Entry Triggers

Entry triggers define how and when customers are enrolled in a journey. Every journey must have exactly one entry trigger.

Trigger Types

Manual Enrollment

Customers are manually added to the journey by an admin.

How to use:

1. Go to the journey's detail page
2. Click Enroll Contacts
3. Select a list or enter specific email addresses
4. Click Enroll

Best for: One-time sequences, testing, ad-hoc campaigns where you want full control over who enters.

List-Based Trigger

Customers enter the journey when they are added to a specific list.

Configuration:

• List: Select the list that triggers entry

How it works:

• When a customer is added to the selected list (via CSV upload or API), they are automatically enrolled in the journey
• Existing list members at the time the journey is published are not automatically enrolled (only new additions)

Best for: Welcome series, onboarding flows triggered by list additions.

Email Event Trigger

Customers enter the journey based on their interaction with a campaign email.

Configuration:

• Event Type: opened, clicked, bounced, complained, unsubscribed
• Campaign (optional): Specific campaign to monitor

How it works:

• When a customer triggers the specified email event, they are enrolled in the journey
• If a campaign is specified, only events from that campaign trigger enrollment

Best for: Follow-up sequences, re-engagement based on specific campaign interactions.

Re-Entry Rules

By default, a customer can only be in a journey once. You can configure re-entry behavior:

Setting	Behavior
No re-entry	Customer can only enter the journey once, ever
Allow re-entry after completion	Customer can re-enter after finishing the journey
Allow concurrent	Customer can be in the journey multiple times simultaneously

caution

Be careful with re-entry, especially for email-heavy journeys. A customer re-entering a welcome series could receive duplicate emails.

Exit Rules

In addition to entry triggers, you can configure automatic exit conditions:

Unsubscribe Exit

If a customer unsubscribes from any email during the journey, they are automatically removed from the journey and won't receive further emails.

Hard Bounce Exit

If a customer's email hard bounces, they exit the journey and are suppressed.

Goal Achievement

Define a goal condition (e.g., customer made a purchase, reached a certain score). When the goal is met, the customer exits the journey as "completed with goal."

Best Practices

• Be specific with triggers: A broad trigger (e.g., any email open) can flood your journey with contacts
• Consider volume: Estimate how many customers will enter per day and ensure your journey steps can handle the load
• Set appropriate re-entry rules: Most journeys should prevent re-entry to avoid duplicate communications
• Always set exit rules: Ensure customers who unsubscribe or bounce are removed from the journey
• Test with manual enrollment first: Before activating automatic triggers, manually enroll a few test contacts to verify the flow