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Getting to grips with Date Triggered messages
Getting to grips with Date Triggered messages

Want to send an email/sms automatically when someone interacts with your brand? Here’s how.

Oskar Smith avatar
Written by Oskar Smith
Updated over a week ago

It’s an innocuous little button in the Airship console. But click it and a whole new world will open before your eyes!

Introducing Date Triggers

**read on for more information

What are Date Triggers?

Airship can store interaction data about your customers. When we activated your account with us, you’ll have (hopefully!) had at least one (if not all) of your other service providers connected up with Airship. These include:

  • Your booking / reservations software

  • Your WiFi provider

  • Your EPOS 

  • Your Feedback platform provider

Once connected, you’ll be able to automatically send emails/sms when someone interacts with any one of them. 

Interaction trigger options

You can currently set up an automated email/sms triggered message on one or any of the following:

  • WiFi Interaction Date (when a customer interacted with Wifi)

  • Booking Enquiry Date (when a customer made a booking enquiry)

  • Booking Seated Date (when a customer sat down in your venue for their booking)

  • EPOS Transaction Date (when a customer bought something via EPOS)

  • Feedback Date (when a customer left feedback)

  • Unique Code Assigned Date (when a customer was assigned a voucher unique code)

  • Unique Code Redeemed Date (when a customer redeemed a voucher unique code)

  • Email Interaction Date (when a customer clicked an email)

  • Contact Created Date (when a customer was created on your database for the first time)

  • Contact first opt-in date (when a customer first opts-in to your database)

  • Stay Enquiry date (when a customer made a room booking enquiry)

  • Stay check-in date (when a customer checks-in for their room booking)

  • Stay check-out date (when a customer checks-out of their room booking)

  • PoP segments (proof of presence refers to how often a customer has visited your venues)

  • Engagement milestones (segmented by when a customer last read one of your emails)

Custom date field triggers

Additionally, if you have any date-based Dynamic Fields set up on your Airship account, you’ll also have the option of triggering a message on any of those fields too. 

Dynamic Field dates are typically used to store dates for custom built mechanics from 3rd party systems. For example, the date someone registered a membership card or downloaded an app etc.

How to get started

To set up a date triggered message select Date-Triggers and then Create Email or Create SMS. We’ll assume you are creating an email in this example, but you can also go through and create an SMS (or indeed a Call List) if you want.

Tip - always create your email in the regular email builder first, this support article shows you how!

If you choose the option to create an email, you’ll now be shown a screen where you can select your saved email from the dropdown menu. (Or if you choose the option to create an SMS, you’ll be shown a screen where you can build your SMS.)

Targeting and search criteria

Once you’ve built your email (or SMS), it’s time to set up your trigger.

Date Trigger settings

  1. Select a send time. Your email will go to any matching customers each day at this time.

  2. Select how many days before (Pre) or after (Post) the customer’s booking interaction you want your email/sms to be triggered.

  3. Choose the interaction type you want to trigger on from the dropdown menu.

Search settings (optional)

You may also add additional search criteria that you want this date triggered email to match. Use the Add Simple Search or Add Advanced Search options to further refine your targeting.

Finish up

Once you’re ready to schedule, click Create.  You now have a fully automated message that will start going out to any customers who match your search settings.

Editing and amending existing date triggers

If you need to amend a pre-existing Date Trigger, click on Scheduled Messages and choose the triggered section you want to view scheduled messages for:

You’ll now see your scheduled Date Triggers in the list of scheduled date triggered messages. 

Click on the edit (pencil) icon to edit the message or the SQL icon to change the search criteria. 

To delete click the red cross or hit the play/pause button to suspend or unsuspend a scheduled automated date trigger.

Further reading

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