The diagram below shows how stages, actions, and events work together to form a campaign. The example shows a simple campaign that sends an e-mail to prospective customers inviting them to register at a Web site.
The campaign contains three stages: the initial or root stage, a Thank You stage, and a Reminder stage. The Thank You and Reminder stages are child stages of the root.
Root Stage
The root or initial stage starts as soon as the campaign is deployed to the production server (or any future start date specified for the campaign is reached). In the example, the root stage contains two actions that are executed simultaneously:
Send Email. The first action sends an e-mail asking customers to register on the Web site. The e-mail can be targeted to specific segments. The e-mail also can contain a link to a landing page on the site where users can fill out a registration form. If the user does register (an event), the Thank You stage of the campaign is triggered.
Wait 2 Weeks. The second action is a timer that waits for two weeks. When the timer expires, the Reminder stage is started for those customers who have not passed through the Thank You stage.
Thank You Child Stage
The Thank You stage of the campaign has one action that sends a follow-up e-mail to customers who register at the site.
Reminder Child Stage
The Reminder stage of the campaign has two actions. It sends an e-mail reminding the customer to register, and it also publishes a reminder on the Web site. The stage is configured to include only customers who have not completed the Thank You stage. For more information, see Configuring Preemptive Stages.
