Overview

A welcome message is an automated message that's sent when a customer signs up for your email list, newsletter, loyalty, or rewards program. You can configure the message so it gets sent to contacts once they perform a particular action, like submitting a form or clicking a button on your site.

The welcome message is an important initial communication between you and customers. It should set expectations about the value propositions and cadence of your messages. The welcome message strategy can be a single message or a series of messages.

Implement the trigger

In order for a welcome message to send, there needs to be data sent to Cordial that will trigger the automation. In the following example, we'll trigger a welcome message when a contact is added to a list. Learn more about how to create list attributes here.

There are two implementations you can use to send the data to Cordial:

• JavaScript Listener: JavaScript code placed on your website that sends data to Cordial from the client side browser. Learn more about setting up the core JavaScript listener v2 code.
• Rest API: a server-side alternative to JavaScript that sends data to Cordial via the API. Learn about updating contact records via the API.

The list attribute strategy utilizes one primary piece of data.

• Purpose: Used to flag a contact as in or out of a specific segment, newsletter subscription, loyalty program, rewards program, or interest group. We recommend that you enable date tracking for the list. This setting tells the system to record the date a contact is added.
• Data type: A list is a type of contact attribute. This value is passed as a boolean true/false value.

JavaScript Listener implementation

The following function should be executed when a customer provides their email address and expresses interest in receiving promotional messages via form or during the checkout process.

This article assumes you have implemented JavaScript Listener v2. We have also included examples applicable to JavaScript Listener v1 in case you're not yet using v2.

• var auth_data = {
  	email: 'fred@example.com'
  }
  var contact_data = {
      'channels': {
          'email': {
              'subscribeStatus': 'subscribed',
          }
      },
      'list_name': true
  };
  
  crdl('contact', auth_data, contact_data);

• In JS Listener v1, the cordial.identify sets the cookie and the cordial.contact adds or updates the contact record.

  cordial.identify(fred@example.com);
  cordial.contact({
  	'$list_name': true,
  	'channels': {'email': {'subscribeStatus': 'subscribed'}}
  });

• Learn more about the crdl(contact) method here.

REST API implementation (server-side alternative to JavaScript)

The REST API implementation is an alternative method to the embedded JavaScript Listener. This is a server-side approach to sending the data to Cordial.

Method to call when subscribing a contact to a list

• POST v2/contacts: adds a new contact record or updates an existing contact record.

{
  "channels": {
    "email": {
      "address": "fred@example.com",
      "subscribeStatus": "subscribed"
    }
  },
  "$list_name": true
}

Create message content

The next step is to create your welcome message content. You can use Sculpt or the HTML editor to create dynamic message content. The following example was created in Sculpt.

• Learn how to create content with the Sculpt Editor
• Learn how to create content with the HTML Editor

Create the automated message

Once you have the appropriate data (passed by either the JavaScript Listener or the REST API) and message content, you can can set up message automation and its trigger.

1. Navigate to Message Automation > Create New Automation.

2. Fill out the following information and select the Editor you want to use (Sculpt or HTML).

3. Under Message Content, select the desired Sculpt Template or input your HTML message content.

4. In the left panel under Sending Method, select Event Triggered.

5. For Trigger event, choose When a contact is added to a list and select the name of the list you would like to target.

6. For Delay, select No delay. You have the option to delay the message, but in most cases an immediate response is appropriate.

7. For How often can this message be sent to an individual, select Once only.

8. Save the trigger setting.

9. Once the trigger is saved and your message content is published, you can Enable the message. As soon as a message is enabled, the triggers are active and will send the message according to the rules applied.

In the next article, you can learn how to set up a welcome series.