Users don't return after their first session
Instead of time-based drips, send emails triggered by what users actually do (or don't do).
When to use
You have user event tracking and want to improve on time-based drip emails.
Hypothesis template
If we send emails triggered by fill in: user actions instead of fill in: time delays, activation will increase by fill in: target% because messages arrive at the relevant moment.
Method
The problem: Your onboarding emails arrive on a schedule: Day 1, Day 3, Day 7. But users move at different speeds. A power user gets Day 1 basics on Day 3 when they're already advanced.
How to do it:
- Map 5-8 key user actions and non-actions
- For each, create a triggered email:
- Completed first item → "Nice! Here's what to try next"
- Didn't complete setup after 24h → "Need help getting started?"
- Used feature A but not B → "Did you know about B?"
- Hit an error → "Sorry about that — here's how to fix it"
- Send within 1 hour of the trigger (timeliness matters)
- Include a deep link to the relevant page
- Track: which triggers drive the most activation
Key insight: Behavioral emails get 3x higher open rates than scheduled emails because they arrive when the user cares.
Success metrics
- •Triggered email open rate vs scheduled
- •Click-through rate
- •Activation rate per trigger
- •Unsubscribe rate (should be lower)
Prerequisites
- User event tracking
- Email automation that supports triggers
- Deep links for each action
Common pitfalls
- •Setting up too many triggers at once (start with 3-5)
- •Sending too many emails per day
- •Not testing trigger timing
- •Using generic copy instead of action-specific messages
Source: Common SaaS pattern. Behavioral trigger emails get 3x higher engagement than scheduled drips.
Suggested ICE scores
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