Scheduling the Campaign in Stages

A campaign can have multiple stages and each stage has a stage instance. Each time a stage executes, a stage instance is created. If it's a one time only campaign, it has one stage, one instance.

Click the Schedule tab and define the starting dates and end dates along with all the campaign stages. New campaign stages can be easily added or modified. Campaign stages have additional options that can be configured and support AB testing.

HINT
Simple AB tests can also be created. A/B testing (bucket tests or split-run testing) is a randomized experiment with two variants, A and B.

Campaign stages can be scheduled at Campaign Level or at Stage Level through the Control Group Behaviour field.
For stage level campaigns the control group members are kept for the entire campaign and for all stages. For campaign level campaigns the control group members are different for each stage.

Setup

To add a stage, click the Insert button from the Campaign stages section. The Add Campaign Stage page is displayed.

Setting up the campaign stage is done similarly to setting up a campaign. This includes fields for the campaign stage name and the Content Template, but also personalized content to be used during the campaign stage.

NOTE
If at stage level, the communication channel has the Is Campaign Activity Type field set to true, then the stage generates internal campaign activities. For more details on communication channel configurations, see the Create the Channel Configurations page.

Field	Description
Name	Insert a suggestive name for the stage.
Content Template	Select a template for the stage. It can be a different template than the template selected for the whole campaign.
Culture	The campaign culture. For example: RO, GB. The available values are the ones form the selected content template.
Time zone	Select from the list the time applicable.
Activity type	This field is displayed when the content template selected has a communication channel with the Is Campaign Activity Type field set to `true`. To configure a communication channel , see the Create the Channel Configurations page. The following options are available: Sales Administrative
Activity subtype	The list of attributes that can be selected is defined by the admin user. NOTE This field is displayed if the Activity type field value is set to Administrative.
Convert Activity Option	If true, the Convert button and the Related Journey lookup field are displayed at the Campaign Activity form level. For more information see the Actions Buttons page. NOTE This field is displayed if the Activity type field value is Sales.
Status Reasons List	This field is displayed when an activity type is selected. To add a status reasons list, select from the available options or create a new one by following the steps from the Managing Status Reasons page.

Click the Save and reload button. The page Edit Campaign Stage is displayed.

Schedule

This section tab has configurations which apply to only one stage, the stage the user is creating. The stage configurations are found in the global Schedule section tab of the whole campaign.

Moreover, the schedule is fully customizable, you can define a starting and ending date along with a recurrence type. You can also have a different schedule type that allows many different combinations to occur: daily, monthly, every X day, where X can be a number, every specific day combination of the week, and others. Previewing these settings offers a powerful way to set up an in-depth strategy of communication in order to provide your audience with the most effective possible way of receiving content updates.

Field	Description
Controlled By Execution Plan	If true, the fields used to define the stage schedule are hidden and the stage can be started only from an execution plan.
Schedule Type	The type of recurrence that the campaign stage will run on: one time campaign life time Fix dates Run for ''X'' days Run for ''X'' weeks Run for "X'' months Run for ''X'' times.
No. of X	Number of recurrences. IMPORTANT! Depending on this number you insert, the period of the stage will grow. If it is too big, it may become bigger than the date period for the whole campaign, in which case it will not allow you to save the stage.
Start Date	Starting date for the campaign stage.
End Date	Ending date for the campaign stage.
Recurrence Type	Type of recurrence that will be executed by the campaign stages. Depending on the selection of these types, certain fields appear. Select from the list: at every "'X'' minutes at every ''X'' days in every day of week week of month at day of month at season concurrence.
Refresh Control Group On Recurrence	This field is not displayed if the recurrence interval type is set to `One Time`. If set to `true`, then the control group is refreshed before every recurrence of the stage. If set to `false`, then the control group is the same for all stage recurrences.
Activity Validity Days	By default, activities generated in a stage are active for one day before they expire. If this time frame is not sufficient, you can manually enter the number of days you wish to keep activities valid.
Client Timezone Offset	The client's time zone. This field is read only.

For each type of recurrence a new field or fields open.

Type of recurrence	Fields	Description
At every X Days	No of X	How many days.
At every X Days	Daily No of Days	The gap between those X, e.g. No of X 3 and Daily No of Days 5, renders three days when the campaign is sent with 5 days in between each of those three days.
At every x Minutes	No of X	How many minutes.
At every x Minutes	No of Minutes	The gap between those minutes.
In every day of week	No of X	The number of days.
In every day of week	Checkboxes with Weekdays	The week days: Monday to Sunday.
Week of Month	No of X	The number of weeks.
Week of Month	Week No (1-5)	In which week the month the campaign will be executed.
At day of month	No of X	The number of days.
At day of month	Day No.	the actual calendar number of the day, from 1 to 31. e.g. 4 will render every day with the calendar structure 04/m/y.
At season occurrence	No of X	number of seasons.
At season occurrence	Season	Select one of the seasons: Spring Summer Autumn Winter.

Click the Save and reload button. By clicking on the Preview Execution plan, the grid below the button populates with stage instances simulations in order to have a perspective on how the stage instances run.

If the stage is set to run one time, only one stage instance is displayed while for stages set to run with a certain recurrence, the stage instances are created based on how many times the stage runs.

IMPORTANT!
This is the plan for one stage only. To see the plan of all stages return to the Schedule section tab of the whole campaign.

Campaign Stage Instances (Actual Run)

At stage level, this section populates once the campaign is in an Approved business status and when a stage instance is created for every stage run, showing the actual history of the stage instances that were run, not only a simulated preview. If the stage has a recurrence set, then a stage instance is created for every time that recurrence runs.

To access additional information, double-click on a record. Three section tabs open.

Stage Instance

On this section tab, the following information can be found:

Field	Description
Campaign	The name of the campaign.
Stage	The name of the stage.
Start Date	The date the stage began running.
End Date	The date the stage stopped running.
Multi Stage Plan Instance	The name of the multi-stage execution plan instance composed from the multi-stage execution plan name and the time the instance began to run. NOTE The Multi Stage Plan Instance field indicates if the stages instance is created at campaign level or if it's part of an execution plan.
IsPreview	If true, it indicates that the stage instance has been generated based on an execution plan preview. For more details on this topic, see the Previewing the Execution Plan page.
Delivery status	The delivery status. The following options are available: Suspended: this status is displayed when the Suspend delivery button is used. Allowed: this status is displayed when any other button than Suspend delivery.
Running	If true, the multi-stage stage execution plan is running.
Cancelled	If true, the multi-stage execution plan is cancelled.
Completed	If true, all the activities at stage instance level are created.
Sent	If true, all the messages generated by the stage instance are sent to the recipients.

Here, campaign managers have the possibility of pausing, resuming, or cancelling the delivery of the messages generated by a stage instance by using the below options:

Suspend delivery: Use this button to stop the delivery of all the remaining messages that have not been sent to the recipient on that stage instance. In this case, messages are still created but are no longer sent to the recipients.
This button is displayed if the Sent field is set to false and the Delivery Status field value is Allowed.
Resume delivery: Use this button to resume the delivery of the messages that haven't been sent to the recipient.
This button is displayed if the Delivery Status field value is Suspended.
Cancel processing: Use this button to cancel the creation and delivery of the messages that have not been created or sent to the recipient. This button is displayed if the Sent field is set to false.

The Stage Instance Running Counters section indicates the total number of communications sent to the recipients, the channels used, if the messages were delivered, the queued messages sent, and so on.

Campaign Activities

This section tab displays the activities and action items created and at stage instance level.

Execution Errors

This section tab shows if any errors occurred while running the execution plan.

Distribution

IMPORTANT!
The campaign stage distribution step is displayed only for internal campaigns. A campaign that generates internal campaign activities cannot be approved without selecting the distribution type.

This tab allows campaign managers to set up a distribution logic when creating an internal campaign. Thus, having the flexibility to assign the campaigns activities either to certain responsible persons or to certain branches.

Field	Description
Distribution Type	Select the target responsible for the campaign activities. The following options are available: Assign To Account Responsible: in this case, the activity is distributed to the account responsible. For static and dynamic audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account owner. For imported audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible from the imported audience list. Assign To Responsible Branch: in this case, the activity is distributed to the responsible branch. For static and dynamic audience lists, each activity is assigned to the responsible branch responsible. For imported audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible branch from the imported audience list. Custom Assignment Logic: in this case, the activity is distributed to a user from the responsible branch. This is a custom stored procedure. For static and dynamic audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible, based on a logic that is defined at the time of implementation. For imported audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible from the imported audience list, based on a logic that is defined at the time of implementation. This option in the distribution logic gives the possibility of assigning activities to the person responsible considering their competencies and workload based on the following scenarios: Assign activities to users from the activity responsible branch ensuring a uniform random distribution per campaign. Activities are allocated equally to all team members, taking into account the activities from the current campaign. Assign activities to users from the activity responsible branch that have specific role, function, or competence (for example relationship manager, teller, account manager) ensuring a uniform random distribution per campaign. Activities must be allocated equally to all team members, taking into account the activities from the current campaign. Assign activities to users from the activity responsible branch that have specific role, function, or competence (for example relationship manager, teller, account manager) ensuring a uniform random distribution taking into account the number of all open (activities with the In progress or Assigned status) campaign activities already allocated. In this case, the activities are allocated equally to all team members, taking into account the open activities of all ongoing campaigns.
Assignment Logic	This field is displayed only for Custom Assignment Logic distribution type. The assignment logic runs for each internal campaign activity when the campaign manager or segment manager selects the Custom Assignment Logic option and uses one of the available custom stored procedures. The following parameters are taken into account when defining the stored procedures: activity responsible branch, users from responsible branch, users role, function, or competence, number of activities that are already allocated per current campaign, number of activities already allocated with In Progress or Assigned status, per all in progress campaigns.

Field

Description

Distribution Type

Select the target responsible for the campaign activities. The following options are available:

Assign To Account Responsible: in this case, the activity is distributed to the account responsible. For static and dynamic audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account owner. For imported audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible from the imported audience list.
Assign To Responsible Branch: in this case, the activity is distributed to the responsible branch. For static and dynamic audience lists, each activity is assigned to the responsible branch responsible. For imported audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible branch from the imported audience list.
Custom Assignment Logic: in this case, the activity is distributed to a user from the responsible branch. This is a custom stored procedure. For static and dynamic audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible, based on a logic that is defined at the time of implementation. For imported audience lists, each activity is assigned to the account responsible from the imported audience list, based on a logic that is defined at the time of implementation.
This option in the distribution logic gives the possibility of assigning activities to the person responsible considering their competencies and workload based on the following scenarios:
- Assign activities to users from the activity responsible branch ensuring a uniform random distribution per campaign. Activities are allocated equally to all team members, taking into account the activities from the current campaign.
- Assign activities to users from the activity responsible branch that have specific role, function, or competence (for example relationship manager, teller, account manager) ensuring a uniform random distribution per campaign. Activities must be allocated equally to all team members, taking into account the activities from the current campaign.
- Assign activities to users from the activity responsible branch that have specific role, function, or competence (for example relationship manager, teller, account manager) ensuring a uniform random distribution taking into account the number of all open (activities with the In progress or Assigned status) campaign activities already allocated. In this case, the activities are allocated equally to all team members, taking into account the open activities of all ongoing campaigns.

Assignment Logic

This field is displayed only for Custom Assignment Logic distribution type. The assignment logic runs for each internal campaign activity when the campaign manager or segment manager selects the Custom Assignment Logic option and uses one of the available custom stored procedures.

The following parameters are taken into account when defining the stored procedures:

activity responsible branch,
users from responsible branch,
users role, function, or competence,
number of activities that are already allocated per current campaign,
number of activities already allocated with In Progress or Assigned status, per all in progress campaigns.

Click the Save and Reload button.

The following warning message is displayed if the Distribution Type field is not set in the following instances: Before approving the campaign, select the distribution type for the stage: "stage name". This message appears in the below instances:

If the field is not set for at least one stage that generates internal campaign activities.
For a campaign with two stages where one generates internal activities and the other external ones, if both stages do not have the field set, the same message is displayed, showing the name of the internal campaign stage.

The message is not displayed in the below situations:

For campaigns that generate only external campaign activities.
For campaigns with two stages, a stage with internal activities and one with external ones, and where the field is set for the stage that generates internal activities.

HINT
Stored procedures templates can be modified or new ones can be added at product implementation, depending on the customer's business needs.

Define A/B variations of a stage

Depending on the template created and selected for the campaign, certain channels are rendered here:

email
SMS.

This tab contains the following fields:

Field	Description
Allow recurrence Duplicates	If true, it allows any recurring messages to be duplicates of previous messages.
Channel Variations list	The proportion for sending differentiated communications.
Content and Channel Variations list	The proportion for sending differentiated communications of the same type.

IMPORTANT!
These variations apply to only one stage.

Edit the:

Field	Description
Send channel %	There is the percentage used for the usage of the channel.
Start time (hh)	The starting hour.
Start time (mm)	The starting minutes.
End time (hh)	The ending hour.
End time (mm)	The ending minute.

Click the Save and reload button.

Refining Audience of a stage

Configuring the selected audience can be further changed from the Refining Audience tab, by excluding specific segments from the initial data set available. These are a set of conditions that will further filter the selected audience (examples include: customers under 20, customers without children, etc.).

From the audience selected it is possible to eliminate certain people depending. Click the ''Insert existing'' and select from the pop-list the audience which will not receive the campaign messages.

HINT
Create the list with the audience to be excluded before arriving to this step.

Activities of a stage

This tab contains the actions, activities, and campaign activities generated at stage level.

Actions

Actions can be used (Actions tab) to automatically send email or SMS messages, based on user configuration, and place them in a system queue which will then deliver them to the intended audience. The difference between actions and activities is that activities are not sent to the audience.

Activities

Activities can be viewed at campaign or stage level. In this tab, all the campaign activities generated at stage level are displayed.

Campaign Activities

This section contains the internal campaign activities generated within the stage level. For more details see the Internal Campaign Activities page.

A/B Control Group of a stage

This section tab displays the messages or actions kept at control group level and not sent to the targeted audience.

Execution Log of a stage

The Execution Log tab displays a list of all the actions undertaken in this category along with the associated stage and ending dates. This allows you to easily track and see what happens under the system.