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Welcome to Zixflow’s event tracking system! This guide will help you understand what events are, why they matter, and how to start tracking user behavior in your application.

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What is the Event System?

Zixflow’s event tracking system is a Customer Data Platform (CDP) that captures and organizes every user interaction in your application. Similar to platforms like Segment or Amplitude, it creates a complete, searchable history of how users engage with your product. What you can do with it:
  • Understand user behavior patterns and preferences
  • Trigger automated campaigns at the right moments
  • Analyze what drives conversions and retention
  • Make data-driven product and marketing decisions

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How It Works (Simple View)

Every user action becomes a structured event that includes:
  • Who: Which user took the action (by ID or anonymous tracking)
  • What: The specific action they took (like “Purchased” or “Signed Up”)
  • When: The exact time it happened
  • Context: Details like what device they used, where they were, etc.
Once tracked, these events are immediately available for:
  • Triggering campaigns (“Send cart reminder 2 hours after abandonment”)
  • Running analytics (“What % of signups complete onboarding?”)
  • Personalizing experiences (“Show upgrade prompt to power users”)

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Why Track Events?

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1. Product Analytics

  • Track feature usage and adoption rates
  • Measure activation, engagement, and retention metrics
  • Identify power users vs casual users vs churned users
  • A/B test impact measurement with event-based cohorts

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2. Marketing Attribution & Personalization

  • Multi-touch attribution from first click to conversion
  • Dynamic content personalization based on user journey
  • Lookalike audience building from high-value user cohorts
Example: User views pricing page 3x without converting → Trigger personalized email with case study + limited-time discount.

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3. Revenue & Growth Metrics

  • Track trial-to-paid conversion funnels
  • Measure expansion revenue (upgrades, add-ons)
  • Identify churn risk based on engagement decay
  • Calculate LTV, CAC payback period, revenue retention

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4. Lifecycle Automation

  • Onboarding sequences triggered by signup + usage milestones
  • Re-activation campaigns for dormant users (30-day no-login)
  • Upsell triggers when users hit plan limits
  • Win-back flows for churned customers

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Key Concepts at a Glance

Before diving in, let’s define the core building blocks:

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Events

Structured records of user actions. Think Segment’s track() calls or Amplitude events. Examples:
  • Signed Up — Account creation with signup source attribution
  • Feature Used — Feature interaction with usage context
  • Trial Extended — Lifecycle milestone event
  • Payment Failed — System event requiring action

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Users

Unified user profiles across the anonymous → identified journey. Anonymous phase: Pre-signup visitors tracked via browser/device fingerprinting. You can still:
  • Track funnel drop-off points
  • Attribute first-touch campaigns
Identified phase: Post-signup/login users with full profile data. Enables:
  • Cross-device tracking (same user on mobile + desktop)
  • Personalized messaging (email, push, in-app)
  • Full journey reconstruction (anonymous history merges automatically)

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Attributes

User profile fields that describe who a user is and their current state. Examples:
  • plan_type: “enterprise” → Target feature announcements to enterprise users
  • trial_ends_at: “2026-05-10” → Trigger upgrade nudges
  • feature_flags: [“beta_reports”] → A/B test cohort membership
Attributes = state. Events = changes to that state.

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Devices

Multi-device tracking for cross-platform products. Each device gets registered with Zixflow so you can:
  • Send push notifications to specific devices — including devices that haven’t signed up yet
  • Track the same user across phone, tablet, and desktop
  • See which device types your users prefer
  • Register push tokens before sign-up — push notifications work immediately on anonymous devices, and devices are automatically linked to the user’s profile when they call identify()
  • Tracks platform-specific context (app version, OS version) — platform is detected automatically from OS name, library name, or browser
Use case: Send push notifications to all user’s devices, or target iOS users only for App Store review prompts.

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Your First Event

Let’s track a simple “Sign Up” event. Here’s what it looks like using our SDK:

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JavaScript (Web)

// After user creates account
Zixflow.track({
  name: 'Signed Up',
  properties: {
    plan: 'free',
    source: 'homepage'
  }
});

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Flutter (Mobile)

// After user creates account
Zixflow.instance.track(
  name: 'Signed Up',
  properties: {
    'plan': 'free',
    'source': 'homepage',
  },
);

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What Just Happened?

When you call track(), your event goes through these steps: 
1. SDK captures → Adds timestamp, user ID, device info automatically
                     ↓
2. Sends securely → Encrypted transmission to Zixflow
                     ↓
3. Processed → Validated and linked to user profile
                     ↓
4. Available → Ready for campaigns, segments, and analytics
                     ↓
Total time: 2-5 seconds
What this means for you:
  • Your app gets an instant response (no waiting)
  • Events are available almost immediately
  • Nothing is lost, even if there’s a temporary issue
  • You can start building segments and triggering campaigns right away

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What You Can Do With Your Data

Once you’ve tracked events, here are the powerful things you can do:

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1. Trigger Automated Campaigns

Set up messages that send automatically when users take (or don’t take) specific actions:
  • User signs up → Send welcome email series
  • User abandons cart → Send reminder after 2 hours
  • User hits usage limit → Send upgrade prompt
  • User reaches milestone → Send congratulations message
Real example: 
When: User adds product to cart
Wait: 2 hours
If: User has NOT completed purchase
Then: Send push notification "Your cart is waiting! 10% off if you order now"

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2. Analyze User Journeys

Understand how users move through your product: Conversion funnels: 
Homepage View → Product View → Add to Cart → Purchase
    100%            45%            18%          12%
See exactly where users drop off and optimize those steps. User flows: Track the most common paths users take from signup to conversion. Cohort analysis: Compare user behavior by signup date, acquisition source, or plan type.

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3. Measure What Matters

  • Activation rate: % of signups who complete key actions
  • Retention: How many users come back day 1, day 7, day 30
  • Feature adoption: Which features are used most (and by whom)
  • Time to value: How long until users get their first “win”
  • Revenue metrics: Conversion rate, average order value, lifetime value

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What You Can Build

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Product-Led Growth (PLG) Playbook

  • Activation tracking: Measure “aha moment” completion (e.g., “Created First Report”)
  • Usage-based pricing: Trigger upgrade prompts when users hit plan limits
  • Expansion revenue: Identify accounts ready for upsell (usage patterns + firmographics)
  • Referral loops: Track invite-sent → invite-accepted → activated-user flows

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Retention & Churn Prevention

  • Health score models: Combine engagement metrics (login frequency, feature usage) into churn risk score
  • Early warning system: Alert CSM when enterprise accounts go dormant (7-day no-login)
  • Win-back campaigns: Automated sequences for churned users with personalized offers
  • Cohort retention analysis: Compare retention by signup source, plan type, or onboarding path

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Conversion Optimization

  • Funnel analysis: Identify drop-off points in signup → activation → payment flows
  • A/B test measurement: Event-based cohort assignment and conversion tracking
  • Multi-touch attribution: Credit marketing channels based on user journey touchpoints
  • Lead scoring: Behavioral scoring (page views, feature trials) + firmographics (company size, industry)

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Lifecycle Marketing

  • Onboarding sequences: Trigger step-by-step emails based on product usage milestones
  • Engagement campaigns: Re-activate dormant users with personalized content
  • Upsell automation: Triggered campaigns when users demonstrate high engagement
  • Customer delight: Milestone celebrations (1-year anniversary, 100th project created)

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How the System Keeps Your Data Safe

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Never Lose an Event

  • Events are saved immediately when tracked
  • If your internet drops, the SDK stores events locally
  • When connection returns, all events are sent automatically
  • Even if Zixflow has an issue, events wait safely until everything’s back

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Fast & Reliable

  • Your app gets instant confirmation (no waiting)
  • Events appear for use within 2-5 seconds
  • System handles high traffic without slowing down
  • No impact on your app’s performance

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Privacy & Security

  • All data encrypted during transmission (bank-level security)
  • Stored securely with access controls
  • GDPR/CCPA compliance support
  • User deletion and data export capabilities
  • You control what data gets tracked

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Next Steps

Now that you understand the basics, here’s where to go next:

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Deep Dive into Concepts

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Implementation Guides

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SDK Integration

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Technical Reference

  • Data Journey — What happens to events after you track them

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Getting Help

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Documentation

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Support

  • Contact your account team for implementation help
  • Share specific use cases for custom tracking guidance
  • Report documentation errors or gaps
Ready to dive deeper? Continue to Understanding Events →