Wait
Here you specify the delay in hours or days before the next step is taken in the program. You can also specify to wait until a specific day of the week.
Please take the following into consideration when using Wait nodes:
- All delays specified in days are counted as calendar days, not 24-hour units. If you specify ‘wait 1 day and send at 07:00’ the node will collect content that occurs between 00:00 and 23:59:59, which is then sent out at 07:00 the following day.
Calendar days are counted according to the default timezone of the account that launched the program. The timezone selected in a user's My Profile page is not taken into account.
- The Wait until the next ... and send at ... option is based on your account's time zone. The following examples show how it works:
- If you set your program to Wait until the next Wednesday and send at 9.00 on Tuesday, then your program will wait until the next day.
- If you set your program to Wait until the next Wednesday and send at 9.00 on Wednesday, then your program will wait until the next Wednesday.
Schedule
Here you specify a fixed time and date in the future when the next step is run in the program. Contacts reaching this node are queued until that point.
If a Schedule node is set to a date in the past, then the scheduled action will be performed as soon as a contact arrives at the node and the contact will pass through it immediately.
Segment
Here you select from simple or combined segments which can be used as simple logic switches that allow you to split paths according to contact properties or responses.
In order to use this node you have to have an existing Emarsys or Smart Insight segment that you can apply it to.
You can use filters together by either having them on parallel paths (which in effect links them with the OR operator) or in sequence along the same path (in which case they are in effect linked with the AND operator). In each case you should bear the following in mind:
- Parallel filters mean that contacts can progress along two paths if the filters have been so configured. It is up to you to ensure that this does not happen.
- Sequential filters can incur performance penalties if you have a large contact database, and should be avoided where possible. Instead, combine all the criteria together in one filter, or combine multiple filters together in. For more information, see Filters.
All contacts who are returned by the segment go to the next step of the program, those who are not are assumed to have been discarded from the program.
Exclude
Whereas the Segment node only allows contacts in the selected segment to proceed, this discards any contacts in the segment. In this way you can ensure that contacts do not receive the same email twice, for example.
Quick filter
Whereas the Segment node requires you to select an existing Emarsys or Smart insight segment, the Quick filter lets you choose a field and a value on the fly. This is a useful and time-saving way to fine-tune your program.
Filter switch
This node lets you add a segment to the path, which allows contacts to proceed if they are in the segment, and excludes them if not. This lets you filter out contacts using criteria which are not necessarily related to any other segments in the program.
This node effectively acts as a combination of the Segment and Exclude nodes, and as such is best used only when both functions are necessary.
A/B splitter
Here you can split the program into different paths, with contacts randomly assigned to each path according to a % value that you set. You can add paths and change the % value while the program is active. However, you cannot delete a path once a contact has entered it.
To stop further contacts entering a path, simply reduce the % value to 0.
A/B splitter nodes may not link to each other, nor can you follow them with nodes that are not paths created from within the node properties dialog. If you do, program validation will fail and you will need to change the program structure.
How do we assign contacts to paths?
You might notice at first that the numbers of contacts passing through each splitter do not exactly correspond to their respective percentages. You’ll be happy to know that there is a very good reason for this…
For statistical methods to work well, we need to make sure that we eliminate any effects that could skew the results. For batch emails this is easy – we simply divide the launch list randomly between the paths. With an Automation Center program it is a bit more complicated, since contacts are passing through one by one, and we do not know beforehand how many contacts will pass through the nodes before the test ends.
Because of this, the only way we can make sure that we don’t skew the results is by randomly assigning each individual contact to one of the paths according to their relative probability. And probability being what it is, it takes a while before the distribution begins to settle down into a stable pattern. It may take several thousand contacts to pass through before the differences become too small to notice. So be patient, wait until your test is stable, and rest happy in the knowledge that your A/B tests are scientifically valid.
Email behavior check
You can check how contacts responded to your email campaigns with this node. You will find the Email behavior check node under the Action nodes. This node manages contacts as follows:
- those who match the defined email behavior criteria will continue their journey,
- those who do not match the specified criteria or did not receive your email will exit the program.
Important: Please don't add the Email behavior check node to merged paths following A/B splitter, Filter switch or Participation check nodes. Contacts arriving at channel nodes in waves (i.e. from different paths where different Wait nodes are used) will generate child campaigns and the Email behavior check node examines their reactions to the parent campaign. As a result, contacts will be excluded from the program because they have not received the parent campaign.
The following options are available within the Email behavior check node:
Here you can choose from the following options:
- No response was made - The contact received the campaign but did not respond to it (i.e. did not open or click it).
- No Response was made or the response was a Privacy Open - The contact received the campaign but did not open or click any link in it or responded to your mail with a Privacy Open.
Notes:
- Privacy Opens are automatically generated email opens for contacts using Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection. For more information on Privacy Opens, see Privacy Opens in email behavior segments.
- A Privacy Open with a valid email click is considered a real open, so it will not be included here.
- No click was made on one of the specific links - The contact received the campaign but did not click a specific link in it.
Timeframe - This node checks your contacts’ behavior within the selected time period:
- Anytime in the Last 13 Months
- Specific Time Range
You can select a custom time period within the last 13 months.
Email Campaign - It checks how your contacts responded to the email selected in the previous Send email node.
- Use Previous Email Campaign - Uncheck this checkbox only if you would like to select another email.
- Link - It checks whether or not your contacts clicked the selected link.
When you change the campaign in the previous Send email node or copy an Automation Center program, then you need to select the link again.
Please note that the latest update to iOS 15, expected to be released in September 2021, will block the tracking of email opens in the iOS Mail app. Therefore, we advise you to review your automation programs and if some of your nodes use email open events, consider adjusting them. For more information, see iOS 15 update blocks tracking of email opens.
Transfer to program
You can forward the participants of your current program to another one starting with the Entry from program node by using this node. Contacts arriving at this node are queued and they will be transferred to the target program starting with the Entry from program entry point every 10 minutes.
You can only transfer participants from one Automation Center program to another.
Double Opt-In
For more information, see Double Opt-In.
Delete contacts
This node is a database cleanup tool that deletes contacts based on segments or contact lists. You can remove contacts from your contact database by adding this node to an Automation Center program. Contacts passing through this node will be removed from the database immediately.
Use cases
You can use a segment or contact list to regularly clean contacts matching specific criteria from your contact database. For example, you can delete contacts who:
- did not show any activity within a year,
- did not confirm your double opt-in process,
- requested a DOI-email but did not finish the newsletter sign-up: in this case, their email address should be deleted after the time period defined in your data deletion policy,
- subscribed to your newsletter, then unsubscribes: in this case, their email address should be deleted after the time period defined in your data deletion policy,
- subscribed to your newsletter and became inactive: in this case, their email address should be deleted after the time period defined in your data deletion policy,
- became inactive: their data should be deleted after the time period defined in your data deletion policy.
Adding the Delete contacts node to your program
To add the Delete contacts node to your program, proceed as follows:
1. Open your Automation Center program and add the Delete contacts node to it.
2. Set the limit for the maximum number of contacts in a segment or contact list that will be processed in a batch passing through this node.
Please consider the following:
- Segments or contact lists exceeding the specified limit will not be processed and you will receive a notification about these unprocessed batches. This safety measure helps you avoid deleting all contacts from your database accidentally.
- This limit does not apply to transactional programs.
- If you receive a notification about an unprocessed batch, go to the specific program, open the Delete contacts node and increase the limit as required. When you are ready, you need to wait for the program to run again the next day.
- Due to technical limitations and the GDPR, usually it is not possible to automatically recover contacts or their data once they have passed through this node and have been deleted.
The Delete contacts node will not block other nodes in your program, the following node will be executed immediately without waiting for this node to be finished. Depending on the current load, there might be a delay of a few minutes before all contacts are removed.
Custom marketing automation nodes
For more information on the custom marketing automation nodes, see:
Finish
This is how you end your program, and all paths in a program require this as the final node. This node signifies that all contacts who reach it have finished the program. The Finish node is automatically added to your last node.