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Part of Marketing automation triggers and conditions
Combining contact properties with behavioural triggers
Combine behavioural triggers with contact properties, choose when values are checked and handle blank or changing data.
Combine a behavioural trigger with contact properties when an action should prompt evaluation but only some of the people who took that action qualify. Define the behaviour, the accepted property values and when those values must be true.
Give each input a job
A submission of a named form answers “why evaluate now?”. A contact property holding declared product interest answers “which response, if any, is appropriate?”. Neither should silently substitute for the other.
For a hypothetical campaign, the rule might be: “When the enquiry form is submitted, continue only if product interest has the approved value and the contact is eligible for this campaign. If interest is blank, hold the tailored response for review.” The rule needs the actual form, accepted values and decision owner before configuration.
Write property tests with an operator and value. “Interest equals Product A” differs from “interest is known”. Decide what happens when several interests are selected or a stored value conflicts with the current submission. Use an approved neutral path or review outcome rather than inferring a preference.
Behavioural Trigger vs Contact Property: When to Use Each
- Behavioural Trigger
- Answers: 'Why evaluate now?' (e.g., form submission, page view)
- Contact Property
- Answers: 'Which response is appropriate?' (e.g., product interest, campaign eligibility)
Choose the evaluation point
In HubSpot, an event trigger can have additional property filters. Those filters must be true when the event occurs. If a required property is populated only afterwards, the original event is not reassessed for entry. HubSpot also recommends allowing time before a branch when the branch depends on a property update from a form submission.
A later branch asks what is true when the contact reaches that step. In HubSpot, records must match the branch criteria before reaching the branch, so branch criteria are checked at that point. Decide whether the campaign needs the current profile value or the value associated with the particular event. A mutable contact property should not be assumed to preserve an earlier event value.
Key Considerations for Event-Based Enrolment in HubSpot
- Evaluation Timing
- Filters are checked only at the moment the event occurs.
- Property Updates After Submission
- Changes after the event do not re-trigger evaluation.
- Recommended Delay
- Allow time before branch decisions when relying on updated properties.
Make AND, OR and missing data explicit
Use AND when both the behaviour and property are required. Use OR only when either route independently justifies entry. In HubSpot, additional enrolment filters for an event-based trigger are evaluated only at the exact time the event occurs. Check how the behaviour and the property test combine in the configuration.
| Behaviour | Property | Proposed outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Named form submitted | Approved interest | Take the tailored path |
| Named form submitted | Blank or conflicting interest | Hold or use an approved neutral path |
| No named submission | Approved interest | Do not enter this event-led path |
| Named form submitted | Excluded audience | Do not take the campaign action |
These are example design outcomes, not observed platform results. Include a case where the property changes during a delay and decide which value should govern the next action.
Pros and Cons of Using AND vs OR Logic in Triggers
- Using AND (both required)Pros: Ensures high relevance; only qualified contacts enter. Cons: May exclude valid leads if one condition fails.
- Using OR (either suffices)Pros: Increases enrolment rate. Cons: Risks sending irrelevant responses if logic isn’t carefully defined.
Check the configured rule
Compare each decision-table case with the configured route. HubSpot's event enrolment test cannot simulate the event occurrence; when testing enrolment for event triggers, only the additional enrolment filters are taken into account. Use its broader workflow Test feature to check whether a record will enrol and to simulate how a specific record will go through a workflow after enrolment. Where event-to-record association matters, verify it in a controlled account check and inspect the resulting history.
Configuring a Workflow with Behavioural Triggers and Contact Properties
- Define the behavioural triggerSelect an event such as 'Named form submitted' in HubSpot.
- Add property filtersSet conditions like 'Product interest equals Product A' using exact match operators.
- Handle missing or conflicting dataUse a neutral path or review step if interest is blank or conflicts with submission.
- Test the workflowUse HubSpot’s Test feature to simulate enrolment and track record history.
