Marketing Automation nodes

The process of a campaign is defined by nodes Campaign: Item that determines when a recipient passes through the campaign, and the actions that are executed for the recipient. With the help of "connections", you can link nodes to specify the process of your campaign. The arrow at the end of each connection always points to the next node and the associated action. that determine when a recipient passes through the campaign, and what actions are executed for the recipient. With the help of connections, you can link the nodes and specify the process of your campaign. The arrow at the end of each connection points to the succeeding node and the associated action.

For the DACH region, a licensing model applies. If a node is grayed out (disabled), the Marketing Automation package has not been licensed. See Marketing Automation packages.

Start nodes define events that initiate the process of a campaign for a recipient. The following start nodes are available:

Recipient New
Open
Click
Reply
Post Click
From MA Campaign
Advanced

Action nodes specify which actions are executed during a campaign. The following action nodes are available:

Wait
Send Message
Switch
A/B Test
Change Recipient
Copy Recipient
Move Recipient
Start In
Limit
Done

Start nodes

Optimizely image Recipient New

Starts the process of the campaign for a recipient added to the recipient list.

Parameters Description and values
Starts the Marketing Automation Campaign Specify which recipients are passing through the campaign
  • if recipient never passed through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • are newly added to the recipient list.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.
    • never passed through the campaign.
  • if recipient is not currently passing through this campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they are
    • newly added to the recipient list.
    • not currently passing through the campaign.

    Recipients who already passed through a campaign but are newly added to the recipient list may pass through the campaign again.

  • always: Anyone newly added to the recipient list passes through the campaign.
Start Only for Recipients In(mandatory) Only recipients of this recipient lists are passing through this campaign.

To start the campaign, you must specify a recipient list here.
Start Only For Only recipients of this target group are passing through this campaign.

Recipients moved from one recipient list to another are considered new unless both recipient lists have been set up as opt-in lists. In this special case, the Recipient-New node would not include the moved recipients.

Optimizely image Open

Starts the process of the campaign for a recipient who opened the message.

Parameters Description and values
Starts the Marketing Automation Campaign Specify which recipients are passing through the campaign.
  • if recipient never passed through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • opened the message.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.
    • never passed through the campaign.
  • if recipient is not currently passing through this MA campaign:Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • opened the message.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.

    Recipients who already passed through the campaign and who open the message again may pass through the campaign again.

  • always: Any recipient who opens the message pass through the campaign.
Mailings

Specify the mailings in which recipients must click a link. You can

  • specify a mailing, or
  • limit the mailing selection to
    • a mailing type.
    • a folder that contains the mailings.
    • the mailing's send date.
Start Only For Only recipients of this target group are passing through this campaign.

Optimizely image Click

Starts the process of the campaign for a recipient who clicked a link in the message.

Parameters Description and values
Starts the Marketing Automation Campaign Specify which recipients are passing through the campaign.
  • if recipient never passed through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • clicked a link in the message.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.
    • never passed through the campaign.
  • if recipient is not currently passing through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • clicked a link in the message.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.

    Recipients who already passed through the campaign and who click a link in the message again may pass through the campaign again.

  • always: Any recipient who clicks a link in the message pass through the campaign.
Mailings

Specify the mailings in which recipients must click a link. You can

  • specify a mailing, or
  • limit the mailing selection to
    • a mailing type.
    • a folder that contains the mailings.
    • the mailing's send date.
Links Specify the links the recipients must click to pass through the campaign.
Click Profile Specify the click profiles whose links the recipients must click to pass through the campaign.
Start Only For Only recipients of this target group are passing through this campaign.

Optimizely image Reply

Starts the process of the campaign for a recipient who replied to the message or to whom the message could not be delivered.

Parameters Description and values
Starts the Marketing Automation Campaign Specify which recipients are passing through the campaign.
  • if recipient never passed through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • replied to the message or created a bounce.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.
    • never passed through the campaign.
  • if recipient is not currently passing through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • replied to the message or created a bounce.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.

    Recipients who already passed through the campaign and who reply to the message or create a bounce again may pass through the campaign again.

  • always: Any recipient who replied to the message or created a bounce pass through the campaign.
Mailings

Specify the mailings in which recipients must click a link. You can

  • specify a mailing, or
  • limit the mailing selection to
    • a mailing type.
    • a folder that contains the mailings.
    • the mailing's send date.
Type Select one ore more response categories of the reply.
Start Only For Only recipients of this target group pass through this campaign.
Minimum Interval Select an interval that checks whether the recipient already passed this campaign (triggered by this start node). If the recipient has passed through the campaign since the last check, the recipient will not pass through the campaign until the next check.

Optimizely image Post Click

Starts the process of the campaign for a recipient that created a post click.

Parameters Description and values
Starts the Marketing Automation Campaign Specify which recipients are passing through the campaign.
  • if recipient never passed through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • created a post click.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.
    • never passed through the campaign.
  • if recipient is not currently passing through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • created a post click.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.

    Recipients that already passed through the campaign and that create a post click again may pass through the campaign again.

  • always: Any recipient that created a post click pass through the campaign.
Mailings

Specify the mailings in which recipients must click a link. You can

  • specify a mailing, or
  • limit the mailing selection to
    • a mailing type.
    • a folder that contains the mailings.
    • the mailing's send date.
Post Click Select the post-click service. This is either the proprietary post-click tracking or the web analytics software you are using.
Start Only For Only recipients of this target group pass through this campaign.
Include imported post clicks without recipient list Select this check box if you want to evaluate imported post clicks the recipients of which cannot be assigned to any recipient list in Optimizely Campaign. This is, for example, the case when post clicks are imported from external sources or the recipient is logged in the web shop at the time of the post click, but has not registered for the newsletter. This setting does not apply to post clicks that can be uniquely allocated to recipients in existing recipient lists.

With such post clicks, in which the email address is known, Optimizely Campaign checks whether this corresponds to a recipient in the replacement recipient list. Select the replacement recipient list in the next step. If the email address is found in this recipient list, this recipient is considered in the further course of the Marketing Automation campaign and can receive messages (provided that the other conditions are met).
Select Replacement Recipient List Select the recipient list here to which the recipients of the imported post clicks are compared. Post-clicks that could not be assigned to a recipient from any existing recipient list at the time of their capture (see the previous parameter) are compared to this recipient list and are assigned with the matching email addresses. Imported post clicks that cannot be assigned to any recipient of this list are discarded.

You should create a Standard recipient list that contains the registered recipients and select this recipient list here. As a result, there is a high possibility that a post click can be assigned to a recipient.

Optimizely image From MA Campaign

Starts the process of this campaign for a recipient from another Marketing Automation campaign.

Parameters Description and values
Starts the Marketing Automation Campaign Specify which recipients are passing through the campaign.
  • if recipient never passed through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • come from another campaign.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.
    • never passed through the campaign.
  • if recipient is not currently passing through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • come from another campaign.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.

    Recipients that already passed through the campaign and that come from another campaign again may pass through the campaign again.

  • always: Any recipient that comes from another campaign pass through the campaign.
Start Only For Only recipients of this target group pass through this campaign.

Optimizely image Advanced

Starts the process of the campaign for a recipient that matches specific criteria.

Parameters Description and values
Starts the Marketing Automation Campaign Specify which recipients are passing through the campaign.
  • if recipient never passed through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • match the criteria of this node.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.
    • never passed through the campaign.
  • if recipient is not currently passing through this MA campaign: Recipients pass through the campaign if they
    • match the criteria of this node.
    • are not currently passing through the campaign.

    Recipients that already passed through the campaign and that matches the criteria of this node again may pass through the campaign again.

  • always: Any recipient that matches the criteria of this node pass through the campaign.
Start Only for Recipients In (mandatory) Only recipients of this recipient lists are passing through this campaign.

To start the campaign you have to specify a recipient list here. If you select multiple recipient lists, no recipient cross check will take place. Therefore the same recipients can run the campaign several times if they are in multiple recipient lists.
Limit the Number of Recipients To Specify the maximum number of recipients to be contacted. If this value is higher than the number of possible recipients, all recipients are contacted.

The maximum number of recipients depends on the defined interval. Example: If you limit the maximum number of recipients to 1000 and define a weekly interval, a maximum of 1000 recipients are contacted each week.
Interval Specify how often the criteria should be checked. You can set a daily, weekly or monthly interval and specify it even further. Optimizely Campaign checks at the specified time which recipients meet the criteria — these recipients then pass through the campaign.

Example 1: If you set the interval to Every 2 months, each 1st from 14:00, the criteria is checked on the first day of every second month at 14:00.

Example 2: If you set the interval to Every 1 weeks, on Wednesday from 15:00, the criteria is checked every Wednesday at 15:00.
Start Only For (mandatory) Only recipients of this target group pass through this campaign.

To start the campaign you have to specify a target group here.

The examination of the criteria may take time to complete, so the following actions may be delayed.
Filter by Recipients Included in All Selected Visitor Intelligence Segments Only recipients that are included in the selected Visitor Intelligence segments are passed through this campaign.

To make Visitor Intelligence segments available in Optimizely Campaign, you first must create segments in Optimizely Visitor Intelligence. See Creating a marketing segment.

Action nodes

Optimizely image Wait

During this time no action is taken.

Parameters Description and values
Waiting Time Specify how long no action is taken. After this time, the following action is executed.
Wait Only if Target Group Is For recipients of this target group, no action is taken during this time. Remaining recipients skip this action.

Optimizely image Send Message

Sends a message to the recipient.

For performance reasons, messages are sent asynchronously to the course of the recipient in the campaign.

Note the following hints on sending Marketing Automation messages.

  • Target groups within the same campaign, that check on the dispatch of the message in this node, may give false results because the mailing may not be sent. If you use such target groups behind the Send Message node, there may be undesirable effects, as the target groups may not work. To avoid this, place a Wait node, which delays the execution of the action, in front of such nodes.
  • If you place a Send Message node behind a Move Recipient node, you also should place a Wait node in front of the Move Recipient node. Otherwise, the recipient may be removed from recipient list before the message is sent.
Parameters Description and values
Mailing Select the message to be sent to the recipient. Messages that you link here need to be created beforehand. Two functions are available for this purpose:

You cannot use a Mobile Push message and a Web Push message in the same Marketing Automation campaign. Create separate campaigns.
Send Only To A message is sent only to recipients of this target group. Remaining recipients skip this action.

Optimizely image Switch

Allows the branching of a campaign based on target groups. The branches are processed hierarchically. That is, the lowest numbered branch has the highest priority and is executed first.

Parameters Description and values
Target Group Create a connection to the node whose action must be executed for a specific target group and specify this target group. You can connect nodes using different target groups.

If a recipient matches a target group, the corresponding action is executed. Optimizely Campaign does not check if the recipient matches another target group.
All remaining recipients Create a connection to the node whose action will be executed for remaining recipients.

Optimizely image A/B Test

Allows the branching of the campaign based on predefined probabilities.

Parameters Description and values
Percentage Create a connection to the node whose action has to be executed for the recipients, and specify the probability of recipients passing through this node. You can connect nodes using different probability values.
All remaining recipients Create a connection to the node whose action has to be executed for the remaining recipients.

Optimizely image Change Recipient

Changes a recipient's data. To use this node, you need the permissions that let you evaluate action-based data at user level.

Parameters Description and values
Recipient List Select the recipient list where you want to change recipient data.
Changes Specify the changes that have to be made.
  1. In the first list, select a recipient list field.
  2. In the second list, select the action to be performed.
    • set value to: Replace current value with new value.
    • append suffix: Append value to existing value.
    • prepend prefix: Prepend value to existing value.
    • toggle: Toggle between current and counter value.

    This option is only available for boolean fields. These fields contain two values: true and false. If, for example, the "male" field contains the value true, it is replaced with the value false.

    • time of pass-through: Replace the current value with the time of the pass-through. The value is set to the time when the recipient passes through this node.
    • increment value by: Increment the current value by a certain value.
    • decrement value by: Decrement the current value by a certain value.
    • clear: Delete the current value.
  3. In the last text field, enter a value. To change multiple recipient list fields, click  + and repeat the steps.
Perform Action Only For Changes are made only for recipients of this target group. Remaining recipients skip this action.

Optimizely image Copy Recipient

Copies the recipient into another recipient list. To use this node, you need the permissions that let you evaluate action-based data at user level.

Parameters Description and values
Copy To (mandatory) Select the recipient list to which to copy this recipient.
Overwrite existing recipient Check the box to overwrite the recipient in the target recipient list (if the recipient is already contained in this recipient list).
Copy Only Only recipients of this target group are copied to the recipient list. Remaining recipients skip this action.

Optimizely image Move Recipient

Moves a recipient to another recipient list. To use this node, you need the permissions that let you evaluate action-based data at user level.

Parameters Description and values
Move To (mandatory) Select the recipient list to which to move the recipient.
Overwrite existing recipient Check this box to overwrite the recipient in the target recipient list (if the recipient is already contained in this recipient list).
Move Only Only recipients of this target group are moved to the recipient list. Remaining recipients skip this action.

Optimizely image Start In

Starts the process of another campaign for a recipient. The recipient remains in the current campaign and passes though the other campaign in parallel. The other campaign must contain the From Campaign start node.

Parameters Description and values
Marketing Automation Campaign (mandatory) Select the campaign that the recipient has to pass through.
Beforehand Copy To Optionally select if the recipient must be copied to another recipient list before he passes through the campaign.
Overwrite existing recipient Check this box to overwrite the recipient in the target recipient list (if the recipient is already contained in this recipient list).
Perform Action Only For Only recipients of this target group are passing through the other campaign. Remaining recipients skip this action.

Optimizely image Limit

The Limit node is only available for users of print mailings.

Limits the number of recipients for a message per day, week, or month. When the limit is reached, no more messages are sent. The Limit node help control the cost of print messages.

Parameters Description and values
Recipients (mandatory) Enter the maximum number of recipients to whom the message should be sent...
...per day Set a daily limit (calendar day from 00:00 to 23:59h).
...per week Set a weekly limit (calendar week from Monday to Sunday).
...per month Set a monthly limit (calendar month, from the first to last day of the month).

Times and dates are based on the Optimizely Campaign system time (Berlin, CET). If you set your client to a different time zone, mailing limits can be affected.

Example

You set your client to New York time (GMT -5) and limit the dispatch to 100 mailings per calendar day. At 5:59 PM (local time), 100 mailings are sent out. The daily limit is reached at this point, but at 6:01 PM, 100 additional mailings are sent. The reason: In Berlin (6 hours ahead of New York time), it is 11:59 PM when the first 100 mailings are sent out, and 12:01 PM when the second batch is sent. So, based on the Optimizely Campaign system time, a new calendar day has started.

Optimizely image Done

Marks the end of the campaign. This is an optional node.