Documentation Journey Optimizer B2B Journey Optimizer B2B Edition Documentation

Split and merge paths

Last update: April 2, 2025

Topics:
Account Journeys

Use split and merge path nodes in your account journey to orchestrate your account journeys. You can segment the audience according to conditions that you define and combine the segments to proceed.

Video Watch the overview video

Split paths

Add a Split paths node to define one or more segmented paths based on account or people attributes.

NOTE

A maximum of 25 paths are supported.

Split paths by accounts: Paths split by accounts can include both account and people actions and events. These paths can be split further.

How does a split path by accounts node work?

Each path that you add includes an end node with the ability to add nodes to each edge.
Split by account nodes can be nested–you can split the path by accounts repeatedly.
Evaluates paths from top to bottom. If an account matches for the first and second paths, it proceeds along the first path only.
Two or more paths can be combined using a merge node.
Supports the definition of an Other accounts path, where you can add actions or events for accounts that do not match one of the defined segments/paths.

Journey node - split paths by account

Split paths by people: Paths split by people and can include only people actions. These paths cannot be split again and automatically join back.

How does a split path by people node work?

Functions within a grouped node split-merge combination. The split paths automatically merge so that all the people in the audience can move forward to the next step without losing their account context.
Split by people nodes cannot be nested–you cannot add a split path for people on a path that is in this grouped node.
Evaluates paths from top to bottom. If a person matches for the first and second paths, they proceed along the first path only.
Supports the use of account-person relationships, which allows you to filter people based on their role (such as contractor or full-time employee) as defined in the roles templates.
Supports the definition of an Other people path, where you can add actions or events for people that do not match one of the defined segments/paths.

Journey node - split paths by people

Path conditions

Node context

Path conditions

Description

Accounts

Account Attributes

Attributes from the account profile, including:

Annual revenue
City
Country
Employee size
Industry
Name
SIC code
State

Special filters > Has Buying Group

The account does or does not have members of buying groups. Can also be evaluated against one or more of the following criteria:

Solution Interest
Buying Group status
Completeness Score
Engagement Score

Special filters > Has opportunity

The account is or is not related to an opportunity. Can also be evaluated against one or more of the following opportunity attributes:

Amount
Close date
Description
Expected revenue
Fiscal quarter
Fiscal year
Forecast category
Forecast category name
Is closed
Is won
Last activity date
Person source
Name
Next step
Probability
Quantity
Stage
Type

People > People attributes only

Person Attributes

Attributes from the person profile, including:

City
Country
Date of birth
Email address
Email invalid
Email suspended
First name
Inferred state region
Job title
Last name
Mobile phone number
Phone number
Postal code
State
Unsubscribed
Unsubscribed reason

Activity history > Email

Email activities associated with the journey:

Clicked link in email
Opened Email
Was delivered email
Was sent email

These conditions are evaluated using a selected email message from earlier in the journey.

Activity history > Data Value Changed

For a selected person attribute, a value change occurred. These change types include:

New value
Previous value
Reason
Source
Date of activity
Min. number of times

Activity history > Had Interesting Moment

Interesting moment activity that is defined in the associated Marketo Engage instance. Constraints include:

Milestone
Email
Web

Special filters > Member of Buying Group

The person is or is not a buying group member evaluated against one or more of the following criteria:

Solution Interest
Buying Group status
Completeness Score
Engagement Score
Role

Special filters > Member of List

The person is or is not a member of one or more Marketo Engage lists.

Special filters > Member of Program

The person is or is not a member of one or more Marketo Engage programs.

People > Account-person attributes only

Role in account attributes

The person is or is not assigned a role in the account. Optional constraints:

Enter a role name

Add a split path by account node

Navigate to the journey editor.
Click the plus ( + ) icon on a path and choose Split paths.
In the node properties on the right, choose Accounts for the split.
To define a condition applicable to Path 1, click Apply condition.
In the conditions editor, add one or more filters to define the split path.
- Drag and drop filter attributes from the left navigation and complete the match definition.
- Fine tune your conditions by applying the Filter logic at the top. You choose to match all attribute conditions or any condition.
- Click Done.
To add more paths, click Add path and repeat the previous steps to add conditions applicable to this path.

You can also label each path based on these conditions or use the default labels.
If needed, reorder the paths according to the priority that you want for the split.

Path filtering is evaluated in top-down order. Each account proceeds along the first path that matches.

Click the up and down arrows at the top right of each path card to move it higher or lower in the list of paths.
Enable the Other accounts option to define the default path for accounts that are not a match for the defined segments/paths.

When this option is not enabled, the journey ends for accounts that do not match a defined segment/path within the split.

Add a split path by people node

NOTE

When you split paths by people, a Close split paths node is automatically inserted to end the split. A split-by-people path allows only Take an action on people nodes.

Navigate to the journey editor.
Click the plus ( + ) icon on a path and choose Split paths.
In the node properties on the right, choose People for the split.
Set the Attributes used for conditions.
- Choose People attributes only to use conditions related to the person profile and events.
- Choose Account-person attributes only to use conditions related to the person’s role membership within an account.
To define a condition applicable to Path 1, click Apply condition.
In the conditions editor, add one or more filters to define the split path.
- Drag and drop any of the people attributes from the left navigation and complete the match definition.
  
  NOTE
  If you have custom person fields defined in the account audience schema in Experience Platform, these fields are also available to use as person attributes in conditions.
- Fine tune your conditions by applying the Filter logic at the top. You choose to match all attribute conditions or any condition.
- Click Done.
To add more paths, click Add path and repeat the previous steps to add conditions applicable to this path.

You can also label each path based on these conditions or use the default labels.
If needed, reorder the paths according to the priority that you want for the split.

Path filtering is evaluated in top-down order. Each person proceeds along the first path that matches.

Click the up and down arrows at the top right of each path card to move it higher or lower in the list of paths.
Enable the Other people option to add a default path for people that are not a match for the defined paths.

When this option is not enabled, people that do not match a defined segmant/path move past the split and proceed to the next step in the journey.

recommendation-more-help

Marketo Engage list membership

In Marketo Engage, Smart Campaigns check membership of programs to ensure that leads don’t receive duplicate emails and aren’t members of multiple streams of emails at the same time. In Journey Optimizer B2B, you can check for Marketo Engage list membership as a condition for your split path by people to help eliminate duplication in journey activities.

To use list membership in a split condition, expand Special Filters and drag the Member of List condition into the filter space. Complete the filter definition to evaluate membership in one or more Marketo Engage lists.

Split path by people condition for Marketo Engage list membership

When you have conditions defined for each path for splitting your audience on the people level, you can add actions that you want to take on people.

NOTE

When you split the audience by people, you can add only people actions until the paths are closed or merged.

Merge paths

Add a Merge paths node to combine different split paths by account in your journey.

Navigate to the journey editor.
Click the plus ( + ) icon on a path and choose Split paths.
Click the split node to open its properties on the right.
Click Add path to create three paths.
Add a combination of actions and events to each path.
Click the plus ( + ) icon for any one of these paths and choose Merge from the displayed options.
In the merge paths node properties, select the paths you want to merge.

At this point, the paths are merged so that accounts from the selected paths combine to a single path that can continue to progress through the journey.
If needed, you can unmerge paths by navigating back to the merge paths node properties and clearing the checkbox for any paths that you want to remove.

Overview video

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https://video.tv.adobe.com/v/3443231/?learn=on