Estimate the target of a send-out

[A_B_SE]

Hello,

I have created some ad-hoc typology rules and I would like to see how many customers will get the email when I run the workflow.

I have checked the box "Estimate the target" in the delivery node but I keep getting the whole target group and not the actual targeted group for the send-out:

As you can see all customers are excluded in the log but visually in the workflow I get 1000 and not 0 as I want.

[Manoj_Kumar_]

Hello @A_B_SE 

Instead of "Estimate the Target" select the "Prepare" option. The delivery is showing the correct counts of 1000 because they were the total target. After preparation, the final counts will appear under the To Send section.

[A_B_SE]

Hello,

Thank you for your answer.

The problem is that if I use "Prepare" I will create logs in the Broadlog table and I do not want to have any trace of this delivery in the recipient delivery logs. With "Prepare" I will get a Pending delivery for every customers and it will affect then the Typology rule that I'm testing (since it is based on recipient delivery logs).

[Denis_Bozonnet]

HI @A_B_SE 

What are you trying to do exactly? have the target audience in the workflow itself with all the exclusion rules that a delivery will trigger? and then what? Will you trigger the delivery? Or would you add extra segmentation in the workflow prior a 2nd final delivery?

Could you clarify the goal of the workflow?

Thanks

Denis

[A_B_SE]

Hello Denis,

I have put special filters (contact rules filters based on delivery logs data) as typology rules and I would like to estimate the target before sending the email.

The final goal of the workflow is to send out an email to customers but I would like to test the amount of customers that go through the analysis phase in the delivery and see the amount in the workflow.

I could use "Prepare" in the delivery as suggested by Manoy but then the customers will get logs (a row with the delivery with status "Pending") in the broadlog table and it will interfere with the typology rules next time I run the workflow for sending out the email.

I hope it is a little bit cleared now but let me know if not so I'll try to take some screenshots.

[Denis_Bozonnet · Accepted solution]

Hi @A_B_SE 

Valid requirements indeed sadly not sure you'll be able to realise it via the Delivery itself.

What i would suggest is to have your filter from the typology to be defined as pre-defined filter and use the pre-defined filter during the segmentation in the workflow. This way, you will ensure that the incoming audience in the delivery has already been analysed by these rules. You would still keep the rules as typology as a safety net in case they've been missed in the workflow.

Finally, it will become a modus operandi to the users to always use the pre-defined filters in their workflow.

As you've seen, using Estimate Target does not work as you think it will (I would have not recommended it either as it generates deliveries and temporary logs that would require to be purged) and, using Prepare although giving you the exact results, there would be a delivery created and logs that would have to be purged straightaway, so not ideal for your scenario either.

Doing these exclusions in the workflow  and using pre-defined filters to ease the creation of the workflow are probably a better solution.

Hope this helps,

Thanks

Denis

[A_B_SE]

Hello and thanks for your answer.

I was trying to implement this predefined filter in the workflow as you suggested but I couldn't find a way to do it since the filter is based on the delivery code of the delivery that the customers are going to get. That is why I put the filter in typology, in order to be able to exclude customers that have in the recipient delivery logs the same delivery code as the delivery I am going to send.

Maybe I'm missing something and it is possible to retrieve the delivery code of the delivery at the end of a workflow in a split in a previous stage and be able to  exclude the customers by "reading" the delivery code of the delivery they are going to get.

Do you know if it is possible to achieve such solution?

[Denis_Bozonnet]

Hi @A_B_SE 

I'm still confused on the exclusion rules, you can't exclude people from a delivery that they have not yet received and the way you formulate your use case makes me, unfortunately, think that way.

Now what you probably want to do is to exclude people who have already received a delivery and the exclusion is based on the delivery code you will send.

Am I right?

You can define pre-defined filters that take parameter however in your scenario, then when using the pre-defined filter you will enter the same delivery code that the one you will set on the delivery....

I acknowledge that you have to fill the delivery code twice and it's subject to error I can't think about anything else to match your scenario... Unless you do prepare of course and you put in place a strong purge mechanism to move these prepared deliveries  to the Deleted deliveries folder (which has its own limitations too by the way)

Thanks

Denis

[A_B_SE]

Hi @denis ,

Yes you are right, I'm trying to exclude customers who have already received a delivery and the exclusion is based on the delivery code I will send and also looking historically on other deliveries the customers received.

This is an example of a simplier filter (the one I built is more complex) I want to apply in the wkf:

As you said I cannot use it on the target audience before the delivery is prepared and that's why I have inserted it in typology. Therefore I would love to be able to get an estimate of the target audience through a test-run of the wkf.

Usually we have these filters in all the workflows as a split. The problem is that we need to adjust those manually and I thought it would be great to retrieve data automatically from the delivery properties of the delivery linked/connected to the workflow.

But I get what you are saying, the customers are not in the delivery-stage yet and as I understod I unfortunately cannot exclude those customers based on future events.

[Denis_Bozonnet]

Hi @A_B_SE 

True you can't use the rules you did in the typology rule as is, I never said you would. The pre-defined filter will be slightly different and you will have to type the delivery code itself.

Thanks

Denis