Journey orchestration - frequently asked questions faq-journeys

What is a journey in Adobe Journey Optimizer?

A journey is a multi-step orchestration that allows you to design and execute real-time customer experiences across multiple channels. Journeys combine events, orchestration activities, actions, and messages to create personalized, contextual experiences based on customer behavior and business events.

Learn more about journeys.

What are the different types of journeys?

Adobe Journey Optimizer supports four types of journeys:

• Unitary journeys: Triggered individually by an event (e.g., a purchase, app sign-in). Profiles enter the journey one at a time when the event occurs.
• Read Audience journeys: Start with an audience from Adobe Experience Platform and send messages in batch to all profiles in that audience.
• Audience Qualification journeys: Triggered when profiles qualify for (or exit from) a specific audience segment. Profiles enter the journey as they meet the audience criteria.
• Business event journeys: Triggered by business events (e.g., stock updates, weather alerts) that affect multiple profiles simultaneously.

Learn more about journey types.

What's the difference between a journey and a campaign?

Journeys are multi-step orchestrations that react to events or target audiences, allowing for complex logic, conditions, wait times, and multiple touch points across the customer lifecycle.

Campaigns come in three types:

• Action campaigns: One-time or recurring communications sent to a specific audience, ideal for standalone messages like promotional announcements or newsletters.
• API-triggered campaigns: Campaigns triggered via API calls, enabling integration with external systems to send messages based on real-time events or business logic.
• Orchestrated campaigns: Multi-step, audience-based campaigns built on a canvas that can include conditions, wait times, and multiple actions to create scheduled, coordinated experiences.

Best practice: Use journeys for complex, event-triggered engagement with advanced orchestration. Use action campaigns for scheduled, audience-based communications. Use API-triggered campaigns for programmatic triggering from external systems. Use orchestrated campaigns for multi-step communications with campaign-specific requirements.

What are the main components of a journey?

A journey consists of:

• Events: Entry points that trigger the journey (e.g., profile qualification, business events)
• Orchestration activities: Logic components like conditions, wait, read audience, journey fragments, and end
• Actions: Activities that perform tasks, such as sending messages, updating profiles, or calling external APIs
• Built-in channel actions: Native messaging capabilities for email, SMS, push, and other channels
• Custom actions: Integration with third-party systems

Learn more about journey activities.

What types of audiences are supported in journeys and what are their limitations?

Adobe Journey Optimizer supports four types of audiences, each with different characteristics and guardrails:

1. Streaming audiences

• Description: Audiences that evaluate in real-time as profile data changes

• Evaluation: Continuous evaluation when profile attributes or events match segment criteria

• Journey usage: Supported in Read Audience, Audience Qualification, and Condition activities

• Best for: Real-time engagement based on behavioral changes or profile updates

• Guardrails:

  • Maximum audience size depends on your Journey Optimizer license
  • Evaluation latency typically under 5 minutes
  • Complex segment logic may impact evaluation performance

2. Batch audiences

• Description: Audiences evaluated on a scheduled basis (typically daily)

• Evaluation: Processed in batch jobs at scheduled intervals

• Journey usage: Supported in Read Audience and Condition activities; limited support in Audience Qualification journeys

• Best for: Regular campaigns, newsletters, scheduled communications

• Guardrails:

  • Evaluation occurs once per day (default) or at configured schedule
  • Profiles may not reflect real-time changes until next evaluation
  • Read Audience activity can process large batch audiences efficiently

3. Upload audiences (Custom upload)

• Description: Audiences created by uploading CSV files with profile identifiers

• Evaluation: Static list updated only when new files are uploaded

• Journey usage: Supported in Read Audience and Condition activities; not supported in Audience Qualification journeys

• Best for: One-time campaigns, external list imports, targeted communications

• Guardrails:

  • CSV file size limits apply (check product documentation for current limits)
  • Audience members are static until refreshed with new upload
  • Identity namespace must match journey namespace
  • Profiles must exist in Adobe Experience Platform

4. Federated Audience Composition (FAC) audiences

• Description: Audiences created using federated data, allowing you to query and compose audiences from external data warehouses without copying data into Adobe Experience Platform

• Evaluation: Static composition updated when the federated audience composition is executed

• Journey usage: Supported in Read Audience and Condition activities; not supported in Audience Qualification journeys (similar to upload audiences from a backend perspective)

• Best for: Enterprise data warehouse integration, audience composition using external data sources, scenarios requiring data to remain in external systems

• Guardrails:

  • Audience members are static until next federated composition execution
  • Identity namespace must match journey namespace
  • Performance depends on external data warehouse query capabilities
  • Requires Federated Audience Composition add-on

Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) audiences:

While CJA audiences are not directly supported in journeys, you can use a workaround by “wrapping” a CJA audience in a segmentation rule. This creates a batch UPS (Unified Profile Service) audience that references the CJA audience, making it available for use in journeys as a batch audience type.

Journey-specific considerations:

• Read Audience journeys: All four audience types supported; batch export occurs when journey runs
• Audience Qualification journeys: Streaming audiences recommended; batch audiences have delayed qualification detection; upload and FAC audiences not supported
• Condition activities: All audience types can be used to check membership
• Namespace alignment: Audience identity namespace must match the journey’s namespace for proper profile identification

Best practices:

• Use streaming audiences for real-time, event-driven journeys requiring immediate response
• Use batch audiences for scheduled communications where daily evaluation is sufficient
• Use upload audiences for targeted one-time campaigns with external lists
• Use FAC audiences when you need to leverage enterprise data warehouse capabilities without data duplication
• Monitor audience size and evaluation performance in large-scale deployments
• Consider audience refresh rates when designing journey timing and entry conditions

Learn more about audiences, creating segments, custom upload audiences, and Federated Audience Composition.

How do I choose between a unitary journey and a read audience journey?

Use unitary journeys when:

• You need to react to individual customer actions in real-time (e.g., purchase confirmation, cart abandonment)
• Each customer should progress at their own pace
• You want to trigger based on specific events

Use read audience journeys when:

• You’re sending batch communications to a group (e.g., monthly newsletter, promotional campaigns)
• All customers should receive the message around the same time
• You’re targeting a pre-defined audience segment

How do I start building my first journey?

Follow these key steps:

1. Set up prerequisites: Configure events, data sources, and actions as needed
2. Create the journey: Navigate to the Journeys menu and click “Create Journey”
3. Define journey properties: Set the journey name, description, and other settings
4. Design the journey: Drag and drop activities from the palette into the canvas
5. Test the journey: Use test mode to validate your journey logic
6. Dry run the journey: Use Dry run to test the journey using real production data without contacting real customers or updating profile information
7. Publish the journey: Activate the journey to make it live

Follow the step-by-step guide.

What prerequisites are needed before building a journey?

Prerequisites depend on your journey type:

• Event-triggered journeys: Configure events to define when profiles should enter the journey
• Audience-based journeys: Create audiences in Adobe Experience Platform
• Data enrichment: Set up data sources to retrieve additional information
• Third-party integrations: Configure custom actions if using external systems

Learn more about journey configuration.

Can I use data from external systems in my journey?

Yes, there are several approaches to leverage external data:

Best practices:

• Custom actions: Call external APIs through custom actions to retrieve or send data to third-party systems. This is the recommended approach for real-time interactions with external systems.
• Dataset lookup: If you can load data from external systems into Adobe Experience Platform, use the dataset lookup feature to retrieve information stored in Experience Platform datasets.
• External data sources: Configure external data sources to retrieve information from third-party API services (less recommended than the above approaches).

These options allow you to enrich the customer experience with data from your CRM, loyalty systems, weather services, or other external platforms.

Learn more about custom actions and dataset lookup.

How do I add conditions to my journey?

You can add conditions using the Condition activity from the orchestration palette. Conditions allow you to:

• Create simple or advanced conditions using the expression editor
• Split the journey into multiple paths based on profile attributes, audience membership, events, or contextual data
• Define timeout paths for profiles that don’t meet the condition within a specified time

Learn more about conditions.

Can I send messages to profiles in a journey?

Yes. Journey Optimizer includes built-in channel actions that allow you to send messages through email, push notifications, SMS/MMS/RCS, in-app messages, web experiences, code-based experiences, content cards, WhatsApp, and LINE. You can design message content directly in Journey Optimizer and add them as action activities in your journey.

For channels not natively supported, you can use custom actions to integrate with external messaging platforms and send messages through any third-party channel.

Learn more about messages in journeys and custom actions.

How do I wait for a specific time or event in a journey?

Use the Wait activity to pause the journey for a specified duration or until a specific date/time. Wait activities are useful for:

• Sending follow-up messages after a delay (e.g., 3 days after purchase)
• Creating drip campaigns with timed intervals
• Combining with conditions to create timeout scenarios

Learn more about wait activities.

Can I update profile information within a journey?

Yes. Use the Update Profile activity to modify profile attributes in Adobe Experience Platform based on journey events or conditions. This is useful for updating loyalty points, recording journey milestones, changing preference settings, or tracking customer engagement scores.

Learn more about profile updates.

How do I send an email immediately after someone makes a purchase?

Create a unitary event-triggered journey:

1. Configure a “Purchase” event with the order details
2. Add the event as your journey entry point
3. Immediately follow with an Email action
4. Design your order confirmation email with personalized order details
5. Publish the journey

The journey will automatically trigger whenever a purchase event is received, sending the confirmation email in real-time.

Learn more about event configuration and email actions.

Can I resend a message if someone doesn't open or click it?

Yes. Use a Reaction event with a Timeout:

1. After sending your message, add a Reaction event immediately after the channel action (without any Wait activity in between)

2. Configure a timeout period (e.g., 3 days) on the Reaction event to listen for email opens or clicks

3. Create two paths:

   • If opened/clicked: Continue with next steps or end the journey
   • Timeout path (not opened/clicked): Send a reminder email with different subject line

Best practice: Limit the number of resends to avoid appearing spammy (typically 1-2 reminders maximum).

Learn more about Reaction events.

How do I create a cart abandonment journey?

Create an event-triggered journey using a Reaction event with a Timeout:

1. Configure a “Cart Abandoned” event: Triggered when items are added but checkout isn’t completed within a timeframe

2. Send an initial message (optional): Email acknowledging cart items

3. Add a Reaction event immediately after the channel action: Configure it to listen for a Purchase event

4. Set a timeout period: Define a timeout (e.g., 1-2 hours) on the Reaction event to give the customer time to complete naturally

5. Create two paths:

   • If Purchase event occurs: End the journey or continue with post-purchase flow
   • Timeout path (no purchase): Send an abandonment reminder email with cart contents

6. Optional: Add another Reaction event immediately after the reminder email with timeout (24 hours) and send a second reminder with an incentive (e.g., 10% discount)

note important
IMPORTANT
Reaction events must be placed immediately after channel actions. Do not place Wait activities between the channel action and the Reaction activity.

Learn more about journey use cases and reaction events.

How do I split customers into different paths based on their purchase history?

Use a Condition activity with audience membership or profile attributes:

1. Add a Condition activity to your journey

2. Create multiple paths based on criteria:

   • Path 1: High-value customers (total purchases > $1000)
   • Path 2: Regular customers (total purchases $100-$1000)
   • Path 3: New customers (total purchases < $100)

3. Add different messages or offers for each path

Learn more about conditions and audience qualification.

How do I handle different time zones in my journey?

Journey Optimizer provides several options for timezone management:

• Profile timezone: Messages are sent based on each individual’s timezone stored in their profile
• Fixed timezone: All messages use a specific timezone you define

Learn more about timezone management.

How long should I wait between messages in my journey?

Best practices for wait times:

• Transactional messages (order confirmations): Send immediately
• Welcome series: 1-3 days between emails
• Educational content: 3-7 days between messages
• Promotional campaigns: At least 7 days between offers
• Re-engagement: 14-30 days for inactive users

Factors to consider:

• Industry standards and customer expectations
• Message urgency and importance
• Your overall messaging frequency across all channels
• Customer engagement patterns

Tip: Use journey capping rules to limit the total number of messages a customer receives across all journeys.

Learn more about wait activities and journey capping.

What are Journey Fragments and when should I use them?

Journey Fragments are reusable sets of journey nodes that you build once and insert into any journey across your sandbox. They are available as an orchestration activity in the journey canvas.

When to use Journey Fragments:

• You have logic that repeats across multiple journeys (e.g., eligibility checks, preferred channel routing, welcome sequences)
• You want to enforce consistency across teams — define the pattern once, reuse it everywhere
• You want to speed up journey creation by avoiding rebuilding common node sequences from scratch

Key behaviors to be aware of:

• Inserting a fragment creates a static copy of its nodes — updates to the original fragment are not propagated to journeys that already use it
• Only Active fragments can be inserted into a journey
• Fragments are sandox-scoped and support a maximum of 20 nodes and 200 active fragments per sandbox
• Jump activities are not allowed inside a fragment

Difference from the Jump activity: The Jump activity redirects profiles to another live journey at runtime. Journey Fragments copy nodes into the current journey at design time — they are a build-time reuse mechanism, not a runtime routing mechanism.

Learn more about Journey Fragments.

How do I test my journey before publishing it?

Journey Optimizer offers two testing approaches:

• Test mode: Simulate individual profiles moving through the journey step by step, allowing you to verify logic, conditions, and actions before going live.
• Dry run mode: Execute your journey using real production data without contacting actual customers or updating profile information. This gives you confidence in audience targeting and journey design.

Best practice: Always test journeys before publishing to ensure they work as expected and to identify any issues early.

Learn more about test mode and dry run.

What happens when I publish a journey?

When you publish a journey:

• The journey becomes Live and ready to accept new profiles
• Profiles can enter based on the entry criteria (event or audience)
• Messages and actions start executing for profiles moving through the journey
• You can only edit limited things on a published journey (you must create a new version if you want to edit more)

Learn more about publishing journeys.

Can I modify a journey that is already published?

Yes, but with limitations. You can edit certain elements of a Live journey:

What you can edit:

• Journey properties (name, description)
• Message content within existing message activities
• Some journey settings

What you cannot edit:

• Journey structure (adding/removing activities)
• Entry conditions
• Journey canvas logic

To make structural changes:

1. Create a new version: Duplicate the published journey to create a draft version
2. Make your changes: Edit the draft version as needed
3. Test the new version: Use test mode to validate changes
4. Publish the new version: This automatically closes the previous version and activates the new one

Profiles already in the journey will complete the original version, while new profiles will enter the new version.

Learn more about journey versions.

How do I stop a journey?

You can manage journey execution in several ways:

• Close to new entrances: Stop new profiles from entering while allowing existing profiles to complete their journey
• Stop immediately: End the journey and exit all profiles currently in it
• Pause: Temporarily halt the journey and resume it later

Learn more about ending journeys.

What's the difference between "Close to new entrances" and "Stop"?

Close to new entrances:

• New profiles cannot enter the journey
• Profiles already in the journey continue and complete their path
• Use this when you want to gracefully wind down a journey
• Example: Seasonal campaign that has ended but you want existing customers to complete their experience

Stop:

• Immediately ends the journey for all profiles
• All profiles currently in the journey are exited
• Use this for urgent situations or critical errors
• Example: Product recall requiring immediate halt of promotional messages

Learn more about ending journeys and publishing journeys.

How can I track profile progress through a journey?

You can monitor journey execution using:

• Journey Live Report: View real-time metrics and KPIs for your journey. You can also review dry run test execution results here.
• Journey All Time Report: Analyze journey performance using Customer Journey Analytics. You can also review dry run test execution results here.
• Journey Step Events: Access detailed execution data for custom reporting

Learn more about journey reporting.

Why didn't a profile enter my journey?

Common reasons profiles may not enter a journey:

• Event not received: The triggering event was not sent or properly configured
• Audience criteria not met: The profile doesn’t qualify for the entry audience
• Re-entrance rules: The profile recently completed the journey and re-entrance is blocked
• Journey not published: The journey is in draft status
• Invalid namespace: The journey namespace doesn’t match the profile identity
• Journey closed: The journey is no longer accepting new entrances
• Streaming audience qualification timing: For journeys using Audience Qualification with streaming audiences, profiles may not enter if they were already in the audience before the journey was published. They can also be delayed if the journey has not completed its activation period (up to 10 minutes after publishing).

Learn more about entry management and streaming audience qualification timing considerations.

What are journey step events and how can I use them?

Journey step events are automatically generated datasets that capture detailed information about every step a profile takes in a journey. They include entry and exit events, action execution (messages sent, custom actions called), journey transitions (moving between activities), and errors and timeouts.

Use cases:

• Build custom reports in Customer Journey Analytics or BI tools
• Debug journey execution issues
• Track detailed profile behavior
• Create advanced analytics and attribution models

Learn more about journey step events.

How can I troubleshoot a journey that isn't working as expected?

Journey Optimizer provides several troubleshooting resources:

• Error indicators: Visual alerts in the journey canvas highlight configuration issues
• Test mode: Step through the journey to identify where problems occur
• Dry run mode: Test the journey using real production data without contacting customers to validate targeting and execution
• Journey reports: Review execution metrics to find bottlenecks or errors
• Journey step events: Analyze detailed execution data to understand profile behavior

Common issues:

• Incorrectly configured events or audiences
• Missing data source connections
• Invalid expressions in conditions or personalization
• Timeout settings that are too short

Learn more about troubleshooting journeys.

Can I see who is currently in my journey right now?

Yes. Use the Journey Live Report to view:

• Number of profiles currently in the journey
• Number of profiles at each activity
• Profiles who entered in the last 24 hours
• Real-time execution metrics

To see individual profiles, use journey step events in Customer Journey Analytics or query the step event datasets directly.

Learn more about journey live reporting.

Why are my messages not being sent in my journey?

Common reasons and solutions:

• Consent issues: Recipients haven’t opted in to receive communications
  Solution: Check consent policies and opt-in status

• Suppression list: Email addresses are on the suppression list
  Solution: Review the suppression list for bounces or complaints

• Invalid contact information: Missing or malformed email addresses/phone numbers
  Solution: Validate profile data quality

• Journey not published: The journey is still in draft mode
  Solution: Publish the journey to activate it