How to Boost Marketing Engagement Using Behavioral Triggers – What Tools Help

You can effectively increase marketing engagement by using behavioral science triggers to develop messages that prompt your audience’s decision-making shortcuts and enhance the likelihood of their engagement and response.

There is no need to spend a significant amount of money to improve the efficacy of your marketing communications, if it already works well. Instead you can leverage your existing marketing technology and incorporate the principles from behavioral science to improve your messaging promots and help in achieving better outcomes without incurring any additional costs.

It is simply necessary to have a capable marketing martech stack that consists of several tools and software for controlling and enhancing the marketing operations. Therefore, combining these tools with best practices that are specific to your chosen marketing channel, such as social media, content marketing, email, etc., helps in providing the groundwork for increasing engagement and evoking reactions from your audience.

The key insights here is the incorporation of behavioral science into the messaging strategy.  Behavioral science consists of the understanding of how decisions are made by the people and how they respond to stimuli. By applying behavioral science principles to your messaging, it becomes easier to align the content appropriately with the physiological tendencies and preferences of the audience. This is a cost effective approach that helps in delivering immediate results.

Hence, these messages encourage the marketers to leverage their existing tools and knowledge by integrating insights from behavioural science and that helps them to enhance their messaging strategies. By doing this, they can optimize the efficacy of their marketing campaigns and that too without the need of additional financial investments.

Let’s understand what are behavioural triggers and how these are useful for planning out marketing strategies. Let us also understand how to use behavioral triggers in a marketing campaign and outline the tools that can help in the process.

What Are Behavioral Triggers?

Triggers, also known as events, encompass all user interactions with your mobile app, website, and promotional efforts. For instance, when a user clicks on your website, it constitutes an event. Understanding and utilizing triggers is crucial for various reasons.

  • Enhancing the relevance and timing of campaigns
  • Streamlining revenue generation efforts
  • Enabling automated communication
  • Customizing campaigns for individual users
  • Boosting brand visibility and recognition
  • Driving sales and conversions

Additionally, triggers are essential for developing a thorough understanding of the buyer persona, improving current triggering events, eliminating duplication, and enhancing the value of customer relationship management (CRM). Behavioural triggers are an example of one of the four categories of triggers—event-based, behavioural, engagement-based, and business-based—and include acts like making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, allowing push notifications, and interacting on WhatsApp, among others.

Definition of Behavioral Triggers

The usage of behavioural triggers, sometimes referred to as automated responses to user activities, is crucial for the success of marketing campaigns. For instance, a behavioural trigger is started when a user interacts with a website by clicking on a prominent call-to-action, such as “Schedule A Demo.”

The system then replies by sending an email outlining the subsequent steps in the procedure. The automation of behavioural triggers is one of their main benefits. By automating the process, important time and resources that would have been used to manually send communications to consumers are now freed up. This automated method is especially useful for certain triggers that commonly happen after consumers respond to a Call to Action (CTA). Notifications of successful payments and nudges to finish a cart transaction are notable examples.

A thorough understanding of user behaviour is a crucial foundation for a successful marketing automation plan. This comprehension begins with user identification and moves on to determining their behavioural triggers. It is crucial for a business to take into account how users will interpret the communications they receive while developing personalised use cases.

Targeting consumers who show initial interest in the good or service being given is easy with the help of behavioural triggers. This specialised strategy is far more effective than disseminating marketing efforts to a larger, less focused audience. It results in time, money, and resource savings.

Think about a situation where you want to send emails to people who have made certain decisions or shown interest in a certain good or service. This strategy fits in perfectly with using behavioural triggers in marketing initiatives. Users who have visited a product landing page, for instance, may receive an email that reminds them of the advantages and benefits of the product.

Additionally, consumers who have previously opened an email may be reminded to finish a purchase by using behavioural triggers. Additionally, individuals who have previously clicked on an email can be persuaded with a service discount. A Call to Action (CTA) can be used to target people with time-sensitive discount deals. Additionally, a similar strategy of providing time-limited discount offers can be used for users who have abandoned their cart. After users have made a purchase, chances for upselling or cross-selling can be investigated.

When it comes to sending the right people precisely timed messages, behavioural triggers show to be incredibly effective. Workflows can be configured to initiate different activities in response to particular behaviours with the help of marketing automation software. The marketing campaign is streamlined by this automation, which also makes sure that each component is carried out at the right time based on user behaviour.

The cornerstone of marketing automation, behaviours provide simplicity of usage and great outcomes. Marketers may unleash the full power of their campaigns by using behavioural triggers. In the sections that follow, we’ll go into more detail about behavioural triggers and provide tips on how to use them—beginning with the basics—for an effective marketing campaign.

What is a marketing campaign?

A marketing campaign consists of a series of planned outreach encounters with the intention of accomplishing a particular goal. These initiatives are frequently designed to persuade potential clients to make a purchase. However, among other things, they can also be used to provide present customers with resources that increase their pleasure.

A comprehensive marketing campaign can be created and launched using marketing automation, and it can then be operated with little to no human involvement. This technology enables smooth execution, allowing the campaign to function independently. To learn more about the implementation and success of marketing initiatives, look into more information about them.

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How to use behavioral triggers in a marketing campaign

We will go on an example journey through a fictitious lead nurturing campaign in order to clarify the use of behavioural triggers inside a marketing campaign. This commercial is a perfect illustration of how behavioural triggers work in practise.

A lead nurturing campaign’s main purpose is to move prospective leads along the sales funnel in order to move them closer to conversion. This is accomplished by carefully planning a series of touchpoints that introduce leads to your brand and product through a story that develops over time. The main goal is to inspire leads with confidence and trust while gradually increasing their interest in your brand and goods, leading to a readiness for the sales pitch.

The following describes how a lead nurturing campaign using behavioural triggers is carried out:

1. Establishing Touchpoints:

The first phase entails creating a planned outreach plan that unfolds a cogent story over time. Emails, SMS text messaging, and other marketing strategies can be smoothly incorporated into the campaign. A thorough grasp of which behavioural triggers should be activated and precisely when, depending on certain user behaviours, is gained by planning and premeditating these touchpoints.

2. Educational Content Email:

Start the campaign with an email that provides relevant, instructional facts about your sector. This may come in the form of an eBook that is purposefully free of overt product promotion. The main goal is to establish trust, establishing your brand as an authority in the industry.

3. Subsequent Educational Content Email:

Send out a second email with more educational content after the original outreach, possibly in the form of a blog post. By strengthening the already-existing trust, this step helps the lead continue to see your brand as an authority figure.

Reminder: It’s a good idea to keep some backup emails with instructive material handy. Leads that show little interest in the initial correspondence can receive these. Once engagement has begun, a trigger can be used to move the recipient to the next email in the sequence.

4. Case Study Email:

Include a case study in your email demonstrating how a different company profited significantly from utilising your solution. With the use of this narrative strategy, you can help leads see themselves taking advantage of your offer in a similar situation.

5. Reminder:

It’s best to have two versions of these emails ready. Even though they might not be needed right away, keeping them on hand guarantees readiness in case a need occurs.

6. Demo Video Email:

Incorporate a link to a little demo video within an email to allow leads to see your product in action.

7. New Customer deal Email:

Send out an email announcing a one-time, special deal to draw in new clients.

8. Consultation Invitation Email:

Finish the campaign with an email inviting the lead to a personalized consultation to go through their individual issues and how your product might be able to help.

A clear call-to-action (CTA) should be included in every touchpoint to provide leads a concrete opportunity to interact with your business and move them closer to the desired conversion.

In essence, this fictitious lead nurturing campaign shows how behavioural triggers may be strategically incorporated to guide potential leads down a carefully planned trajectory towards conversion while simultaneously fostering trust and interest in your company and its offerings. Using this methodical approach, behavioural triggers are crucial in putting together a seamless and successful marketing strategy.

Determining which behavior is triggered in the marketing workflow:

As a behavioural trigger that awards points to leads for particular behaviours they perform, lead scoring is a crucial mechanism in the world of marketing automation. These can include things like downloading content or opening emails. This score method is essential for determining a lead’s level of involvement and, ultimately, if they are prepared for a sales contact.

The lead scoring process is made simple and effective by incorporating a behavioural trigger into your marketing workflow, which causes the system to automatically assign points for each designated activity.

It may be necessary in some circumstances to alter the order of touchpoints in response to lead behaviour. For instance, prompt engagement with the demo video email in a series of emails sent at week-long intervals indicates a high level of sales readiness. This forces the use of a behavioural trigger, which quickly removes them from the running campaign. Additionally, a rapid notice is sent to the sales staff, ensuring prompt personal outreach to take advantage of this prospective opportunity.

When a recipient marks an email as spam, another situation can happen. In this situation, it is clear that the lead in question is not a feasible proposition. By quickly removing them from the campaign using a behavioural trigger, resources can be saved and attention can be put on leads with real potential.

Any marketing plan must prioritize effectively handling disengagement situations. It would be ideal if leads responded to your emails as you had expected, but this isn’t always the case. For instance, some leads can continue to be unresponsive despite receiving two informational, non-salesy emails. It is wise to keep distributing instructional materials in such circumstances.

By deploying a behavioural trigger and automating the process, this can be made easier. The system moves a lead on to the next email in the series if they interact with the material in the first email. On the other hand, if no engagement takes place, the system keeps sending weekly educational emails out until a click-through is noted.

Effective lead nurturing depends on using engagement. An excellent chance for additional engagement arises when a lead demonstrates active interest by choosing to click on instructive content like a blog post or an eBook. You can follow up on this engagement right away by using a behavioural trigger. For instance, if a lead views your blog, the system may send them an email the next day to express appreciation for their interest and to encourage them to subscribe. Similarly, if they download an eBook, an automatic email might thank them and provide more pertinent information.

To avoid potential losses, it is also critical to alert the sales team when a lead reaches marketing qualification status. Leads that meet the marketing qualifying level should be quickly forwarded to the sales department after lead scoring. In this situation, behavioural triggers are crucial. When a lead passes this threshold, certain triggers are set up to alert sales automatically. The sales team will be able to quickly establish contact and take advantage of the lead’s increased level of interest and engagement thanks to this timely communication.

A crucial phase in the lead nurturing process can also be arranging a live demo. A strong propensity to buy is demonstrated when a lead exhibits interest in watching a demo video. A live demonstration offers the chance for interactive investigation, whereas a recorded demonstration only gives a brief overview. To make this easier, a trigger can be set up to send an email extending an invitation to book a live demo automatically the next day. You might thank them for their interest and include a link to a simple scheduling page in this email.

Tools for Harnessing the Power of Behavioral Triggers in Marketing

In today’s digital age, understanding and leveraging the user behaviour is critical for marketing effectively. Behavioural triggers are actions that prompt a specific response which is based on user behaviour.  These indispensable tools for marketers are useful for engaging the audience.

Let us explore these key tools and platforms that help in implementing behavioural triggers triumphantly in your marketing strategy. Let’s delve into the functionalities and benefits of each tool.

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Customer Relationship Management (CRM software) is the foundation of any successful behavioral trigger based marketing strategy. Platforms like Hubspot, Zoho CRm and Salesforce work like centralized hubs that are used for collecting, organizing and analysing the customer data. These software are essential for implementing behavioral triggers in following ways:

Data Centralization: CRM systems allow you to gather customer data from different touchpoints which includes website interactions, email campaigns, social media engagement and more. The centralized data repository helps in getting a 360 degree view of every customer.

Behavioral Insights: CRM platforms offer robust analytics and reporting features that help you gain a deep understanding of customer behaviour and you can track their interactions, purchase history, preferences and other engagement patterns.

Segmentation: CRM software helps in creating highly targeted customer segments which help you in categorizing your audience depending on their behaviour, demographics, locations and various other parameters.

Personalization: With a CRM software you can personalize your marketing efforts by customizing messages and offers as per the specific segments and it boosts engagement and drives the conversions.

Automated Workflows: Most of the CRM systems include automation features that help in setting up behaviour triggered workflows. For example, if a customer abandons their cart on your e-commerce website of e commerce then CRM will automatically send a follow up email with the abandoned items.

2. Marketing Automation Platforms

Using platforms for marketing automation like Marketo, Pardot, and Mailchimp will ensure that behavior-based triggers are carried out without any issues. The products’ extensive feature set enables you to carry out your marketing tasks more successfully.

Behavioral Triggers: Platforms for marketing automation make it easier to design automated workflows that are started by particular user behaviors. You could, for instance, send customized follow-up emails to subscribers who opened a specific email but didn’t buy anything.

Lead nurturing: These platforms enable more effective lead nurturing by tracking user activity. You can present appropriate deals and material at the ideal point in a prospect’s trip.

Multi-Channel Integration: Marketing automation solutions enable the coordination of behavior-triggered campaigns across a variety of channels, such as email, social media, SMS, and the web.

A/B testing: In marketing, experimentation is essential. Many platforms allow for A/B testing, which may be used to improve behavior-triggered campaigns and achieve the best outcomes.

Scalability: Marketing automation tools can grow with your company as it expands. They maintain performance while handling an expanding volume of data and interactions.

3. Analytics Tools

Data-driven decision-making is essential for the application of behavioral triggers. Analytics solutions, like Google Analytics and comparable systems, give you the information you need to comprehend how users interact with your website:

User tracking: Analytics programs follow users as they browse your website, logging their interactions, page visits, and time spent on each page.

Conversion Funnels: With the help of these tools, you can build and track conversion funnels, allowing you to spot drop-off areas and enhance user experience.

 Behavioral Insights: One can get valuable behavioral insights by studying user journeys. You can utilize this information to determine which triggers work best for enticing users.

Custom Event Tracking: Analytics tools allow you to design and track a variety of unique events. For instance, you may keep track of when consumers fill out forms, watch product demos, or watch videos.

Data visualization: A number of analytics platforms provide data visualization elements that make it simpler to understand intricate user behavior patterns.

4. Email Marketing Software:

Email marketing is still a potent tool for attracting customers with triggers based on their activity. The following advantages are provided by email marketing software like SendGrid, Constant Contact, and Campaign Monitor:

Behaviour Triggered Emails: Email marketing solutions give you the ability to construct behavior-triggered email campaigns. For subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in a while, for example, you can set up automated emails.

Personalization: You can customize the content of emails by using behavioral data. Based on user behavior, you can modify message content, subject lines, and product recommendations.

Segmentation: Email marketing software enables you to divide up your email list into several groups based on user behavior. Consistently, segmented emails perform better than non-segmented ones.

A/B Testing: A/B testing can help you improve email marketing for engagement and conversions by comparing several email variations based on user behavior.

Reporting and Analysis: You may evaluate the success of behavior-triggered campaigns by using these platforms’ extensive statistics on email performance.

5. Ad Retargeting Platforms

Ad retargeting solutions like AdRoll, Criteo, and Google advertising provide highly targeted advertising. Here is how they function:

Behavioral Tracking: Retargeting platforms monitor user behavior on your website through behavioral tracking. They keep track of the items customers examine, add to their carts, and abandon.

Dynamic advertising: These platforms produce dynamic advertising based on user activity that show the precise goods or content that consumers have interacted with.

Cross-Channel Retargeting: Retargeting campaigns can be run on a variety of digital channels, such as social media, display advertising, and search engines.

Frequency Control: To ensure a balanced and unobtrusive experience, you may establish frequency limitations to control how frequently consumers view your retargeting adverts.

Conversion Tracking: Conversion tracking is a feature that many retargeting platforms provide, enabling you to assess the influence of your campaigns on user behavior and conversion rates.

6. Engines for Personalization

Personalization technologies like Dynamic Yield and Evergage are committed to giving users personalized experiences in real-time:

Behavioral Tracking: These tools track user activity in real time, gathering information on their preferences, interactions, and previous deeds.

Real-time content personalization: Personalization engines automatically modify website content, product recommendations, and offers for each user based on behavioral data.

A/B Testing: You can use A/B testing to assess the effectiveness of personalization tactics and determine how they affect user behavior.

Recommendations: Personalization platforms frequently contain engines for product, article, or content recommendations based on user behavior.

Machine learning: To forecast user preferences and enhance content delivery, certain personalization engines use machine learning techniques.

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Final Words:

Behavioral Triggers are invaluable tools that help in enhancing marketing engagement and driving conversions. To harness the full potential, Businesses must invest in the right set of tools and platforms. CRM software, marketing automation platforms, and more help in forming a robust toolkit for behavior based marketing.

Above mentioned examples are useful for understanding how to use behavioural triggers in a marketing campaign to automate tasks and speed up lead progression. In reality, one can set up behavioural triggers for just about any desired action by utilising the workflow builder of their marketing automation application.

Triggers provide for the smooth integration of SMS messaging and other channels for those managing multichannel marketing campaigns. In the end, a campaign driven by behavioural triggers outperforms a static counterpart by a significant margin. Such trigger-driven campaigns guarantee exact delivery of essential information and messages to the appropriate audience, at the right time.

Moreover, Using Behavioural tools allow you to make personalized, timely, and relevant experiences for your target audience by leveraging and understanding user behavior. Effective behavioral trigger implementation can not only increase engagement but also help you build long-lasting client relationships, which will help your marketing efforts succeed in today’s cutthroat marketplace.

Picture of MTS Staff Writer

MTS Staff Writer

MarTech Series (MTS) is a business publication dedicated to helping marketers get more from marketing technology through in-depth journalism, expert author blogs and research reports.

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