Bulk inclusion trigger

Learn how to configure the Bulk inclusion trigger entry trigger and control which contacts can enter your journey.

What we'll cover

1. Concepts
2. How to configure this trigger
3. Settings and contact filtering
4. Use cases and business examples
5. Troubleshooting
6. Trigger notes
7. FAQ
8. Need help?

1 Concepts

The Bulk inclusion trigger lets you add contacts to a journey in batches. It is commonly used for testing, backfills, or one-time enrollment when you want to start a journey for a selected set of contacts.

Note: This trigger is an entry trigger. Place it at the top of the journey to control how contacts begin the journey flow.

2 How to configure this trigger

Here are the steps:

1. Open the journey, and click Add.
2. Add a new entry trigger, and choose Bulk inclusion.
3. Enter a clear Name so your team knows the purpose of the trigger.
4. Review the Settings section, and configure any available options.
5. Set Apply to which contacts to All contacts or Only contacts that meet criteria.
6. Click Save.

Pro-tip: Use a trigger name that explains when the trigger is intended to be used. Clear names make multi-trigger journeys easier to manage.

3 Settings and contact filtering

Bulk inclusion is designed for manual or batch enrollment scenarios. You can combine it with Apply to which contacts to prevent accidental entry for contacts that do not match your intended segment.

Most trigger editors include an Apply to which contacts section so you can choose All contacts or Only contacts that meet criteria.

Note: Trigger settings define the trigger behavior, and journey Settings define whether the contact can enter again later.

4 Use cases and business examples

Use cases and business examples

• Backfill automation: Add a selected customer segment into a new follow-up journey after launching a new automation.
• Internal testing: Add a small test list to verify timing, messaging, and path logic.
• Targeted enrollment: Enroll a curated list from a recent promotion without building a permanent trigger.

5 Troubleshooting

Common issues to check

• Confirm the journey is running before using batch actions to add contacts.
• Check journey Settings if contacts do not enter, especially Run once per contact.
• Review Apply to which contacts criteria if some selected contacts are skipped.

Warning: If you make trigger changes in a live journey, test with a small internal segment before relying on the new behavior in production.

6 Trigger notes

• This trigger is great for testing, since you can fine tune the criteria to only add yourself, or whomever you're testing a journey with. Just make sure your journey is configured to allow a contact to run through a journey multiple times so you can test multiple times with the same contact.
• Adding this trigger satisfies the requirement of having at least one trigger. You can configure it to not add anyone, then manually add contacts to the journey for testing.
• In most cases, the "All contacts" option is used in conjunction with the "only contacts that meet criteria".
• The trigger always runs when the journey is started, then based on the recurring schedule, if configured.

Warning: You can cause a loop for contacts using the recurring schedule and setting the journey to allow multiple runs per contact.

7 FAQ

8 Need help?

If you need help configuring journey triggers, contact support. We’re happy to help!