Configure an Email Campaign: Review

When a Campaign is launched, it goes through two separate and distinct phases: building messages and sending messages.

In the "message building" phase, the platform identifies the intended recipients of the Campaign, identifies all the possible content variations based on the Dynamic Content options used in the Campaign, and determines the Personalization values based on any Personalization fields used in the content. The steps in this first phase are often collectively referred to as the "queue" process.

In the "message sending" phase, the system merges together the data and the content in order to assemble the final messages. These messages are then transmitted to the recipients.

Queue Schedule

To define the Queue Schedule:

1. Within the "Campaign Schedule" section, next to "Queue Schedule," select either:

• If you want the Queue Schedule to begin immediately when the Campaign is launched, select "Begin immediately" (this option is selected by default).

• If you want to set a custom start date / time at some point in the future, select "Begin on," and select one of the following options:

  • To set a specific start date and time, select "Date" from the drop-down menu, then select a date and a time.

  • To set a start date relative to the Send Schedule (for example, "Two hours before the Send Schedule start"), select "Relative Date" from the drop-down menu. Enter a value, then select either "Days" or "Hours."

Send Schedule

Send Schedules are used to control the message sending phase. The Send Schedule consists of the following parts:

• Send Schedule Start -- Defines when you want to start sending messages -- either immediately after the messages are built, or at some specified date and time in the future.  You can also set an end date / time when you want to stop sending messages.

• Send Frequency -- Define a daily or weekly frequency when the platform will send messages. If the platform doesn't complete the sending process within a single interval, the remaining recipients will stay queued until the next frequency interval.

• Send Window -- Define a limited daily time range, or "window," during which time the platform will send messages. If the Campaign doesn't complete the sending process during the Sending Window, the remaining recipients will stay queued until the next window. Or, you can select to send messages all day long, without the use of a Sending Window.

To define the Send Schedule:

1. Within the "Campaign Schedule" section, next to "Send Schedule, select either:

• If you want to send messages as soon as they're built, select "Start after Queueing."  

• If you want to set a custom start date / time at some point in the future, select "Start on," then enter the start date and time for the Send Schedule (this option is selected by default).

2. Optionally, click "Advanced Options" to expand it.

3. Define the Send Frequency:

• Daily: Enter an interval (every "X" days).

• Weekly: Select one or more days of the week.

4. Select the time of day when messages are sent:

• To send all day long, select the "Send All Day" tab.

• To define a Send Window, select the "Send Only Between" tab. Enter a specific start time and end time. The end time selection options are limited to specific intervals, for Machine Learning. 

5. By default, the Campaign's Send Schedule will run until all messages are sent, or until the Campaign is stopped or cancelled. Optionally, to enter a Send Schedule end date, select "Stop Sending On," then enter the end date and time.

When a Campaign is launched, it goes through two separate and distinct phases: building messages and sending messages.

In the "message building" phase, the platform identifies the intended recipients of the Campaign, identifies all the possible content variations based on the Dynamic Content options used in the Campaign, and determines the Personalization values based on any Personalization fields used in the content. The steps in this first phase are often collectively referred to as the "queue" process.

In the "message sending" phase, the system merges together the data and the content in order to assemble the final messages. These messages are then transmitted to the recipients.

Send Schedule

The Send Schedule controls when the Send Schedule is initially determined to be active, or to go "live."  Please note that the Send Schedule start time controls ONLY the first deployment of the Campaign. All subsequent deployments after the first one will be controlled by the Recurrence Schedule Frequency (described below).

To define the Send Schedule:

1. Within the "Campaign Schedule" section, next to "Send Schedule, select either:

• If you want the Send Schedule to go "live" immediately when the Campaign is launched, select "Start after queueing" (this option is selected by default).

• If you want to set a custom start date / time at some point in the future, select "Start on," then select a date and a time.

Note: The "Advanced Options" displayed beneath the Send Schedule are not used within a Date-triggered Campaign.

Recurrence Schedule

Once the Send Schedule in a Date-triggered Campaign is "live," the Recurrence Schedule is used to control all subsequent message building and sending phases. The Recurrence Schedule consists of the following parts:

• Recurrence Schedule Start: This component controls when you want the Recurrence Schedule to be active, or to go "live." You can either select "Immediately," meaning the Recurrence Schedule will go live immediately after the Campaign is launched, or you can set a start date / time in the future. You can also optionally set an end date / time for the Recurrence Schedule, or let the schedule run indefinitely (until the Campaign is stopped or cancelled).

• Recurrence Schedule Frequency: Once the Recurrence and Send Schedules are "live," this component controls when, and how often, the Campaign will build and send messages.

• Recurrence Schedule Window: This component allows you to define a limited time range, or "window," during which time the platform will build and send messages. If the Campaign doesn't complete the process during the Recurrence Schedule Window, the remaining messages will get built and sent during the next window.

To set the Recurrence Schedule:

1. Within the "Date Trigger Schedule" section, next to "Recurrence Schedule," select either:

• If you want the Recurrence Schedule to go "live" immediately when the Campaign is launched, select "Begin immediately" (this option is selected by default).

• If you want to set a custom start date / time at some point in the future, select "Begin on," then select a date and a time.

2. Define the Recurrence Schedule Frequency:

• Daily: Enter an interval (every "X" days). The default setting is "every 1 day."

• Weekly: Select one or more days of the week.

• Monthly: Select one of the following:

  • A specific number ("15th of the month" for example).

  • Define a business rule to calculate a date ("second Tuesday of every month" for example).

• Yearly: Select one of the following:

  • A specific month / day ("January 15th" for example).

  • Define a business rule to calculate a date ("second Wednesday in August" for example).

4. Define the time of day when messages are created and sent. The default option is "once a day, at 9:00 AM."

• Once a day: Select the time of day when the system should create and send messages.

• Several times a day:

  • Define the daily frequency for when the system should create and send messages.

  • Optionally define a Recurrence Schedule Window, during which time the system will create and send messages.

5. By default, the Campaign's Recurrence Schedule will run indefinitely, until the Campaign is stopped or cancelled. Optionally, to enter a Recurrence Schedule end date, select "Stop Building On," then enter the end date and time.

When a Campaign is launched, it goes through two separate and distinct phases: building messages and sending messages.

In the "message building" phase, the platform identifies the intended recipients of the Campaign, identifies all the possible content variations based on the Dynamic Content options used in the Campaign, and determines the Personalization values based on any Personalization fields used in the content. The steps in this first phase are often collectively referred to as the "queue" process.

In the "message sending" phase, the system merges together the data and the content in order to assemble the final messages. These messages are then transmitted to the recipients.

Queue Schedule

The Queue Schedule controls the message building phase. The Queue Schedule consists of the following parts:

• Queue Schedule Start -- Defines when you want to start the Queue Schedule to go "live" -- either immediately after the Campaign is launched, or at some specified date and time in the future. You can also set an end date / time when you want to stop building messages.

• Queue Schedule Frequency -- Once the Queue Schedule has started and is considered "live," the frequency defines when, and how often, the system builds new messages.

• Building Window: Define a limited time range, or "window," during which time the platform will build messages. If the Campaign doesn't complete the building process during the Building Window, the remaining messages will get built during the next window. 

To define the Queue Schedule:

1. Within the "Advanced Queue Schedule" section, next to "Recurrence Schedule," select either:

• If you want the Queue Schedule to go "live" immediately when the Campaign is launched, select "Begin immediately" (this option is selected by default).

• If you want to set a custom start date / time at some point in the future, select "Begin on," then select a date and a time.

2. Define a custom Queue Schedule Frequency:

• Daily: Enter an interval (every "X" days). The default setting is "every 1 day."

• Weekly: Select one or more days of the week.

• Monthly: Select one of the following:

  • A specific number ("15th of the month" for example).

  • Define a business rule to calculate a date ("second Tuesday of every month" for example).

• Yearly: Select one of the following:

  • A specific month / date ("January 15th" for example).

  • Define a business rule to calculate a date ("second Wednesday in August" for example).

3. Define the time of day when messages are created:

• Immediately:  The system creates messages immediately after the triggering event occurs (this is the default setting).

• Once a Day: Select the time of day when the system should create messages.

• Several Times a Day:

  • Define the daily frequency for when the system should create messages.

  • Optionally define a Building Window, during which time the system will create messages.

4. By default, the Campaign will build messages indefinitely, until the Campaign is stopped or cancelled. Optionally, to enter a Queue Schedule end date, select "Stop Building On," then enter the end date and time.

Send Schedule

Send Schedules are used to control the message sending phase. The Send Schedule consists of the following parts:

• Send Schedule Start -- Defines when you want the Send Schedule to go "live"  -- either immediately after the Campaign is launched, or at some specified date and time in the future.  You can also set an end date / time when you want to stop the Send Schedule.

• Send Window -- Defines a limited daily time range, or "window," during which time the platform will send messages. If the Campaign doesn't complete the sending process during the Sending Window, the remaining recipients will stay queued until the next window. Or, you can select to send messages all day long, without the use of a Sending Window.

To define the Send Schedule:

1. Within the "Campaign Schedule" section, next to "Send Schedule, select either:

• If you want the Send Schedule to go "live" immediately when the Campaign is launched, select "Start after queueing" (this option is selected by default).

• If you want to set a custom start date / time at some point in the future, select "Start on," then select a date and a time.

2. Optionally, click "Advanced Options" to expand it.

3. Select the time of day when messages are sent:

• To send all day long, select the "Send All Day" tab (this option is selected by default).

• To define a Send Window, select the "Send Only Between" tab. Enter a specific start time and end time.

4. By default, the Campaign will send messages indefinitely, until the Campaign is stopped or cancelled. Optionally, to enter a Send Schedule end date, select "Stop Sending On," then enter the end date and time.

Send Time Optimization (STO) allows you to derive the best time to contact each recipient within the Campaign's audience. The platform will deploy messages to each recipient based on their preferred time of day.

STO supports the following scenarios:

• Email channel only

• Regular One-off and Date-triggered Campaigns only; STO is not supported for Event-triggered Campaigns.

• Advanced scheduling options (Sending Window, Stop Sending date / time , Per Hour Send Limit) can be used in conjunction with STO. The end time selection options are limited to specific intervals, in "Send Only Between" field for Machine Learning.  If the STO-calculated send time falls outside of a specified delivery window, the platform will send the message at the nearest time within that allowed timeframe.

STO is used in conjunction with the Queue Schedule / Send Schedule options. If the STO process is unable to identify a preferred sending time for a recipient, or if STO is unsupported for a recipient (for example, the recipient does not live in the U.S.), the platform will revert to using the Send Schedule defined for the Campaign, or to using the Default Sending Time (described below) if one is defined.

It's important to note that using STO can cause your Campaign deployment to stretch out over a longer period of time than the Campaign might otherwise take. When using STO, the platform will hold messages in the queue until the recipient's preferred send time is reached. As an example, let's say you launch a Campaign at 11:00 AM, and a recipient in the Campaign audience has a preferred send time of 8:00 AM. The platform will hold this message in the queue until 8:00 AM the next day, then send it.

Squeezing Mechanism for STO Hours: If a recipient's Send Time Optimization (STO) hour falls outside the Sending Window, the system will adjust by squeezing these messages within 2 hours before or after the window.

For example, with a Sending Window from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM:

• Recipients with STO times of 7:00 AM, 8:00 AM, and 9:00 AM will be sent the message at 9:00 AM.

• Recipients with STO times of 5:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 7:00 PM will sent the message at 5PM.

Default Send Time for STO Hours: If a recipient's Send Time Optimization (STO) hour falls outside the Sending Window and Squeezing Hours , the system will use the default send time.

For example, with a Sending Window from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and Default Send Time at 1 PM:

• Recipients with STO times of 12 AM - 6 AM will be sent the message at the default Send Time at 1 PM.

• Recipients with STO times of 8 PM - 11PM will be sent the message at the default Send Time at 1 PM.

When defining the End Time for the Sending Window, use half-hour increments rather than whole hours.

The different STO configuration options are described below.

ML (Machine Learning) STO

ML STO utilizes machine learning models based on click and open data to determine the optimal delivery time based on recipient behavior and email engagement.

Note: ML STO is an optional feature that must be enabled in your account. Please speak with your Client Services Representative for more details.

1. Select the "ML STO" tab.

2. From the drop-down menu, select "STO Hour" to send the campaign at the best hour of the day for each recipient (see STO Machine Learning for more details on how to configure this table).

3. Select "Default Sending Time" checkbox. The Default Sending Time applies to recipients who were added to Engage+ after the last ML STO scoring, or who are in the ML Control Group.

For detailed information on ML STO, refer ML STO User Guide.  

Recipient  Preferred Time

Recipient Preferred Time utilizes either a recipient's local time (as determined by Postal Code) or a preferred delivery time to optimize Campaign delivery.

The Recipient Postal Code option uses a postal code field to optimize Campaign deployment based on each recipient's local time. To use this feature, the Campaign's source table must have a dedicated Postal Code field that stores the Postal Code for each recipient in standard U.S. 5-digit ZIP Code format (not ZIP +4). See Working with Fields for more information on how to indicate that a field contains Postal Code data.  

Note: This feature is available only for recipients who live in the United States.

1. Select the "Recipient Preferred Time" tab.

2. Select the "Recipient Postal Code" radio button.

3. From the drop-down menu, select the Postal Code field that you want to use.

The Recipient Preferred Time option lets you optimize Campaign deployment based on data imported into the platform from a third-party source. The Preferred Time must be stored in a Date / Time field. The platform will consider only the hour value of the Date / Time value when identifying the preferred sending time; the date, minute, and second components are ignored.

1. Select the "Recipient Preferred Time" tab.

2. Select the "Recipient Preferred Time" radio button.

3. From the drop-down menu, select the field in the Messaging table that contains the preferred time data.

4. Optionally, you can use the Recipient Preferred Time feature in conjunction with a Postal Code field to derive a recipient's local time zone. To use this feature, the Campaign's source table must have a dedicated Postal Code field that stores the Postal Code for each recipient in standard U.S. 5-digit ZIP Code format (not ZIP +4). See Working with Fields for more information on how to indicate that a field contains Postal Code data. Check "Combine with recipient Postal Code," then select the Postal Code field that you want to use to derive each recipient's time zone.  

Note: This option should be used only when the recipient preferred time source doesn't already map to a recipient's local time zone.

Time Zone

The Time Zone option lets you optimize Campaign deployment based on each recipient's local time zone. To use this feature, the Campaign's source table must have a dedicated Time Zone field that stores the time zone value for each recipient (see Working with Fields for more information on how to indicate that a field contains Time Zone data). For more details on valid time zone field values, please see STO Time Zone IDs.

Note: This option is available for Regular One-off Campaigns only.

Even when the Campaign is scheduled by time zone, the email might be delayed by other factors, such as a Sending Window or a Per Hour Send Limit. If using a Sending Window, please note that the Sending Window is adjusted to the Campaign's overall time zone, and NOT to each recipient's specified time zone.

To configure the Time Zone STO option:

1. Select the "Time Zone" tab.

2. From the drop-down menu, select the field in the Messaging table that contains the Time Zone data.

By default, the platform will send messages as quickly as it can after they've been created. However, to build and maintain a good sending reputation, care must be taken to limit the number of messages being sent out from any given IP Address at a time (this process is known as "throttling"). Throttling is especially important when starting to send messages from a new IP address (this process is known as "IP warming").

If your Campaign contains split cells, the selected flow rate is applied to every cell in the Campaign, which may result in a higher total flow rate than desired; the selected flow rate is NOT divided between the cells. As an example, let's say your Campaign has three cells, and you set the flow rate to "300K / hr." This flow rate is applied to each of the three cells, resulting in a total message send rate of 900K messages per hour.

If you use a Seed List in a Campaign that has a Send Limit, the platform treats the Seed List separately. The Seed List messages will get sent in the first hour, but these Seed List messages do not count toward the hourly Send Limit. For example, let's say you have twenty recipients in your Seed List, and you configure your Campaign with an hourly Send Limit of 500 messages per hour. In the first hour after the Campaign is launched, the platform will send the first batch of 500 records AND the twenty Seed List messages. Then in the second hour, the platform will send the second batch of 500 records, and so on. 

To set a hard limit on how many messages are deployed per hour:

1. Within the "Campaign Schedule" section, click the "Per Hour Limit" link. The system adds a "Per Hour Limit" field within this section.

2. In the "Per Hour Limit" field, enter the maximum number of messages -- in increments of 500 -- that you want sent per hour.

Note: If you enter a number that is not an increment of 500, then the application defaults to the next highest increment of 500.

In order to comply with certain regional marketing regulations, Messaging can optionally be configured to enforce a "double opt-in" method for validating consumer eligibility. If using this method, the consumer must register to receive your marketing email messages, AND confirm the registration. Only consumers who have completed both steps in this process (i.e., the "double opt-in") will be considered eligible to receive email messages.

Enforcement of the double opt-in is managed at the Sender Profile level. A Sender Profile can be configured with an optional "Requires Confirmation" parameter. When this parameter is enabled, all email Campaigns deployed using this Sender Profile will check the consumer's double opt-in status before sending that consumer a message.

Note: Configuring a Sender Profile to enforce the double opt-in status requires Administrator-level access to Messaging. Please speak with your Client Services Representative for assistance on configuring your Sender Profile.  

If using the double opt-in process, you typically need to send a "Confirmation request" email message to a consumer who has submitted their registration (either via a Web Form or an Email Submission Handler). However, the consumer's status at this point in the process is still "Not confirmed" because they have not yet confirmed the registration. In order to deploy email messages to an "unconfirmed" consumer, the platform offers an override feature. This feature is intended primarily for this use case, when trying to send confirmation email messages to unconfirmed consumers.

To enable the override feature for Confirmation emails:

1. Place a check mark in the "Confirmation Email - send to unconfirmed email addresses" check box. Please note that this check box is enabled only if the selected Sender Profile for this Campaign has been configured to "Require Confirmation."

For more information on the email double opt-in process, please see the Email Submission Handler Help topic.

Messaging can generate test versions of an message, prior to actually launching the Campaign. These test versions, called "proofs," are used to check for accuracy in grammar, content, format, and appearance, and to verify that Personalization fields are correctly populated. In order to streamline this process, Messaging allows you to define and save a designated set of recipients called a Proofing Group.

In the Email Channel, you can also generate "one-off" proofs through the use of the Quick Proofs feature. See below for more details on this feature. 

To send proofs to a Proofing Group:

1. If your Campaign contains Cells & Splits, you must choose either a specific sub-cell  (which sends proofs for only that sub-cell), or the top-level Campaign (which sends proofs to all sub-cells). Click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." To pick a sub-cell, select it from the Cell Tree. To pick the top-level Campaign, select the top-most item in the Cell Tree.

2. Click the "Review" chevron.

3. In the "Proofing and Auditing" section, from the "Action" drop-down menu, select a proofing option:

• To just run proofs, select "Proof" (if you selected a sub-cell above in step 1, this option is the only one available).

• If you want to run pre-launch audits and proofs, select "Audit and Proof ." You must then set up your auditing options (see "Cross Tab Audit" for more details on that process). 

4. In the "Proofing Group" field:

• To select an existing Proofing Group, begin typing in the name of the desired Group. The system displays a pop-up menu of Proofing Groups with this text string in the Group name; select a Group from this menu. Or, click the browse button (magnifying glass icon). A "Browse Proofing Group" dialog box is displayed, showing all email Proofing Groups. Click on a Group name.

• To create a new Proofing Group, click the new button (plus-sign icon). A "New Proofing Group" dialog box is displayed. Enter a name for this Group, select a data source, and select a type (Random Records or Specific Records). The channel for this Group is automatically selected for you based on the channel of the current Campaign. Click save new item. To add recipients to the new Proofing Group, click the "jump to" button (green up-arrow icon). The system displays the Proofing Group detail screen where you can add recipients to the Group. When finished click Edit > Action > Save. To return to your Campaign, click the Campaign's tab in the Top Navigation Pane.

5. By default, the platform will use the main Campaign audience to select and populate proofing records. However, you can optionally designate an alternate audience from which to select the records that should be used for generating proofs. This alternate audience is defined through the use of a Filter. To designate an alternate Campaign audience for your proof, in the "Alternate Data Set" field:

• To select an existing Proofing Filter, begin typing in the name of the desired Filter. The system displays a pop-up menu of Filters with this text string in the name; select a Filter from this menu. Or, click the browse button (magnifying glass icon). A "Browse Filter" dialog box is displayed, showing all Filter with the same source table as the current Campaign. Click on a Filter name.

• To create a new Proofing Filter, click the new button (plus-sign icon). A "New Item" dialog box is displayed. Select a location, enter a name for this Filter, and select a data source. Click save new item. To define the Filter logic, click the "jump to" button (green up-arrow icon). The system displays the Filter detail screen where you can define the Filter logic. When finished click Edit > Action > Save. To return to your Campaign, click the Campaign's tab in the Top Navigation Pane.

6. In the "Proof Prefix" field, enter a text string. This value will be inserted in front of the subject line of the proofing message, in order to help the recipient identify the message as being a test proof.

7. In the "Proofing Limit" text field, optionally enter the maximum number of proofing messages that you want to generate.

8. If your Campaign contains Cells & Splits, the screen displays your cell hierarchy within the "Proofing and Auditing" section. Place check marks next to each cell from which you want to send proofs.

9. Click save and proof (or, if you selected "Proof and Audit" above, click save, audit and proof). If the system detects unsaved changes in your message, a confirmation dialog is displayed, asking if you want to save and then send the proofs, or send the proofs based on the last-saved state.

The "Proofs" status area shows the progress of the proofs as they are created and sent. See "Review Proof Results" below for more details.

Proofing refers to the process of testing a marketing campaign by sending out sample messages to a special set of recipients referred to as a Proofing Group. Proofing is intended to verify that your marketing message appears the way you intend, and that any dynamic content within the message is being generated and populated correctly.

The Quick Proof function provides a simpler method to test the different content versions of an email Campaign than a Proofing Group. Quick Proof offers the following advantages over traditional Proofing Groups:

• The user can send one-off proofs to email addresses that may not be in the database or in a Proofing Group.

• The user can quickly select only the Dynamic Content that he or she wants to test, and test every iteration of that Dynamic Content.

• The user can test Dynamic Content without having to find sample records that match the desired criteria.

Note: You can also send Quick Proofs from the Preview window (see Email Campaign for more details on this section). The Quick Proof method available from within the Preview window provides nearly the same functionality as the method available from the review section or More Actions in Tool bar, but with one notable difference -- the Preview window method lets you enter custom Personalization values. Conversely, the review section method or More Actions in Tool bar of Quick Proofing will use default values for any Personalization fields in the Campaign content.

Please note the following restrictions in regards to the Quick Proof function:

• Quick Proofs are not available if the Campaign content contains Looping Blocks.

• The eDesign Optimizer and Add Alternate Data Set options will not be available when using Quick Proof.

• Any Personalization within the Campaign content will display the default values. 

• You can create a reusable Quick Proof-only Proofing Group comprised of the Quick Proof recipients (see Proofing Groups for more details). However, a Quick Proof-only Proofing Group doesn't have a designated source table, which limits its use to the following scenarios: an EDP-driven Campaign, or a Quick Proof within a Messaging Campaign.

To run a Quick Proof:

1. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, you must choose either a specific sub-cell (which sends proofs for only that sub-cell), or the top-level Campaign (which sends proofs to all sub-cells). Click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." To pick a sub-cell, select it from the Cell Tree. To pick the top-level Campaign, select the top-most item in the Cell Tree.

2. In the Tool Bar, click More Actions > Send Proof. Alternately you can click on Send Proof at the right end of the Proofing and Auditing section of the Campaign Review tab. The "Quick Proof" pop-up window is displayed.

3. Select the email format – either "HTML" or "Plain Text."

4. The "Send Proof to" field allows you to enter the email addresses to which you want to send the proof. You can either:

• Manually type in one or more email addresses. If entering multiple addresses, they must be separated by commas or semi-colons.

• Send the proof to an existing Proofing Group by clicking the "Browse" icon to the right of the "Send Proof to" field. A pop-up window is displayed, listing all of the existing Proofing Groups for the email channel. Select the desired group. The pop-up window is closed, and the field is populated with a comma-separated list of all the email addresses in the Proofing Group. Optionally you can then edit this list by removing or adding email addresses.

5. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, and you selected a parent cell above in step 1, the "Cells" tab is populated with a cell hierarchy. Place a check mark next to each sub-cell that you want to test. If you selected a sub-cell above in step 1, only that one sub-cell is displayed in the "Cells" tab. Based on the number of cells that you select, the "Cell Count" in the top-right corner of the "Cells" tab indicates how many proofs will be sent to each recipient. The system imposes a hard limit of 250 proofs to each recipient. If you surpass this threshold, an error message is displayed. You must then reduce the number of selected cells in order to decrease the Proof Count.

6. If your Campaign contains Dynamic Content, the "Dynamic Content" tab is populated with a tree diagram, showing all of the Dynamic Blocks, along with the rules within each Dynamic Block. Place a check mark next to a Dynamic Block and rule that you want to test. By default, the first rule is selected for each Dynamic Block. You can optionally select multiple rules within a Dynamic Block, and / or select multiple Dynamic Blocks. For Dynamic Block that use the IF > IF structure, all selections will be contained in a single proof version.

Note: If your Campaign includes static Content Blocks, they will appear in the "Dynamic Content" tab as well. Content Blocks will automatically be selected and uneditable, as they will always be included in your proofs.

7. Based on the number of Dynamic Content rules that you select, the "Proof Count" in the top-right corner of the "Dynamic Content" tab indicates how many proofs will be sent to each recipient. The system imposes a hard limit of 250 proofs to each recipient. If you surpass this threshold, an error message is displayed. You must then reduce the number of selected rules in order to decrease the Proof Count.

8. When finished, click send proof to generate and send the proofs.

The "Proofs" status area shows the progress of the proofs as they are created and sent. See "Review Proof Results" below for more details.

To view the results of a proof:

1. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, you must choose either a specific sub-cell from which you sent proofs, or the top-level Campaign. Click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." To pick a sub-cell, select it from the Cell Tree. To pick the top-level Campaign, select the top-most item in the Cell Tree.

2. Click the review chevron.

3. Each time you run Proofs, the system adds a new row to the grid in the "Statistics History" section of the screen. Also, if your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, and you selected the top-level Campaign above in step 1, each sub-cell is listed as its own row within this grid.

4. Click the desired row to see the results from that execution. The row is expanded to show the start and end times of the proofing execution, the number of messages sent, and a link to the Preview window. Additional detail is provided for each step in the deployment process, along with the recipients of the proofing message (i.e, the Proofing Group, or the individual email addresses if the Quick Proof feature was utilized).

To configure and run pre-launch Audits:

1. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." Then, from the Cell Tree, pick the top-level Campaign (Audits must be executed at the Campaign level, not at a sub-cell level).

2. Click the review chevron.

3. Within the "Proofing and Auditing" section, from the "Action" drop-down menu, select an audit option:

• To just run audits, select "Audit."

• If you want to automatically submit proofs following the completion of the audit process, select "Audit and Proof." You must then set up your proofing options (see "Send Proofs to a Proofing Group" above for more details on that process).

4. Optionally, to have the system email you the pre-launch auditing statistics, place a check mark in the "Email Excel Stats Report when complete" check box.

5. Optionally, you can set up custom Cross Tab Audit reports. From the "Cross Tabs" drop-down menu, select the field you want to audit, then click the add button (plus-sign icon). The field is added to the "Map Fields" section. Repeat this step as needed to add more fields to your Cross Tab Audit report. If you need to remove a field, click the remove button ("X" icon) next to the field within the "Map Fields" section.

6. Click save and audit. Or, if you're also running proofs, click save, audit and proof.

7. The platform validates that your Campaign has all the necessary components, such as a Sender Profile, an audience Filter, an Opt-Out Message, etc. Any errors are displayed at the top of the screen.

8. If your Campaign passes the above validation steps, the platform begins the stat calculation process. The "Pre-Launch Audits" section of the screen shows you the progress of each of the main auditing steps:

• Message Creation: This step runs all the campaign audience logic to determine the final number of recipients to be sent, and assigns them message IDs. This step consists of the following:

• • Run the Campaign audience Filter, any deduping logic, and any Exclusion Lists or Seed Lists.

  • Check the banned lists, status fields, and invalid addresses.

  • Run any custom stored procedures that were added to the Campaign.

• Content Calculation: This step runs through all the Content Blocks to determine all the different possible permutations of that content, and assigns each recipient to a specific permutation.

• Personalization: This step runs through all of the Merge Fields, Looping Blocks, etc., and pulls personalization fields and data specific information needed to populate the content.

• Sending: This step contains all of your information from the above steps, and is ready to be pulled by the merge server.

When the stats are finished, the "Pre-Launch Audits" section will show your audit results with a status of "Done," followed by the date / time the stats were calculated. For more information on the auditing stats, please see "Review Pre-Launch Audits" below. 

To view the details for an audit run:

1. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." Then, from the Cell Tree, pick the top-level Campaign (Audits are executed at the Campaign level, not at a sub-cell level).

2. Click the review chevron.

3. High-level statistics from the most-recent audit run are displayed in the "Recent Statistics" section.

4. Your previous audits are listed within the "Proofing and Auditing" section. Each time you run pre-launch audits on your Campaign, the system adds a new row to the grid in the "Statistics History" section of the screen.

5. Click on the desired row to see the results from that execution. The row is expanded to show the auditing details, as described below.

6. The menu icon within the row provides access to the following additional features:

• Preview: View the Preview window.

• Spam Score: View the Spam Score results for your message.

• Cross Tab: If you defined custom Cross Tab Audits, you can view the results by selecting this item. The system displays the "Pre-Launch Audit Cross Tab Results" pop-up window. This window shows each field you selected for auditing. For each field, the report shows the counts for every value contained within that field. If your campaign includes cells and splits, you can view cross tabs for the separate versions. Click Download Stats to export the results in Excel spreadsheet. 

• Download: Exports the Cross Tab results.

After you select a specific auditing run, the system displays the details for that run, as described below.

Audience Processing

After expanding an audit row, the "Audit Processing" tab is selected by default. This section provides details on the Audience record quantities. The audit starts with the number of records selected by the Campaign's Audience Filter. Next, the platform identifies how many Audience Filter records were determined to be "Non-mailable" and the reason why. Possible reasons for being non-mailable are banned addresses, blank or invalid contact information, or being part of an Exclusion List. The resulting number shows how many recipients will be targeted by your Campaign when it launches (Audience Filter quantity minus non-mailable quantity).

Message Processing

Click the "Message Processing" tab to see the Message Processing section. This section shows the results of each step in the audit process -- Message Creation, Content Calculation, Personalization, and Sending. This section shows the status of each step, the start and end timestamps, and the record quantity.

Message Versions

Click the "Message Versions" tab to see the Message Versions section. This section shows the number of content variations within your message, and how many recipients will receive each variation. Next to the desired version, you can view the Spam Score for this content variation, or see a Preview.

Content Breakdown

This section displays a detailed breakdown of the various assets utilized within your message, such as Content Blocks, Dynamic Blocks, and Opt-Out Messages, for example. If you click on the expand button (plus-sign icon) next to an asset, the system displays the details of that asset (optionally, you can click expand all to automatically expand every asset listed).

If your message contains Dynamic Content, this section allows you to view how many records will receive each variation of your message content. Click on the Dynamic Block to expand it. The system displays all of the Rule / Block Pairs defined within that Dynamic Block, followed by a record quantity.

If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, you can calculate the distribution of the Campaign Audience across all of the sub-cells. This feature is useful as an auditing tool, to verify that you've defined your Cell Tree correctly.

1. Click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." Then, from the Cell Tree, pick the top-level Campaign (Audits are executed at the Campaign level, not at a sub-cell level).

2. Click the review chevron.

3. Within the "Proofing and Auditing" section, from the "Action" drop-down menu, select "Calculate Cells and Splits."

4. Click calculate cells and splits. The system calculates the distribution of the Campaign Audience.

5. When finished, the "Cells and Splits Stats" section is populated with the results. For each sub-cell in your Campaign, this section displays the cell code, a status, the split method used to create the cell, and a count of the cell's Audience.

6. Optionally, to export the "Cells and Splits Stats" section, click export to excel.

To review the Campaign details:

1. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." Then choose either a specific sub-cell (to review details for only that sub-cell), or a parent cell (to review details for all its sub-cells) from the Cell Tree in the left-hand pane.

2. Click the review chevron.

3. Review the "Details" sub-section.

4. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, and you selected a parent cell above in step 1, you can review the details for all the sub-cells beneath this parent cell. Click the "Cells and Splits Details" link. The "Cells and Splits Details" pop-up window is displayed. This window lists every sub-cell beneath the selected parent cell. If you scroll to the right, the window displays every Campaign element being tested, and how that element is configured for every sub-cell. When finished, click ok.

To launch a Campaign:

1. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, click "3. Setup and Launch Campaign." Then, from the Cell Tree, pick the top-level Campaign (Campaigns must be launched at the Campaign level, not at a sub-cell level).

2. Click the review chevron.

3. At the bottom of the screen, click launch campaign. Optionally, you can also select Actions > Launch Campaign in the Tool Bar. The "Launch Campaign" pop-up window is displayed.

4. Place check marks next to the processing steps where the platform should stop and require an approval before continuing on to the next step. For each option that's checked, an approval will be required before the Campaign can proceed. If your Campaign contains Cells and Splits, the selected approval steps apply to all cells in the Campaign.

• Queuing Statistics: Confirm the stats before letting content calculation begin.

• Content Permutations: Review the dynamic content permutations before letting personalization begin.

• Sending: Require approval of the overall Campaign before sending messages.

5. Click save and launch. The system begins the Campaign launch process, and the Status screen is displayed.