Process Step
This feature is available in Aprimo Marketing Studio 9.1 only.
The process step is one of several steps in the Designer module in an interaction. Use a process step to perform these actions:
- Update subjects' attributes.
- Send an email message about a subject to an activity participant.
- Send information about subjects to an external file.
- Calculate a derived variable's value.
- Change a processing flag's value.
- Create a distribution group of record for a subject.
- Place a subject into a group or another interaction.
If an interaction targets audience members, you can also use a process step to add the audience members to an existing audience member group in an activity or to a Dialogue segment in a segmentation. If that group or segment adds subjects to another interaction, doing this links the interactions together.
You want to send subjects a survey to rate your customer service. You also want to send a coupon to each subject who submits the survey. To accomplish this, you create these interactions:
- First, you create an interaction that sends the survey to subjects. A process step places subjects who respond to the survey in a group.
- Next, you create an interaction that uses the group from the first interaction to send the coupon to the subjects as a thank you for submitting the survey.
For an example of how you can stage interactions, see Using Processing Flags and Staging Interactions.
If an interaction targets leads, you can use a process step to add the leads to another interaction that also targets leads. Doing this links the interactions together.
Key Fields
Details
Cost and Revenue
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Revenue Per Subject |
This field indicates the estimated revenue per subject in the currency used for the activity. |
|
Cost Per Subject |
This field indicates the estimated cost per subject in the currency used for the activity. |
Current Subjects
This section appears on the Details tab after you start the interaction.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Processed By This Step |
This field displays the number of subjects that have proceeded from the process step. |
|
Currently At This Step |
This field displays the number of subjects that have reached the process step but have not proceeded from it. Click the hyperlinked number to view more details about subjects currently at this step. Subjects who do not qualify for any path that follows the step might remain at a process step. |
Action
On the Action tab, you set actions the process step takes for subjects who enter the step.
Edit Attributes
This section appears on the Action tab and enables you to edit attributes on audience member, lead, or participant records.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Attribute |
Select the attribute or extended attribute to update. |
|
Operator |
Select the operation performed on the attribute. |
|
Value |
The Value field appears after you select an attribute. Contains the value to which the attribute is changed. |
Here are some examples of attributes you can set with a process step:
- An audience member's score
- An audience member's status for a particular activity
- Whether a participant attended an event
Your marketing organization assigns a score to each audience member every time you contact the audience member with an interaction. You use a process step to increment this score by 500 points for each contact. This allows you to tailor your marketing efforts to audience members based on the level of contact you have previously had with them.
For an example of how you can set an audience member's status with a process step, see Setting an Audience Member's Status in an Activity.
Set Processing Flag
This section appears on the Action tab and allows you to increase, decrease, or assign a static value to an existing processing flag.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Processing Flag |
Select the processing flag to update. A processing flag is a counter. The processing flag can be increased, decreased, or assigned a static value. |
|
Operator |
Select the operation to perform on the processing flag. A processing flag's value can be alphabetic or numeric. For a numeric processing flag, you can increment or decrement the value by the amount you specify. For an alphabetic processing flag, you can set the value to a different value. |
|
Value |
The Value field appears after you select a processing flag. Specify the value to which to set the processing flag. |
Audience Member Placement
This section appears only if the interaction targets audience members. You can use a process step to assign the subjects that go through the step to one or more of these items:
- An existing activity audience member group
- An existing audience member group in a Dialogue tool
If you use the selected group or segment to add subjects to another interaction, this action links the interactions together.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Activity/Lead Process |
Select the activity or lead process into which the process step places subjects. |
|
Groups |
Select the group into which the process step places subjects. |
You should use a group only as a tool for managing a population of audience members. For example, you can place audience members you have identified as candidates for another activity or interaction in a group. You should not use a group as a means of tracking marketing data for a specific audience member.
Lead Placement
This section appears if the interaction is in a lead process and places leads that go through the process step into another interaction in the same lead process.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Interaction |
Select the interaction into which the process step places subjects. The interaction's target group must be leads. The selected interaction's assignment mode must correspond to the current interaction's assignment mode. If the interaction's assignment mode is Draft, this field displays interactions in a lead process with Draft assignment mode. If the interaction's assignment mode is Production, this field displays interactions in a lead process with Production assignment mode. For you to select it, the interaction must reside in the same lead process as the interaction that contains the process step. |
Calculate Derived Variables
This section does not appear for interactions that target leads or participants. This section enables you to calculate derived variables for the subjects that go through the process step. A derived variable enables you to create data by using existing data.
You can calculate only derived variables in production. After you calculate a derived variable, you can define a subsequent path that uses the calculation results to determine how subjects should proceed through the interaction.
You are sending an email message that highlights your new products and services to your customers. You want to showcase your higher-end products to those customers who have spent more money on your products in the past year. You create these email messages:
- The first message is for customers who spent more than $100,000 on your products in the past year.
- The second message is for customers who spent from $35,000 to $100,000 on your products in the past year.
- The third message is for customers who spent less than $35,000 on your products in the past year.
The graphic shows the part of the interaction design that involves derived variables.
The table explains the actions that occur in the interaction.
| Number | Action |
|---|---|
1 | The process step calculates the derived variable that determines how much each audience member in the interaction spent during the past year. For each audience member, the calculation result is saved in the Amount Spent in the Last Year extended attribute. |
2 | This path uses attribute criteria to determine which audience members should go through it. Only the audience members who have spent more than $100,000 in the last year proceed down this path. This data is stored in the Amount Spent in the Last Year extended attribute. |
3 | This path uses attribute criteria to determine which audience members should go through it. Only the audience members who spent from $35,000 to $100,000 proceed down this path. This data is stored in the Amount Spent in the Last Year extended attribute. |
4 | This path handles all audience members who did not qualify for the other paths. |
Set Distribution Group of Record
This section appears only for interactions in a lead process. You use this section to create a distribution group of record for an audience member or a company.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Set Distribution Group of Record |
A distribution group of record contains:
The process step derives this information from a lead. A distribution group of record indicates that the distribution group has established a relationship with the audience member or company for the given product. This relationship can be given priority in future lead assignments. If you set the association to Yes - By Audience Member, the step creates a distribution group of record for the audience member in the lead. You can view the distribution groups of record for an audience member in the master audience member list. If you set the association to Yes - By Company, the step derives the company from the audience member record in the lead. In this case, if the audience member is not associated with a company, no company distribution group of record is created. You can view the distribution groups of record for a company in the master companies list. If you want an interaction to set the distribution group of record for both audience members and companies, create two process steps. Configure one process step to set the distribution group of record for companies. Configure the other process step to set the distribution group of record for audience members. |
Notification
Use a process step to send a notification to participants about the subjects processed by the step. You can insert tags for these items into the notification:
- Field tags for attributes from the subject's record
- Field tags for form fields on inbound forms
When the application sends the notification, it replaces the field tag with the actual value from the subject's record. A notification can also include a link to an inbound form that you created for audience members and participants, or leads and participants, depending on the target group.
For an example of an interaction design with a process step that sends a notification, see Sending a Notification with a Process Step.
After you define your notification, you can preview its appearance and send a test notification.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Subject |
Type the subject line a participant sees in the notification. |
|
Reply Email Address |
Type the notification's reply email address. |
|
Email Format |
Select whether to send the notification as an HTML email message or a plain text email message. |
|
Email Address |
Enter the email address to which to send the notification.
|
|
Recipients |
Select the participants who receive the notification. You can select any participants in the current activity or lead process. Use this feature carefully. Depending on the notification frequency, every participant you select receives an email message for every subject the step processes. |
|
Notification Frequency |
Select how often to send the notifications to the recipients. |
Message Content
Use this section to define the notification's message. In the content of the message, you can insert links for these items:
- Inbound forms
- Form fields from existing inbound forms
- Field tags for attributes from the subject's record
Notification Attachments
Use this section to attach a separate physical file to the notification. Every notification the step sends includes the attachment.
You must specify an extension with the file name. If you do not specify an extension, the participant might be unable to open the file. For example, if you are attaching an Adobe PDF file to your email message, you must specify the .pdf extension in the attached file's name.
Notification Previews
You can preview a notification to verify its content before the interaction runs. You must define the notification's message content before you can preview or test the notification. To preview the message content, click the Preview button on the Notification tab. When you preview a notification that contains tags for attributes or response history results, you continue to see the tags. The interaction replaces these tags with the values from a specific subject record when the interaction runs. To verify the tags work as you intend, test the notification.
Notification Tests
You should test a notification to verify it appears correctly. You must define the message content before you can test the notification. To test a notification, click the Test button on the Notification tab.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
User's Email |
Type the email address to which to send the test notification. |
|
Audience Member or Leads |
Select the subject record to use to construct the test notification. If the interaction targets audience members, you can use only audience member records in either the activity or the lead process. If the interaction targets leads, you can use any lead record found in the domain. The lead record also shows the product interest of the lead. If your message contains field tags for attributes or inbound form fields, the test notification replaces the field tags with the actual values from the audience member or lead record. |
|
Participant |
Select the participant record to use for the test notification. Only participants of the lead process appear in this field. |