Use a segment in a journey

Add a Read Segment activity

Use the Read Segment activity to make all individuals of a segment enter the journey. Entrance into a journey can be executed either once, or on a regular basis.

Let’s take as an example the “Luma app opening and checkout” segment created in the Build segments use case. With the Read Segment activity, you can make all individuals belonging to this segment enter a journey and make them flow into individualized journeys that will leverage all journey functionalities: conditions, timers, events, actions.

NOTE

For journeys using a Read Segment activity, there is a maximum number of journeys that can start at the exact same time. Retries will be performed by the system but please avoid having more than five journeys (with Read Segment, scheduled or starting “as soon as possible”) starting at the exact same time by spreading them over time, for example 5 to 10 minutes apart.

Experience event field groups can not be used in journeys starting with a Read segment, a Segment qualification or a business event activity.

Configure the activity

The steps to configure the Read Segment activity are as follows:

  1. Unfold the Orchestration category and drop a Read Segment activity into your canvas.

    The activity must be positioned as the first step of a journey.

  2. Add a Label to the activity (optional).

  3. In the Segment field, choose Adobe Experience Platform segment that will enter the journey, then click Save.

    Note that you can customize the columns displayed in the list and sort them.

    NOTE

    Only the individuals with the Realized and Existing segment participation statuses will enter the journey. For more on how to evaluate a segment, refer to the Segmentation Service documentation.

    Once the segment is added, the Copy button allows you to copy its name and ID:

    {"name":"Luma app opening and checkout",”id":"8597c5dc-70e3-4b05-8fb9-7e938f5c07a3"}

  4. In the Namespace field, choose the namespace to use in order to identify the individuals. Learn more about namespaces.

    NOTE

    Individuals belonging to a segment that does not have the selected identity (namespace) among their different identities cannot enter the journey.

  5. Set the Throttling rate field to the throughput limit of the read segment activity.

    This value is stored in the journey version payload. The default value is 20,000 messages per second. You can modify this value from 500 to 20,000 messages per second.

    NOTE

    The overall throttling rate per sandbox is set to 20,000 messages per second. Therefore, the throttling rate of all the read segments that run simultaneously in the same sandbox add up to at most 20,000 messages per second. You cannot modify this cap.

  6. The Read Segment activity allows you to specify the time at which the segment will enter the journey. To do this, click the Edit journey schedule link to access the journey’s properties, then configure the Scheduler type field.

    By default, segments enter the journey As soon as possible. If you want to make the segment enter the journey on a specific date/time or on a recurring basis, select the desired value from the list.

    NOTE

    Note that the Schedule section is only available when a Read Segment activity has been dropped in the canvas.

    Incremental read option: when a journey with a recurring Read segment executes for the first time, all the profiles in the segment enter the journey. On the next occurrence, all the profiles enter the journey again, even if they were already inside. The old instance of the profile in the journey is stopped and a new instance is created. The Incremental read option allows you to target, after the first occurence, the individuals who entered the segment since the last execution of the journey.

NOTE

One-shot Read segment journeys move to the Finished status 30 days after the journey execution. For scheduled Read segments, it is 30 days after the execution of the last occurrence.

You need to be cautious while using wait activities in recurring read segment journeys as the lifespan of such journeys ends at to the next execution. Meaning that if a journey runs daily, the journey instance that started today will last until tomorrow’s execution. For instance, if you added a 2 days wait in that journey, profiles will always be moved on the next journey execution (so the day after), whether they are in the next run audience or not. Profiles will never be able to stay in that journey for 2 days.

Test and publish the journey

The Read Segment activity allows you to test the journey either on a unitary profile, or on 100 randomly test profiles selected among the profiles qualified for the segment.

To do this, activate the test mode, then select the desired option from the left pane.

You can then configure and run the test mode as usual. Learn how to test a journey.

Once the test is running, the Show logs button allows you to see the test results according to the selected test option:

  • Single profile at a time: the test logs display the same information as when using the unitary test mode. For more on this, refer to this section

  • Up to 100 profiles at once: the test logs allow you to track the progression of the segment export from Adobe Experience Platform, as well as the individual progress of all the persons that entered the journey.

    Note that testing the journey using up to 100 profiles at once does not allow you to track the progress of the individuals in the journey using the visual flow.

Once the tests are successful, you can publish your journey (see Publishing the journey). Individuals belonging to the segment will enter the journey on the date/time specified in the journey’s properties Scheduler section.

NOTE

For recurring segment-based journeys, the journey will automatically close once its last occurrence is executed. If no end date/time has been specified, you will have to close the journey to new entrances manually to end it.

Audience targeting in segment-based journeys

Segment-based journeys always start with a Read Segment activity to retrieve individuals belonging to an Adobe Experience Platform segment.

The audience belonging to the segment is retrieved once or on a regular basis.

After entering the journey, you can create audience orchestration use cases, making individuals from the initial segment flow into different branches of the journey.

Segmentation

You can use conditions to perform segmentation using the Condition activity. For example, you can make VIP persons take a particular path and non-VIP flow in another path.

The segmentation can be based on:

  • data source data
  • the context of events part of the journey data, for example: did a person click on the message received an hour ago?
  • a date, for example: are we in June when a person go through the journey?
  • a time, for example: is it morning in the person’s timezone?
  • an algorithm splitting the audience flowing in the journey based on a percentage, for example: 90% - 10% to exclude a control group

Exclusion

The same Condition activity used for segmentation (see above) also allows you to exclude part of the population. For example, you can exclude VIP persons by making them flow into a branch with an end step right after.

This exclusion could happen right after segment retrieval, for population counting purposes or along a multistep journey.

Union

Journeys allow you to create N branches and join them together after a segmentation.

As a result, you can make two audiences return to a common experience.

For example, after following a different experience during ten days in a journey, VIP and non-VIP customers can return to the same path.

After a union, you can split the audience again by performing a segmentation or an exclusion.

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