Marketing campaign deliveries

Deliveries can be created via the campaign dashboard, a campaign workflow or directly via the overview of deliveries.

When created from a campaign, deliveries will be linked to this campaign and consolidated at the campaign level.

Discover this feature in video

Creating deliveries

To create a delivery linked to a campaign, click the Add a delivery link in the campaign dashboard.

The suggested configurations are suited to the different types of delivery: direct mail, email, mobile channels. Learn more.

Selecting the target population

For each delivery, you can define:

• The audience - Learn more in Building the audience in a workflow and Selecting the target population.
• A control group - Learn more in Defining a control group.
• Seed addresses - Learn more in this section.

Some of this information can be inherited from the template.

To build the delivery target, you can define filtering criteria for the recipients in the database. This recipient selection mode is presented in this section.

Example: send messages to a group

You can import a population into a list, then target this list in deliveries.

1. To do this, edit the concerned delivery and click the To link to change the targeted population.

2. In the Main target tab, select the Defined via the database option and click Add to select recipients.

1. Choose A list of recipients and click Next to select it.

Building the audience in a workflow

The main target of a delivery can also be defined in the targeting workflow: this graphical environment lets you build a target using queries, tests and operators: union, deduplication, sharing, etc. Learn more.

Create the workflow

Targeting can be created via a combination of filtering conditions in a graphical sequence in a workflow. You can create populations and sub-populations which will be targeted according to your requirements. To display the workflow editor, click the Targeting and workflows tab in the campaign dashboard.

The target population is extracted from the Adobe Campaign database via one or more queries placed in a workflow. To learn how to build a query, refer to this section.

You can launch queries and share populations via boxes such as Union, Intersection, Sharing, Exclusion, etc.

Select the objects from the lists to the left of the workspace and link them to construct the target.

In the diagram, link up the targeting and scheduling queries required for target construction in the diagram. You can execute the targeting while construction is in progress in order to check the population extracted from the database.

The left-hand section of the editor contains a library of graphical objects representing activities. The first tab contains the targeting activities, and the second tab contains the flow-control activities, which are used occasionally to coordinate targeting activities.

The targeting workflow execution and formatting functions are accessible via the diagram editor toolbar.

You can create several targeting workflows for a single campaign. To add a workflow:

1. Go to the upper left-hand section of the workflow creation zone, right-click, and select Add. You can also use the New button located above this zone.

   

2. Select the New workflow template and name this workflow.

3. Click OK to confirm creation of the workflow, and then create the diagram for this workflow.

Execute the workflow

Targeting workflows can be launched manually via the Start button in the toolbar, provided that you have the appropriate rights.

The targeting can be programmed for automatic execution according to a schedule (scheduler) or an event (external signal, file import, etc.).

The actions related to executing the targeting workflow (launch, stop, pause, etc.) are asynchronous processes: the command is saved and will take effect as soon as the server is available to apply it.

The toolbar icons let you take action concerning the execution of the targeting workflow.

• Start or restart

  • The Start icon lets you launch the targeting workflow. When you click on this icon, all activities without an input transition are activated (except end point jumps).

    

    The server takes the request into account, as shown by its status:

    

    The process status changes to Started.

  • You can restart the targeting workflow via the appropriate toolbar icon. This command may be useful if the Start icon is not available, for example when targeting workflow stopping is in progress. In this case, click the Restart icon to anticipate the restart. The server takes the request into account, as its status shows:

    

    The process then enters Started status.

• Stop or pause

  • The toolbar icons let you stop or pause a targeting workflow in progress.

    When you click Pause, operations in progress are not paused, but no other activity is launched until the next restart.

    

    The server takes the command into account, as its status shows:

    

    You can also pause a targeting workflow automatically when its execution reaches a particular activity. To do this, right-click the activity from which targeting workflow is to be paused, and select Enable but do not execute.

    

    This configuration is shown by a special icon.

    

    NOTE

    This option is useful during advanced targeting campaign design and test phases.

    Click Start to resume execution.

  • Click the Stop icon to stop the execution in progress.

    

    The server takes the command into account, as its status shows:

    

  You can also stop a targeting workflow automatically when the execution reaches an activity. To do this, right-click the activity from which targeting workflow will be stopped, and select Do not activate.

  

  

  This configuration is shown by a special icon.

  NOTE

  This option is useful during advanced targeting campaign design and test phases.

• Unconditional stop

  In the Explorer, select Administration > Production > Object created automatically > Campaign workflows to access and act on every campaign workflows.

  You can unconditionally stop your workflow by clicking the Actions icon and selecting Unconditional stop. This action terminates your campaign workflow.

  

Defining a control group

A control group is a population which will not receive the delivery; it is used to track post-delivery behavior and campaign impact by making a comparison with the behavior of target population, which has received the delivery.

The control group can be extracted from the main target and/or come from a specific group or query.

Activating the control group for a campaign

You can define a control group at campaign level, in which case the control group will be applied to each delivery of the campaign concerned.

1. Edit the campaign concerned and click the Edit tab.

2. Click Advanced campaign settings.

   

3. Select the Enable and edit control group configuration option.

4. Click Edit… to configure the control group.

   

The configuration procedure is presented in Extracting the control group from the main target and Adding a control group.

Activating the control group for a delivery

You can define a control group at delivery level, in which case the control group will be applied to each delivery of the campaign concerned.

By default, the control group configuration defined at the campaign level applies to every delivery of that campaign. You can, however, adapt the control group for an individual delivery.

1. Edit the delivery concerned and then click the To link in the Email parameters section.

   

2. Click the Control group tab and then select Enable and edit control group configuration.

3. Click Edit… to configure the control group.

The configuration procedure is presented in Extracting the control group from the main target and Adding a control group.

Extracting the control group from the main target

You can extract recipients from the main target of the delivery. In this case, recipients will be taken from the target of delivery actions affected by this configuration. This extraction can be random or can be the result of sorting the recipients.

To extract a control group, enable the control group for the campaign or delivery and select one of the following options: Activate random sampling or Keep only the first records after sorting.

• Activate random sampling : this option applies random sampling to the recipients in the targeted population. If you then set the threshold to 100, the control group will be made up of 100 recipients selected randomly from the targeted population. The random sampling depends on the database engine.
• Keep only the first records after sorting : this option enables you to define a limitation based on one or more sorting orders. If you select the Age field as a sorting criterion and then define 100 as a threshold, the control group will be made up of the 100 youngest recipients. For instance, it could be interesting to define a control group that includes recipients who make few purchases, or recipients who make frequent purchases, and to compare their behavior with that of the contacted recipients.

Click Next to define the sorting order (if necessary) and select the recipient limitation mode.

This configuration is equivalent to a sharing activity in the workflow, which lets you break the target up into subsets. The control group is one of these subsets. Refer to the this section for more information.

Adding a control group

You can define a new population to be used as a control group. This population can come from a group of recipients or you can create it via a specific query.

Starting a delivery

Once all approvals have been granted, the delivery is ready to be started. The delivery procedure then depends on the type of delivery. For email or mobile channel deliveries, see Starting an online delivery, and for direct mail deliveries, see Starting an offline delivery.

Starting an online delivery

Once all approval requests have been granted, the delivery status changes to Pending confirmation and can be started by an operator. Where appropriate, the Adobe Campaign operator (or group of operators) appointed as reviewer to start the delivery is notified that a delivery is ready to be started.

The information also appears on the campaign dashboard. The Confirm delivery link lets you start the delivery.

A confirmation message lets you secure this action.

Starting an offline delivery

Once all approvals have been granted, the delivery status changes to Pending extraction. The extraction files are created via a special workflow which, in a default configuration, starts automatically when a direct mail delivery is pending extraction. When a process is in progress, it is displayed in the dashboard and can be edited via its link.

Step 1 - File approval

Once the extraction workflow has been successfully executed, the extraction file must be approved (provided that extraction file approval was selected in the delivery settings).

For more on this, refer to Approving an extraction file.

Step 2 - Approval of the message to the service provider

• Once the extraction file is approved, you can generate the proof of the router notification e-mail. This e-mail message is constructed based on a delivery template. It must be approved.

  NOTE

  This step is only available if the sending and approval of proofs was enabled in the approvals window.

• Click the Send a proof button to create the proofs.

  The proof target must be defined beforehand.

  You can create as many proofs as necessary. These are accessed via the Direct mail… link of the delivery detail.

  

• The delivery status changes to To submit. Click the Submit proofs button to start the approval process.

  

• The delivery status changes to Proof to validate and a button lets you accept or reject approval.

  

  You can either accept or reject this approval, or return to the extraction step.

  

• The extraction file is sent to the router and the delivery is finished.

Calculation of costs and stocks

The file extraction launches two operations: budget calculation and stock calculation. The budget entries are updated.

• The Budget tab lets you manage the budgets for the campaign. The total of the cost entries is shown in the Calculates cost field of the campaign’s main tab and the program it belongs to. The amounts are also reflected in the campaign budget.

  The real cost will eventually be calculated from information supplied by the router. Only messages actually sent are invoiced.

• Stocks are defined in the Administration > Campaign management > Stocks node of the tree, and cost structures in the Administration > Campaign management > Service providers node.

  Stock lines are visible in the stock section. To define the initial stock, open a stock line. The stock is decremented each time a delivery takes place. You can define an alert level and notifications.

Managing associated documents

You can associate various documents with a campaign: report, photo, web page, diagram, etc. These documents can be in any format (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, PNG, JPG, Acrobat PDF, etc). To link documents with a campaign, see Adding documents.

In a campaign you can also refer to other items, such as promotional coupons, special offers relating to a specific branch or store, etc. When these elements are included in an outline, they can be associated with a direct mail delivery. See Associating and structuring resources linked via a delivery outline.

Adding documents

Documents can be associated at the campaign level (contextual documents) or the program level (general documents).

The Documents tab contains:

• The list of all documents required for the content (template, images, etc.) that can be downloaded locally by Adobe Campaign operators with suitable rights,
• Documents containing information for the router, if any.

The documents are linked to the program or the campaign via the Edit > Documents tab.

You can also add a document to a campaign via the link offered in its dashboard.

Click the Details icon to view the content of a file and to add information:

In the dashboard, documents associated with the campaign are grouped in the Document(s) section, as in the following example:

They can also be edited and modified from this view.

Associating and structuring resources linked via a delivery outline

A delivery outline denotes a structured set of elements (documents, branches/stores, promotional coupons, etc.) created in the company and for a particular campaign.

These elements are grouped in delivery outlines, and a particular delivery outline will be associated with a delivery; it will be referenced in the extraction file sent to the service provider in order to be attached to the delivery. For example, you can create a delivery outline that refers to a branch and the marketing brochures it uses.

For a campaign, delivery outlines let you structure external elements to be associated with the delivery according to certain criteria: related branch, promotional offer granted, invitation to a local event, etc.

Creating an outline

To create an outline, click the Delivery outlines sub-tab in the Edit > Documents tab of the concerned campaign.

Next, click Add a delivery outline and create the hierarchy of outlines for the campaign:

1. Right-click the root of the tree and select New > Delivery outlines.
2. Right-click the outline you have just created and select New > Item or New > Personalization fields.

An outline can contain items and personalization fields, resources and offers:

• Items can be physical documents, for example, which are referenced and described here and will be attached to the delivery.

• Personalization fields enable you to create personalization elements related to deliveries rather than recipients. It is thus possible to create values to be used in deliveries for a specific target (welcome offer, a discount, etc.) They are created in Adobe Campaign and imported into the outline via the Import personalization fields… link.

  

  They can also be created directly in the outline by clicking the Add icon to the right of the list zone.

  

• The resources are marketing resources generated in the marketing resource dashboard accessed via the Resources link of the Campaigns universe.

  

  NOTE

  For more on marketing resources, refer to Managing marketing resources.

Selecting an outline

For each delivery, you can select the outline to associate from the section reserved for the extraction outline, as in the following example:

The selected outline is then displayed in the lower section of the window. It can be edited using the icon to the right of the field or altered using the drop-down list:

The Summary tab of the delivery also displays this information:

Extraction result

In the file extracted and sent to the service provider, the name of the outline and, where appropriate, its characteristics (cost, description, etc.) are added to the content according to the information in the export template associated with the service provider.

In the following example, the label, estimated cost, and description of the outline associated with the delivery will be added to the extraction file.

The export model must be associated with the service provider selected for the delivery concerned. See Creating service providers and their cost structures.

Tutorial video

This video explains how to create a campaign and an email in Adobe Campaign Classic.

Additional Campaign Classic how-to videos are available here.