SMS: Configuring the SMS process in a Unica Campaign flowchart

If Unica Campaign is integrated with Acoustic Campaign, you can configure the SMS process in a flowchart to send SMS text messages.

Before you begin

Before you can perform this task, the following actions must be completed:

  • In Unica Campaign: Create a marketing campaign and add a flowchart to it.
  • In Acoustic Campaign: Create the SMS template and body.
  • The Acoustic Campaign user must provide the Unica Campaign user with the following details:
    • The name of the Acoustic Campaign database to use for the contact list that will be generated by Unica Campaign. This is the database for the specific SMS channel that will be used to send the messages.
    • The list of Acoustic Campaign database table fields, with the data type for each field (Text, Date, Time, etc.) and data format examples.
    • The name of the Acoustic Campaign SMS template.
    • Whether to create a new contact list or update an existing one (when the flowchart runs).
    • Whether to override the existing SMS name with a new name (for example, to identify the flowchart that was used to send the message).
    • Whether the SMS text message should be sent immediately when the Unica Campaign flowchart runs in production mode.

About this task

A flowchart can include multiple channels (Email, SMS, Push), but each channel must be configured as a separate process. This topic explains how to use the SMS process box in a Unica Campaign flowchart.

Note: SMS messages must be sent either by configuring message delivery in the SMS process box or by using the Send Experience in IBM Marketing Cloud. Triggering SMS messages with an IBM Marketing Cloud program is not supported with the Unica Campaign integration.

Procedure

  1. Configure processes in the flowchart to select the segments that will be used for the SMS text messaging Unica Campaign. As with any flowchart, you can use multiple processes, such as Select, Segment, and Merge.
  2. Add a SMS process to the flowchart. The SMS process must be the last process in the flowchart.
  3. Connect at least one of the processes that you created in step 1 as input to the SMS process. For example:
    • Connect a single Select process (such as all males age 25-31) into the SMS process.
    • Connect multiple Select processes (such as High, Medium, and Low value contacts) into the SMS process.
    • Segment customers by geography, and connect each segment to a separate SMS process (to generate unique lists for separate messaging by region).
  4. Double-click the SMS process to open the SMS process configuration dialog.
  5. Configure the Acoustic Campaign properties tab of the SMS process:

    This table describes each property on the Engage properties tab.

    Engage properties tab (SMS process)

    Engage database

    Required. Select the flexible Engage database associated with the contact list. All shared Engage databases are listed. You must select the flexible database that is used for the SMS channel.

    If you are using Email, SMS, and Push channels in the integration, use a separate database for each channel.

    Selected input cells

    Required. Select the segments who will receive the SMS text message. The input cells that you see depend on which process boxes (such as Select or Segment) are connected to the SMS process. For example, if two Select processes are providing input to the SMS process, two input cells are listed. Typically, you select all of the input cells. All of the IDs from the selected cells are then available to create the contact list.

    Select all

    Quickly select all of the listed input cells (the segments that are connected as input to the SMS process).

    Clear all

    Quickly clear the list of selections.

    Use single contact list

    Select Use single contact list to use the same contact list every time the process runs. Then select an Engage contact list. All contacts in the list will be included.

    Check Clear contact list before updating if you want to remove all contacts from the list before reusing the list for a new run.

    Use the following controls to indicate how to update the contact list upon each subsequent run:

    • Always add new contacts: Do not update matching contacts. If the Unica Campaign data includes contacts that are not in the list, add them to the list.
    • Update matching contacts; skip contacts that are not found: Update an existing contact with data from Unica Campaign. Do not add any new contacts to the list.
    • Update matching contacts; add contacts that are not found: Update an existing contact with data from Unica Campaign. If a contact is not in the list, add it.

    When you do a test or production run of the process box, a contact list is created or updated. All contacts in the list will be included.

    Create new contact list for every run

    Select Create new contact list for every run if you want to create a new contact list every time the process runs. All contacts in the list will be included.

    Specify a Name for the contact list.

    Select either Add suffix or Add prefix to indicate whether to include the timestamp at the start or end of the filename. A timestamp for the process run is always added to ensure that the list name is unique.

    Optionally, include the Unica Campaign ID and/or the SMS Cell name as part of the filename.

  6. Configure the Content customization tab of the SMS process:

    This table describes each property on the SMS process Content customization tab.

    Content customization tab (SMS process)

    SMS template

    Required. Select an Engage SMS template. All shared templates are listed. The template determines the content of the SMS text message. If you do not make any changes in this dialog box, then all content comes directly from the template. Any changes that you make here override the content from the template. Changes are not saved to the template, but are used in the SMS text message that is sent for the current run of this process box.

    SMS name

    Required. The SMS name identifies the mailing in Engage and Unica Campaign. The name that you specify is used instead of the SMS Name that is specified in the Engage template. Use a name that indicates the purpose of the message and its flowchart, so you can easily identify it later. Use static text only (no variables). Recipients never see this name.

    To support response tracking, a timestamp for the process run is added to the name at process run time to ensure that the SMS name is unique for every process run. Additionally, the Unica Campaign code is included to track responses. This unique SMS name is included in every event generated by Engage, so it is used to correlate responses.

    Note: The maximum number of characters that can be used for the SMS Name is 256. This includes the timestamp that is appended and the Unica Campaign code that is added as a prefix. If the number of characters for the SMS Name exceeds 256, the name that is entered by the user is truncated.

    Send SMS to all contacts immediately

    Important: This option immediately delivers SMS messages to all recipients when you do a production run in Unica Campaign. We recommend that you do a test run first.
    • The Send SMS to all contacts immediately option is available only after you select the SMS Template.
    • If you check Send SMS to all contacts immediately, the message is sent to all recipients when you do a production run in Unica Campaign. (Note that a test run in Unica Campaign never does a send, regardless of whether this option is selected.)
    • Leave this option unchecked if you prefer to use IBM Engage to send the messages. When this option is not checked, a production run in Unica Campaign uploads the contact list to Engage but does not send out the SMS messages. You can then initiate/schedule the send from Engage.
  7. Configure the Field mappings tab of the SMS process:

    This table describes each property on the SMS process Field mappings tab.

    Field mappings tab (SMS process)

    RefreshRefresh

    Refresh the table fields information for the selected Engage database. Use this option if any new fields are added to the Engage database or if any existing fields are modified.

    Important: If the fields information is modified, all the table column mapping information is removed. You must validate all the field mappings after refresh completes.

    Candidate fields

    This list shows all of the available fields from all of the processes that are providing input to the SMS process. These are the Unica Campaign fields that contain data such as contact names and addresses, demographics, purchase history, or other information stored in Unica Campaign databases or flat files.

    Fields to export to Engage

    The fields in this list provide data to create or update the Engage contact list. The values for the mapped fields come from Unica Campaign databases or flat files.

    For example, if you map the Unica Campaign field FirstName to the Engage field CustomerFirstName, the values are pulled from the Unica Campaign FirstName field. When the contact list is uploaded to Engage, the value of the Campaign FirstName field will be used to update the CustomerFirstName field in the Engage database. Engage will then use the newly updated CustomerFirstName field when populating the SMS template.

    When you map Campaign Candidate fields to Fields to export to Engage, be sure that the mapped fields use the same Field Type (data type), such as Text, Date, Time, etc. If the data types do not match, errors occur when the system tries to import the values in the Candidate fields into the mapped Engage database fields.

    Ensure that the order of fields in the list matches the order of the fields in the Engage contact list. Use the arrow icons to move a selected field up or down in the list. For example, move First Name before Last Name. Note: The order of the fields in this list determines the order of the fields in the commas-separated values (CSV) file that is created to form the contact list.

    If a field for a specific record lacks a value, that field is left empty in the contact list. In other words, that field is not populated in the comma-separated values (CSV) field that is used to create the contact list.

    Profile

    It can be helpful to see the actual values that are stored in a database field in Campaign. To do so, select a Candidate field and click Profile. Wait until profiling is complete to ensure that you see all of the values. For example, profile a field called Surname to see a list of names that are stored in that field.

    Derived fields

    Optionally, click the Derived fields button to create a new variable for querying, segmenting, sorting, calculating, or providing output to a table. Derived fields are variables that do not exist in a data source and are created from one or more existing fields, even across different data sources.

  8. Configure the General tab of the SMS process:

    This table describes each property on the SMS process General tab.

    General tab (SMS process)

    Process name

    Assign a descriptive name. The process name is used as the box label on the flowchart. It is also used in various dialogs and reports to identify the process. Customers never see this name.

    Note

    Provide information to help you or others understand the purpose or result of this process. The content of this field appears when you rest your cursor over the process box in a flowchart. Customers never see this note.

  9. Click OK to save and close the configuration dialog.
  10. Save the flowchart.

What to do next

Now you are ready to do a test run: See SMS: Doing a test run. A test run is important because it is your opportunity to confirm that the text messages are properly configured before you send them out into the world.