Setting triggers for automation processes

To configure processes to start automatically, you need to define triggers. Each trigger represents a set of conditions that determine under which circumstances the system runs the related process.

For example, you can create a trigger that automatically initiates a marketing process for all new contacts who arrive on your website from a certain country.

Creating triggers

To set a trigger for an automation process:

1. Open the Marketing automation application.

2. Edit () the process for which you want to create the trigger.

3. Switch to the Process tab (and Design mode).

4. Select the Start triggers step in the process designer graph.

5. Click New trigger in the panel on the right.

6. Enter a Display name for the new trigger.

   • We recommend writing a suitable summary for every trigger.
   • Trigger display names are listed within the description of the Start triggers step in the process designer.

7. Select the trigger Type:

   Trigger type	Description
   Contact created	Activates the process for new contacts created by the system. You can specify an Additional condition that must be fulfilled for the trigger to start the process.
   Contact changed	Activates the process whenever contact information changes. You can specify an Additional condition that must be fulfilled for the trigger to start the process.
   Contact performed an activity	Activates the process when a contact performs a specific activity. - Select the **Activity type** that contacts must perform to initiate the process.- You can specify an [Additional condition](/13/macro-expressions/writing-macro-conditions/building-conditions-using-macro-rules){.internal-link } that must be fulfilled for the trigger to start the process. Use the *Activity...* rules to specify detailed requirements for the trigger activity.
   Contact scored X or more	Activates the process for contacts who exceed a specified score value. - You can specify an [Additional condition](/13/macro-expressions/writing-macro-conditions/building-conditions-using-macro-rules){.internal-link } that must be fulfilled for the trigger to start the process.- Select which score the trigger monitors using the **Score name** field.- Type the **Score value** that contacts must reach to initiate the process.
   Time-based	Schedules the process to run for a specified set of contacts at a given time. - Set the **Occurrence** – you can either trigger the process *Once* on a specific date and time, or set up a recurring process and configure the time interval (for example, every day, every week on a selected day, on the last day of each month, once per year on a specific date, etc.).- Add a [Contact condition](/13/macro-expressions/writing-macro-conditions/building-conditions-using-macro-rules){.internal-link } to select the contacts for which you want to run the process.<div class="box-general box-note"><div class="box-icon xp-exclamation-triangle"></div><div class="box-content">**Important**: If you leave the condition empty, the trigger starts the process for all known contacts, which may have a negative performance impact on your site.</div></div>Time\-based triggers allow you to set up various marketing scenarios. For example, you can:- Regularly evaluate your contacts and automatically perform marketing actions for contacts who fulfill a condition (e.g. send an email to contacts on their birthday).- Schedule marketing campaigns around recurring events (holidays, regular seasonal sales, etc.).- Manually start a marketing process at a scheduled time for a targeted group of contacts.

8. Save the new trigger.

The process now automatically starts for all contacts that fulfill the conditions of the trigger.