With automation workflows, you don't need to choose which emails to send and when. They are sent automatically when a particular event happens, such as an order placed in your store or a customer entering the Segment.
Before You Begin
Automation workflows can be used on all the Omnisend plans.
The type of automation defines which channels messages can be sent through. Every automation workflow can include email, SMS, and Push Notification channels.
Automation Trigger Settings
Each trigger consists of the following stages:
Trigger and trigger rules define when the customers enter the flow.
Audience filter checks the customers' eligibility.
Exit conditions cancel the sequence at any stage when a particular event fires.
Frequency limits the number of particular events triggered by a single customer.
In this article, we focus on the trigger and trigger filters and explain how you can use them. We'll also look at the kind of information that can be added to the email message with each of them.
Trigger Filters
Each trigger has its own set of rules. While some are as simple as the Sign-up form triggering the flow, others identify unique order statuses for each platform. When you choose to create the workflow with one of the presets, we automatically adjust the trigger to match your ecommerce platform order statuses. However, you may also find the list of the order statuses for your store platform in the corresponding article.
The set of trigger filters will be shown as soon as you choose the trigger. Although the majority of triggers can function on their own (Placed Order, Abandoned Checkout, etc.), some of them will require a Trigger filter to be added (Contact enters a segment, Viewed page).
Event-Based Automation Workflows
With event-based automation, the trigger will carry the information related to the event you have triggered and, therefore, define the content that can be added to the message. For example, Order-based triggers like Placed Order or Paid for Order contain information about the order, shipping, and billing addresses. At the same time, the Started Checkout automation carries information about the products and checkout links that are unique to each of your customers.
Information passed with the Order-based event:
Order Shipping address Billing address
----- ---------------- ----------------
Order ID First name First name
Order number Last name Last name
Order name Country Country
Order date Country code Country code
Currency State State
Total price State code State code
Subtotal price City City
Discount Address Address
Shipping price ZIP/Postal code ZIP/Postal code
Order status page URL Company Company
Order note Phone Phone
What should be noted here is that the information passed with the event will exist only within the automation triggered by that event. If you need to add the Order ID, Order Number, and other details, you should set the trigger to Placed Order. In this case, Segment-based automation won't work.
You can see the list of properties passed with the event in the personalization menu.
You can either add these items as text to the email message content or add content blocks containing this information.
Order Summary for Order-based Automation:
Abandoned Products for Added Product to Cart Automation:
We will also update your customer profile based on the information brought with the order. Let's consider a few examples:
Profile data (first name, last name, country, etc.) that your customer provides at the check-out can be used to segment your customers and can be inserted into the content of the message with a personalization option → Contact.
Order-specific data (order date, products your customer has purchased, etc.) will be added to the system, allowing you to segment your customers based on this data or add it to the content of the message with a personalization option → Event (Order, Abandoned Cart, Custom Event, etc.).
Order Events
You can access six separate event triggers: Placed Order, Ordered Product, Paid for Order, Order Fulfilled, Order Canceled, and Order Refunded.
These triggers give you more filtering, splitting, and personalization options available with the extra event data, which can be used throughout the automation process.
Trigger filters will give you more control over who should trigger the automation. Based on different attributes, you can limit the trigger to be fired for customers having specific order data, billing and shipping details, order items data, and tracking details, if available.
By using these trigger filters, you can now fine-tune your automation processes and ensure they only run for customers with the qualities you want. So, you can make your workflows more efficient and give your customers personalized experiences that meet their needs and preferences.
Each of the 6 Order events has triggers that correspond to the nature of the trigger; for example, Ordered Product will have trigger filters focused on Product data, like Product Description, Price, Weight, etc. The order fulfilled trigger will have a filter based on fulfillment status and more. The order canceled trigger will have a filter based on cancellation reason, etc.
Please keep in mind that all data comes from API, and you will need to follow our API documentation to pass it correctly unless your platform passes it automatically to Omnisend (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, etc.).
Opened & Clicked Message Events
With triggers based on customer engagement, you can automate your follow-up communications based on how your customers interact with your previous campaigns or automation messages.
These triggers allow you to automate your follow-up communications based on how your customers interact with your previous campaigns or automation messages. By triggering based on customer actions, such as opening or clicking on a specific email, you can create a more personalized and effective communication strategy that truly resonates with your audience.
Currently, there are no separate automation presets for these events. You must create a new workflow from the Automations tab → click Create custom workflow → select the Trigger: Clicked on a message or Opened message.
Once you select one of these triggers based on customer engagement, you'll have access to various trigger filters to help you further refine and personalize your automation workflows.
These trigger filters allow you to specify certain attributes for the trigger, such as a specific email or customer behavior. You can even combine multiple filters in a single automation with AND or OR connectors between the rules.
The list of trigger filters includes:
client app name (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.);
client app language;
message channel (email, SMS, or push notification);
clicked URL (for Clicked on message trigger);
device type (desktop, mobile, etc.);
message ID;
message title;
marketing activity name (name of automation or campaign);
marketing activity type (automation flow, campaign);
operating system (Android, Windows, macOS, etc.).
Important! For these triggers (Opened & Clicked on message), you should always use a Frequency set to at least 1 day to make sure you are not bombarding your customers with too many emails in case they open/click the email a few times.
By sending personalized content to customers who have interacted with your store in the past, you can deepen their connection to your brand and make your business more successful. So, feel free to get creative and try out different strategies for personalizing your automations with the Opened message and Click on message triggers to see what works best.
Custom Triggers
Message Sent Trigger
As a customer, you may have specific communication that you'd like to send to customers who have already received a message, either through a particular channel, campaign, or automation.
This can be a helpful strategy to target a specific group of buyers who have already shown interest in your online store or products. By sending them follow-up communication, you can improve their overall experience and increase the chances of converting them into loyal customers.
You can use trigger filters for the Message Sent trigger to select a specific type of message as a trigger. Here are the filter options available for the Message Sent trigger:
Trigger filters
Filter | Description |
Channel | Select one of the possible channels:
|
Email Domain | Everything that goes after the @ symbol of your recipient's email address. Note: This only works for email channel messages. |
Message Title |
|
Message ID | Message ID is different depending on which message type and channel it is. You can check IDs in reports of Campaigns and Automations. |
Phone number country code | Two-letter country codes according to the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard. Note: This only works for SMS channel messages. |
Marketing Activity ID |
|
Send Cost | The SMS credits that were used for sending your message.
Note: This only works for the SMS channel. |
Marketing Activity Name | The marketing activity name is different depending on which message type it is.
|
Marketing Activity Type | Depends on which message type it is. It can be either:
|
Message Format | Message type:
Note: This only works for the SMS channel. |
Message Delivery Failed Trigger
The message delivery failed trigger can be handy if you want to resend a message or, for example, add a tag to someone who didn't receive the previous message due to delivery failure. For instance, if you want to ensure that you receive a discount promised in a form, you can use this trigger to resend a welcome email. Keep in mind that the appropriate action depends on the reason for the delivery failure.
Intro
Marked Message as Spam Trigger
It's important to keep in mind that users who mark your emails as spam will automatically be unsubscribed from your audience and get an unsubscribed status, so you cannot send emails to them. However, this can also be a useful automation trigger if you want to automatically add a tag to buyers who have marked your email as spam.
⚠️ Please note that there's no history of events for deleted contacts.
Below, we've included a list of trigger filters you can use for Marked messages as spam triggers.
Trigger Filters
Filter | Description |
Channel | Select one of the possible channels:
|
Email Domain | Everything that goes after the @ symbol. Note: This only works for email channel messages. |
Message Title |
|
Message ID | Message ID is different depending on which message type and channel it is. You can check IDs in reports of Campaigns and Automations. |
Marketing Activity ID |
|
Marketing Activity Name | The marketing activity name is different depending on which message type it is.
|
Marketing Activity Type | Depends on which message type it is. It can be either:
|
Segment-Based Trigger
The list of event-triggered automation workflows is limited, but you may also trigger it every time the customer enters the Segment. Since the options you may use to segment your customers are more extensive, you can trigger the workflow based on profile data, engagement with Email or SMS campaigns, and purchase behavior.
⚠️ A 'customer enter/exit a segment' trigger doesn't carry the information about the order the customer placed. Although you can trigger the automation when the order is placed, you can't add information about the order, such as the order number or billing information.
FAQ
Can I trigger automation based on order tags in Shopify?
Yes, it is possible to trigger automations based on order tags in Shopify stores. However, please note that the order tag must be added at the time the order is placed. It is not possible to trigger automations based on order tags if the tag is added after the order is created (e.g., if you edit or modify order tags). This is due to the order tag sync process that occurs when the order is initially placed.
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