Trigger-Based Campaigns

Trigger-based campaigns activate when a specific event occurs at a target account — a leadership change, a funding round, a technology adoption, a competitor displacement, or a hiring surge. Unlike cold outbound, trigger-based campaigns have built-in relevance: the trigger gives you a reason to reach out that is timely, specific, and defensible. "I noticed you just raised a Series C" is not a cold open. It is a warm one, because the prospect knows the trigger is public and your reference to it signals awareness.

1. Define Your Trigger Library Build a library of five to eight trigger events that correlate with buying behavior for your solution. Funding events, new executive hires, technology migrations, competitive losses, expansion into new markets, regulatory changes. Each trigger should have a documented hypothesis: "When X happens, the company typically needs Y within 90 days."
2. Set Up Monitoring Use intent data platforms, Google Alerts, LinkedIn Sales Navigator alerts, and job board monitoring to detect triggers in real time. The value of a trigger decays rapidly — reaching out within 48 hours of a trigger event produces 3x the reply rate of reaching out two weeks later.
3. Build Trigger-Specific Sequences Each trigger gets its own sequence with messaging tailored to the specific event and its likely implications. A funding round sequence leads with growth challenges. A new CTO sequence leads with technology strategy priorities. A competitor loss sequence leads with transition pain. Generic sequences applied to specific triggers waste the relevance advantage.