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Marketing Automation · Triggers and webhooks

What are email automation triggers? Definition, how it works, and why it matters

Short answer

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.

What email automation triggers are#

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 it matters#

The quality of automation is bounded by the quality of the events feeding it. Reliable triggers make journeys feel personal.

Getting started#

  1. List the events your product or store already emits.
  2. Send them to your ESP via webhook or native integration with a stable contact identifier.
  3. Deduplicate and validate payloads before they enter automations.
  4. Monitor for silent failures: a broken webhook stops journeys without errors.

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.

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