Session flowcharts

Sessions provide a way to create persistent, global "data artifacts" for use in all campaigns. Each session contains one or more flowcharts. Running a session flowchart makes the outcome of the session (the data artifacts) available globally to all campaigns.

Session flowcharts are not intended to be used in marketing campaigns. They do not have associated offers or start and end dates.

To work with sessions, use the Sessions menu. Advanced users can create session flowcharts to perform computations outside of a campaign and to perform ETL tasks that are not associated with any specific marketing initiative or program.

Often, a session flowchart starts with a Schedule process, to ensure that the data is refreshed on a regular basis.

When you run a session flowchart, the data artifacts that are created are then available for use in any number of campaign flowcharts.

Some typical examples follow:

  • Use the Create Seg process in a session flowchart to create strategic segments, which are segments that can be used in multiple campaigns.

    For example, start with a Schedule process, then a Select process, then a CreateSeg process to generate strategic segments for opt-ins, opt-outs, or global suppressions. The Schedule process periodically updates the segment, which is written out as a static member list. The resulting segment is then available for selection in campaign flowcharts.

  • Perform data preparation of large complex tables. A session flowchart can snapshot the data into smaller data chunks for reuse in Unica Campaign.
  • Set up periodic modeling tasks to score data or create derived fields for ETL/rollups. For example, if a session flowchart creates and writes out model scores that are then mapped in a table catalog/mapping, those model scores can be used in campaign flowcharts for selection and targeting.
Note: When you design flowcharts, be careful not to create cyclical dependencies among processes. For example, if a Select process provides input to a CreateSeg process, do not use a segment created by that CreateSeg process as input to the Select process. This situation will result in an error when you try to run the process.