Trigger emails are the latest small wonder of email marketing. You can set up triggers to reach recipients on their individual schedules — the moment they sign up, on their birthday, or right after they click a particular link — and all automatically.

Best of all, with a little clever thinking, trigger emails can do a lot of things you might not expect. For example, you can send a whole series of emails to new subscribers, remind people about an upcoming event, show people more products they might like and more.

In fact, once you put triggers to work, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without them. Here are three ways to put trigger emails to work...

Welcome new subscribers with an email, or send a whole series of 'em.

A lot of folks use trigger emails to automatically welcome new subscribers with a copy of their latest newsletter or a thank-you coupon. It's a great idea — after all, your readers are most interested in what you have to say in the second right after they join your list.

Consider creating a series of emails that send in succession, on the schedule you choose. Think of the content you've got that fits nicely in a short, regular format, and turn it into a full-blown welcome package. You might try a series of weekly tips or showcase your best case studies. Whatever you choose for your welcome messages, you'll be building trust with your recipients from the start, making them more likely to look forward to your messages down the road.

Congratulate people on their big day, or follow up after your big event.

Trigger emails can automatically send an email on someone's birthday (provided, of course, you know your recipients' birthdays). But you can also send email before or after any date you've stored about your members, which makes it perfect for automating pre-event reminders or post-event follow-ups.

For example, let's say you regularly offer seminars and classes. As long as you're storing the date each subscriber is registered for a class, you can also trigger a reminder email a few days ahead of time. Whether Bob is registered for your security solutions class next week or next month, he'll get a reminder about it exactly three days ahead of time.

You can also trigger an email after an event. If you know the date Bob came to your seminar, you can automatically have an email arrive in his inbox two days afterwards, with a link an additional white paper.

Send follow-up information based on what people click.

When you're paying attention to the links people click in your campaigns, you're learning a lot about your subscribers. After all, each little click you see on your response page gives you a fair amount of insight into what someone finds interesting. Triggers let you follow up accordingly, and automatically, by sending more information that same someone might also like. It's the perfect way to show your customers products and services similar to the one they clicked on earlier.

For example, follow up with the people who click to see your latest mod office chair by triggering an email with that chair's must-have mod accessories. If you're in technology or healthcare, try sending your recipients a whitepaper or report that corresponds with the service or product they first clicked to learn more about. You have complete control over when the follow-up email arrives — whether it’s the next day or after a few weeks.