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Trigger events: Field change

When using our automation tool, there are multiple trigger types to choose from: email signup, date-based, contact import, link click, and field change. A field change trigger fires a workflow when existing contacts update their information in a way that matches the workflow’s criteria.

How to use the field change trigger

To select the field change trigger, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to your Automation tab.
  2. Click on the Create new workflow button.
  3. Click on Choose your trigger event.
  4. In the panel on the right, select Field change.
  5. Click on the Next button.
  6. Select a field from the list. This is the field that our system will monitor for the “field change”. If you have not created the desired field yet, you’ll need to do that first.
  7. Choose a from condition and a to condition. In this step, you are telling our system the conditions that a contact must meet in order to qualify for this workflow.
  8. Click on the Next button.
  9. Click on the Confirm button.

For example, if you want to create a workflow that fires when a contact’s city changes from Knoxville to Nashville, you would follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to your Automation tab.
  2. Click on the Create new workflow button.
  3. Click on Choose your trigger event.
  4. In the panel on the right, select Field change.
  5. Click on the Next button.
  6. Select the City field from the list.
  7. Click on the first Please choose an option field and select Equals from the list.
  8. In the box below, type Knoxville.
  9. Click on the second Please choose an option field and select Equals from the list.
  10. In the box below, type Nashville.
  11. Click on the Next button.
  12. Click on the Confirm button.

Once complete, this workflow’s from condition is City = Knoxville and its to condition is City = Nashville. Thus, when a contact in the workflow’s audience has a City field that changes from Knoxville to Nashville, this workflow will fire.

Field change criteria are case sensitive. As a result, a contact’s field must match the criteria exactly in order to be eligible for the workflow. A contact whose City field changes from knoxville to Nashville will not meet the workflow criteria described above.

Field types

Field change workflows are compatible with short answer, long answer, numeric, radio button, and dropdown fields. Field change workflows are not compatible with date, select multiple, or checkbox fields.

Short answer and long answer fields can trigger workflows based on changes from and to values with the following operators:

  • Does not contain
  • Contains
  • Does not equal
  • Equals
  • Anything (any value)

Numeric fields can trigger based on changes from and to values with the following operators:

  • Anything
  • Equals
  • Does not equal
  • Greater than
  • Greater than or equal to
  • Less than
  • Less than or equal to

Radio and dropdown fields can trigger based on changes from and to any values contained within the options for those fields, including changing from “empty” to populated.

How to trigger a field change workflow

Field change workflows can be triggered in several ways including manual edits to a contact record, filling out a form, imports, and integrations.

Manual edits

From the Audience tab, you can open a contact’s record and change the information in their fields. When doing this, if the changes that you make meet the criteria for a field change workflow, and that contact is part of that workflow’s audience, then that contact will trigger the field change workflow.

Signup form

If an existing contact fills out a signup form, manage preferences form, or changes their information through the Subscription Center, then they may be eligible to trigger a field change workflow. The change that they make must meet the criteria for the field change workflow and they must also be in that workflow’s audience.

Imports

Follow the steps found here to import a spreadsheet. After you’ve chosen your file, check the box at the bottom of the page labeled Yes, trigger field change workflows from this import. If this option is not selected, your workflow will not fire.

Integrations

Depending on which API calls the integration uses, you may be able to use it to trigger a field change workflow.

For a third-party signup form integration, or any integration that updates contacts individually, one-by-one, these are treated similarly to manual edits or signup forms. As long as the contact exists in your audience, the changes meet the workflow criteria, and the contact is in the group or segment connected to the workflow, then they should be eligible to trigger the workflow.

For an integration or sync that updates contacts in bulk, these are treated similarly to imports. In addition to the requirements that the contact must exist in your audience, the changes must meet the workflow criteria, and the contact must be in the group or segment connected to the workflow, you must also specify that you want to bulk update to trigger field change workflows.

Additional resources