The one-sentence version#
Triggers are events (form submission, purchase, page view, CRM stage change) that start or advance an automation. Webhooks and APIs carry those events between systems.
Why you should care#
The quality of automation is bounded by the quality of the events feeding it. Reliable triggers make journeys feel personal.
The mental model#
Think of email automation triggers as a contract between you and the mailbox providers receiving your mail. You publish or configure something they can check; they check it on every message; the result feeds their decision about where your message lands. Everything below is about making that check pass consistently.
Your first setup, step by step#
- List the events your product or store already emits.
- Send them to your ESP via webhook or native integration with a stable contact identifier.
- Deduplicate and validate payloads before they enter automations.
- Monitor for silent failures: a broken webhook stops journeys without errors.
Words you will see#
- Mailbox provider: Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, and the corporate gateways that decide where mail lands.
- Authentication: proof that a message is from who it says it is (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
- Reputation: the provider's running score of your domain and IP.
- Placement: whether a message reaches the inbox, spam, or is rejected.
Common mistakes#
- Using email address as the only identifier when users change it.
- No retry logic for failed webhook deliveries.
Frequently asked questions#
Webhook vs API polling for email automation?
Webhooks are real-time and cheaper. Use polling only as a fallback reconciliation.