You can target customers who met the specified requirements when they triggered the event the last time by using this template. For example, you can reach contacts who fulfilled the following criteria when they triggered the specific event the last time:

• placed orders above €100 (in this case, customers who purchased something for 99 the last time will be filtered out).
• finished their running workout and ran at least 10 km (in this case, contacts who ran 9,5 km the last time will be filtered out).

The following example shows you how the Last time the event happened template works.

Suppose that we would like to target only those customers who ate chocolate ice cream the last time at an ice cream parlor.

Each time a customer adds an entry to their food log, we send the Mobile event called food_log_lunch_today containing the following attributes:

• food_type
• food_taste
• food_location

To make sure the Decision node returns exactly those events that we need, we have to define the conditions in two steps:

1. Configure the Look up the last time when this event happened section as follows:

a. Set the source to Mobile event and select the event food_log_lunch_today.

b. Add the following attributes:

- event_attributes.food_type contains ice_cream

- event_attributes.food_taste contains chocolate

2. In the Then check whether it meets the following attributes section, add the following attribute: event_attributes.food_location contains ice_cream_shop

• Look up the last time when this event happened - Here you can define the conditions based on the selected event.

- Source - The trigger source.

- Event - The trigger event.

- Attribute name - The events will be filtered based on the selected attributes.

- Operator

- Value

• Then check whether it meets the following attributes - Here you can fine-tune your results by specifying further attributes.

For example, you can use the Participation check node if you have a refer-a-friend campaign in which you would like to offer a more valuable incentive after the first friend of a contact joins the campaign and a less valuable incentive after another friend of the same contact joins the campaign.

Such a program would look like as follows:

In the example above, the Frequency of the Participation check node is set to Only once ever. As a result, the contact can only proceed along the Yes path when the event happens for the first time and this contact receives the 40% discount only once. Each time the contact triggers the same event again, the contact will be directed to the No branch and will receive the 20% discount.

The Participation check node may come in handy if, for example, you have a delivery update program and you would like to send a voucher based on the value of the order with varying frequency after the purchased product is shipped.

Such a program would look like as follows:

In the example above, the Decision splitter node checks if the value of the order made by the customers is above or below 80€ and the Participation check node ensures that: 

• Those contacts whose order exceeds that value will receive a 20€ voucher only once in every 2 months.
• Those contacts whose order value is below 80 will receive a 10€ voucher only once in every 3 months.

If you have a promotion that you would like to show your contacts who finished their workout under different circumstances, then you can use the same Participation check node settings within the same program. For example, let’s imagine that you would like to:

• Use the same trigger event in both cases but a different campaign will be displayed depending on the attributes.
• Advertise different products depending on the temperature for contacts:
  • Who ran when the temperature was above 25 °C.
  • Who ran when the temperature was below 10 °C.
• Display the campaign every 30 days regardless of the temperature.

Such a program would look like as follows:

This is how the Participation check node would look like:

You can use the same Participation check node settings in multiple programs in the following cases:

• Abandoned use cases: You can use the same Participation check settings in multiple programs to make sure that a contact receives only one abandoned campaign a week to avoid marketing fatigue or unsubscription. In this case, you can insert the same Participation check node (called Abandoned use cases in the example below) before the channel nodes in your abandoned browse, abandoned cart and abandoned checkout page campaigns. This is how such a Participation check node looks like:

• Sending a valuable voucher once in a month: You can use the same Participation check settings referring to the same limited audience in multiple programs to make sure that a contact can only receive one valuable voucher once in every 30 days.
• Back in stock and price drop campaigns: You can use the same Participation check settings in multiple programs to make sure that your contacts only receive either the back in stock or price drop campaign a week.

Here you can see the following options:

• Frequency: You can define how often customers can proceed along your program. You can choose from the following options:

◦ Only once ever - Contacts will be able to proceed along the Yes path of your program only once.

◦ If the following time has passed since this contact last proceeded along the Yes path - Contacts can proceed along the Yes path of your program again after the specified time period.

• Make this check available in other programs - You can save your Participation check settings and the audience referred to by this node to make them available in other programs or you can use an already existing configuration. You can choose from the following options:

◦ To create a new Participation check, proceed as follows:

1. Switch the Make this check available in other programs toggle and select Create new from the drop-down.

2. Give it a name, then click OK.

◦ To use an already existing Participation check configuration, proceed as follows:

1. Switch the Make this check available in other programs toggle and select an existing Participation check you would like to use from the drop-down.

2. Once you are ready, click OK.

You can only edit the Participation check node in active programs if you have previously activated the Make this check available in other programs switch. Otherwise, you can only edit the Participation check node after freezing your program.

You can modify the following settings in the Participation check node:

• You can change the Frequency from If the following time has passed since this contact last proceeded along the Yes path to Only once ever. In this case, the Interactions program stores the timestamp when the contact passed through the Yes branch the last time, so those contacts who have already proceeded along the Yes path cannot pass it through again if you set the Frequency to Only once ever.
• You can change the Frequency from Only once ever to If the following time has passed since this contact last proceeded along the Yes path. In this case, the Interactions program compares the current timestamp to the one that was saved when the contact passed through the Yes branch the last time (while the Frequency was set to Only once ever).

If, for example, a contact proceeded along the Yes path on July 4 when the Frequency was set to Only once ever, and you set it to If the following time has passed since this contact last proceeded along the Yes path after 7 days, then:

◦ A contact who proceeded along the Yes branch on July 4 can pass it through again on July 11.

◦ A contact who passed through the Yes branch on July 19, can only proceed along that path again on July 26.