Custom Events Overview
A custom event is a signal from an external source that alerts Oracle Responsys when notable customer activity occurs and should be recorded, or alternatively when a notable activity occurs to a customer. Since custom events are time-based, they can occur multiple times for a customer with a recorded timestamp for each occurrence. In Oracle Responsys, administrators can define custom events from the Responsys Event Interface, if it is enabled for your account, or from the Account page.
Example: You might, for example, use custom events to record every time a customer makes a purchase. However, if you only need to record which customers are purchasers, which are non-purchasers, information about the last purchase, and so forth, it might be more convenient and just as efficient to use List fields.
Some industry-specific examples of customer events include the following:
- A travel company might define custom events for a new booking, fare alerts, change in departure times.
- A retailer might define custom events for a purchase, a new subscriber, or a new customer.
Custom events serve as entries into a published Responsys Program. Custom events can be triggered by any of these methods:
- List table loads
- Form submits
- Web Services API calls
- Event feeds (via Connect)
About Custom Events with App Channel
Important: This option is available only if App Channel List is enabled for your account.
You can associate a Custom Event with the App Channel List RIIDs so that you can market to known users on all their devices. With this option, Oracle Responsys creates an enactment for each device associated with a known recipient.
The Custom Event can be raised as a result of a data upload using Connect, Form, Import, and API.
Alternatively, you can market to known and unknown users using the App Channel List Device Identifier and API Key fields, see Responsys Event Interface to learn more.
Important: To successfully use this option, Enactment Batching must be enabled for the account.
Standard vs. Real-time Custom Events
Important: The Enactment Batching and Real-time Events features described in this section are only available if they are enabled for your account.
Standard custom events are the default, and they receive standard processing by Responsys. Real-time custom events are a special type of custom event that override how Responsys handles enactments when the Enactment Batching feature is enabled.
What is enactment batching? Enactment batching is a feature that groups enactments in a program together and then processes them. This feature improves overall system performance for our customers. When an account has Enactment Batching enabled, triggering a standard custom event cannot be used to perform near-real-time processing for any campaign type. Responsys will batch enactments together into a single enactment group before entering the enactments into a program. This results in at least a 10-minute delay between custom event triggering and entry into a Program. Responsys requires the Enactment Batching feature to be enabled when using trigger custom event with Mobile App campaigns in Program. Otherwise, the Mobile App campaign events in the program will not be processed.
When do I use real-time custom events? If your account has Enactment Batching enabled and you need to send near-real-time messages, then we highly recommend having your account enabled for the Real-time Events feature. This feature is intended for Responsys customers who use the Mobile App channel. Part of this feature enables you to create real-time custom events. When a real-time custom event is triggered, Responsys handles the enactments in near real-time instead of batching them. This ensures that your customers receive the campaign messages (including Email, SMS, Push, and In-app) without the delay imposed by enactment batching.