Marketers inherently understand why the outdated strategy of sending a mass email at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays doesn’t cut it anymore: the traditional campaign calendar is proof that while you may be speaking to your audience, you’re not actually listening.

Our customers are constantly giving us signals about what they want, need, and are interested in buying. And it’s our job to pay attention. Leading brands today are evolving toward moments-based marketing, using triggers to send hyper-personalized messages.

Triggered customer journeys drive 3x more revenue than batch-and-blast campaigns (DMA)

In this cheat sheet, we reveal the most valuable customer signals to track, the associated triggers to incite action, and the recommended response you can send. We even share which channels are best suited for these messages and top brands that are turning insights into impact.

For more resources, research, and tools for the era of moments-based marketing, visit endthecampaign.com.

SIGNAL: The action taken by a customer that indicates a marketing effort is needed. These are key moments and behaviors that your marketing technology should automatically track and activate.

TRIGGER: The cue to set off the appropriate journey for the detected customer signal. Instead of mass-blasting your audience with irrelevant information, triggers automate personalized communications.

RESPONSE: The message you send to motivate desired customer behavior. The more individualized the response, the more likely your marketing will seize the moment and create a positive feedback loop.

There are many types of triggers you can utilize for moments-based marketing, but they tend to fit into one of these three categories:

1. Engagement-based triggers react to any action that a user takes with the communications you send, such as opens, clicks, complaints, and unsubscribes. In Iterable, these actions are referred to as system events.

2. Purchase-based triggers react to items that users buy and add to their shopping cart. In Iterable, these actions are called commerce events.

3. Behavior-based triggers are the most comprehensive, reacting to any action, either active or passive, related to a user. These include everything from searching for specific keywords to adding an item to a favorites list. In Iterable, these triggers are created using custom events.

Now that you know what triggers are and why they’re so important for moments-based marketing, here are nine we recommend incorporating into your customer communications strategy.

Your ability to pay close attention to customer signals is only as strong as your marketing technology. Now, thanks to AI, modern martech platforms can automate the entire process, from signal to trigger to individualized response.

Iterable takes triggers to a whole new level. Our AI agent Nova makes creating personalized, behavior-based customer journeys as easy as clicking send. Designed to be prescriptive, conversational, and goal-based, Nova helps you take the guesswork out of what your customers want and respond in real-time. Get in touch today to see what Nova can do for you.