This article explains how to build an automation that welcomes new members to your brand and encourages them to join your loyalty program and make their first purchase.
The automation captures members at registration, assigns a promotion, and introduces your brand and loyalty benefits. It then follows up based on whether the member makes a purchase within a defined time window and helps you measure how many new members become active customers.
Before you get started
About the trigger
The trigger New contact registered is triggered only at the very moment a new member is registered in Engage. The input value is that it is triggered on all sources, but you can also set it to only be triggered on one or more specific sources, such as API, POS Accelerator, registration form, event registration, and so on. The selections available are based on your specific setup.
Entry criteria
For the automated communication to be relevant, you need to ensure that the right contacts are included in the automation. Thus, setting the entry criteria is an important aspect of building the automation.
Labels
Labels facilitate tracking the contacts and assigning them different communication. With labels you can segment on contacts that are in specific automation.
Trigger splits and time delays
A trigger split is useful when you want to make sure that activities within a workflow are triggered by certain actions such as a purchase. If the action isn’t performed, you can wait until a certain time has passed, for example seven days, before sending the customer forward in the automation.
This can be compared to a time delay, which simply postpones the next action with your chosen time regardless of the customers’ actions.
How it works
The automation starts when a new member registers. As soon as they enter, they are labeled for tracking and assigned a promotion. They then receive a welcome email introducing your brand, loyalty benefits, and the offer.
A trigger split checks whether the member makes a purchase within a defined time window, for example two weeks. Members who purchase are relabeled as Active. Those who do not receive reminders, with increasing urgency. SMS is prioritized toward the end of the flow to maximize reach and conversion.
Finally, a last follow-up checks how many members were activated during the campaign period, while inactive members can be routed to a different strategy.
Setting it up
Flowchart
Trigger: New contact registered (Contact type = Member)
Track: Set label such as Welcome – New member
Offer: Assign multichannel promotion
First message: Welcome email (brand intro + loyalty benefits + promotion)
First check: Purchase within 2 weeks
- If yes: Relabel as Active
- If no: Send reminder #1
Check 2: Purchase after reminder
- If yes: Relabel as Active
- If no: Send urgency reminder (SMS prioritized)
Final push: SMS + email reminder before promotion expiry
End check: Final trigger split to measure activations
Next step: Route inactive contacts to separate strategy
Step-by-step
1. Click Automation in the left-hand menu, hit New automation and select the trigger New contact registered.
2. Configure the entry conditions as desired by hovering on the trigger and clicking Edit (the pencil icon).
3. Click the plus sign below the trigger, choose Activity, and select Set label. This facilitates tracking the contacts that have entered the flow. It could, for example, be Welcome – New member.
4. Assign a multichannel promotion by clicking the plus sign, selecting Activity and then Assign multichannel promotion.
5. Via the plus sign and Activity, add an email that introduces the promotion details, your brand, and the benefits of your loyalty program. Make the member feel welcomed, acknowledged, and included, while also motivating them to purchase.
6. Add a trigger split (click the plus sign and then Trigger under Splits) to check whether the members redeem the promotion within a set time.
7. For contacts that redeem the promotion, remove the first label (plus sign, Activity, and Remove label) and set a new one to imply that they’re now Active customers. For contacts that don’t redeem the promotion within your selected time window, send a reminder via email or SMS.
8. Add another trigger split to follow up on who redeems the promotion after the reminder. Then repeat step 6 for contacts that redeem the promotion this time. By hovering on a component and selecting Copy, it’s super easy to add repeat activities to other branches in the automation flow.
To create a sense of urgency, the final reminder could preferably be an SMS. Therefore, add a conditional split (click the plus sign and then Condition under Splits) where SMS is the primary communication channel.
9. Add a final reminder before the promotion expires, via SMS and email respectively. Follow up with a final trigger split to follow up on how many members end up being activated by this automation.
10. Relabel the contacts who redeemed the promotion as Active customers. Contacts who remain inactive can be routed to a separate automation or follow-up strategy.
Remember to Save and Activate the automation to get it going.
How to handle inactive contacts
After the final trigger split when the promotion has expired, you’ll have a group of contacts who never redeemed it. These contacts typically need a different type of follow-up than repeated offer reminders, since they have already received multiple prompts during the same campaign window. Use this outcome group as your handoff point to a separate approach for inactive customers, rather than continuing the same cadence in the welcome automation.
Common mistakes to avoid
Not setting the correct entry criteria
Make sure the entry criteria match the intended audience. If the trigger includes all new contacts instead of only members, contacts who aren’t eligible might receive loyalty-related communication.
Forgetting to assign the promotion before sending the email
If the promotion is not assigned before the first message is sent, the contact could receive an email referring to an offer that isn’t available to them.
Setting the purchase window too short
New members often need time to explore your brand before making their first purchase. Allow a reasonable window, such as two weeks, before deciding whether to send reminders.
Not prioritizing the right communication channel
If SMS is intended to be used for urgency, make sure a conditional split is added so contacts reachable by SMS receive the final reminder through that channel.
Forgetting to update or remove labels
Labels are useful for tracking contacts in the automation, but they should be updated when a member becomes active. Otherwise, contacts may remain labeled as new members even after completing their first purchase.
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