If you’re tired of watching users bail after their first week, you’re in the right place. This is for anyone who wants to actually keep users around—not just spam them with generic emails. We’ll walk through how to use Customer.io to set up event-based triggers that target real behavior, not just time-based stuff. No fluff, just what you need to know.
Why Event-Based Triggers Matter for Retention
Here’s the deal: Most retention emails are ignored because they go out at the wrong time to the wrong people. Sending a “we miss you!” nudge after 30 days of inactivity rarely works if you haven’t paid attention to what a user actually did (or didn’t do).
Event-based triggers are your way to send the right message at the right moment. Instead of guessing when someone’s stuck or losing interest, you respond to actual user actions (or inactions). For example:
- Someone starts onboarding but never finishes.
- A user views a feature page but doesn’t try it out.
- They upgrade, hit a key milestone, or suddenly drop off.
If you set up these triggers properly, you can catch churn before it happens—or, at least, give yourself a fighting chance.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Let’s not waste time. Here’s what you need to have ready:
- A Customer.io account with access to the “Event Triggered” campaigns feature (comes with most plans, but double-check).
- User events tracked in your app or site. If you’re not already tracking user actions (like “Signed Up,” “Completed Onboarding,” “Clicked Feature X”), you’ll need a developer to help set that up.
- A clear goal. “Improve retention” is too vague. Pick something specific, like: “Get 50% more users to finish onboarding in the first week.”
If you’re missing the event tracking, stop here and talk to your dev team. Customer.io can only react to what you send it.
Step 1: Map Out the Key Events
Don’t just trigger on everything. Every event shouldn’t send a message. Focus on the handful of moments that really matter for retention.
Practical examples: - Signed Up - Completed Onboarding - Used Feature A - Upgraded Plan - Didn’t Log In for 7 Days
Pro Tip:
Sketch out your user journey on paper (or a whiteboard). Mark the drop-off points: where do users usually disappear? These are your trigger moments.
Step 2: Make Sure Events Are Getting to Customer.io
Open up Customer.io and look for the “Data & Integrations” or “Event Logs” section. You want to see real events coming in for real users. If you have a test account, try triggering an action and see if it lands in Customer.io.
If you don’t see events: - Double-check your tracking code or API integration. Don’t assume it’s working—test it. - Make sure the event names match between your app and Customer.io. - Get your developer’s help if something’s not showing up.
You can’t do anything without reliable event data. Don’t skip this step.
Step 3: Create an Event-Triggered Campaign
- Go to Campaigns > Create New Campaign.
- Choose “Event Triggered” as the campaign type.
- Pick the event you want as your trigger (e.g., “Started Onboarding”).
- Set up entry conditions. For example: Only trigger if the user hasn’t completed onboarding in 3 days.
What works: - Layering conditions so you’re not blasting everyone (e.g., only users who haven’t paid yet). - Using delays—don’t send a message the second an event fires. Give users a chance to act first.
What doesn’t: - Triggering on “Signed Up” to send a generic welcome—everyone does this, and it’s mostly ignored. Think deeper.
Pro Tip:
Set up a sandbox/test segment so you can test campaigns on yourself or your teammates before sending anything to real users.
Step 4: Build Your Message
Here’s where most teams fall flat. If you send a bland, automated email, users will smell it a mile away. Make it personal and relevant to the action that triggered the campaign.
Good examples: - “Noticed you started onboarding but didn’t finish. Need help getting set up?” - “You checked out Feature X, but haven’t tried it yet. Here’s a quick video demo.”
What to avoid: - “We value your business.” Just…don’t.
Use merge tags to personalize, but don’t overdo it (“Hi {{first_name}}, we noticed you, {{first_name}}, did X…” is annoying).
Pro Tip:
Include a real reply-to address. If someone responds, have a human answer. That’s how you learn what’s actually blocking users.
Step 5: Set Up Exit Conditions and Frequency Controls
You don’t want to keep bugging someone after they’ve done what you wanted.
- Exit conditions: E.g., user completes onboarding, so they drop out of the “finish onboarding” reminder sequence.
- Frequency limits: Don’t send more than one retention email per day (or whatever makes sense for your users). Customer.io lets you set these in campaign settings.
If you skip this, you’ll annoy people and get more unsubscribes. Keep it tight.
Step 6: Test Everything (Seriously)
Before you go live:
- Trigger the events yourself and make sure the right emails fire.
- Check that delays, exit conditions, and message content all work as expected.
- Use a dummy/test account so you’re not spamming real users.
Customer.io’s testing tools are decent, but they can’t predict every edge case. Manual QA is worth it.
What to ignore:
Don’t obsess over pixel-perfect emails at this stage. Focus on whether the right people get the right message at the right time.
Step 7: Monitor, Measure, and Tweak
Don’t “set and forget.” Watch your campaign metrics:
- Open rates and click rates are fine, but the real metric is: did users do what you wanted? (e.g., finish onboarding)
- If not, try changing your timing, your message, or your trigger logic.
- Talk to users who don’t respond. Sometimes what you think is the problem isn’t what’s actually blocking them.
Honest take:
Most campaigns won’t be perfect at first. Iterate based on real results, not guesses.
What Works (and What Doesn’t)
Works: - Targeting based on meaningful actions, not just time. - Personal, helpful messages that sound like a human wrote them. - Limiting frequency and dropping users out of campaigns once they complete the action.
Doesn’t work: - Overcomplicating things with dozens of micro-triggers. Start small. - Copying “best practices” blindly—your users aren’t everyone else’s. - Spammy, generic messaging. Users aren’t fooled.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Listen
Setting up event-based triggers in Customer.io isn’t rocket science, but it does take some up-front work. Don’t try to build everything at once. Start with one or two key moments, see what moves the needle, and adjust from there.
Most importantly: listen to your users. If they’re not responding, it’s rarely because you didn’t automate enough—it’s usually because you missed what they actually need.
Get your basics right, stay skeptical of anything that sounds too easy, and you’ll be way ahead of the pack.