risk, competitive pressure, or high-value recovery—and segment tightly.

What data is essential?

A stable user ID, consent flags by channel, time zone, and a core set of product events (sign-up, login, key action, add to basket, checkout start, purchase). Add order and support data for post-purchase flows.

How do I keep messages from feeling invasive?

Reference only the behaviour that makes sense to repeat (“you viewed this item”). Avoid exact timestamps or overly detailed trails. Offer control: frequency settings, channel preferences, and opt-out.

Quick start: from zero to first trigger in two weeks

Week 1:

Define one outcome (e.g., increase checkout completion).
Instrument or verify add_to_cart and checkout_start events.
Draft copy and creative for a single reminder.
Configure eligibility filters, wait-state (30–60 minutes), and cancel-on-purchase.
Build a 10% holdout.

Week 2:

Launch at 25% traffic; watch logs and delivery.
Ramp to 100% if error rate stays low.
After 7 days, read incremental lift and complaint rates.
Iterate timing and subject line; add a second reminder only if incremental gains remain positive.

Behavioural triggers work best when simple, honest, and fast. Start with one high-intent moment, prove incremental value with a holdout, and expand thoughtfully with strong guardrails.