Creating and Managing Promotional Campaigns

 

This topic contains step-by-step information for defining a new campaign or modifying existing campaigns within the BEA E-Business Control Center. For conceptual descriptions of a campaign or for discussions of the business applications of campaigns, see Roadmap for Creating Promotional Campaigns.

This topic includes the following sections:

• Creating a New Promotional Campaign

  • Specifying General Campaign Information

  • Adding Scenarios to the Campaign

  • Adding Actions to Your Scenarios

  • Entering the Campaign Duration and End Criteria

• Locating Existing Campaigns

• Modifying Existing Campaigns

  • Deactivating and Reactivating Campaigns

• Deleting Existing Campaigns

• Debugging Campaigns

  • Reactivating Campaigns That Have Ended Because of Goals Being Met

 

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Creating a New Promotional Campaign

To create a new promotional campaign, follow these steps:

1. From the BEA E-Business Control Center, choose File -> New -> Business Logic -> Campaign. The Campaign Editor window opens, as shown in Figure 10-1.

   Figure 10-1 Campaign Editor Window

   
    

2. You must now follow the steps provided in the following sections to:

   • Specifying General Campaign Information

   • Adding Scenarios to the Campaign

   • Adding Actions to Your Scenarios

   • Entering the Campaign Duration and End Criteria

Specifying General Campaign Information

In the General pane (Figure 10-2), enter a description, campaign sponsor, and optionally, a goal description.

Figure 10-2 General Campaign Information Pane

 

Adding Scenarios to the Campaign

Because campaigns are groups of scenarios that are associated with a business goal, scenarios are at the very heart of your campaign. In scenarios, you will specify one or more actions to take place on your Web site when certain conditions are met.

To add scenarios to the campaign:

1. In the Scenarios pane, click New Scenario. The New Scenario window opens, displaying a list of scenario templates, as shown in Figure 10-3.

   Note: For a description of each scenario template, see Using Scenario Templates.

   If you would rather create a scenario by copying an existing scenario, click an existing scenario name in the Scenarios list to select it and then click Duplicate. A copy of the scenario, along with its actions, appears in the Scenarios list. You can then click Edit to modify the scenario as appropriate.

   Figure 10-3 Scenarios Pane

   
    

2. Select a scenario template and click OK. The Scenario Properties window opens, as shown in Figure 10-4.

   To start with a blank scenario, select Default.

   Figure 10-4 Scenario Properties Window

   
    

3. Enter a unique name for the scenario in the Scenario Name field, and a description of the scenario in the Scenario Description text area.

4. If you want to select customer segments at the scenario level, you may do so now by clicking the Select Segments button.

   Note: For an explanation of why you might want to select customer segments at the scenario level and how this is different from selecting segments at the scenario action level, see Customer Segments in Scenario Actions. To select customer segments, you must have previously created them. For information on creating customer segments, see "Using Customer Segments to Target High-Value Markets."

5. Click OK.

6. A message appears indicating that the new scenario has been created and that you may now add actions to the scenario. Click OK. The scenario name you specified appears in the Scenarios list.

   If you selected customer segments, these appear in addition to the scenario name in the Scenarios list.

7. Add actions to the scenario, as described in Adding Actions to Your Scenarios.

Adding Actions to Your Scenarios

Now that you have defined your scenario, you must add actions to it. There are three types of actions you can add to a scenario:

• Ad Actions

• E-mail Actions

• Discount Actions (available only with WebLogic Portal)

Duplicating Actions

Here is a tip to use after you have created other actions. Instead of creating a brand new action, you can save editing time by duplicating an existing action that has similar settings to the action you want to create. To do this, select the action you want to duplicate, and click the Duplicate button. A duplicate action is added to the scenario. You can double-click the new action to edit it.

Ad Actions

When you specify an ad action, you are defining criteria that will be used to select an appropriate ad for your online customer from a number of ads that are stored in your organization's content management system. Be sure that you have already developed these ads and that the ads exist within your content management system. For more information, see Authoring Ads or "Describing Ads in Your Content Management System" in "Displaying Ads."

To add ad actions to your scenario, follow these steps:

1. Select the name of the scenario to which you want to add the action.

2. Click the New Action button, and select Ad. The New Ad Action window appears, as shown in Figure 10-5.

   Figure 10-5 New Ad Action Window

   
    

3. Click the check boxes shown in the Conditions portion of the New Ad Action window to select the condition(s) under which the ad will be displayed. Text describing the conditions you selected appears in the Action portion of the New Ad Action window.

   You must add at least one condition, or you will not be able to save the scenario action. For an explanation of the possible conditions, see "Listing of the Available Conditions" in "Building Conditions and Queries in the BEA E-Business Control Center."

   Tip: You can use conditions in ways that always evaluate to true. For example, you can select the It Is after a Given Date condition and then specify the date as January 1, 1970.

4. For each condition you select, you must specify values for any bracketed hyperlinked text that appears in the Action portion of the window.

   For example, if you selected the Date Is condition, you must specify a value for the hyperlinked [date] text in "the date is [date]" condition statement, shown in the Action portion of the New Ad Action window.

   To specify values for bracketed hyperlinked text, just click the text. Depending upon the condition and the hyperlink, a window or a dialog box opens. Table 10-1 provides a consolidated listing of the conditions and indicates where to look if you need detailed instructions for any of the corresponding windows/dialog boxes.

   Note: Table 10-1 shows all the conditions that may be used within the E-Business Control Center. Therefore, not all conditions shown here may apply to the action you are creating.

   Table 10-1 Instructions for Building Conditions

   Condition(s)	Relevant Instructions in the "Building Conditions and Queries in the BEA E-Business Control Center" chapter
   The visitor is a member of a predefined customer segment	"Using the Select Customer Segments Window"
   A visitor, HTTP session, HTTP request, or an event has specific characteristics	"Using the Properties and Visitor Characteristics Windows"
   An event (such as login or click) has occurred	"Using the Select Events Window"
   Dates and times	"Important Note About Dates and Times" (The dates and times you set are based on universal time [UTC].) "Using the Date/Time Entry Dialog Boxes"
   There is a specific item in the shopping cart, there is an item from a given category in the shopping cart, the value of items in the cart is a certain amount Note: This condition is available only in WebLogic Portal.	"Using Quantity Selector or Currency Selector Dialog Boxes" "Using the Select Operator Dialog Box" "Using the Select Product Categories/Items Windows"
   A random number falls within a given range	"Using the Enter a Range Dialog Box"

   
    

5. If you selected more than one condition, you may want to click the All hyperlink in the When All Of These Conditions Apply phrase to change All to Any.

   The Any/All link acts as a toggle. Clicking on Any will change it to All, and visa versa.

6. Click the [empty ad search] hyperlink. The Ad Search window opens. Follow the instructions in "Constructing Queries" in "Building Conditions and Queries in the BEA E-Business Control Center." to specify criteria for the ad that should be displayed.

   If you have not set up connection settings to the server for searching your ad database, or if you have not signed in to this area of the server yet, the Connection Setup window appears. If you have already set up a server connection, select the name of the connection in the Display Name field, and enter your user name and password. If you have not set up a connection to the server yet, see "Connecting to the Server" in the "Introduction to the BEA E-Business Control Center" for information.

7. Click the [this placeholder] hyperlink. The Select Placeholders window opens, as shown in Figure 10-6.

   To select placeholders, you must have previously created them. For information on creating placeholders, see "Creating Ad Placeholder Files" in "Displaying Ads."

   Figure 10-6 Select Placeholders Window

   
    

8. In the Select Placeholders window, move the placeholder(s) that will display the ads into the Selected Placeholders list.

   Verify that you are selecting the appropriate placeholder by viewing the text shown in the Placeholder Description text area.

9. Click OK. The Select Placeholders window closes. The name of the placeholder(s) appears in place of the generic [Placeholder] hyperlink in the Action portion of the New Ad Action window.

   You can click the new link to edit the placeholder(s) used.

10. Click the [the campaign ends] hyperlink. The Select Duration window appears, as shown in Figure 10-7.

    Figure 10-7 Select Duration Dialog Box

    
     

11. In the Select Duration dialog box, set a time at which the ad will be cleared from the placeholder, and click OK.

    For example, if a promotion within your campaign ends prior to the end of the campaign, this feature helps ensure that promotional ads don't appear after the promotion ends.

    The date and time you set is in relation to universal time (UTC). For more information, see "Important Note About Dates and Times" in "Building Conditions and Queries in the BEA E-Business Control Center."

12. For information on the [Do not remove any other ads] hyperlink, see Clearing Campaign Queries from Ad Placeholders.

    Figure 10-8 Placement Options Dialog Box

    
     

13. If you want to change the ad's display priority, click the [Normal] hyperlink, change the priority in the Select Display Priority dialog box, and click OK.

    The display priority value appears in place of the Normal hyperlink in the Action portion of the New Ad Action window.

    For more information on ad display priorities, see Authoring Ads.

14. If you want the scenario to run only once per visitor, select the Once This Action Is Performed, Do Not Run the Scenario Again for This Visitor option at the bottom of the New Ad Action window.

15. Click OK. The New Ad Action window closes. The conditions and corresponding actions you selected appear beneath the scenario name (and if applicable, customer segments) in the Scenarios list.

You may add different types of scenario actions to your scenario. For example, you may now want to add a discount or e-mail action to the same scenario where you just added the ad action. You may also choose to add another ad action to the same scenario. (Whether you do so or not depends upon whether you want to target the same segments that are specified in this scenario.)

The Flexibility of Campaign Queries in Placeholders

In the E-Business Control Center, a business analyst can create a scenario action that places a query in a specific ad placeholder when an event or some other state triggers the scenario.

WebLogic Portal uses a table to keep track of which scenario-specific queries in a placeholder apply to which customer IDs. For example, if Pat Gomes triggers a scenario to place a query in the top-banner placeholder, WebLogic Portal stores the Pat Gomes/top-banner-placeholder/scenario-query association in a table in its data repository.

Once a scenario places a query in a placeholder for a specific user, WebLogic Portal keeps the query in the placeholder until any of the following occurs:

• The campaign achieves its goal for running the scenario query and displaying the corresponding ad.

• The campaign ends because it has achieved some other goal, the end date/time for the campaign has arrived, or a business analyst ends the campaign in the E-Business Control Center.

• An event or system state triggers another action for the scenario (or re-triggers the same action) that placed the query in the placeholder.

  Scenarios can contain multiple actions that place queries in one or more placeholders under different conditions. For example, when Pat Gomes logs in, scenario1 can place queryA in the top-banner placeholder. When Pat Gomes adds a drill to the shopping cart, scenario1 can place queryB in the top-banner placeholder. However, when a scenario engages a scenario action, it can place only one query in a placeholder for a given customer, and the query remains in the placeholder until the scenario replaces it. For example, when Pat Gomes adds a drill to the shopping cart, scenario1 replaces its queryA with queryB.

• The date/time that you specify in the Select Duration window (by clicking [the campaign ends] hyperlink in the Ad Action window) has expired.

• You click the [Do not remove any other ads] hyperlink in an ad action and select one of the "Remove" options. When the action is triggered, the relevant queries are cleared.

• You use the Tools -> Reset Campaigns option in the E-Business Control Center. (See Debugging Campaigns.)

Because of the dynamic nature of campaign queries, some actions might leave a query stranded in a placeholder for a specific user, even across multiple sessions on the Web site.

For example:

• After a scenario action places a query in the top-banner placeholder for Pat Gomes, a business analyst deletes the scenario action. Deleting the scenario action does not clear the query from the placeholder. Only another action from the same scenario can replace the query. Instead of deleting the scenario or scenario action, we recommend that you modify the scenario action to place queries for generic ads in the placeholder. Then, when the scenario action is triggered, it replaces the campaign-specific query with a generic, default ad query.

• An action in one scenario puts a query in a placeholder, and an action in another scenario puts another query in the placeholder. If both queries have an equal change of being run, the ads that appear in the placeholder become more unpredictable. There is even a possibility that multiple campaigns can put queries in one placeholder, adding further unpredictability to the ads that are displayed in that placeholder.

• Pat Gomes places a drill in the shopping cart and triggers a scenario action to place a query in a shopping-cart placeholder. If Pat Gomes removes the drill from the shopping cart, the scenario action does not remove its query from the shopping-cart placeholder. Only another action from the same scenario can replace the query. For example, along with the action that places a query in the shopping-cart placeholder when a user adds a drill to the shopping cart, you can create an action for the same scenario that places queries for generic ads in the shopping-cart placeholder when a user removes a drill from the shopping cart.

Clearing Campaign Queries from Ad Placeholders

In general, for clearing ad placeholders, we recommend that for each scenario that includes an ad-placeholder action, you include an additional scenario action that displays queries for generic ads in the same ad placeholder when a user logs in.

However, there may be cases where you want to clear out all campaign queries from a placeholder to make sure the query being put in a placeholder has no competition from other campaign queries.

Figure 10-9 shows how an ad placeholder can contain multiple queries that compete with each other.

Figure 10-9 Queries in an Ad Placeholder

 

Assuming all queries have the same priority (see "Determining Which Query is Run in "Displaying Ads"), all queries in this placeholder have an equal chance of being run, giving you less certainty about which ad will appear.

Note: If the default queries are set to be suppressed if campaign queries are present, they will not be used if a campaign query is put in the placeholder. See "Suppressing Default Queries when Campaign Queries Exist" in "Displaying Ads.

If your organizational policies allow it, you can set an ad action to remove other campaign queries from a placeholder when the action is run, thereby ensuring that the query placed by the action is run in the placeholder (assuming the default queries are suppressed, as explained in the previous note).

To remove other campaign queries when an action is run:

1. With the campaign open in the E-Business Control Center, open the scenario ad action you want to work with.

   If you need to create a scenario or ad action, see Adding Scenarios to the Campaign and Adding Actions to Your Scenarios.

2. In the Ad Action window, click the "Do not remove any other ads" link, as shown in Figure 10-10.

   Figure 10-10 Removing Other Campaign Queries

   
    

   The Placement Options dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 10-11.

   Figure 10-11 Placement Options Window

   
    

3. Select whether you want to remove queries in the placeholder put there by the current campaign, or whether you want to remove queries in the placeholder put there by any campaign.

Default queries always remain in the placeholder unless you delete them in the placeholder editor in the E-Business Control Center. Even though they remain in placeholders, they do not necessarily run. Default queries will not run when a campaign query is present, if you have defined the default queries accordingly.

Note: There is an option in the E-Business Control Center that, among other things, lets you clear all ads (all campaign queries) put in placeholders by campaign actions (Tools -> Reset Campaigns). This option is primarily for campaign debugging purposes. See Debugging Campaigns.

E-mail Actions

As part of specifying an e-mail action—an action that automatically sends an e-mail to a visitor when the action is triggered—you will need to reference a previously developed e-mail message. Be sure that you have already developed some e-mail messages, as explained in Authoring E-mails.

When you specify e-mail actions, remember that e-mails will only be sent to those customers who visit your Web site, meet the conditions you specify for the action, and have not chosen to opt out of receiving e-mails.

To add e-mail actions to your scenario, follow these steps:

1. Select the name of the scenario to which you want to add the action.

2. Click the New Action button, and select E-mail. The New E-mail Action window appears, as shown in Figure 10-12.

   Figure 10-12 New E-mail Action Window

   
    

3. Click the check boxes shown in the Conditions portion of the New E-mail Action window to select the condition(s) under which the e-mail will be sent. Text describing the conditions you selected appear in the Action portion of the New E-mail Action window.

   You must add at least one condition, or you will not be able to save the scenario action. For an explanation of the possible conditions, see "Listing of the Available Conditions" in "Building Conditions and Queries in the BEA E-Business Control Center."

   Tip: You can use conditions in ways that always evaluate to true. For example, you can select the It Is after a Given Date condition and then specify the date as January 1, 1970.

4. For each condition you select, you must specify values for any bracketed hyperlinked text that appears in the Action portion of the window.

   For example, if you selected The Date Is condition, you must specify a value for the hyperlinked [date] text in "the date is [date]" condition statement, shown in the Action portion of the New E-mail Action window.

   To specify values for bracketed hyperlinked text, just click the text. Depending on the condition and the hyperlink, a window or a dialog box opens. Table 10-1 provides a consolidated listing of the conditions and indicates where to look if you need detailed instructions for any of the corresponding windows/dialog boxes.

5. If you selected more than one condition, you may want to click the All hyperlink in the When All Of These Conditions Apply phrase to change All to Any. The Any/All link acts as a toggle. Clicking on Any will change it to All, and visa versa.

6. Click the [Server URL], [Subject], or [Sender Address] hyperlink. The Enter E-mail Information dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 10-13.

   Figure 10-13 Enter E-mail Information Dialog Box

   
    

7. In the URL for E-mail Content field, specify the e-mail that will be sent. You can type the URL of the e-mail, or you can click the Browse button to select the e-mail you want on the server.

   A valid server URL is the location of the file relative to your application directory. For example, if your file is found at PORTAL_HOME\applications\wlcsApp\wlcs\campaigns\emails\
   email.jsp on your sever, where wlcsApp is your enterprise application folder, the valid URL would be the path below that application directory to the e-mail JSP file. For example, /wlcs/campaigns/emails/email.jsp.

   Note: If the e-mail files are stored in a specific directory structure on the server, you will be able to use the Browse button to locate the e-mail messages you want. This directory structure is:
   
   PORTAL_HOME\applications\<app_name>\campaigns\emails
   
   where <app_name> is your enterprise application directory.

8. If you enter the URL manually, skip to step 11. in Adding Actions to Your Scenarios

9. If you click the Browse button to locate an e-mail, the Select E-mail Content window is displayed, as shown in Figure 10-14.

   Note: If you have not yet set up connection settings to the server for retrieving or previewing e-mail messages stored on the server, the Connection Setup window appears. If you have already set up a server connection, select the name of the connection in the Display Name field, and enter your user name and password. If you have not set up a connection to the server yet, see "Connecting to the Server" in the "Introduction to the BEA E-Business Control Center" for information.

   Figure 10-14 The Select E-mail Content Window

   
    

10. Select the e-mail you want, and click OK.

    The Select E-Mail Content window closes, and the URL of the e-mail appears in the Enter E-Mail Information window.

11. Enter a subject for the e-mail and an optional sender's e-mail address.

    Note: To preview the e-mail, click Preview. (You need a server connection to preview e-mail. See the previous Note.) When prompted to enter a user ID, the name you enter will be used to show a personalized version of the e-mail, and is inserted where the customer's real user ID would typically appear.) Click OK. A preview of the e-mail will be displayed in your Web browser.

12. Click OK. The Enter E-mail Information dialog box closes, and the e-mail URL, subject, and sender e-mail address (if applicable) appear in place of the generic hyperlinks in the Action portion of the New E-mail Action window.

13. If you want the scenario to run only once per visitor, select the Once This Action Is Performed, Do Not Run the Scenario Again for This Visitor option at the bottom of the New E-mail Action window.

    For example, if you wanted a given customer to receive only one e-mail, regardless of how many times that customer entered the site or matched the relevant conditions, you would select this option.

14. Click OK. The New E-mail Action window closes. The conditions and corresponding actions you selected appear beneath the scenario name (and if applicable, customer segments) in the Scenarios list.

You may add different types actions to your scenario. For example, you may now want to add an ad or discount action to the same scenario where you just added the e-mail action. You may also choose to add another e-mail action to the same scenario. (Whether you do so or not depends upon whether you want to target the same segments that are specified in this scenario.)

Discount Actions

If you use WebLogic Portal, the E-Business Control Center includes an option for specifying discounts as a scenario action.

As part of specifying a discount action, you will need to select from a list of predefined discounts. Be sure that you have already defined some discounts, as explained in "Defining a New Discount with the Discount Terms Wizard" or "Defining a New Discount with the Discount Editor" in "Defining Stand-Alone or Campaign Discounts."

To add discount actions to your scenario:

1. Select the name of the scenario to which you want to add the action.

2. Click the New Action button, and select Discount. The New Discount Action window appears, as shown in Figure 10-15.

   Figure 10-15 New Discount Action Window

   
    

3. Click the check boxes shown in the Conditions portion of the New Discount Action window to select the condition(s) under which the discount will be offered. Text describing the conditions you selected appear in the Action portion of the window.

   You must add at least one condition, or you will not be able to save the scenario action. For an explanation of the possible conditions, see "Listing of the Available Conditions" in "Building Conditions and Queries in the BEA E-Business Control Center."

   Tip: You can use conditions in ways that always evaluate to true. For example, you can select the It Is after a Given Date condition and then specify the date as January 1, 1970.

4. For each condition you select, you must specify values for any bracketed hyperlinked text that appears in the Action portion of the window.

   For example, if you selected The Date Is condition, you must specify a value for the hyperlinked [date] text in "the date is [date]" condition statement, shown in the Action portion of the New Discount Action window.

   To specify values for bracketed hyperlinked text, just click the text. Depending on the condition and the hyperlink, a window or a dialog box opens. Table 10-1 provides a consolidated listing of the conditions and indicates where to look if you need detailed instructions for any of the corresponding windows/dialog boxes.

5. If you selected more than one condition, you may want to click the All hyperlink in the When All Of These Conditions Apply phrase to change All to Any. The Any/All link acts as a toggle. Clicking on Any will change it to All, and visa versa.

6. Click the [Discount] or [Explanation] hyperlinks. The Select Discount window opens, as shown in Figure 10-16.

   Figure 10-16 Select Discount Window

   
    

7. In the Select Discount window, select the discount you want.

   Verify that you are selecting the appropriate discount by viewing the text shown in the Description text area.

8. Enter an optional explanation for the discount in the Discount Explanation field.

   The discount explanation may be displayed to customers receiving the discount, if your technical staff chooses to use it. For more information about discount explanations, see "Uses of Discounts" in "Defining Stand-Alone or Campaign Discounts."

9. Click OK. The Select Discount window closes. The discount name appears in place of the generic [Discount] hyperlink, and if you specified a discount explanation, the discount explanation appears in place of the generic [Explanation] hyperlink in the Action portion of the New Discount Action window.

10. If you want the scenario to run only once per visitor, select the Once This Action Is Performed, Do Not Run the Scenario Again for This Visitor option at the bottom of the New E-mail Action window.

    For example, if you want your customers to receive the discount only when they register, regardless of how many times they have entered the site or matched the relevant conditions, you would select this option.

11. Click OK. The New Discount Action window closes. The conditions and corresponding actions you selected appear beneath the scenario name (and if applicable, customer segments) in the Scenarios list.

You may add different types of scenario actions to your scenario. For example, since a customer only sees the results of a discount action in the shopping cart, you may also want to create an e-mail or ad action that notifies the customer about the discount in a place other than the shopping cart.

Entering the Campaign Duration and End Criteria

In the Start/Stop pane (Figure 10-17), enter a start date, start time, stop date, and stop time for your promotional campaign in the fields provided.

The dates and times you set are in relation to universal time (UTC). For more information, see "Important Note About Dates and Times" in "Building Conditions and Queries in the BEA E-Business Control Center."

Figure 10-17 Campaign Duration and End Criteria Pane

 

If your promotional campaign will contain scenarios with ad actions, you may now want to specify end criteria (goals). For more instructions on how to specify campaign end criteria, see Specifying Campaign End Criteria.

For more information about ad actions, see Designing Campaign Scenario Actions.

Specifying Campaign End Criteria

If you plan on using ad actions in your scenarios and want to end your campaign when certain ad-related goals are reached, you may want to supply some campaign end criteria. If the campaign end criteria are met, the campaign will be terminated even if the date on which this occurs is prior to the stop date you specified.

Note: To improve performance, your business engineer may create a cache that limits the number of times a campaign checks with the database to determine whether it has achieved its goal. By default, a campaign updates the cache every 5 minutes. If the cache contains stale data, then it may be possible for a campaign to exceed its goal. For more technical information about this performance-related topic, refer to "Campaign Service Properties" in the Deployment Guide documentation.

You can specify campaign end criteria based on the number of impressions (views) associated with the ad, the number of ad clickthroughs, or a combination of both.

To specify campaign end criteria:

1. In the End Criteria region of the Start/Stop pane, click New. The Goal Detail window opens, as shown in Figure 10-18.

   Figure 10-18 Goal Detail Window

   
    

2. In the Goal Type field, select whether you want this end criterion to be based on Ad Impressions or Ad Clickthroughs.

3. In the Target Number field, enter the number of ad impressions or ad clickthroughs required to meet the goal.

4. In the Specify Ads region, specify the ad(s) that will be used to count impressions and clickthroughs. You can enter the path and filename of an ad in the Enter Ad IDs field, or you can click the Get Ad IDs button to search your ad database for the ad(s) you want.

   Note: The ad identifier is usually the relative path to an ad file in your ad database. In the Tour Campaign 1 in the wlcsApp sample application, for example, the following ad identifier used is: Ads/wlcscm_ads/tourBannerFixup.jpg. However, the details of exactly what constitutes an ad identifier may vary from one content management system to another. Be sure to check with your business engineer for details.

5. If you manually enter an ad identifier, click Add. The ad identifier is added to the list below. Skip to step 15. in Entering the Campaign Duration and End Criteria

6. If you click the Get Ad IDs button to locate an ad, the Get Ad IDs window is displayed, as shown in Figure 10-19.

   Figure 10-19 The Get Ad IDs Window

   
    

7. In the Scenarios from This Campaign field, select the scenario containing the ad query you want.

   You can only perform ad searches in this window based on searches that are already defined in the scenario you selected. This ensures that you base your campaign end criteria on ads that are sure to be used by the scenario.

8. In the Ad Searches field, select the number of the query in the selected scenario that will retrieve the ad(s) you want.

9. Click the Retrieve Ad IDs button. The ads from that search appear in the Ad IDs pane. You can click the Preview button to view the selected ads in a browser.

   Note: If you have not set up connection settings to the server for searching your ad database, the Connection Setup window appears. If you have already set up a server connection, select the name of the connection in the Display Name field, and enter your user name and password. If you have not set up a connection to the server yet, see "Connecting to the Server" in the "Introduction to the BEA E-Business Control Center" for information.

10. Select the ad you want as part of your campaign end criteria, and click OK. The Get Ad IDs window disappears, and the ad you selected appear in the Ads to Be Tracked pane of the Goal Detail window.

11. If necessary, repeat the previous steps until all the ads you want are listed.

    Note: If you want to remove an ad identifier from the list, select it and click Remove.

12. In the Target Basis region, select whether the number you entered in the Target Number field can be reached by a total of All Ads in the Tracking List, or when Any Given Ad in the Tracking List reaches that number of clickthroughs or impressions.

13. In the Target Scope region, select whether you want to count the ads only within this campaign or across multiple campaigns.

    Choosing to count the ads across multiple campaigns means that if a visitor in another campaign views/clicks the ad, the impression/clickthrough would still be counted as an increment in this campaign toward meeting the goal.

14. Click OK. The Goal Detail window closes, and the information you specified appears in the Goals list (as shown in Figure 10-20).

    Figure 10-20 Goals List

    
     

15. If necessary, repeat the previous steps until you have specified all the end goals you want.

    Note: To modify a goal, select it and click Edit. To remove a goal from the Goal list, select it and click Delete.

16. At the bottom of the window, specify whether you want to end the campaign when ANY or All of the goals shown in the Goals list are met. These options are available only if you have multiple goals.

17. Save the campaign. For more information, see "Saving Files" in the "Introduction to the BEA E-Business Control Center."

 

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Locating Existing Campaigns

If you have defined many campaigns, you may find the need to locate specific campaigns or campaigns containing specific data.

The E-Business Control Center has a campaign search feature that lets you locate campaigns by keyword within campaign, campaign sponsor, activation status (active or deactivated campaigns), start and stop date ranges, and customer segments used.

To use the campaign search tool:

1. Click the Campaign Search icon on the Explorer toolbar. The Campaign Search window opens, as shown in Figure 10-21.

   Figure 10-21 Campaign Search Window

   
    

   Note: The Search function only works to locate campaigns. It does not allow you to search for other objects, such as customer segments or discounts.

2. Enter your search criteria. The more criteria you add to the search, the narrower the search will be.

   Use the following guidelines to help you search:

   • Keywords and Campaign Sponsor - Enter partial or full words. Separate each word with a space. Select the Name, Description, and Goal options to search in those fields. Deselect those options to prevent a search in those fields.

   • Activation Status - Select the Activation Status option if you want to search for Active or Deactivated campaigns. (See Deactivating and Reactivating Campaigns.) If you do not select this option, campaigns will be searched regardless of their status.

     An active campaign does not necessarily mean the campaign is running. Campaigns only run between the start/stop times you specified and when the appropriate conditions are met. Therefore, searching for an active campaign may not necessarily mean you are searching for a campaign that is running.

     When you click the More Options button, the following regions appear, as shown in Figure 10-22:

   • Dates - You can search for campaigns on or after a particular start date, on or before a particular stop date, or both (within a date range).

   • Customer Segments - To search for campaigns containing one or more specific customer segments, move the segments you want to search for into the Selected Segments list.

     If you specify customer segments as part of the search criteria, the search function will locate only campaigns that have those segments specified at the scenario level. If a campaign has the segments specified at the action level instead, the campaign will not be retrieved as a match. For more information about the differences between specifying customer segments at the scenario and scenario action levels, see Customer Segments in Scenario Actions.

     Figure 10-22 Expanded Campaign Search Window

     
      

3. Click Search. If any campaigns matching your criteria are found, they are displayed in the bottom portion of the Campaign Search window, as shown in Figure 10-23.

   Figure 10-23 Campaign Search Results

   
    

In the search results area, you can sort the columns by clicking the column names. You can also open a campaign in the search results by selecting it and clicking Open.

 

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Modifying Existing Campaigns

The E-Business Control Center lets you to view and modify existing campaigns. After you modify an active campaign, you also have the opportunity to reset aspects of the campaign, such as removing previously placed ads, clearing counts of ad impressions and clickthroughs, resetting scenarios that are set up to run once per visitor, and clearing pending e-mails.

To modify a campaign:

1. Open an existing campaign in the E-Business Control Center.

   For more information, see "Opening Files" in the "Introduction to the BEA E-Business Control Center."

   Tip: If there is a long list of campaign names, you might want to use the name filter or the search function to locate the campaign you want to modify. For more information about these options, see Locating Existing Campaigns.

2. To modify the campaign, follow the same instructions for creating a new campaign, starting from Specifying General Campaign Information. If you are interested in suspending an active campaign or reactivating a suspended campaign, see Deactivating and Reactivating Campaigns.

3. Save your modifications by clicking the Save icon in the main toolbar.

After you modify your campaign, you may want to reset certain aspects of the campaign, such as ads and pending e-mails. For more information, see Debugging Campaigns.

Warning: Be certain that the modifications you make are in line with your e-business strategy and that you entered the modifications correctly in the E-Business Control Center.

Deactivating and Reactivating Campaigns

Once campaigns are saved, they are considered active. (In other words, after the entire application is synchronized, the campaign will be ready to run between the start/stop times you specified and when the appropriate conditions are met.)

If for some reason you want to disqualify an active campaign from running or stop a running campaign prior to the specified stop date (or before end goals are reached, if your campaign contains them):

1. Open the campaign.

2. Select the Deactivate This Campaign check box in the Start/Stop pane.

3. In the warning dialog box that appears, click OK.

4. Save the campaign.

   In the Explorer window, the icon next to the deactivated campaign becomes a lighter color, indicating that it is deactivated.

Note: The application must be synchronized to the server for the live campaign to become deactivated. For the procedures on synchronizing, see "Synchronizing Application Data" in the Deployment Guide.

If at any time you want to reactivate a campaign, deselect the Deactivate This Campaign option, click OK at the prompt, and save the campaign.

After you synchronize the application to the server, the campaign becomes active. A campaign that is reactivated is once again ready to run between the start/stop times you specified and when the appropriate conditions are met.

 

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Deleting Existing Campaigns

When you delete a campaign in the E-Business Control Center, the campaign is removed from the server when you synchronize your application.

Warning: As with any deletion you make, be absolutely certain that you select the correct campaign and that you are sure you want to delete it. Deleted campaigns cannot be retrieved.

To delete an existing campaign, follow these steps:

1. If necessary, switch to the Campaigns view by clicking the Campaigns icon in the Explorer window. A list of campaigns appears in the Campaigns list.

2. Click the name of the campaign you want to delete. The campaign is highlighted.

   Tip: If there is a long list of campaign names, you might want to use the name filter or the search function to locate the campaign you want to delete. For more information about these options, see Locating Existing Campaigns.

3. To delete the campaign, click the Delete icon on the Explorer toolbar.

 

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Debugging Campaigns

While testing the campaigns you have created, it is helpful to reset the campaigns so they behave as if they have been deployed for the first time.

The E-Business Control Center has an option, designed primarily for debugging, that lets you:

• Remove previously placed ads from rotation

• Clear counts of ad impressions and clickthroughs

• Reset "run once per visitor" scenarios

• Clear pending e-mails

To reset campaign states:

1. Choose Tools -> Reset Campaigns in the menu. The Reset Campaign States window appears, as shown in Figure 10-24.

   Figure 10-24 The Reset Campaign States Dialog Box

   
    

2. In the Active Campaigns list, select the campaign you want to reset.

   Even Campaigns that have ended can be considered active and appear in the list. Only when the Deactivate This Campaign option is selected in the Start/Stop pane of a campaign does it not appear in the Active Campaigns list.

3. Select the appropriate reset options for the selected campaign.

4. Repeat the previous steps for all campaigns you want to reset.

5. Click OK.

   If you have not set up connection settings to the server, the Synchronization Setup window appears. If you have already set up a server connection, select the name of the connection in the Display Name field, and enter your user name and password. If you have not set up a connection to the server yet, see "Connecting to the Server" in the "Introduction to the BEA E-Business Control Center" for information. Click Connect.

   If you have already set up connections, but you have not yet logged in to the server for the current E-Business Control Center session, you must log on in the Logon window that appears.

6. The Clearing Campaigns window appears, showing you the progress of the reset.

7. When the reset is complete, as displayed in the Clearing Campaigns window, click OK. You can begin debugging your campaign(s).

You can also set the E-Business Control Center to automatically display the Reset Campaign States window after you synchronize. To do this, choose Tools -> Synchronization Settings in the menu. In the Synchronization Settings window, select the "Show reset options for active campaigns" option and click OK. Each time you synchronize, after clicking the Close button in the Synchronizing status window when synchronization is complete, the Reset Campaign States window appears, letting you clear campaign states.

Reactivating Campaigns That Have Ended Because of Goals Being Met

If a campaign that has ended because its goals were met prior to the end date of the campaign (see Specifying Campaign End Criteria), you can reactivate that campaign by resetting the ad impressions or clickthroughs that caused it to reach its goals and end.

1. Choose Tools -> Reset Campaigns in the menu. The Reset Campaign States window appears, as shown in Figure 10-24.

2. In the Active Campaigns list, select the campaign you want to reset.

3. Select the "Reset counts of ad impressions and clickthroughs" option.

4. Select any additional reset options you want.

5. Click OK.

   For more information, see Debugging Campaigns.

6. After the campaign states are reset, you must re-synchronize the application for the campaign to be reinstated.

   1. Choose Tools -> Synchronization Settings in the menu.

   2. In the Synchronization Settings window, select the "Update all files in the application" option.

      If you have made changes to the campaign, you can select the "Update only modified files in the application" option instead.

   3. Click OK.

   4. Synchronize the application. See "Synchronizing Application Data" in the "Introduction to the BEA E-Business Control Center."