Weather-triggered email and SMS, set up by your agent.
Pick the National Weather Service alerts that matter to your business and the area you serve. When a matching alert is issued, everyone in the audience you chose starts the sequence your agent wrote for it.
When a heat advisory is issued for Phoenix, text opted-in customers a same-week tune-up offer and email the details.
What your agent does
- Step 1
create_weather_watch
Watches the alerts you care about
Choose from the National Weather Service's alert types, such as Heat Advisory or Severe Thunderstorm Warning, for a place, coordinates or NWS zone codes. Sequence checks every 10 minutes.
Excerpt of the call
{ "name": "Phoenix heat", "nws_event_types": [ "Heat Advisory" ], "location": "Phoenix, AZ", "emit_event_name": "weather.heat", "audience_key": "everyone" } - Step 2
upsert_template
Writes the text and the email
Templates can quote the alert itself, such as its headline, area and expiry time.
- Step 3
create_sequence
Starts a sequence on the alert
The watch emits a named event to each contact in its audience, and the sequence starts on that event.
Excerpt of the call
{ "name": "Heat wave tune-up", "trigger_type": "event", "trigger_event_name": "weather.heat" } - Step 4
add_step
Sends a text now and an email later
Each step is an email or a text with its own wait. Texts wait for 8 AM to 9 PM local time, worked out from the phone number's area code.
- Step 5
fire_weather_watch
Tests it before a real storm
A dry run reports how many contacts would get the event, without sending anything.
The same job, without a builder.
Builder-style marketing tools make you assemble every piece by hand. With Sequence, your agent does the assembly from one sentence, and you review the result.
In a builder, you
- Watch the forecast and decide by hand when a storm is worth a send
- Export the customers in the affected area to a spreadsheet
- Build a one-off segment from ZIP codes or cities
- Write and design an email from scratch under time pressure
- Schedule the blast, hours after the alert went out
With Sequence, you
Type one sentence. Your agent makes 5 calls:
- create_weather_watch
- upsert_template
- create_sequence
- add_step
- fire_weather_watch
How weather-based marketing works in Sequence
A weather watch names the alert types you care about and the area you serve. Every 10 minutes Sequence checks the National Weather Service for active alerts in that area. When one matches, the watch emits an event, such as weather.heat, to every eligible contact in the audience you picked.
Any sequence that starts on that event begins right away, so the first text can go out minutes after the alert is issued.
Which weather alerts can start a send
Any official National Weather Service alert type works: heat advisories, freeze warnings, winter storm warnings, flood warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings and more. Only actual, unexpired alerts count; tests and expired alerts are ignored.
For severe thunderstorm warnings you can add thresholds, so a watch fires only when the warning reports hail of a given size, a wind gust above a given speed, or considerable or destructive damage. Tornado warnings always pass the thresholds.
- HVAC
- Heat advisories and freeze warnings for tune-ups and emergency service.
- Roofing and restoration
- Severe thunderstorm warnings with hail or wind thresholds.
- Plumbing
- Hard freeze and winter storm warnings for pipe protection.
- Retail and services
- Heat, cold or storm alerts for timely offers and closures.
Once per storm, not once per update
The National Weather Service often updates and extends a warning. Sequence fires once per alert, not once per update, and a cooldown (72 hours by default) stops the same watch from firing again too soon.
Weather watches cover the United States, where National Weather Service alerts are issued.
Questions
How fast does a message go out after an alert?
Sequence checks for new alerts every 10 minutes and starts the sequence when one matches. The first step can be set to send right away.
Who receives the message?
Eligible contacts in the audience you attach to the watch. Use a dynamic audience, such as contacts whose city is Phoenix, to limit it to the people in the area.
Can I test a watch without a real storm?
Yes. A dry run of the watch reports how many contacts would receive the event. You can also fire it manually when you choose.
Does it work outside the US?
No. Weather watches use National Weather Service alerts, which cover the United States.
Ask your agent. Sequence sends.
Start free with one brand and 3,000 emails a month. No card needed.