DocumentationJourney OptimizerJourney Optimizer Guide

Create a direct mail message create-direct

Last update: Thu Jan 29 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

CREATED FOR:

  • Beginner
  • User

To create direct mail messages, create a scheduled campaign or a journey, and configure the extraction file. This file is required by direct mail providers to send mail to your customers.

IMPORTANT
Before creating a direct mail message, make sure you have configured:
  1. A file routing configuration which specifies the server where the extraction file should be uploaded and stored,
  2. A direct mail message configuration which will reference the file routing configuration.

Add a Direct mail message create-dm-campaign

Browse the tabs below to learn how to add a Direct mail message in a campaign or a journey.

Add a Direct mail message to a Journey

  1. Open your journey then drag and drop a Direct mail activity from the Actions section of the palette.

  2. Provide basic information on your message (label, description, category), then choose the message configuration to use. The configuration field is pre-filled, by default, with the last configuration used for that channel by the user. For more information on how to configure a journey, refer to this page.

  3. Configure the extraction file to send to your direct mail provider. To do so, click the Edit content button.

  4. Adjust the extraction file properties, such as the filename, or the columns to display. For more information on how to configure the extraction file properties, refer to this section: Create a direct mail message.

  5. Once the content of the extraction file has been defined, you can use test profiles to preview it. If you inserted personalized content, you can check how this content is displayed in the message, using test profile data.

    To do so, click Simulate content then add a test profile to check how the extraction file rendering using the test profile data. Detailed information on how to select test profiles and preview your content is available in the Content Management section.

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When your extraction file is ready, complete the configuration of your journey to send it.

Add a Direct mail message to a Campaign

  1. Access the Campaigns menu, then click Create campaign.

  2. Select the Scheduled - Marketing campaign type.

  3. In the Properties section, edit your Campaign’s Title and Description.

  4. To define your target audience, click the Select audience button and choose from the available Adobe Experience Platform audiences. Learn more.

    note important
    IMPORTANT
    For now, audience selection is restricted to 3 million profiles. This limitation can lifted upon request to your Adobe representative.

  5. In the Identity namespace field, select the appropriate namespace to identify individuals within the chosen audience. Learn more.

  6. In the Actions section, choose the Direct mail.

  7. Select or create a Direct mail configuration to use. Learn how to create a direct mail configuration.

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    note availability
    AVAILABILITY
    Direct Mail supports the Holdout functionality but does not currently support Treatments. Learn how to work with experiments

  8. Campaigns can be scheduled for a specific date or set to recur at regular intervals. Learn how to configure the Schedule of your campaign in this section.

You can now start configuring the extraction file to send to your direct mail provider.

Configure the extraction file extraction-file

The extraction file is required by direct mail providers to send mail to your customers. To define the extraction file configuration, follow these steps:

  1. From the campaign configuration screen, click the Edit content button to configure the extraction file content.

  2. Adjust the extraction file properties:

    1. In the Filename field, specify a name for the extraction file.

      note note
      NOTE
      By default, the file is written to the root directory on the server. The Filename field also accepts the format “/your/path/here/Filename.csv”, where the specified path is the target directory on the selected server.

    2. Optionally, enable the Append timestamp to export filename option if you want to add an automatic timestamp to the specified file name.

    3. Sometimes you may need to add information at the beginning or at the end of the extraction file. To do this, use the Notes field then specify if you want to include the note as header or footer.

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  3. Configure the columns and the information to be displayed in the extraction file:

    1. Click the Add button to create a new column.

    2. The Formatting pane displays on the right-hand side, allowing you to set up the selected column. Specify a Label for the column.

    3. In the Data field, select the profile attributes to display using the personalization editor.

    4. To sort the extraction file using a column, select the column and toggle on the Sort by option. The Sort By icon displays next to the column’s label in the Data Fields section.

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    5. Repeat these steps to add as many columns as needed for your extraction file. Note that you can add up to 50 columns.

      To change the position of a column, drag and drop it to the desired location in the Data field section. To delete a column, select it and click the Remove button in the Formatting pane.

You can now test your direct mail message and send it to your audience. Learn how to test & send direct mail messages

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