Two architectures for the same problem
Every triggered lifecycle campaign answers the same question - "what event just happened, and what should fire because of it" - but the plumbing differs depending on where the system of record lives:
1. CRM-triggered dispatch
Where a CRM already exists, the CRM (or the data warehouse it feeds) is the system of record for stage state. A lifecycle-stage field changing, a deal closing, or a support ticket resolving in the CRM fires a webhook or a scheduled sync into the messaging platform, which then runs the actual send logic. This is the model Salesforce Marketing Cloud's Journey Builder is built around when paired with core Salesforce CRM data.
2. No-CRM: custom event tracking
Where no CRM exists - or the CRM does not capture the behavioral signal that actually matters (a product usage event, a cart state, a page-view pattern) - the trigger has to be built from tracked behavioral events directly. The audience is constructed from tracked parameters rather than a CRM field: an event stream is captured client- or server-side, aggregated into a per-user profile, and the messaging platform reads that profile to decide who qualifies for a trigger and when.
Labeled plainly: the exact phrasings "CRM-triggered campaigns" and "custom event tracking marketing automation" measured zero search volume across every keyword tool checked (fact, measured 2026-09-01). hypothesis: buyers do not search the mechanism by name - they search the outcome instead (a winback campaign, an onboarding sequence) or the platform category (marketing automation). This page targets the real architecture question even though it carries no volume under this exact phrasing.
Where the named platforms fit
| Platform | Trigger model |
|---|---|
| Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Journey Builder) | CRM-native. Strongest when the CRM already owns the customer record and stage data. |
| Braze | Real-time event streaming (Braze Currents) makes it well suited to the no-CRM, behavioral-event model - it can ingest a raw event stream and trigger off it directly. |
| Klaviyo | Ecommerce-event-native (cart, order, browse events) out of the box - see our Klaviyo practice for implementation depth. |
This is discussed vendor-neutrally on purpose: the right platform follows from which architecture your business actually needs, not the other way around.
Common trigger types
| Trigger type | Example event | What typically fires |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding | Signup completed, first core action not yet taken after N hours | Onboarding email or in-app nudge sequence - see onboarding & winback campaigns |
| Inactivity / at-risk | No login or purchase in N days against the account's own baseline | Re-engagement nudge, then escalation to winback |
| Winback | Subscription cancelled, or at-risk window elapsed with no response | Winback offer sequence |
| Milestone | Usage or purchase count crosses a threshold | Advocacy ask (referral, review, upsell) |