Designing programs

Note: For an overview of Program, see Understanding Program.

You use the Program Designer to graphically lay out programs. Using the Program Designer, you can:

  • Graphically map out your marketing campaign ideas and objectives.
  • Create different experiences for each individual in a program based on their customer profile as well as their actions over time.
  • Analyze your running programs in real- time so that you know the state of each stage and how the audience is flowing through the program.
  • Click View relationships to access the Object Relationship Navigator, which is an interactive feature that enables you to visualize how programs are related to different objects (filters, profile lists, etc.) in your account. Learn more about the Object Relationship Navigator.

Important: Links for a triggered launch can only be modified using the Live Report page for the triggered launch.

To create a program from scratch:

  1. Click on the side navigation bar, then click Create Program. (Not seeing this choice? Refer to the Side navigation bar changes topic.)

    The Create Program dialog opens.

  2. Enter a name, select a folder and a list, and, optionally, enter a description. The Name field allows only the following characters: A-Z a-z 0-9 space ! - = @ _ [ ] { }
  3. Click Create.

    The program is created and a blank canvas opens in the Program Designer.

  4. Click Settings to select program settings:
    1. Expand Options.
    2. Optionally, expand Tracking and variables, and click to enter the program entry field data you want to track for each program entry.

      You might want to track data such as the order number, the amount of a purchase, or the ID of an itinerary. For example, if you track the itinerary ID, customers with more than one planned trip can receive a one week reminder for one trip, and a three week reminder for another trip at the same time. To see the program's current event variables, click Event Variables in the Tracking and variables panel. For more information, see Understanding Program Entries.

    3. Optionally, expand Options, and in the Lifecycle options section, select when the program should be automatically unpublished, then type the email addresses to receive notifications about the program in the field below the drop-down list.

      By default, programs are unpublished after 90 days.

      If you select Auto unpublish on a specific date, type the date in the Enter date field or click the calendar icon to select the date.

    4. In the Enter email addresses to receive notification about this program field, type the email addresses that should receive notifications when the program in unpublished. Separate multiple addresses by commas.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Drag events, activities, interactions, and switches as needed from the palette on the left onto the canvas.

    For more information, see Events, Timers, Activities, and Switches.

    Tip: Use Notes to add comments to the entire program or directly to specific stages. Your comments are not included with any activity that a customer can view.

    To add a comment, drag a note onto the canvas and double-click it to open the Note dialog. To attach note to a stage, draw a line between the note and the stage.


  7. Connect the elements to indicate the path the program takes.


  8. Right-click each element to set its properties.
  9. Click Save.

To create a program from a template:

The View program templates page lists all available program templates. You can use these templates to create programs, but you cannot change the templates.

  1. On the Programs page, click View Templates.
  2. Click the name of the template you want to use.

    Tip: You can filter the list by channel or category, and search and sort the list.

  3. Edit the template as needed.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Enter the name, select a folder and list, and, optionally, enter a description.

    The name must contain only the following characters can include only these characters: A-Z a-z 0-9 space ! - = @ _ [ ] { }

  6. Click Save.

    The new program opens in the Program Designer.

To open an existing program:

Do one of the following:

  • On any page, click , then click the name of the program you want to open.
  • On the Programs page, click the name of the program you want to open.

To create a copy of a program:

Creating a copy of a program copies the standard filters in data switches, test programs, and all other objects such as campaigns, settings, and entry tracking variables.

  1. In the Program Designer, click the arrow next to the Save button and select Save As.
  2. In the Save As dialog, optionally change the name, folder, list, and description, then click Save.

The copy opens in the Program Designer.

To delete a program:

When you delete a program, only program entries are deleted, the campaigns associated with the program remain unchanged.

  1. On the Programs page, right-click the name of the program and select Delete.

    A confirmation message opens.

  2. Click Delete.

    The program is deleted.

Troubleshooting programs

If your program contains an associated list, filter(s), and/or campaign(s), and any of these are deleted (by you or anyone else), your program will be blocked. You can view warnings about blocked items on the Analyze tab. For more information, see Analyzing programs.

Best practices

Changing campaigns used by a program

  • Create campaigns specifically for use by your programs and keep them organized in different folders from campaigns that might be used for other purposes.
  • When changing a campaign, replace it in the program but keep the old campaign to preserve and make sense of the delivery and response data captured by Program while the old campaign was used. See Program Best Practices for details.
  • When you make fundamental changes to program diagrams, leave the existing elements and paths intact and build the adjustments around them to the extent possible.

Program design and management principles

  • Develop programs targeted for small, profitable segments.
  • Create programs that provide a way for the customer to exit the program.
  • Develop programs with a clear and focused purpose.
  • Remove unnecessary scheduled filters that result in an audience size of zero.
  • Unpublish programs that are no longer necessary.
  • Contact Oracle Responsys if you have a large audience.

Next steps

Events

Timers

Activities

Switches

Program, Create programs, Delete programs, About notes, Troubleshooting programs, program design

Learn more