Workflow Triggers

The workflow trigger is what determines when a user will enter a given workflow. It is represented by a green node at the top of the workflow (see below).

# Table of contents

This document describes many type of triggers:

# Types of triggers

Iterable workflows can use the triggers described below:

# Received API Trigger

You can trigger the workflow by calling the POST /workflows/triggerWorkflow.

# Triggered by Workflow

You can trigger the workflow from another workflow. For more information, read Trigger Workflow from other Workflows.

# Added Item to Cart

A customer can enter the workflow after they add an item to their cart. Use the POST /commerce/updateCart API endpoint to send cart events. This is the trigger for a shopping cart abandonment campaign.

# Purchased

A customer can enter the workflow after they’ve made a purchase. Send purchase events with the POST /commerce/trackPurchase API endpoint. This is the trigger for an order confirmation or post-purchase review email.

# Scheduled Recurring List

This option will check a specified list (standard or dynamic) on a recurring basis, then pass the members of that list into the workflow. The schedule of that recurrence is set directly in the node (see screenshot below).

# Subscribed To List

A workflow can be triggered when someone joins a static list. This is useful if you have a subscriber list for new users and you would like to send new signups through a welcome email series. When uploading the list or adding new users to the list, check the box for Send List Membership & Field Change Events to Trigger Workflow.

# Unsubscribed From List

You can also trigger a workflow when a user unsubscribes from a list. This may be useful for sending one last confirmation email when a user unsubscribes from a list.

# Unsubscribed From Message Type

You can also trigger a workflow when a user unsubscribes from a message type. This may be useful for sending one last confirmation email when a user unsubscribes from a message type or changes his/her subscription preferences.

For more information, read Message Channels and Message Types Overview.

# Unsubscribed From Channel

You can also trigger a workflow when a user unsubscribes from an entire message channel. This may be useful for sending one last confirmation email when a user unsubscribes from your marketing communications.

For more information, read Message Channels and Message Types Overview.

# User Profile Field Updated

A workflow can be triggered when a field on a user profile is updated. For example, when a person moves to a new city and his/her location changes, you may want to create an email that welcomes them to a new city. This will be triggered whether you are updating the field via CSV or API.

If triggering via CSV upload, be sure to check this box while uploading:

If you update the field and supply a value for a field that has the same value as the current field (for example, if currentCity is San Francisco and you update the currentCity to San Francisco again), the workflow will still be triggered. Iterable will not verify that the new value is different from the old value before triggering.

# Triggered Custom Event

A workflow can begin when a custom event has occurred. Examples of custom events could be when a user clicks a button, downloads a file, views five items on your website, etc. You can send custom events with the POST /events/track API endpoint.

# Opened an Email / Clicked an Email

You can send a user through a workflow after they opened or clicked on a link in a specific email campaign. This can be useful if a user opens/clicks a promo email about an upcoming product, which indicates their interest in learning more. You can then send them through a workflow with more details about the product.

# Received an SMS

This allows you to trigger a workflow in the event that a subscriber responds to an SMS (for example, if you want to follow up with that user in some way).

# Opened Push

Triggers a workflow when a subscriber opens a push notification associated with a particular push notification campaign.

# Clicked An In App

Triggers a workflow when a subscriber clicks an in-app message associated with a particular in-app campaign.

# Filters in workflow triggers

You can apply filters in the first trigger node. If you are including data fields in the API for the triggering event, then you can use the filter to query on these fields. For example, here is a workflow is triggered off a purchase event:

Double-click the node and check Filter on Data Fields. Directly in the trigger node, this example adds a filter to include only Purchased events where the grandTotal field is greater than 50.

Here's another example of a filter applied to a custom event called Viewed foobar Page that is triggering the workflow.

The filter on the trigger node is looking for users with the Viewed foobar Page event with an event field called name that is equal foobar.

To learn more about workflows, read Workflow Overview.