Create multi-channel campaigns

I will discuss how to design a multi-channel campaign. In a multi-channel campaign, a single marketing communication utilizes multiple channels to reach a wider target audience, based on the preferred recipient channel. Multi-channel deliveries are designed and executed in a single workflow. For this exercise, I will demonstrate how to design and execute a multi-channel campaign containing email, SMS and direct mail deliveries.

Go to the Targeting and workflows tab of your campaign. Change the Label of the workflow to Multi-channel delivery workflow.

Drag and drop a Query to the workflow canvas.

In this example, I want to target all recipients included in the recipient targeting dimension that want to receive communications. Double click on Filtering conditions, click on Edit the expression and select the No longer contact by any channel from the recipient table.

Leave the Operator at equal to. Then select no from the Value drop down menu. Save the Query, then save your workflow.

Now I want to segment the population from the main query, based on recipient preferred channels. Drag and drop a Split activity, and connect it to the Query.

Double click on the Split, and change the Label of the first segment to Email.

Select Add a filtering condition on the inbound population and then click to edit the Filtering conditions.

Expand the Expression and select Email from the recipient table. Change the Operator to is not empty.

Add another Expression. Expand the Expression field and select no longer contact by email from the recipient table. Set the Operator to equal to and select no from the value dropdown menu. Save the segment query by clicking on Finish.

While still in the Split activity, add another segment and change the Label to SMS. Again, select Add a filtering condition on the inbound populationand clickEdit. Expand the Expression and select Mobile from the recipient table. Change the Operator to is not empty. Add another Expression. Expand the Expression field and select no longer contact by SMS from the recipient table. Leave the operator set to equal to and select no from the Value drop down menu. Save the segment query.

In the Split activity, add one last segment and change the Label to Direct Mail. Edit the Filtering conditions, expand the Location table situated within the recipient table. Select Address 3 (Number and street) and change the Operator to is not empty. Add another Expression. Expand the Expression field and select No longer contact by direct mail from the recipient table. Set the Operator to equal to and the Value to no.

Save the segment query.

The segment counts will be pulled based on the priority in which the segments have been configured. For example, if the first segment split isEmail, the second segment SMS, and the third Direct Mail, then the workflow will process the segments in order of priority, without the population overlapping in several segments.

Now save the split activity and save your workflow.

In the Multichannel Workflow, drag and drop an Email delivery activity and connect it to the Email split transition. Double click on the Email delivery and expand the Delivery template drop down menu. Navigate to the resource delivery folder where the email template is saved and select the template you wish to send. Change the Label of the delivery then click Continue.

Add a Subject line. Validate that the From and To details are accurate. Add a personalization and configure delivery Properties as needed. Save and exit the delivery.

Drag and drop a Mobile delivery activity and connect it to the SMS split transition.

Double click on the Delivery and expand the Delivery template drop down menu. Navigate the resource delivery folder where the SMS template is saved. The SMS template is pre-configured with the SMS external service provider routing information, and is usually done during the campaign tool implementation phase. The technical developer will prepare the SMS template for the marketer to enable SMS deliveries. Once you’ve selected the SMS delivery template, add a Label to the Delivery and click Continue. Double check that the target is set to inbound activity, also known as upstream targeting. Add personalisation, content and links in the main body copy. Save the Mobile delivery template.

In the Multichannel workflow, drag and drop a Direct mail delivery activity and connect it to the Direct mail split transition. Double click on the Direct mail delivery and add a Label to the Delivery then click Continue. You have the option of pulling down a pre-configured direct mail template from the drop down menu or to configure a new direct mail file.

To do so, change the Label of the Delivery and click Continue. Within the D.M. delivery activity, you can: 1) Schedule when the extraction file is to be generated. If you have a service provider modeled on the ACC, the routing information is triggered when the extraction takes place. 2) Configure to download the extraction file to your computer after the file is generated on the server. 3) Incorporate the date the file is extracted into the extraction file name.

1. Format the extraction file by specifying the columns you want included, order of the columns and file format, such as CSV or text file.

To format the extraction file, click on Edit the extraction file format. Locate the required fields to be sent to the vendor by expanding the various tables and double clicking on one field name at a time. For example, you may need the recipient first and last names as well as the recipient’s complete address.

You may also add fields to indicate which version the recipient will receive. Once you have selected all the required fields, validate that they are moved over to the output column panel, then clic on Next. If required, you can then sort the order of the columns. Click Next. You can define the file output format and parameters like Column separator, String delimiter, End of line, Encoding, Date format and Number format. You can also check the box below the parameters to force column labels to export.

Click Next.

You can then reorder or rename the columns in the data formatting screen. When you are done, click on Finish.

You could also add a mobile app channel segmentation and delivery to push personalized notifications to Android and IOS devices. The notifications are sent using Apple push notification service or, APNS, or Google Cloud messaging, or GCM Services, which are the centerpieces of the remote notifications feature. APNS and GCM Services handle all aspects of queing of messages and deliveries to recipient applications on target devices. Recipients have to be opted in to receive push notifications via their mobile applications.

Once you are done setting up the multi-channel deliveries, select All Delivery Activities. Right click and select Enable but do not execute and save the workflow. You are ready to send proofs to a final QA and then execute the multi-channel campaign.