Triggered Campaigns: Salesforce’s Rube Goldberg Machine

A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption that, through a series of circuitous chain reactions, achieves a simple task. You’ve likely seen one in a movie, where a marble rolls down a chute that causes a hamster to run on a wheel that causes a fan to spin that causes a toaster to toast bread … and on and on until some simple task is complete. The old Hasbro board game “Mouse Trap” is an example of this sort of whimsical device.

The purpose of the machine is the journey. Marketing is this way, too. While the business of selling your product is far from frivolous, it is a relatively simple concept. Similarly, like the Rube Goldberg machine, the journey is important, and with Marketing Cloud Personalization (formerly Interaction Studio), it all starts with a simple nudge. We call these nudges triggered campaigns, and they are a powerful tool in your business’s marketing arsenal.     

A Wacky Design

Last year, Salesforce launched Marketing Cloud Personalization to link data into Marketing Cloud faster. Previously, marketers were able to track customer behavior — which products they browse, blogs or white papers they read, videos they watch, etc. — but they were unable to exploit the full potential of that information. Now they can. 

With this newest evolution of the software, triggered campaigns can send out a welcome message to prospective customers within five to seven minutes from the time their behavior is captured, putting them on a journey quicker than ever before. Triggered campaigns (in Marketing Cloud Personalization) kick-off a journey in Marketing Cloud Engagement

This newest iteration allows marketers to have access to pertinent information sooner. This access enables a triggered campaign to pipe into each section of the sales funnel to begin a customer journey. Whether they are a prospective customer signing up for your newsletter or a returning customer downloading a white paper or watching your latest video, a triggered campaign can usher them down a personalized path that keeps them interested in your brand.   

The First Nudge

As the name implies, a triggered campaign needs something to kick it off. This is done in two broad ways: with customer behavior or with an event. Since you know a great deal about your customer, you have information about them at your fingertips. So, use that information to set the parameters under which they begin a customer journey.

With Marketing Cloud Personalization, you can set your filters to trigger a campaign based on a slew of common behaviors such as joining or leaving a segment (maybe the customer just had a birthday or moved to a new city) or abandoned a cart or an abandoned browse.

Behavioral actions are based on something your customer does. A catalog trigger is an event that, instead of being based on something the customer does, is based on something happening that you know interests them. Perhaps a product you know they like is back in stock. Maybe it is almost sold out or on sale. A new product, similar to one they’ve purchased, might hit the shelves soon.

Another key feature of Marketing Cloud Personalization is the ability to score prospects based on their behavior. This new feature gives a higher level of precision never before seen. It allows you to assign weights to various behaviors based on your business’s needs.

Your business might not sell products. Gyms, newspapers and streaming services — just to name a few — rely on subscriptions to make their mark. However, just because your product isn’t something people can hold in their hands, that doesn’t mean you can’t apply the same principles. Putting subscribers on journeys with triggered campaigns — maybe your data shows they’ve dropped off scanning their gym pass the past few months or similar content to what they’ve been reading just published — can leave them renewing for years.   

Trapping the Mouse

All this is predicated on having your catalog properly designed. For triggered campaigns, when tracking behavior, if your data is not dialed in, your trigger might not work properly. Sophisticated triggers will reveal the gaps in your structure, which in turn will create problems with your campaigns. Helping structure your catalog to get the results you want is where an experienced partner can help.

Once your catalog is ready to go, a partner can also set up your stats to allow you to view campaign results. This allows you to measure and compare the effectiveness of a given campaign. So, kick off that Rube Goldberg machine and send your customers down a zany journey — one that delights them with every twist. Get the most out of triggered campaigns.