Filters are a critical component of just about every marketing campaign in Engage+. They're used to build the audience that you want to receive your marketing message, or to define dynamic content, as well as for reporting, data imports, Seed Lists, and calculated data fields.
A Filter is a set of criteria, or rules, that defines what you're looking for. When the platform applies your Filter, it searches the database for records with values and / or activities that match these criteria. A Filter can be a simple one-line rule, such as "all male customers," or it can be very complex, such as "all female customers from Illinois or Wisconsin who purchased brown shoes via the web within the last six months."
Filters are reusable across all the different channels within the platform.
For more information on the platform's Filter capabilities, please see the document: Filter Capabilities.
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If you import data into Messaging through a Manual Import or an FTP Import Template, the system will automatically generate a Filter that selects the records in that import. This system-generated Filter will be named "Import File <Import name>" and will be located within the same folder as the Import. The Filter will consist of a single rule that uses the File Imports Activity type to target the records in that import file.
The Filters screen is also used to manage Filters used for the platform's Load and Send feature. Load and Send allows you to import "campaign-ready" files containing all the information needed to build and deploy the Campaign (such as personalization fields, and contact information like Email Address). Filters that are intended for use in Load and Send Campaigns differ slightly from regular Filters, as follows
You can't add fields on joined tables to the Filter logic.
You can't use Activities in the Filter logic.
Calculated Fields aren't supported.
You can't view record details, or export the Filter results.
The Quick Calculate feature isn't supported.
The Activity Log screen is accessible by the following method:
From the Main menu, select Data > Execution > Filters
For more information on Filters, please see:
Filters Options for Activities
This topic describes how to create a new Filter through the Filter screen. In addition, Filters can also be created through the New Item screen (see Create a New Item: Filter), or defined though an API request (see Filter API for more details). To create a new Filter through the Filter screen:
Note: You can never modify this source table after the filter is created.
Note: For tips and suggestions on how to build the most efficient Filter possible, see Filter Best Practices.
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To copy an existing item to use as the basis for a new item:
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To view or edit an existing Filter: Note: While editing a Filter, if another user has this same Filter open at the same time, and he or she modifies and saves the Filter, the system will alert you with a "Changes Detected" pop-up window. This window tells you that changes have been made, and by whom. If you want to discard your local changes and reload the screen to show the other user's version of the Filter, click reload filter. Or, if you want to overwrite the other person's changes, click ignore changes.
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To delete an item:
Foldered items are moved to the Recycle Bin. Non-foldered items are permanently deleted.
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Engage+ offers two different methods of generating the count of records that match your Filter criteria -- a Standard method and a Quick method. However, please note that the Quick calculation method is an optional feature that must be enabled within your account; please speak to your Client Services Representative for more information. These two methods are described below in more detail. Note: if you're intending to use this Filter to define a Campaign audience, please note that the Filter count doesn't necessarily represent the number of recipients eligible to receive your marketing message. The Filter doesn't take into account preference flags such as opt-outs or banned addresses; those records are removed at Campaign deployment time. However, you can view counts for these flags using the Cross Tab Report. Calculate -- Standard MethodThe Standard calculation method is always available for every Filter. If you use this method, you can view a "waterfall count" of the number of records that met each Filter component, and that were then passed along to the next component. The drawback to this method is that it's slower to execute than the Quick method. To execute your Filter using the Standard calculation method:
Load and Send FiltersIf the source table for your Filter is a Load and Send Table, you have the option of selecting which import file to use when calculating your Filter results. To execute your Filter using the Standard calculation method for a Load and Send Filter:
For more information on the Load and Send feature, please Load and Send Overview. Calculate -- Quick MethodThe Quick calculation method is an optional feature that must be enabled within your account. This method uses a different query architecture than the Standard method, and provides a significant increase in processing speed. However the Quick method doesn't support every Filter component type. For example, Property Joins and certain Activities & Items aren't supported by the Quick method. Also, the Quick method doesn't generate waterfall counts. If you need to see the number of records selected by each component in your Filter, then you'll need to execute the Filter using the Standard calculation method (see above for details). To execute your Filter using the Quick calculation method:
Note: If you add a Filter component that's not supported by the Quick Calculate feature (such as a Joined field, for example), then the system will disable the Quick Calculate button. Also, the Quick Calculate feature is not available if you're building a Filter off a Load and Send table. Cancel a Filter CalculationIf you need to cancel a Filter calculation while the process is still running:
Note: Depending on the current state of the Filter calculation and the complexity of the Filter logic, the "cancel" command might not take effect immediately. When you cancel a Filter calculation, the system always completes the current logical step, then checks to see if it has received a "cancel" command. Therefore, it's possible you might experience a short delay when you click the "Stop Calculation" button.
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Engage+ allows you to execute a Filter, then export the results of that Filter into a text file (.txt). Note: This feature is not supported if you're building a Filter off a Load and Send table. To export the Filter Results:
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To verify that your Filter is selecting the desired records, you can view (and optionally edit) the details of the selected records. Note: This feature is not supported if you're building a Filter off a Load and Send table. To view or edit the records that matched your Filter criteria:
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If your Filter won't calculate, the process could be stuck in a queue waiting for processing threads to become available, in which case you'll simply need to wait a bit. Or, it's possible the Filter has surpassed the allowable number of Nested Levels (see Nested Levels in Filters for more details).
If your Filter counts aren't what you expect, use the View Stats feature to see the number of records selected at each condition in the Filter. This feature can help you locate a problematic Filter condition. If you can't assign a Filter to a Campaign, the Filter and Campaign likely have different source tables. To assign a Filter to a Campaign, they both must have the same source table. If the problem persists, please contact Global Support for further assistance. |