What triggers can be used for automation?

Every time someone does something meaningful with your brand, that action can start a conversation. That's the idea behind automation triggers. They're the events or conditions that tell your email platform "now is a good time to send."

The breadth of what counts as a trigger might surprise you. Here are the main categories to work with:

Subscription events
Someone signs up, and a welcome series begins. A subscriber updates their preferences, and a confirmation goes out. Someone unsubscribes, and a short feedback request follows (though keep that one optional and light).

Purchase and transaction events
Order placed, order shipped, order delivered. Each of those is a natural email moment. A first purchase is worth acknowledging warmly. A repeat purchase is worth a loyalty nudge. Platforms like Klaviyo and Omnisend make these triggers straightforward to set up for e-commerce.

Browsing behavior
Someone views a product but doesn't buy. Someone visits your pricing page and disappears. These browsing signals are powerful triggers when your platform is tracking them properly. Browse abandonment sequences exist for exactly this reason.

Cart and checkout actions
Cart created, cart abandoned, checkout started but never finished. These are some of the highest-ROI triggers out there. The timing matters a lot here (more on that in how ESPs handle timing for triggered sends).

Engagement signals
An email opened or clicked can trigger a follow-up with related content. No engagement for 60 or 90 days can trigger a re-engagement campaign. A specific link click can branch someone into a new sequence. These are the triggers that make automation feel personal rather than robotic.

Date-based triggers
Birthday emails, signup anniversaries, subscription renewals, replenishment reminders ("running low on coffee yet?"). These run on a schedule tied to a date field in your contact record rather than a real-time event.

Custom data triggers
A lead score crossing a threshold, a field value changing in your CRM, a contact entering a new segment. Tools like HubSpot, Customer.io, and Iterable are built for this kind of data-driven triggering.

The real question isn't "what can I use as a trigger?" It's "which of my subscribers' actions actually warrant a response?" Not every behavior needs an email. Sending too many triggered emails is its own deliverability problem (and an unsubscribe problem). Focus on the triggers where the email adds genuine value for the person receiving it, not just for your conversion rate.

So if you're building out your first automations, start with the high-signal moments: welcome, abandoned cart, post-purchase, and re-engagement. Those four cover most of the value. You can learn more about what types of automated emails fit each of these triggers.