Lifecycle email: onboarding, activation, win-back

  1. Define the activation event and confirm it is instrumented
    45 min

    Activation is not signup. Signup shows intent; activation shows value received. Pick the single earliest action a retained user does that a churned user does not — narrow, observable and reachable in the first session or day.

    Good candidates are specific:

    • SaaS: project_created, first_export_done, invite_teammate_sent
    • Marketplace: first_listing_published
    • Creator tool: connected_data_source or published_first_page

    Bad candidates are broad: logged_in, visited_dashboard, opened_email — they do not predict retention and cannot drive a useful nudge.

    Do it from the same definition your analytics uses. Open your product instrumentation doc and copy the exact event name and property keys — do not invent a second name for the same action.

    1. List 3 candidates from Behaviour → Events for the last 30 days, sorted by correlation with week-4 retention.
    2. Pick one. Write one sentence: User is activated when [event_name] fires with [required properties].
    3. Create a test user, perform the action in the product, and note the timestamp.
    4. Within 5 minutes, check the event debugger or warehouse table that the event arrived with correct name, properties and timestamp.
    5. Save a screenshot and record source table or stream and property keys — you will paste this into the trigger matrix next.