Transactional entry points are ones where contacts are added to the program as soon as they have triggered the entry criteria. They are not processed at predetermined intervals, like recurring entry points, nor in batches.
Programs starting with the Form entry point ignore opt-in for the first email they send. For more information, see Ignoring opt-in for certain transactional emails.
Email nodes in programs that start with a transactional entry node do not support Send Time Optimization.
Once you are familiar with the basics of the nodes, see our Workspace Tips & Tricks section.
Form
This node allows your contacts to enter the program once they complete and submit the selected form.
- Only general registration forms can be selected and used here.
- Programs starting with the Form entry node ignore opt-in for the first email they send. For more information, see Ignoring opt-in for certain transactional emails.
Data change
Here you can select an action based on a change to a specific data field (such as email address). When a contact triggers a change to that field, it causes them to enter the program.
- You can select all standard system and custom fields here.
- You cannot select certain fields whose values are filled in dynamically, such as ‘Date of first registration’, or ‘Age’.
- Field values can be changed in many ways, for example through data import, API call, form submission, manual change, and so on.
We recommend adding a Wait node that is set to wait 15 minutes after this entry point as it takes a few minutes to synchronise the field values in the database. If you don’t use a Wait node, then it might happen that contacts are filtered out incorrectly because their field values are still considered as null.
Please consider the following:
- If a form is submitted containing field values that already exist, these will not be overwritten and the program will not be triggered. Only a change in the field value triggers the program, regardless of how it is changed.
- Importing new contacts or adding new contacts via the UI can trigger programs starting with the Data change entry point, if the contact is initialized with a field value associated with such a program. For example, if a new contact is imported and the contact data includes the contact's address, and you have a program that starts with the On change of field Address entry point, then that program will be triggered when the contact is created in Emarsys.
- Voucher field can be selected in data change export, but it will not trigger an export, nor launch a program when a voucher is assigned to a contact.
Contacts created via the API will not trigger programs starting with the Data change entry point.
New contact
Please note that Automation Center programs are designed for audience-focused journeys. If you need to address time-critical use cases, we recommend using Interactions. For more information on Double Opt-In use cases, see Creating a DOI journey.
This will add all new contacts in the account database to the program, regardless of how they were registered.
It has no effect on new contacts entering other programs via other nodes, for example from a registration form or data change.
Notes:
- We recommend adding a Wait node that is set to wait 15 minutes after this entry point as it takes a few minutes to synchronise the field values in the database. If you don’t use a Wait node, then it might happen that contacts are filtered out incorrectly because their field values are still considered as
null. - You can use this entry point in multiple programs at the same time.
Important: Contacts can enter programs starting with the New contact entry point based on their key IDs used during contact creation. This applies to contacts created through the API and file imports as well. Contacts can only enter the program if their key ID values (i.e. email, custom or external ID) do not exist already. Please note that this field is not case-sensitive.