What an email trigger is, and why it decides who a flow ever reaches
The event that lets somebody into a flow. Pick the wrong one and the emails can be perfect and still reach the wrong people at the wrong moment.
- 139Trigger
- An event or action that initiates an automated email, such as a subscriber joining a list or abandoning a cart.
- Kinds in Klaviyo
- Joining a list, entering a segment, an action, a profile date, a price drop, low stock
- Checked
- Once, at the moment somebody enters the flow
- Narrowed by
- Trigger filters on the event, flow filters on the person
- Catches
- Only what happens after the flow goes live, unless past profiles are added on purpose
The kinds of trigger, and the moment each one describes
Every trigger answers one question: what just happened? Klaviyo gives you a handful of answers, and each one describes a different moment between a shopper and your shop.
| Trigger | The moment it describes | Where you'd use it |
|---|---|---|
| Joined a list | Somebody asked to hear from you | Welcome |
| Entered a segment | Somebody now matches a rule, like going quiet | Sunset, VIP |
| An action, or metric | Somebody viewed, added to basket, started checkout or ordered | Browse, cart, checkout, post purchase |
| A date on the profile | A day they gave you, like a birthday | Birthday |
| A price drop | Something they looked at got cheaper | Price drop |
The flows that chase a sale nearly all start on an action. Placed Order, Viewed Product and Added to Cart are all metrics in Klaviyo, and each one arrives with details you can filter on: the items, the value, the collection.
Trigger filters and flow filters are two different checks
You can narrow a trigger in two places, and mixing them up costs money quietly, because nothing looks broken. A trigger filter looks at the event once, as it fires: only orders over a set value, only checkouts with a certain product in them. A flow filter looks at the person again before every send.
A trigger filter decides who comes in. A flow filter decides who's still welcome. Check for a placed order only at the door and it's asked once, as they enter, so the shopper who buys an hour later still gets two reminders. Klaviyo's newer screens call flow filters profile filters. Same job.
Choosing the event that should start a flow
Pick the event closest to the moment you want to answer. A flow on Added to Cart reaches people further from buying than one on a started checkout, so the two want different emails, different timing, and a rule about which one wins when both fire.
- Say the moment out loud before you pick the event
- Check the event actually reaches Klaviyo, with the details you need
- Decide whether somebody can come back in, and how often
- Check which other flows the same shopper sets off, and which one wins
One more thing. A new flow only catches what happens after it goes live, so last week's abandoned baskets won't drop in by themselves. Klaviyo lets you add past profiles, but somebody has to choose to.
Related terms
FAQs
Why isn't my Klaviyo flow triggering?
Check four things, in this order. First, whether the event reached Klaviyo at all: browsing and basket events only arrive for shoppers it can identify, and Added to Cart needs onsite tracking installed. Then whether a trigger filter ruled them out, whether they've been through before with re-entry switched off, and whether the message is sitting in draft or manual.
Can the same person trigger a flow more than once?
Yes, if you let them. A started checkout can happen every week, and Klaviyo lets you choose whether somebody comes back in every time they qualify, only once ever, or only after a set gap. For cart and checkout flows a gap is usually right: often enough to catch a real basket, not so often that a regular feels hounded.
Does an email trigger need the shopper's consent?
The trigger doesn't. The email does. Anybody can view a product, but whether you can email them about it depends on what they agreed to: a signup, or the soft opt-in for existing customers hearing about similar products. Klaviyo stops sending to anybody who unsubscribes. Deciding who was allowed in to begin with is still your job.
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