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Using Activity & Event Attributes

Blair Matheson
  • Updated

While Customer Attributes describe who your customer is (e.g., their name or VIP tier), Activity Attributes describe what they just did.

These attributes allow your message to react instantly to the specific action that triggered the campaign, such as an abandoned cart, a completed deposit, or a game level-up.

Note: event. attributes are valid only within a triggered campaign send. If you use an {{ event. }} tag in a scheduled daily campaign, where no specific event triggered the send, the tag will render as empty.

Event data also does not persist outside that send. If you need to reuse a value elsewhere — in a later campaign, a segment, or a scheduled send — write it to a standalone profile attribute first.

The Syntax: event.

To access data from the trigger event, you use the event. prefix followed by the parameter key from the event payload. Use the parameter key, not the parameter ID.

{{ event.product_name }}
{{ event.cart_total }}

Result: "Blue Running Shoes" / "150.00"

Nested Payload Fields

Where the event payload contains nested fields, address them with dot notation:

{{ event.someevent.somefield }}

Common Use Cases

Displaying Transaction Details

The most common use is confirming specific details of a transaction back to the customer.

Thanks for purchasing the {{ event.product_name }}!
Your total was ${{ event.amount }}.

Result: "Thanks for purchasing the Blue T-Shirt! Your total was $25.00."

Conditional Logic based on Behavior

You can use event data to change the tone of the message dynamically.

{% if event.amount > 100 %}
  You've qualified for VIP shipping on this order!
{% else %}
  Add just ${{ 100 | minus: event.amount }} more to get VIP shipping.
{% endif %}

Result (if amount is $80): "Add just $20.00 more to get VIP shipping."

Formatting Event Dates

Raw event timestamps often come in machine-readable formats (like ISO 8601). You should use filters to make them readable.

Your order was received on {{ event.timestamp | date_format: "d MMM yyyy" }}.

Result: "Your order was received on 15 Jan 2024."

Important: Naming & Case Sensitivity

Just like customer attributes, Event Attributes are case-sensitive. They must match the parameter key in the event payload exactly.

  • If the event parameter key is ProductID, you must use {{ event.ProductID }}.
  • If the event parameter key is product_id, you must use {{ event.product_id }}.

Advanced: Using Data Connections

Sometimes the event only gives you an ID (e.g., 12345), but you want to show the product name ("Blue Shirt"). You can use the event.product_id to look up details in a Data Connection.

We saw you looking at this item:
{{ data_connection('Product_Catalog', event.product_id, 'Item_Name') }}

Result: "We saw you looking at this item: Blue Oxford Shirt"

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