Monday, February 11th, 2008
During my career in email, I have worked for a number of companies – one in particular that made use of the practice of sending pre-scheduled or “triggered” marketing emails to their recipients. At the time, I didn’t understand the logic or the impact this would have on the people receiving these messages. Many years later, I now have a better knowledge of what is acceptable and what is not when using triggered emails.
What is a triggered email?
A triggered email sent to a recipient relative to an event, or some kind of activity on with that recipient’s relationship to the sender. For example, I’m a member of LinkedIn, a social networking website. Whenever somebody views my profile or wants to add me to their network, I receive a triggered email, notifying me that I need to take some sort of action. However, not all triggered emails require action. An email send can also be triggered by a time-based event such as an upcoming birthday or anniversary. While almost always automated, triggered emails are usually very personalized, which set them apart from traditional autoresponders
