# What are triggered campaigns?

> Understand what a triggered campaign is, what can trigger it, and how it differs from an on-rotation campaign.

Explanation · Personalisation & AI · Last updated 25 September 2026

URL: https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/what-are-triggered-campaigns/

A triggered campaign is a campaign that plays only when something happens: a visitor scans a QR code, a member of staff selects it on the staff tablet, an AI agent recognises an intent, a phone enters a proximity zone, or your customer or decisioning platform sends data about the visitor. An on-rotation campaign plays in a loop; a triggered campaign waits.

## Why triggered campaigns exist

Brands aggregate and normalise customer data in a customer data platform (CDP) and invest in decisioning based on business rules, machine learning or AI. The next step is to activate that data across every touch-point, including the physical store. Triggered campaigns are the repository of campaigns, experiences and offers that the platform matches against customer and decisioning data in real time.

Physical retail is the hardest channel to support in real time, so it is where the platform focuses first. The same mechanism extends to the other touch-points the platform serves: website, mobile app, store sites and the staff tablet.

## You do not need external data to start

Triggered campaigns also work with no customer data connected. A visitor who scans the QR code on a display sees every active triggered campaign for that display and chooses one to play. That gives you an engaging, interactive store experience straight away, and a way to demonstrate value before you connect a CDP or decisioning platform.

## What can trigger a campaign

| Trigger | Touch-point in the campaign brief | Set-up article |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A visitor scans the QR code on a display and selects the campaign | **QR-Control** | [Enable QR Control and set the default QR code settings](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/enable-qr-control-and-set-the-default-qr-code-settings/) |
| A member of staff selects the campaign on the staff tablet | **Staff Tablet** | [Let retail staff activate triggered campaigns](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/let-retail-staff-activate-triggered-campaigns/) |
| An AI agent matches a visitor's conversational intent | **AI Agents** | [Connect a triggered campaign to an AI agent interaction](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/connect-a-triggered-campaign-to-an-ai-agent-interaction/) |
| Your CDP or decisioning platform sends visitor data to the Visitor API | Any enabled touch-point | [Trigger campaigns from customer or decisioning data](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/trigger-campaigns-from-customer-or-decisioning-data/) |
| A visitor's phone enters a MIST proximity zone | **Digital Signage** | [Enable proximity personalisation with MIST](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/enable-proximity-personalisation-with-mist/) |
| Computer vision detects a passer-by who matches the targeting rule | **Digital Signage** | [Target passers-by using computer vision at the edge](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/launching-campaigns/target-passers-by-using-computer-vision-at-the-edge/) |

## Where you see them in HQ Admin

- In **Campaigns**, the **Playback Strategy** column shows a **TRIGGERED** pill, and the column filter lets you show only triggered campaigns.
- On a triggered campaign's **Targeting** tab, a read-only rule group named **QR CONTROL INTERACTION** records the interaction that triggers it.
- In **Displays & Devices**, the key under the display list marks which displays are playing on-rotation campaigns and which are playing triggered campaigns.

## How long a triggered campaign plays

Each campaign's **Interaction Settings** control how long the pop-up message stays on the visitor's phone and when the platform clears the interaction data so the display returns to its rotation. See [Update a campaign's interaction settings](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/update-a-campaigns-interaction-settings/).

## Related

- [Update a campaign's interaction settings](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/update-a-campaigns-interaction-settings/)
- [Enable QR Control and set the default QR code settings](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/enable-qr-control-and-set-the-default-qr-code-settings/)
- [How campaigns work: playback strategies, touch-points and status](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/launching-campaigns/how-campaigns-work-playback-strategies-touch-points-and-status/)
- [Use customer and decisioning data to personalise the store visit](https://personalisationhub.com/support-centre/personalisation-and-ai/use-customer-and-decisioning-data-to-personalise-the-store-visit/)