Marketing Tools Version 7.18 This Documentation Is Provided Under Restrictions on Use and Are Protected by Intellectual Property Laws
Marketing tools Version 7.18 This documentation is provided under restrictions on use and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted in your license agreement or allowed by law, you may not use, copy, reproduce, translate, broadcast, modify, license, transmit, distribute, exhibit, perform, publish or display any part, in any form, or by any means. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of this documentation, unless required by law for interoperability, is prohibited.
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Set up an unsubscribe link in emails 9 Set up a redirection page for the recipients who unsubscribed 9 Add an unsubscribe link to a template 9 Website event tracking 11 Tracking code 12 Cookie files 13 Plan marketing events 13 Create a bulk email 16 Fill out the bulk email data 16 Add bulk email audience 17 Check duplicates in the email audience 19 Delete bulk email audience 20 How to set up bulk email click tracking 20 Add a campaign 20 General campaign workflow 21 Populate campaign profile 21 Create a lead 23 Create a trigger email 24 Fill out the trigger email data 24 Add a trigger email audience 25 Set up tracking of clicks from a trigger email 25 Create an email template 25 Create a new template 26 Set up the template in the Content Designer 27 Split (A/B) testing guidelines 38 General guidelines 38 Audience guidelines 38 Evaluation guidelines 39 Email progress 39 Email delivery progress chart 40 Email sending progress analytics 41 Email start/finish date 41 Sending log 41 Email sending progress summary dashboard 43 Send a test email 44 Set up website event tracking 46
Step 1. Enable the tracking functionality 47 Step 2. Set up the list of pages for tracking in Creatio 47 Step 3. Set up tracking of custom website events 48 Step 4. Embed the tracking code in your website 49 Manage event audience and responses 51 Add audience 51 Track event responses 52 Start a bulk email 53 Run synchronization manually 54 Schedule an email sending 54 Bulk email check-up 54 Set up campaign diagram 55 Campaign designer features 56 Set up the campaign properties 57 Lead management process 58 Qualification 59 Nurturing 59 Proceed to handoff 60 Awaiting sale 61 Start sending trigger emails 61 Set up a trigger 62 Trigger email check-up 62 Add template elements 62 Image 62 Button 66 Text 70 Divider 72 Navbar 74 Spacer 78 Run A/B tests 80 Create emails for split testing 80 Add audience 81 Start sending emails as part of the split test 81 Analyzing the results 81 Sending the better variant of the email to the remaining audience 82 Email delivery rates 83 Diagrams on sending and delivery errors 83 Delivery statistics 85 Send a system email 86
Campaign element reference 87 The Marketing email element 88 The Add audience element 90 The Triggered adding element 94 The Add from event element 97 The Add from landing element 99 The Add to event element 101 The Add data element 103 The Modify data element 107 The Timer element 108 The Exit from campaign element 112 Lead source tracking 113 Lead source tracking operation 114 Using cookie files in the lead source tracking 114 Using the UTM marks 115 Rules for determining lead sources (with examples) 115 Check bulk email sending status 120 Check the email progress 120 Check email completion status 120 Lead duplicate search 121 Check trigger email sending status 122 Trigger email sending progress 122 View a contact’s response 123 Set up a content block 124 Create a content block 125 Set up a content block 127 Banners 129 Section 133 Personal responses 143 The email was sent 144 The email was not sent 145 Changing responses 147 Configure restriction of the number of emails for sending 148 Set up tracking of lead sources 149 Specify the UTM marks: 149 Add a new lead channel 150 Add a new lead source 150 Add a website as a source 151 Embed a cookie tracking script on your website 151
Stop a bulk email 152 Stop an email before the sending starts 152 Stop an email after the sending has started 153 Monitor campaigns 153 Campaign log list 154 Types of logged campaign actions 155 Monitoring counters on the Campaign flow tab 155 Monitoring participants on the Audience tab 156 Predictive scoring of leads 157 Launch of predictive scoring 159 Data processed during predictive scoring calculation 160 Add custom HTML code to an email template 160 Adding a macro 161 Deleting a macro 163 Macro types 163 Open and click rates 167 Analyze the heatmap 169 Analyze the opens/clicks chart 170 Analyze clicks 171 Analyze the dynamics of “opens” and “clicks” time-wise 172 Plan marketing budget 172 Create a marketing plan 174 Manage planned marketing activities 174 Assess activity distribution and workload 175 Analyze marketing channels 175 Assess marketing budget compliance 175 Transitions between campaign elements 175 Delay before executing the next element 177 Transitions depending on participant response 178 Transition by filter conditions 179 Permit monitoring the email status by Creatio support 180 Leads FAQ 181 How to assign the owner of a lead? 181 What is the purpose of the "Continue nurturing"? 181 What is the difference between the lead source and lead channel? 181 What is the difference between the [Account] and [Account name] fields on the lead page? 181 What is the logic of automatic contact creation? 182 What data from the lead page are passed to the contact page? 182 How does the contact and account search work when qualifying a lead? 182
How to start the lead management process? 183 How to disable a base sub-process? 183 How to change the standard lead management process? How do I add or modify process stages? 183 How to search for duplicates? 184 Personalize email content with macros 184 Add a basic macro 185 Add a linked entity macro 187 Marketing email metrics 188 The [Email totals] tab 188 The [Top indicators] tab 189 Prevent sending duplicate emails to the same email address 190 Campaign FAQ 190 When exactly are the campaign emails sent? 190 What is the logic behind filtering emails when they are added to a campaign? 191 I have started the campaign, why it is not displayed in the campaign log? 191 Save a content block for using in other emails 191 Save a custom content block in the library 192 Edit an existing block in the Content Library 193 Delete an existing block from the Content Library 193 Analytics gathering 194 How Creatio calculates the number of opened emails 194 How Creatio monitors the “Marked as spam” responses 194 Marketing campaigns hot keys 195 Set up periods for processing email responses 196 Configure dynamic content for emails 196 Set up dynamic content rules 197 Set up dynamic content for content blocks 200 Marketing email FAQ 202 What is the difference between domain verification and email confirmation? 202 After clicking a link in an email, an email recipient sees a page with an access error. 203 What are the reasons for marketing email licensing errors? 203 Are contacts with the “Soft Bounce” and “Hard Bounce” email responses still considered “Active”? 203 Are contacts who were sent their emails via SMTP still considered “Active”? 203 Manage subscriptions for various email types 204 Set up fonts in the Content Designer 205 Add a custom font 205 Embed a custom font 206 Edit a Content builder font 206 Set up objects that form email audience 207
Set up the email expiration date 208 Set up the email priority 209 Set up the email delivery schedule 210 Set up the email throttling queue 211 Warm up cold audience 212
Adding an unsubscribe link in each email is important to ensure its successful delivery. Emails that do not contain unsubscribe links can be blocked by the marketing email provider. The unsubscribe link is required in the email template. If you try to save a template without an unsubscribe link, it will be added to the template automatically. After clicking the unsubscribe link, recipients are forwarded to the URL of the unsubscribe page. You can either generate it on your web site or use the Creatio pre-configured page. If you decide to use your own page, make sure you specify its URL in Creatio. Before the unsubscribe page is displayed, a recipient is automatically forwarded to the Creatio server, where the information about the canceled subscription is stored.
Set up a redirection page for the recipients who unsubscribed You can use the following options for an unsubscribe page:
Auto-generated Creatio unsubscribe page containing text: “You have unsubscribed from further emails. Your email was successfully deleted from our mailing list." any other page configured on your web site. There are no specific requirements for the design of this page. The recipient unsubscribes upon clicking the unsubscribe link. The “Do not use email” checkbox is selected automatically on the contact page.
If you have your own unsubscribe page, you need to specify the address in Creatio. To do so:
1. Open the system designer by clicking the button.
2. Click “System settings” in the “System setup” block. 3. In the “Email section settings” folder, open the “Website to redirect the unsubscribed” (RedirectUnsuscribersTo) system setting. 4. In the [ Default value ] field, specify the URL of your unsubscribe page, e.g., http://www.mysite.com/act/unsubscribe/ and save the setting. The value of this system setting is not populated by default. To redirect the unsubscribed, Creatio uses the auto-generated unsubscribe page. If you clear the value in the "Website to redirect the unsubscribed” system setting, the unsubscribed link will open a default auto-generated page without any additional settings.
Add an unsubscribe link to a template There are certain aspects of adding the unsubscribe links that depend on the method used for creating email templates. You can use a default template or use any existing template by clicking the [ Select from the lookup ] button. These templates contain embedded unsubscribe links and enclosed text. The unsubscribe block looks as follows: "You have received this email as you are subscribed to Company Name emails. If you do not want to receive emails, click here to unsubscribe." If you use such a template for your email, you can personalize the unsubscribe
block in the Content Designer using macros. You can set up the contents of the unsubscribe block that is added automatically in the Content blocks library lookup. To do this, open the [ Footer: Unsubscribed (default) ] block, edit it and save the changes. The unsubscribe macro is added to marketing emails automatically if it is not done while creating a template. In this case, Creatio will notify you about this and offer to add the unsubscribe macro automatically. The template will not be saved without the unsubscribe link. If you need to configure a custom unsubscribe block for the current template, add the unsubscribe link as the #Unsubscribe.URL# macro. The unsubscribe link can be displayed as either a URL or a text hyperlink.
Add an unsubscribe macro as a URL
1. Open the email template in the Content Designer. 2. Set the cursor where you want to place an unsubscribe link. 3. Click and select [ Standard macro ]. 4. Select the "URL" unsubscribe macro and then click the [ Select ] button (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Adding an unsubscribe macro
5. Save the template. As a result, the URL unsubscribe macro will be added to the email template. When sending emails, the unsubscribe macro is converted into an unsubscribe link, e.g., http://www.mysite.com/act/unsubscribe/.
Add an unsubscribe macro as a hypertext link
1. Open the email template in the Content Designer. 2. Select the text that serves as a hyperlink to the unsubscribe page. 3. Click the button in the appeared toolbox.
4. Specify the [ #Unsubscribe.URL# ] macros in the [ Link ] field and click [ OK ] (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Adding an unsubscribe macro as a hypertext link
As a result, the selected text will serve as a hyperlink to the unsubscribe page. You can also import templates as HTML elements into the Content Designer if a complicated HTML layout is used. You need to specify the unsubscribe link as a text macro [ #Unsubscribe.URL# ]. When sending emails, the unsubscribe macro is converted into an unsubscribe link, e.g., http://www.mysite.com/act/unsubscribe/.
Note. To receive, store, and analyze the reasons for recipients’ unsubscriptions from emails, install the free Tracking reasons for email unsubscription marketplace application.
Website event tracking
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Tracking website events enables you to personalize communications with customers based on their interests and preferences. Creatio automatically enriches the customer's profile with information about their activity on your website. You can track your website page hits, or monitor specific target events, such as adding products to a cart, making an order, etc. Use the [ Website events ] tab on the lead page to track website activities of the leads that were generated as a result of submitting a form on the website. Click the icon on the right-hand side of the event record to view its details. Similarly, the [ Website events ] tab on the contact page displays the events of all tracked leads of this contact.
Enabling website activity tracking requires performing additional setup in Creatio, as well as on the tracked website.
Tracking code For each tracked web page, Creatio generates a unique tracking code, which you need to add to the page source code. You can generate the following types of tracking code:
Base tracking code – enables tracking website page hits. Event tracking code – enables tracking website events based on select parameters. For example, populating a field on the page, clicking a button, viewing a video. The event tracking code requires the presence of the base tracking code.
The tracking code is triggered when someone visits the tracked page and performs tracked activities on it. Examples of tracked activities include adding a product to a shopping cart, clicking a link on a public event page, or adding a product to a wish list. Creatio also tracks customer's behavior on the integrated landing pages, before and after the customer submits the landing page form. The list of the website events is saved in the lead and corresponding contact history.
Cookie files The tracking code generates a [ BpmTrackingId ] cookie file that stores the unique ID of the customer's browser. This enables Creatio to gather information about customer's website events, both before and after actual registration, no matter how much time passed between these events. If a customer does not submit the landing page form, the data about their activity is saved in the tracking service but does not display in Creatio. The reason is that it is impossible to establish the connection between a customer, a lead, and the website events before the landing form is filled out. When a lead is created, the cookie value from the tracking code is passed over to the lead (the “BPMSessionId” column). Creatio will further be requesting the data about all lead actions performed in this browser from the tracking service. If a customer later clears the cookies or opens the website from a different browser, a new unique ID will be generated and the data about the website event will be passed to Creatio after the lead is registered. Plan marketing events
Events are occurrences that are held for defining customer needs, attracting new customers, and educating the existing ones. Webinars, tutorials, exhibitions, and other marketing projects can all be managed within the [ Events ] section. Ensure proactive communication with potential and existing customers, plan your budget, select your target audience, assign the responsible team, analyze the efficiency of the conducted marketing campaigns and make corrections based on the analysis results with the [ Events ] section.
To create an event:
1. Navigate to the [ Events ] section 2. Click [ New Event ]
3. Fill out the event data:
Name Name of the event. This is a required field.
Type Event type, for example, “Seminar” or “Exhibition.” This is a required field.
Status Event status, for example, “Planned” or “In progress.” This is a required field.
Owner Creatio user, responsible for the event. This is a required field.
4. If necessary, fill out general event information on the [ General Information ] tab:
Start The start and end dates of the time period for the event. date
Due date
Goal The main goal to be achieved by the event or by your company during the event, for example, “Customer acquisition” or “Report delivery”.
Coverage Target area to be covered by the event, for example, “Rural areas” or “Megalopolises.” area
Industry Target industry for which the event is conducted, for example, “Insurance” or “Production.”
Actual The number of event participants. response
5. If necessary, specify the financial indicators. The financial Indicators reflect the estimated and actual expenses and revenue of your event.
Expected budget, base currency. The estimated cost of the event in the base currency.
Actual cost, the base currency Actual expenses for the event in the base currency.
Expected revenue, base currency Sales revenue obtained as a result of the event.
Actual revenue, base currency Revenue from marketing resulting from the marketing campaign.
6. Specify team details by adding a list of contacts and accounts involved in the preparation of the marketing event.
Event Event name. This is a non-editable field.
Account Company working on the event.
Contact Member of the event team.
Role The role that the contact plays within the event, for example, “Customer” or “Performer.”
Description Additional information about the team member.
7. Specify the audience details on the [ Audience ] tab. For more information, please refer to the Manage event audience and responses article.
8. Track the history of the event using the [ History ] tab:
a. Use the [ Activities ] detail to manage tasks connected to the current event. This detail displays information from the [ Activities ] section. Activities are linked to events via the [ Event ] field of the activity page.
b. Use the [ Products ] detail to manage the list of products involved in the event.
Event Name of the event that the product is involved in. This is a non-editable field.
Product The product involved in the event.
Description Additional information about the product.
c. Manage the emails linked to the event in the [ Emails ] detail. Emails are linked to events manually or automatically according to the [ Rules for connecting emails to system sections ] lookup. Read more: Work with emails.
d. The list of marketing campaigns that an event is used in is available in the [ Campaign ] detail. It displays information from the [ Campaigns ] section. The connection between an event and a campaign is established when the event is added to the campaign flow via the [ Add from event ] element.
9. Use the [ Attachments and notes ] tab to retrieve and update detailed information about the event, as well as attachments and links to the web resources related to the event.
a. Store files and links related to the event on the [ Attachments ] detail. For example, you can attach a cost estimation sheet for the event or a presentation file.
b. Store additional information about the event on the [ Notes ] detail. You can edit and organize your lead notes on the detail. If you switch to another tab of the event page, the information on the [ Notes ] detail is saved.
10.Access feed messages connected to the event on the [ Feed ] tab. Create a bulk email
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Bulk emails of the [ Email ] section are sent once to a set number of recipients and enable you to actively engage your customers. Use bulk emails to notify your customers about news, promo offers and discounts that might be of interest to them.
Note. The Creatio on-site users need to set up integration with a marketing email provider before they start using the email functionality in Creatio. Learn more: Bulk emails.
Fill out the bulk email data
1. Go to the [ Email ] section.
2. Click [ New ] and select [ Bulk email ]. 3. Fill out the fields on the page of the new record (Fig. 1):
Fig. 1 Adding a bulk email
a. [ Name ] – specify the name of the new bulk email. The name will be displayed in the [ Email ] section list only, the recipients will not see it.
b. [ Send time ] – specify how and when the bulk email will be sent. This field has two options:
Run manually – the bulk email will be sent when you click the [ Start sending ] button;
At the specified time – the bulk email will be sent automatically at a specified time. If you select this option, additional required fields will appear to the right. Use these fields to specify the date and time
e. [ Audience source ] – the contacts linked to this object will be imported to the bulk email's audience. “Contact,” “Lead,” “Event participant” objects are available by default. You can also add new objects yourself. Learn more: Set up objects that form email audience.
4. Set up the email template in the content designer. Learn more: Create an email template.
5. Specify the email information on the [ Parameters ] tab.
a. [ Email type ] – specify the type of your email, e. g., “Focus email” or “Newsletter.”
The email type is used for implementing subscriptions to different types of content.
b. [ System email ] – select this checkbox if the current email is not a marketing email. In this case, Creatio will ignore the [ Do not use email ] checkbox on the [ Communication channels ] detail of the recipients’ contact records and will send emails to all contacts from the email audience.
Add bulk email audience Use the [ Audience ] tab to set up the list of recipients for a bulk email. You can add contacts as well as other object records to the audience, e. g., leads or campaign participants. You can add multiple recipients to the email.
Note. You can also add new objects yourself. Read more: Set up objects that form email audience.
To add email audience:
1. Navigate to the [ Audience ] tab of the email page, click and select the type of object to form the audience, e. g., lead, contact, or campaign participant. If the [ Audience ] tab of an email already has participants, you can only select the object whose records the current participants are based on.
2. Select records for adding to the email audience manually, from a filter, or from a folder on the newly-opened page.
To add records manually, select them in the list.
To add records from a folder, select [ Show folders ] in the [ Filters/folders ] menu. In the folder tree, select the needed folder. Learn more about how to work with folders: Folders. Additionally, you can set up a standard filter for the folder records.
To select records using a filter, select [ Switch to advanced mode ] in the [ Filters/folders ] menu. Set up filters. For example, if you are adding an audience from the leads, you can select only qualified leads with a specific need type. Note that you can only save the configured filter for objects where folders are available. Learn more about how to work with filters: Filters.
3. Click [ Import ].
To add all records that meet the filter conditions to the email audience, select the [ Import by filter ] option in the menu that appears.
To add the records selected manually, click [ Import selected ] in the menu that appears.
This will add all the recipients to the email audience.
If you import the selected records or records from a folder, all the participants will be added to the [ Audience ] tab simultaneously.
If you import the filtered records, they will add to the [ Audience ] tab one by one. You can see the import status on the email page.
Fig. 3 The audience import indicator
You can check the exact number of the added records in a notification on the communication panel.
If the import fails, you will see an error message in the communication panel. The [ Audience ] tab displays the contact name and the email of the recipient, as well as the [ Extended entity ] column. If you hover over the column value, a mini page appears. It displays the details of a record (e. g. a lead or an event) used to import the recipient. If you click the link in the [ Extended entity ] column, you will open the page of the record used to import the recipient.
Fig. 4 Opening the page of the object used to add an email recipient
Note. Creatio additionally verifies the email audiences when the bulk email starts. Learn more: Start a bulk email.
Note. The [ Audience ] tab will display recipient responses to the email sometime after the email starts. Use this tab to view the information about each response. Learn more about how to manage personal responses: Personal responses.
Check duplicates in the email audience
When adding an email audience, Creatio does not verify the audience duplicates. We recommend checking the audience manually before sending emails. To do this:
1. Navigate to the [ Audience ] tab, click and select [ Manage audience ]. 2. Set the filter (Fig. 5):
a. “Email duplicates” – the filter displays the email participants with similar email addresses, as well as those without email addresses specified.
b. “Contact duplicates” – the filter displays email participants with similar contact full names. c. “All” – the filter displays all email participants.
3. Select any duplicate records and click [ Delete ]. In the menu that appears, click [ Delete selected records ].
4. Click [ Close ] to leave the audience managing page.
Fig. 5 Setting filter on the audience managing page
Delete bulk email audience You can select email participants by selecting separate or all records. You can only delete the audience for emails that have not been started.
To delete several recipients:
1. Navigate to the [ Audience ] tab, click and select the [ Select multiple records ] option.
2. Select the email participants that you want to delete.
3. In the button's menu, click [ Delete selected records ].
To delete all records, click [ Remove audience ] in the button's menu. After you delete the audience, blocking of the object selection for the import of email participants will be removed. When you add an email audience next time, you will be able to select any object and not only the object that has already been used for the email.
How to set up bulk email click tracking Add the UTM tracking codes to the email to receive information about the number of clicks from the email. For instance, you can track the number of leads received from the email.
1. Go to the [ Parameters ] tab on the email page. 2. Select the [ Use UTM tracking codes ] checkbox in the [ Email-to-website click tracking ] block. Specify the UTM tracking codes of the email: “utm_source,” “utm_campaign,” and “utm_medium.” 3. Specify the list of domains for which the tracking codes will be applied when generating the click link in the “List of domains” field. You can specify multiple domains using commas (,). 4. Save the changes. Add a campaign
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Use the [ Campaigns ] section in Creatio to plan and conduct marketing campaigns. Inform customers about your
upcoming events, invite participants, get in touch with the contacts who are interested in your products and nurture your customer needs using personalized email correspondence.
General campaign workflow Planning and running automated marketing campaigns in Creatio involves more than simply adding a new record in the [ Campaigns ] section. A campaign may require adding new records in other sections, e.g., new trigger emails in the [ Email ] section. The general workflow for most campaigns is as follows:
1. Define the goal, the target audience, and the communication chain with potential or existing customers.
2. Add a new campaign in the [ Campaigns ] section and populate the campaign profile. Build a campaign diagram using the campaign designer elements. 3. Create records (trigger emails, events, and landing pages) that you plan to include in the campaign. Connect the campaign diagram elements to records in the corresponding sections. 4. Start the campaign and follow its progress in the campaign log. Creatio manages the status of campaign participants by analyzing their responses. 5. Once the campaign is finished, view the dashboards to see if your campaign reached its goal.
Populate campaign profile To run a campaign in Creatio, add a new record in the [ Campaigns ] section. To do so:
1. Open the [ Campaigns ] section.
2. Click [ New campaign ]. A new campaign page opens.
Note. If the “At the specified time” start mode is selected for a campaign, the start/end time of a campaign is displayed in the time zone of the user who created the campaign.
Database The name of the campaign. Populating this field enables accessing the Campaign object Designer.
Start mode Campaign start/stop options: You can start and stop campaigns manually or set up automatic start and end of a campaign at the specified time. End mode “manual” – the campaign will be started/stopped manually by clicking the [ Start campaign ]/[ Stop campaign ] button. “at the specified time” – select this option to start/stop the campaign automatically at the specific date and time.
Selecting this option enables additional [ Scheduled start date ]/[ Scheduled end date ] fields, where you can specify the scheduled start and end time. Click the [ Schedule campaign ] button to finalize planning the campaign time frame (Fig. 1).
Owner Select the employee responsible for the campaign.
utm_campaign The UTM-mark containing the campaign name. It is used to track the lead sources received as a result of the campaign.
Fig. 1 Scheduling automatic start and stop of a campaign
As a result, a new campaign record will be added in the [ Campaigns ] section. You can now proceed with creating a campaign diagram in the Campaign Designer. Create a lead
PRODUCTS: MARKETING SALES CREATIO
A lead is an interest in your products expressed by a potential customer. For example, new leads emerge if new users have registered on your website or if you receive a call from a contact who was previously interested in your services. With Creatio leads, you can work both with the customers who are ready to make a deal or those who need some more time to consider a purchase.
In Creatio, a lead can be created in the following ways:
added manually in the [ Leads ] section imported from Excel
created automatically via registering on a landing page.
Note. If the [ Create contact ] checkbox is selected for a webpage in the "Landings" section, then when a consumer fills in the form of this landing, Creatio automatically creates a lead and a contact.
Using the Leads section, you can manage the lead nurturing process from the moment a potential customer expresses an interest in your products up to the handoff to sales.
To add a lead manually:
1. Go to the [ Leads ] section. 2. Click the [ New Lead ] button.
3. Fill out the displayed mini page:
a. [ Customer need ] field. The field is required. b. [ Account name ] field.
c. [ Contact name ] field. d. [ Email ]. e. [ Mobile phone ] field.
The fields of the record can be populated later.
4. Click the [ Save ] button to save the new folder (Fig. 1).
As a result, a new record will be added to the [ Leads ] section. Create a trigger email
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Creatio sends trigger emails automatically when new participants are added as part of a campaign.
Note. You can only send trigger emails in Creatio automatically. You can also create a business process that will add participants to a trigger email. However, this requires custom coding.
For example, send a trigger email when a visitor signs up with your site. Use trigger emails to send interest-based messages tailored to a specific customer at a given moment: welcome emails, order confirmations, birthday wishes, sale end date reminders, etc.
Fill out the trigger email data
1. Go to the [ Email ] section.
2. Click [ New ] and select [ Trigger email ]. 3. Fill out the [ Name ] field – specify the name of the new trigger email. The name will be displayed in the [ Email ] section list only, the recipients will not see it (Fig. 1).
4. Set up the email template in the content designer. Learn more: Create an email template.
5. Select the email type on the [ Parameters ] tab. The email type is used when performing a subscription to a specific type of content.
We recommend sending test emails before you start your email. This enables checking of macro values and contents display in the email. Learn more: Send a test email.
Add a trigger email audience In Creatio, the audience of a trigger email is formed automatically based on the campaign audience and participant responses at a campaign step. The audience of a trigger email is formed when a participant moves to a campaign element that is connected to the corresponding trigger email. The campaign element adds participants based on the conditions you specify while setting it up. Learn more: Campaign element reference. In this case, the recipient's email is checked for validity. This is necessary to ensure that trigger emails are sent to only those contacts who are interested and to minimize the number of delivery errors. Learn more: Start sending trigger emails.
Set up tracking of clicks from a trigger email Add the UTM tracking codes to the email to receive information about the number of clicks from the email. For instance, you can track the number of leads received from the email.
1. Go to the Parameters tab on the email page.
2. Select the Use UTM tracking codes checkbox in the [ Email-to-website click tracking ] block. Specify the UTM tracking codes: “utm_source,” “utm_campaign,” and “utm_medium.”
3. In the “List of domains” filed, specify the list of domains for which the tracking codes will be applied when generating the click link. You can specify multiple domains using commas (,).
A template is the content your target audience will receive via email. You can create templates that display the same content for all recipients (static content) and templates whose content changes depending on the audience segment (dynamic content).
Note. You can only edit the template before you start sending the email.
Create email templates in the Content Designer, a visual block-based drag&drop editor that allows you to create and set up email templates that look great on desktop and mobile devices.
You can use the Content Designer to design templates with complex layouts, such as marketing emails, newsletters, greeting cards, etc. Working in the Content Designer does not require an in-depth understanding of HTML. Creatio generates the code automatically based on the layout that you design in the visual editor. An email template consists of a series of content blocks with text, images, buttons, separators, and their different combinations. We recommend taking a look at the pre-configured blocks before you start working on a template. If these blocks do not meet your needs, you can edit them or create custom blocks. You can personalize the email content to foster a trust-based relationship with your customers and increase brand loyalty. Follow these steps to create an email template:
1. Outline the email structure using the pre-configured blocks.
2. Add custom content. 3. Apply the styles and formatting.
The setup procedure described below is similar for all types of email templates, with or without dynamic content. You can also upload ready-made templates to the Content Designer.
Example. Create a mobile-optimized company newsletter template. The template must have a header with the navigation bar, a banner, top 3 features or products, and a call to action button.
Create a new template
1. Go to the [ Marketing ] workplace and open the [ Email ] section. 2. Click [ Add ] and select the type of email you want to create: a bulk email or trigger email. 3. This will open a new page. Specify the name of the new email on the page.
4. Click the [ Open designer ] button (Fig. 1). Creatio will save the email automatically.
5. Set up the email structure. Outline the structure from scratch or use a pre-configured template.
Follow the instructions in the Set up the template in the Content Designer section to outline the email structure. Click [ Actions ] → [ Select from lookup ] to use the structure of a pre-configured template (Fig. 2). A box will pop up. Select the template of the structure in the box.
Fig. 2 Add a pre-configured template to the email
6. Once you outline the template structure, add your content to the email. Learn more: Set up the template in the Content Designer
1. Drag the “Header. Image (50%) + Navbar (50%)” element from the block library to the working area.
a. Click the navlinks to edit their captions. b. Specify the destination of each link in the setup area on the right. Remove the “#” prefix to treat the value as a URL. Leave the prefix to treat the value as a local anchor.
c. Click [ Navbar ] → to remove the unnecessary navlinks. Click [ Add link ] to add more navlinks. d. Select the [ Hamburger menu ] checkbox to display the navigation menu as a collapsible hamburger menu on mobile devices. e. Click to right-align the menu. f. Click [ Section ] and select the [ Reverse the order of columns on mobile ] checkbox to push the logo under the navigation on mobile devices. If the [ Reverse order of mobile checkbox ] remains cleared, the image in the left column will display above the navigation menu on mobile devices.
a. Drag the [ Block ] element from the element library to the working area. b. Click [ Add banner ] in the setup area on the right.
c. Click to the right of [ Section #1 ] in the block setup area to remove the section. d. Select the checkbox in the background setup area.
e. Click , select the background color, and click [ Apply ].
Note. We recommend setting up a background image of the banner after adding and configuring the banner elements. The background image is invisible if there are no elements in the banner. Also, the content may affect the banner height and, consequently, the way the background image is displayed.
3. Add an image to the top of the banner (Fig. 5):
a. Drag the [ Image ] element from the library to the working area.
b. Click to clear the field in the element setup area. c. Upload the image from your computer, provide the image URL, or specify a data URI containing the image. d. If necessary, specify the image dimensions in the [ Size, px ] area.
Note. The images with dimensions specified may be displayed incorrectly in older email client versions.
a. Drag the [ Text ] element from the library to the working area. b. Click in the [ Font ] property of the element setup area to open the font color picker. Select the font color in the color picker and click [ Apply ]. c. Replace the placeholder text with the title text.
d. Specify the font size in the [ Size, px ] field. e. Click to align the text. f. Specify the desired padding settings.
a. Drag the [ Button ] element from the library to the working area. b. Replace the placeholder text with your CTA.
c. Specify the destination URL in the [ Link to open ] field.
d. Click in the [ Font ] property of the element setup area to open the font color picker. Select the font color in the color picker and click [ Apply ].
7. Specify the desired margin settings.
8. Click in the [ Background ] area. Specify the background color of the CTA button and click [ Apply ]. 9. Add a background image to the banner (Fig. 9):
a. Use the breadcrumbs to open the banner setup area.
b. Click to clear the field in the [ Background ] area. c. Upload the image from your computer, provide the image URL, or specify a data URI containing the image.
d. Use the , , or buttons to align the image vertically and the , , or buttons to align the image horizontally. The background image will keep the aspect ratio but will stretch or shrink to fill the banner otherwise. Depending on the banner aspect ratio, you can align the image either horizontally or vertically, but not both.
Test email versions that differ by one variable in the template, subject line or sender name.
Form email variants for split tests that differ only slightly. This will simplify the measurement of user responses and test result evaluations. Create an email variant that will be used as the primary. A “Primary” bulk email has no changes made to it. Test alternative variants together with the primary one and estimate the results.
Audience guidelines
The audience to whom the templates variants are sent must be large enough to receive a statistically significant
result. It is recommended to include at least 1000 contacts in a split test. Perform split testing using an audience that belongs to one segment, to minimize the effect of the time factor on the result.
Before starting the A/B testing, perform A/A testing to make sure that the audience segment is homogeneous. Send the same email variant to two groups of the target audience that are equal by the number of contacts. If the conversion indicators are the same for the two groups, it means that the segment is homogeneous.
Evaluation guidelines
Analyze responses of the recipients after the split test start (from 2 to 72 hours depending on the email type).
Estimate conversion rates of all emails that were included in the split test at the same time to eliminate the influence of time on the result.
When estimating results, pay attention to the metrics that are influenced by the tested item. For example, the call-to-action button color (CTA) may influence the number of clicks and the wording of the email subject line may influence the number of opens. Email progress
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
View the email data in the [ Sending progress ] tab on the email page, available out-of-the-box (Fig. 1). Use this data to adjust the email sending process and improve the delivery rate. The following email data is available:
Email delivery chart that displays the current status of individual emails.
Email sending progress analytics that displays recipient quantity and percentage metrics by status.
The email start and finish date and time. Sending log that displays successful events and sending errors.
Summary data for emails started in the last 72 hours is available in the sending progress dashboard.
Email delivery progress chart The chart (Fig. 2) on the email page visualizes real-time information about the email sending and delivery progress. Hover over the chart to view the more information by email status.
Fig. 2 Email progress chart
Preparing to send – the number of emails Creatio has not yet sent. For instance, Creatio sets the status to “Preparing to send” when going through the throttling segmentation. This status corresponds to the “Planned” response.
Sending in progress – the number of segmented and ready-to-send emails for which Creatio has not yet received the mail provider's response. This status corresponds to the “Sent to provider” response.
Delivered – the number of emails delivered to recipients. This is the number of recipients with the “Accepted by the server” mail service provider response. Bounce – the number of emails with “Hard Bounce” and “Soft Bounce” responses.
Delivery error – the number of emails with “Sending error (to provider)” and “Rejected” responses.
Canceled – the number of unsent emails. This is the sum of recipients with the “Canceled (Duplicate email),” “Canceled (Unsubscribed from all emails),” “Canceled (Unreachable email), “Canceled (Incorrect email),” and “Canceled (email not provided)” responses.
Read more: Personal responses.
Email sending progress analytics Creatio displays email progress analytics in “Metric” type dashboards on the [ Sending progress ] tab (Fig. 1):
[ Recipients ] – the number of email recipients.
[ Preparing to send ] – the number and percentage of emails Creatio is yet to send. This metric corresponds to the “Planned” response in the [ Audience ] tab and should display 0 for completed emails.
[ Queued ] – the number of segmented emails the cloud service provider is ready to send or has already sent but for which it has not yet received the mail provider's response. This metric corresponds to the “Sent to the provider” response in the [ Audience ] tab and should display 0 for completed emails.
[ Sent ] – how many recipients returned the provider's first response. This metric corresponds to the “Delivered,” “Hard Bounce,” “Soft Bounce,” and other similar responses in the [ Audience ] tab. [ Canceled ] – the number of unsent emails. This metric corresponds to the “Canceled (Duplicate email),” “Canceled (Unsubscribed from all emails),” “Canceled (Unreachable email), “Canceled (Incorrect email),” and “Canceled (email not provided)” responses in the [ Audience ] tab.
Read more: Personal responses.
Email start/finish date You can view the following information in the [ Sending duration ] field group:
[ Started on ] – the email start date.
[ Finished on ] – the email completion date. [ Duration ] – how much time it took to send the email to all recipients.
Sending log Monitor the email sending progress in the [ Sending log ] detail on the [ Sending progress ] tab.
Alternatively, view data about all bulk emails in the mailing log. Open the mailing log from the System designer or by clicking [ Email ] → [ Actions ] → [ Mailing log ]. Should any errors occur during the sending process, the log will help you to find out the reasons and fix the original issue.
The log displays data as a record list. The [ Type ] column specifies the log record type: “Info” for successful events or “Error” for unsuccessful events.
Successful events in the sending log The table below lists events that indicate successful email sending progress.
Start sending email The email is scheduled on {MM/DD/YYY Creatio will record this event HH:MM:SS time zone}. for bulk emails only if you select “at the specified time” in the [ Send time ] field and click Schedule sending.
Sending email was started. Creatio records this event after the email starts regardless of the start option.
Check integration Connection with cloud email service is active. Creatio records this event with cloud email before the email starts. It service means Creatio integration with the cloud email service has been set up correctly.
Preparing a batch Batch #{0} of {1} recipients contains: {2} - Creatio sends emails in of recipients for will send to cloud email service, {3} - will not batches of 20000 messages, sending to the send, incorrect email, {4} - will not send, one after another, until it cloud email service email does not exist, {5} - will not send, email covers the entire email (batch can contain is not actual, {6} - will not send, recipient audience. up to 20000 unsubscribed. The event description recipients) elaborates on how many emails Creatio did not send and specifies reasons.
Sending batch of Batch #{0} of emails was successfully sent. The event means Creatio sent emails to the cloud an email batch successfully. email service
Emails was Sending complete. If Creatio finds no new successfully sent recipients, it will record this event. There will be no more attempts to send out this email. Creatio will change the email status to “Completed.”
Note. Creatio records the event that activates a trigger email to the campaign log. Read more: Monitor campaigns.
Error events in the sending log The [ Error description ] column in the sending log contains the full description of each sending error.
Should an error occur, contact Creatio support and describe the error in as many details as possible. The table below lists errors Creatio records to the email sending log.
Event Description Comment
Audience Error while updating the email Creatio records this event if unable to add a actualization from audience from the campaign. campaign audience to the email. the campaign
Adding audience to Recipients group processing Creatio records this event if unable to add email failed. recipients to the email audience.
Sending messages Error while sending messages Creatio records this event if the cloud email to cloud services to cloud services. service is not available.
Email sending error.
Error while setting a communication limit.
Error while saving the template.
Sending a batch of Error while handling initial This event means Creatio cannot send an emails responses of an email. email batch.
Error while sending a batch of {Number} emails. Email sending error.
Message validation Error while validating the Creatio records this event if the sender's message. email was not verified during the email setup.
Email sending progress summary dashboard View data about the progress of emails started in the last 72 hours in the [ Sending progress ] tab of the [ Email ] section's [ Dashboards ] view (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 Sending progress dashboard
The real-time [ Sending progress ] dashboard displays the numbers of prepared and processed recipients, as well as that of sent emails.
The table below describes the columns of the [ Sending progress ] dashboard.
Column Description
Recipients The sum of email recipients
Prepared The number of recipients Creatio segmented. Creatio is ready to send emails to those recipients recipients. count
Processed The number of emails Creatio has already passed to the cloud service or was unable to recipients send. For instance, the email was a duplicate or an unforeseen error occurred. count
Status The current email status. For example, “Planned” or “Sending.”
Received The number of recipients whose email provider sent the initial response. initial response count
Errors count The number of errors occurred after the cloud service passed emails to providers.
Send a test email
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Send test emails to preview the email content in an email client and check how the message will look like for your recipients. The marketing email metrics and analytics ignore test emails.
Attention. Verify your email domain before sending a test email. Besides that, specify a valid sender's address in the email.
You can send test email from the relevant email page or the Content Designer by clicking the [ Test email ] button (Fig. 1). We recommend against using words like “Test”, “Hello”, “Checking” as the email subject when sending test emails. The recipient server might perform a series of checks that could mark such emails as spam. We recommend preparing the test email content of the same quality as the content intended for the end recipients.
1. Open the email in the section list. Click the [ Test email ] button on the [ Template ] tab (Fig. 1).
2. Enter the recipient email addresses in the [ Test email(s) will be sent to email addresses ] field, enter email addresses where the test email will be sent. field. Use commas “,” or semicolons ”;” as separators.
3. In the [ Recipient's contact for testing macros ] field, specify the contact whose data will be used in the test email. You can generate the test email's macros based on a contact connected to one of several objects. Specify the object in the [ Audience source ] field at the top of the email page. The name of the [ Recipient's contact for testing macros ] field changes depending on the object you selected. For example, if you select the “Lead” value in the [ Audience source ] field, the field name will change to [ Recipient's lead for testing macros ]. You can select any contact that is connected to the object. By default, if you select the “Contact” object in the [ Audience source ] field, the campaign will use the contact specified in the “Test email recipient” (“TestSendingBulkEmailContact” code) system setting.
Note. Creatio stores the values you entered in the previous steps. Should you need to send the test email again, Creatio will populate these fields automatically. You will be able to either use those values
As a result, the test email will be sent to the specified addresses. You can send test emails from the Content Designer in a similar way. If you send test emails with dynamic content, the “Send test email” window will display a [ Test email template settings ] field (Fig. 2). Choose between sending the current email template version or all template versions in this field.
Fig. 2 Sending a test email with dynamic content
Note. Learn more about how to create emails with dynamic content in the Configure dynamic content for marketing emails article.
To enable the tracking functionality, set up a landing page on the tracked website. Set up integration with the landing page in Creatio. Learn more about setting up landing pages: Integrate with landing pages and web forms.
Step 1. Enable the tracking functionality Contact Creatio technical support to enable the website event tracking functionality in your application. Note that you need to configure a connection to a third-party cloud service for the on-site Creatio applications. After you enable the functionality, make sure the “Identity server Url” (“IdentityServerUrl” code), “Identity server client id” (“IdentityServerClientId” code), and “Identity server client secret” (“IdentityServerClientSecret” code) system settings are populated. If the values of these system settings are not populated, contact Creatio support.
Step 2. Set up the list of pages for tracking in Creatio
1. Open the System Designer, for example, by clicking in the top right corner of the application. Click [ Event tracking service settings ] in the [ Import and integration ] block.
2. On the page that opens, check the connection to the tracking service. If the service is disconnected, contact Creatio support.
Fig. 1 The availability indicator of the website event tracking service
3. Click [ New project ].
4. On the page that opens:
Enter the project name, e. g., “View website products.” Add the project description if needed.
Specify the owner.
5. Click [ Apply ] to save the changes. After applying the changes, you can add tracking resources – i. e. web pages, whose events you need to track.
6. Open the newly created project.
7. In the [ Tracking resources ] area, click .
8. Populate the following fields on the page that opens:
[ Name ] – the resource name, e. g., “Website event for the US.”
[ ID (URL for web-site) ] – the resource address, whose events you need to track, e. g., www.my-
9. To track the resource events and pass them to Creatio, enable the [ Active ] toggle key for the resource.
10.Click [ Apply ]. When you open the created resource, Creatio generates the base tracking code that you can add to the HTML code of the website page. This will enable tracking the page hits.
After this, you can set up tracking of other types of events.
Repeat steps 7–10 to add project resources for each website, whose events you need to track.
Note. You can delete the outdated resources that you do not want to track anymore (e. g., outdated landing pages) from the application UI. You cannot delete such resources from the database since they store the history of website events.
Step 3. Set up tracking of custom website events In addition to tracking the page hits, you can set up tracking of other types of events, e. g., clicks, feedback form submits, video views, etc. To do this, make a list of events that you want to track, generate tracking codes for these events, and add the generated codes to corresponding website page elements (links, buttons, forms, etc.).
To generate the tracking codes for custom events:
1. Open the resource page.
2. In the [ Event’s tracking code ] area, populate the following fields:
[ Event type ] – select the type of tracked activity. For example, select “click” for activities like clicking a link, “fill_field” for populating web form fields, “start_checkout” for completing an e-commerce order, etc.
[ Event name ] – the value that will display in the list of website events on the page of the corresponding lead or contact. For example, “Link click,” or “Adding product to cart,” etc. [ Event value ] – the description of the action that a customer performs on the website. For example, “Opening the landing page,” or “Making an order.”
[ Event cost ] – the number that defines the significance of customer action. The field value can be both integer and decimal.
3. Copy the generated code and embed it in the HTML code of the tracked page.
Note that unlike the base tracking code, the tracking code for custom events is not saved in Creatio. If you do not plan on using it right away, make sure that you save the tracking code in a page backup or a text file. 4. Generate the tracking codes for all custom events you want to track for the current resource.
Step 4. Embed the tracking code in your website Add the base tracking code to the source HTML code of each tracked page of your website. Add the custom event tracking codes to the pages where the corresponding events can occur.
Attention. Adding the tracking code requires website administrator privileges. To insert the tracking code, you require permission to edit the source code of the website.
Embed the base tracking code On the resource page, copy the base tracking code and insert it in the source HTML code of each page on your website. You can paste the code anywhere before the closing tag (“
”) at the end of the page. If you do not insert the code in all the website pages, Creatio will not be able to collect all the data about the potential customers redirected to your website.
The tracking code uses a script located in the Creatio cloud. This means that when somebody visits your website page, their browser requests the current script version from the Creatio tracking service and then uses it to create cookies. Add the following script call in the code of all website pages (along with the base tracking code) to enable the browser to connect to the tracking service:
You can obtain this code from the [ Landing pages and web forms ] section, the [ Landing setup ] tab of the record for the corresponding landing page integration.
Embed the event tracking code Add the tracking codes for custom events in the HTML code of the pages, where you need to track the corresponding events. Unlike the base tracking code, the tracking codes for custom events need to be part of the corresponding page elements, e. g., form fields, buttons, links. You can do it in the element code directly or using JavaScript.
For example, to track a button click event, add the tracking code directly in the "button" HTML element:
Alternatively, add the tracking code to the page source code and add the code call script to the corresponding page element:
```html
After you perform the individual website event tracking settings, customer activity history will become available in Creatio. The tracking information will display on the [ History ] tab of the corresponding lead and contact pages.
An event audience in Creatio is a list of event participants, i. e. contacts connected to the event. Keep track of the event audience responses in marketing campaigns, business processes, dashboards, and on the event page. Manage the list of event participants in the [ Audience ] tab:
add contacts and contact folders
remove participants update the event responses
set up columns and apply filters.
Add audience
1. Go to the [ Audience ] tab on the relevant event page.
2. Click (Fig. 1) on the [ Audience ] detail. This will open a contact list.
Fig. 1 Add audience
3. Select the desired records manually or filter them by set conditions in the contact list. After that, click [ Import ] and select the import option from the menu:
If you applied the filter conditions or selected a folder to import, click [ Import by filter ] (Fig. 2).
If you selected the desired records manually, click [ Import selected ].
As a result, Creatio will import the desired records to the event audience and display them on the [ Audience ] tab of the event page.
Alternatively, set up a marketing campaign to add the event audience automatically. Use a special element to add the campaign audience to the event audience. Learn more: The [ Add to event ] element.
Track event responses An event response is the status of an event participant, such as whether they planned to participate, participated, canceled their participation, or did not respond. View the responses on the [ Audience ] tab next to each record.
Note. Create a lookup named “Response in events” and add the desired statuses as values to change the list of available response statuses. This lookup is not available by default.
Track the event responses and analyze the financial indicators in the [ Dashboards ] section view. The [ Dashboards ] view includes the following tabs:
1. The [ Audience ] tab. This tab contains event participant statistics.
Note. Creatio will apply the filters set in the section to all dashboards on the tab.
Audience A diagram with the event audience grouped by their responses. by response
Event An indicator displaying the number of event participant contacts with leads. The participants indicator only shows contacts with the “Participation confirmed,” “Participated,” and with leads “Planned” responses.
Event An indicator displaying the number of event participant contacts without leads. The participants indicator only shows contacts with the “Participation confirmed,” “Participated,” and without “Planned” responses. leads
2. The [ Event totals ] tab. This tab contains event summary statistics.
Note. Creatio will apply the filters set in the section to all dashboards on the tab except for the [ Upcoming events ] block.
Expected An indicator displaying the total expected event budget, in the base currency. budget
Actual An indicator displaying the total actual event costs, in the base currency. cost
Expected An indicator displaying the total expected event revenue, in the base currency. revenue
Actual An indicator displaying the total actual event revenue, in the base currency. revenue
Upcoming A list of 5 events that start today or later. The data is sorted by date in ascending order. events The closest event appears at the top of the list.
Events by A diagram with the events grouped by their type. type
Start a bulk email
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
We recommend sending test emails before you start your email. This enables checking of macro values and contents display in the email. Learn more about test emails: Send a test email.
Run synchronization manually If the “run manually” value is selected in the [ Send time ] field, you can start an email manually at any time.
Open the needed email and click Start sending. Confirm the action in the new window.
Attention. Email domain verification is required to start sending the email.
Creatio will start sending emails in a few seconds after you click the [ Start sending ] button. During this time, you can stop the email, if necessary. You can specify the delay time in the “Delay time before sending bulk email, seconds” (“MandrillMailingDelayInSeconds” code) system setting. The delay is 10 seconds by default.
Learn more about how to stop an email: Stop a bulk email.
Schedule an email sending If the “at the specified time” value is selected in the [ Send time ] field, the email will start automatically at the specified time. Open a bulk email record and click the Schedule sending button. Confirm the action in the new window.
As a result, the email will be scheduled and the emails will be sent at the specified time automatically. If the due time has already passed when you click the [ Schedule sending ] button, Creatio will offer you to start sending the email immediately.
Note. If you cannot start an email or the [ Email totals ] tab values do not update, the reason might be in the “System operations user” (“SystemUser” code) system setting: the user value might have been changed or updated. Learn more: Change the “system” user (Supervisor).
Bulk email check-up To make the email analysis more convenient and minimize the number of delivery errors, Creatio verifies the email audiences before starting the email. To ensure a comprehensive email response analysis, all contacts can be added as email recipients, including contacts who have already unsubscribed from emails or contacts with invalid or incorrect email addresses. Use email responses on the [ Audience ] tab of the [ Email ] section page to analyze delivery errors. The responses are populated automatically after the email starts. Learn more about how to manage individual responses: Personal responses.
Contact data can be modified from the moment you add it to the audience until the email start. For example, during this period the customer may unsubscribe from your email or the customer's email box may become unavailable. To take into account such changes, an additional check is performed upon email sending.
Subscription to your emails. The Do not use email checkbox must be cleared on the contact page. Creatio will not send any emails to the contacts who have the [ Do not use email ] checkbox selected on their page. In this case, the “Canceled (unsubscribed from all emails)” response will be set in the [ Response ] column on the [ Audience ] tab.
Email address relevance. The Valid checkbox must be selected for the email address of each contact. The address is flagged as invalid automatically, upon receiving any “Hard Bounce” response. Creatio will not send
any emails to the contacts, whose email address does not have the [ Valid ] checkbox selected. These contacts will have the “Canceled (invalid email)” response.
Email address availability. The system checks whether the Email field is populated on the contact page. Creatio will not send any emails to the contacts who have no email address in their profile. In this case, the “Canceled (email not provided)” response will be set in the [ Response ] column on the [ Audience ] tab.
Email address availability. An email will be considered “incorrect” if it does not correspond to the email address format. Creatio will not send any emails to the contacts who have incorrect email address in their profile. In this case, the “Canceled (incorrect email)” response will be set in the [ Response ] column on the [ Audience ] tab.
Marketing communication limit for each recipient. You can limit the number of emails sent to contact during a set time, for example, no more than 5 emails per week. Creatio checks for this limit are based on the rules in the [ Email restriction rules ] lookup. For example, if a rule is set to send not more than two emails per day while two emails have already been sent to the contact today, then the third email will not be sent. These contacts will have the “Email limit reached” response selected in the [ Response ] field of the [ Audience ] tab. Learn more: Configure restriction of the number of emails for sending.
When you add the email audience, Creatio checks the subscription to the selected email type. You can check the subscription status on the contact page: use the [ Email subscription ] detail on the [ Communication channels ] tab. Contacts without a subscription to the selected email type are not added to the email audience. Set up campaign diagram
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
A campaign flow diagram (Fig. 1) includes:
Elements.
Flows between campaign elements. General campaign settings.
Use the Campaign designer to set up campaign flow diagrams. To open the Campaign designer:
1. Open the needed record in the [ Campaigns ] section.
2. Go to the [ Campaign flow ] tab and click [ Create ] if no diagram exists or [ Edit ] to change an existing diagram.
Campaign designer features The Campaign designer lets you:
Save and cancel changes using the toolbar (1).
Note. Creatio saves campaigns automatically. If you close a campaign diagram without saving, you will be able to load the autosaved data later.
Use the corresponding buttons on the toolbar to open the element setup area, open the Academy, or search the diagram for campaign elements by name.
Set up the campaign diagram using elements and flows in the Campaign designer working area (2). Select an element in the [ Elements ] area of the designer and drag it to the campaign area to add it to the diagram (Fig. 2).
Select an element and select “Delete” to delete it.
Fig. 2 Adding elements and flows to the working area
Select elements and tools in the element area (3). The area contains the campaign elements and the following tools:
“Arrow.” Use this tool to select and move separate elements on the diagram.
“Lasso.” Use this tool to select multiple elements on the diagram.
“Space.” Use this tool to move parts of the diagram left/right or up/down. For example, drag the cursor down to move all the elements below the cursor. Learn more about these tools: Process designer.
Specify parameter values for campaigns and campaign elements in the element setup area (4).
Zoom and pan the campaign diagram (5).
Set up the campaign properties Configure the campaign properties in the element setup area (4). Click anywhere on the campaign designer working area or click the button to open the campaign properties area.
1. [ Default campaign execution frequency ] – determines how often to execute the campaign steps without a set execution period. The frequency specified in this parameter applies to:
The campaign steps whose incoming flows do not specify an exact time.
The [ Add audience ] element that adds new participants to the campaign. The [ Exit from campaign ] element that removes participants from the campaign.
2. [ Time zone ] – sets the time zone for all the campaign's time frames. For example, the execution time of conditional flows. By default, Creatio sets the campaign time zone to:
The time zone of the user who created the campaign.
The time zone specified in the “Default TimeZone” (“DefaultTimeZone” code) system setting if there is no time zone set in the user profile.
If Creatio cannot set the time zone according to the rules above, it will populate the [ Time zone ] field of the new campaign with the “(GMT) UTC Time Format” value. You can change the time zone at any time.
Note. Set up the execution time according to additional time zones within the campaign using the [ Timer ] element.
3. [ Set the period for campaign emergency stop in case of critical delay ] – select the checkbox to define the critical delay time. If the campaign does not run during this period, for example, due to application updates, Creatio will stop it automatically, and the campaign owner will receive a notification.
4. Specify the delay units and their value after selecting the checkbox.
Note. If you do not select the [ Set the period for campaign emergency stop in case of critical delay ] checkbox, the default campaign frequency will equal the time of critical delay.
Lead management process
PRODUCTS: MARKETING SALES CREATIO
Use the best practices and increase your chances to hand-off the lead to sales by following the lead management process steps.
Lead management implies handling a lead by stages, starting with qualification. This may lead to creating activities and opening additional pages in Creatio. As these activities are completed, their results influence the process flow.
Process specifics:
If the lead management business process is active, Creatio automatically adds linked activities and suggests steps that the user should take on each stage of lead processing. Use the workflow bar and action panel at the top of the lead page (Fig. 1) to manage a lead stages.
With the workflow bar, you can switch to any stage, skip a stage or return to any previous one.
Using the action panel, you can manage activities created when managing a lead.
Customer need details, lead management history and other information are available on the tab dashboard.
Check tips for each stage by hovering the cursor over the icon.
You can view detailed information on the process steps in the process library.
Fig. 1 The lead management process
To run the lead management process, click the [ Qualify ] button, which is displayed in the list when selecting a lead record or on the new lead page.
Qualification The qualification stage is used to check completeness of information about a contact or an account to which the lead is linked. This stage starts after the lead information has been saved.
If the available information is sufficient for further work on the lead, qualify the lead without opening the record page. To do this, select the record in the list and click [ Qualify ].
If information about a contact or account needs to be checked and updated, select a lead in the record list, click [ Open ], and populate the information blocks – contact and account profiles. You can add a new contact and account or select existing ones. For example, update the record information by adding a mobile phone or website address. After checking and entering the required data on the qualification page, click [ Qualify ].
If you enter a contact or account in the [ Lead Info ] tab on the [ Qualification ] stage, Creatio will automatically create a new contact or account record.
If the lead information is insufficient to contact the customer, disqualify the lead by clicking [ Actions ] → [ Disqualify ] → [ Incorrect data ].
Nurturing On this stage, the owner and the nurturing strategy are determined. Since the owner is appointed at the qualification stage, after qualification, the lead is transferred to the “Handoff to sales” stage, and the "Nurturing" stage is skipped.
If necessary, you can return to this stage and specify the employees responsible for the handoff to sales, and determine the further strategy of working with the lead. To move to the nurturing stage, click [ Nurturing ] on the workflow bar at the top of the lead page. When a lead is being transferred to this stage, the “Lead management: Distribution” page is created in the action panel. Click [ Execute ] and go to the lead distribution page.
If the customer's interest is confirmed, advance the lead to the next stage to specify the need. To do this, in the [ Distribute ] button menu select the [ Start proceeding to handoff ] command. As a result, the lead
proceeds to the “Handoff to sales” stage. If the [ Remind owner ] checkbox is selected on the distribution page, a notification will be sent to the user responsible for proceeding the lead to handoff.
If there is no point in communicating at the moment, but the customer has a postponed interest, select the [ Continue nurturing ] command in the [ Distribute ] button menu. As a result, the lead remains at the nurturing stage, and you can continue working on it later.
If the customer is no longer interested in your products or services, select the [ Not interested ] result. The lead will advance to the “Not interested” stage.
Proceed to handoff The lead is transferred to this stage automatically after the qualification. Contact the customer and find out more about the potential opportunity. After estimating the customer's potential, you can hand the customer over to a particular sales manager taking into consideration the manager qualification and profile. As a result, you can run the handoff or proceed to order for this customer. If the customer has a postponed interest, you can return the lead to the previous stage and carry on nurturing them.
Specify the lead's parameters On this stage, Creatio will create a task titled ”Contact the customer and specify the availability and actuality of the need, budget, parameters as well as their role in decision-making,” available on the workflow bar.
Execute the task by clicking the title or the [ Complete ] button.
After you complete the task on the [ General information ] tab of the task page, select the required result and click [ Save ].
The process depends on the activity results. For example, if you use Sales Creatio, commerce edition, or Sales Creatio, enterprise edition, and the customer is ready to make an order, specify the task result as “Proceed to order.” On the lead page, the “Sales-ready” need maturity will be set.
Handoff to sales If you are ready for handoff, select the “Proceed to handoff” task result. Creatio will ask you to enter additional notes for the handoff. After that, a new task will be created to enter information required to hand-off the lead to sales. While executing it, populate the following fields on the task page:
1. [ Budget, base currency ] – specify expected opportunity budget in the base currency.
2. [ Sales division ] – division that will handle the opportunity, for example, direct sales department or affiliate sales department.
3. [ Meeting date and time ] – specify date and time of the first meeting with the customer.
4. [ Decision date ] – date and time when the customer is ready to make a decision about the opportunity.
The [ Need type ], [ Assignee ], and [ Notes ] will populated automatically. Information specified in the [ Result details ] field of the lead proceed to handoff page will be displayed in the [ Notes ] field. Once the page is saved, you can see the specified note in the lead feed.
The data entered will be displayed in the [ Proceed to handoff ] field group on the [ History ] tab of the lead page. You can edit it later.
Once the page is saved, the note about the handoff will be added to the lead feed. The lead then proceeds to the “Awaiting sale” stage. On the lead page, the “Sales-ready” need maturity will be set.
Back to distribution If the customer is not interested at the moment, but communication with the customer is still available and the possibility to close the opportunity still exists, complete the task and select “Back to distribution” in the [ Select results ] field of the task completion mini page. In this case, the lead will return to the “Nurturing” stage, and the “Discovered” need maturity is set on the lead page.
Postpone lead processing If you need to postpone the task for some defined period, complete it and select “Rescheduled” in the [ Select results ] field of the task completion mini page. The lead will remain at the “Handoff to sales” stage. A new task for proceeding lead to handoff will be created.
If the customer need is not confirmed, complete the task and select the “Not interested” in the [ Select results ] field of the task completion mini page. In this case, the “Not interested” need maturity will be set on the lead page. The lead will remain at the “Handoff to sales” stage. Later on, after the customer's need is renewed, you can continue working according to the process.
Awaiting sale All lead management stages are complete. If you use Sales Creatio, commerce edition, or Sales Creatio, enterprise edition, Creatio will add an [ Opportunities ] section record based on the lead. Corporate sale process will start for the new opportunity. If the corporate sales process is completed successfully, the lead will then proceed to the final “Need satisfied” stage. Start sending trigger emails
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Trigger emails are sent automatically, upon a specific event. For instance, whenever a new participant enters a campaign, Creatio sends a trigger email to that participant. The sending method of a trigger email is determined by the campaign in which the trigger email is included. There are three sending methods:
Daily at a specified time with the option to specify a delay up to several days. Trigger email will be sent to the contacts who moved to the corresponding step in the campaign. For example, you can send educational content on your software product in three days after the trial version order. After a defined time – sent after some time after an event. For example, you can send a trigger email 15 minutes after a customer leaves your website without placing an order but did add products to the cart. Such emails are sent throughout the day.
Event-based – sent after a certain event. For example, this can be a welcome letter after filling out the landing form.
We recommend sending test emails before you start your email. This enables checking of macro values and contents display in the email. Learn more about test emails: Send a test email.
Attention. Email domain verification is required to start sending the email.
Set up a trigger
1. Create a new campaign in the [ Campaigns ] section. 2. Include the trigger email in the campaign and set the sending conditions. For example, emails can be sent after an event is finished or daily at a specified time. Add other items in the campaign if needed.
3. Start the campaign that is connected to the trigger email. The trigger email will be sent automatically after the campaign has launched. The audience for the trigger email can be formed automatically.
4. Analyze the totals of the trigger email and email conversion for this recipient.
Unlike bulk emails, trigger emails cannot be stopped directly. You can stop a trigger email by stopping the corresponding campaign.
Trigger email check-up An email recipient validity check is also performed during the sending of a trigger email. For example, while assigning the audience, a customer may unsubscribe from your email or a customer's email inbox may become unavailable. To take into account such changes, a check is performed upon sending emails.
Subscription to your bulk emails. The [ Do not use email ] checkbox must be cleared on the contact page. Contacts who have the [ Do not use email ] checkbox selected will not receive further marketing emails.
Email address relevance. The [ Current ] checkbox must be selected for the email addresses used for contacts in the email. The address is considered to be invalid if a “Soft Bounce” or “Hard Bounce” response is received. The email will be sent to those contacts who have neither a “Soft Bounce” response nor a “Hard Bounce” response. These contacts will have the “Canceled (invalid email)” response.
Email address availability. The system checks whether the [ Email ] field is filled in on the contact page. Creatio will not send any emails to the contacts who have no email address in their profile. In this case, the “Canceled (email not provided)” response will be set in the [ Response ] column on the [ Audience ] tab. Email address correctness. An email will be considered “incorrect” if it does not correspond to the email address format (for example, does not contain the “@” character). Creatio will not send any emails to the contacts who have incorrect email address in their profile. In this case, the “Canceled (incorrect email)” response will be set in the [ Response ] column on the [ Audience ] tab. Add template elements
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Image The [ Image ] element (Fig. 1) displays images. This element consists of two parts: the image itself, and the image container.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Image Use the field to upload an image from your computer or insert the URI of an image. settings
Note. The [ Image ] element supports Data URIs. You can insert a base64- encoded image instead of a URL. Base64-encoded images are part of the HTML code of the message and are not normally filtered by email clients that prevent external images from loading by default.
[ Link to open ] – specify a URL to use the image as a hyperlink.
[ Title ] – specify the text to display when the user hovers the mouse pointer over the image.
Note. The title text is often used to describe things unclear at first glance.
[ Alternative text ] – specify the alternative text. In some email clients, a specific setting might disable images in the incoming emails. As a result, recipients will see alternative text instead of images. Populate the [ Alternate Text ] field with a description of the image so that recipients can see it instead of the icon to replace the missing image.
Size, px Specify the width and height of the image.
By default, both [ Width ] and [ Height ] parameters have the “Auto” value. If you leave this parameter unchanged, the image will either stretch or shrink to fit the container.
Change one of the values to resize the image and keep the ratio.
Change both values to force resize the image to the specified height and width disregarding the ratio.
Align Align the image horizontally (left , center , or right ).
Note. Alignment may produce no visible effect depending on the ratio of the image and the current ratio of the parent container.
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the image and each of the borders of the container.
Padding is specified separately for each side.
Corner radius Specify the circular radius of the corners of the image. Leave this property empty for sharp corners. This defines the circular radius of all 4 corners of the image.
Note. Use the [ HTML ] element with inline or embedded CSS styles to specify elliptical corners and other exotic effects.
Background Set background color for the entire image. Background style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (2) to enable them.
Clear this checkbox to disable all background settings of the current image.
Click to open the color picker and select the background color.
Note. The background completely fills the entire graphics container. For example, if the padding setting values are not set to 0, the background color should be visible around the image. If the image has transparent areas, the background color will be visible through them.
Borders Configure the borders of the image. Border style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (3) to enable them.
Click to open the color picker and select the border color.
Update the field to specify the border width. To hide the border, select the “Hidden” border style.
Use the dropdown menu (4) to select the border style. When the border settings are enabled, the “Solid” style is selected by default. The following styles are available:
– Hidden
Note. The border is defined but invisible. The border width effectively equals 0.
– Dotted
– Dashed
– Solid
– Double
– Groove
– Ridge
– Inset
– Outset
Select or clear [ Top ], [ Bottom ], [ Left ] and [ Right ] checkboxes to enable or disable the border style settings for the corresponding border.
Button The [ Button ] element (Fig. 1) is designed for making clickable call-to-action buttons. [ Button ] elements are also referred to as a “call to action” (CTA) and are basically links presented as visually identifiable buttons.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Link to open The URL specified in the [ Link to open ] area opens when a recipient clicks the button.
Font Use this settings group to configure the font settings of the CTA button caption.
[ Content builder font set ] – select the font family of the button from the list of registered font families. To modify the list of fonts used in your template, update the “Content builder font set” lookup. Read more in the “Updating available Content Designer fonts” article.
[ Size, px ] – specify the width and height of the button in pixels. Click to open the color picker and select the font color.
[ Line height, px ] – specify the spacing between the lines and the borders of the button.
The maximum height is 250px; the minimum line height cannot be less than the size of the font.
[ Letter spacing, px ] – specify the spacing between the characters in pixels.
Size, px Specify the width and height of the button in pixels.
Align Adjust the horizontal ( left, center, or right) and vertical ( top, center, or bottom) alignment for the button for the button.
Note. Selecting various vertical alignment settings is likely to produce no visible effect when trying them with the default sample CTA button because of the insufficient height.
Margin, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the borders of the CTA button and the adjacent borders of parent and sister elements. In the Content Designer, you must specify the margin setting for each side individually.
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the CTA text and each of the borders of the container.
Padding is specified separately for each side.
Corner radius Specify the circular radius of the corners of the button. Leave this property empty for sharp corners. This defines the circular radius of all 4 corners of the button.
Note. Use the [ HTML ] element with inline or embedded CSS styles to specify elliptical corners and other exotic effects.
Background Set the button background color. Background style settings are enabled by default. Clear the checkbox (2) to enable them.
Select this checkbox to enable all background settings of the current button. Click to open the color picker and select the background color.
Borders Configure the borders of the button.
Border style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (3) to enable them. Click to open the color picker and select the border color.
Update the field to specify the border width. To hide the border, select the “Hidden” border style. Use the dropdown menu (4) to select the border style. When the border settings are enabled, the “Solid” style is selected by default. The following styles are available:
– Hidden
Note. The border is defined but invisible. The border width effectively equals 0.
– Dotted
– Dashed
– Solid
– Double
– Groove
– Ridge
– Inset
– Outset
Select or clear [ Top ], [ Bottom ], [ Left ] and [ Right ] checkboxes to enable or disable the border style settings for the corresponding border.
Text The [ Text ] element (Fig. 1) is used to add message text. This element has two configuration areas: the setup area and the rich text toolbar on the [ Text ] element itself.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Font Use this settings group to configure the baseline font settings of the [ Text ] element.
[ Content builder font set ] – select the font family of the text from the list of registered font families. To modify the list of fonts used in your template, update the “Content builder font set” lookup. Read more in the “Updating available Content Designer fonts” article.
[ Size, px ] – specify the width and height of the button in pixels.
Click to open the color picker and select the font color.
[ Line height, px ] – specify the spacing between the lines and the borders of the button.
The maximum height is 250px; the minimum line height cannot be less than the size of the font.
[ Letter spacing, px ] – specify the spacing between the characters in pixels.
Size, px [ Size, px ] – specify the width and height of the button in pixels.
Align Align the baseline text horizontally (left , center , right or justify ).
Height, px Specify the height of the text container (in pixels).
This field is used to specify the fixed height of the text container. It will not stretch or shrink to fit the text inside.
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the text and each of the borders of the container.
Padding is specified separately for each side.
Background Set background color for the text.
Background style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (2) to enable them. Clear this checkbox to disable all background settings of the current spacer.
Click to open the color picker and select the background color.
Divider The [ Divider ] element (Fig. 1) is used for separating adjacent elements with horizontal lines or margins.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Divider options Use this settings group to configure the width of the horizontal line, its color, width, and style.
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the horizontal line and each of the borders of the divider. Padding is specified separately for each side.
Background Use this settings group to toggle background options on and off, and to select the background color.
Navbar The Navbar element (Fig. 1) is a navigation bar containing a list of menu links. The navbar element can be configured differently for mobiles.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block and template) elements.
Navbar Add, remove, and move the navigation links. constructor To access the setup area of a navlink, click the corresponding item in the navlink list.
Click [ Add link ] to add a link
Click to remove a link (last link cannot be removed).
Align Align the navlinks in the navbar.
Hamburger Enable “hamburger” menu on mobile devices, displaying menu links one over menu another.
Icon align Align the hamburger menu icon horizontally (left , center or right ).
This property is only available if the hamburger menu is enabled.
Icon color Click to update the hamburger menu icon color.
This property is only available if the hamburger menu is enabled.
Navlink The Navlink element (Fig. 3) is a navigation link for the parent navigation bar containing a list of navigation links.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block and template) elements.
Link to open Provide the URL to the desired destination in the [ Link to open ] area.
Font Use this settings group to configure the font settings of the link.
[ Content builder font set ] – select the font family of the menu link from the list of registered font families. To modify the list of fonts used in your template, update the “Content builder font set” lookup. Read more in the “Updating available Content Designer fonts” article.
[ Size, px ] – specify the width and height of the font in pixels.
Click to open the color picker and select the font color.
[ Line height, px ] – specify the spacing between the lines and the borders of the button.
The maximum line height is 250px; the minimum line height cannot be less than the size of the font.
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the text and each of the borders of the container.
Padding is specified separately for each side.
Spacer The [ Spacer ] element (Fig. 1) is used for separating adjacent elements with empty spacer (an invisible horizontal line).
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Size, px Update the [ Height ] field to specify the thickness of the spacer.
Background Set background color for the spacer.
Background style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (2) to enable them.
Clear this checkbox to disable all background settings of the current spacer.
Click to open the color picker and select the background color.
Run A/B tests
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Split testing (A/B testing) is a professional email marketing tool used for comparing bulk email effectiveness.
Split tests enable you to compare the conversion rates for several different emails of the same recipient segment to define the most productive communication method with the target audience.
During the split testing, you compare at least two variants of the same email. Split testing can be applied to the following items of an email:
The email template, for example, the image location or the color of the call-to-action button (CTA). As a result of the test, you can define in what way the style and the form of the CTA button influence the number of the clicks. The subject of the email. The subject is the first thing that the potential customer will see upon receiving the email. Define the wording of the email subject so that it stimulates the users to open the email.
The sender's name. You can test which sender's name has more credibility with the recipient.
Create emails for split testing Prepare the email content that you want to be tested and add it to the new split test.
1. In the [ Email ] section, create emails for the test. You can prepare two or more variants of emails for A/B testing. Do not add the audience to the email as the recipients will be added and distributed upon testing. Also, do not start created marketing emails.
2. Open the list of split tests: [ Email ] → [ Actions ] → Go to split tests (Fig. 1).
4. At the first Bulk email wizard step, select which emails you want to be compared during the test. Make sure that each email:
a. has a “Planned” status;
b. is not included in another split test;
c. does not contain any list of recipients on the [ Audience ] detail.
Add audience Go to the second wizard Audience step, and add the list of email recipients. There are several general recommendations for audiences used in split tests. Read more in “”.
1. Specify the audience percentage that will comprise the test group of the email recipients during the split test. For example, if you test two versions, you can specify 10% and add 1000 contacts on the [ Split test audience ] detail. As a result, the test audience of each version will contain 50 contacts. The email recipients are randomly selected from the audience. Also, you can test several emails on the entirety (100%) of a selected segment. You cannot change the test group percentage after you added the audience. 2. Add the required contact folders on the [ Split test audience ] detail. For example, to test several email templates for a seminar which your company is going to hold, select the “Participated in events”.
Start sending emails as part of the split test Go to the third wizard Start step and specify the email sending time. You can start sending manually or specify the time when the email will be started automatically. All split test emails will be sent simultaneously.
Analyzing the results When your split test is performed, analyze the email totals at the Results step. The dashboard functionality of this step is similar to the functionality of the email delivery statistics diagram. Read more in “Email delivery
analysis”. The diagram displays summary information about the split test, for example, the total number of all email opens by different test groups. The totals for each email are displayed in a table above the diagram (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Split test results
When evaluating the split test results, adhere to the recommendations specified in the “Split testing guidelines” article
Sending the better variant of the email to the remaining audience If at the [ Audience ] step of the wizard you select a test group audience percentage that is different from 100%, you can send the winning email to the rest of the target audience that was not involved in the test group. To do this:
1. Select the needed email in the Email section and click Copy in the [ Email ] section.
2. Select the dynamic folder in the Contacts section, which will be used for sending the winner email. This folder includes contacts from the segment that were tested but were not included in the split test audience. An example of setting the folder is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Example of setting the contact folder for sending the winner email
Information about the email progress is available on the [ Email totals ] and [ Audience ] tabs, as well as on the email progress diagram. The tab displays percentage and volumes of email deliveries, recipient responses, as well as “open” and “click” statistics.
Diagrams on sending and delivery errors
Sending error chart The sending error chart (Fig. 1) displays the total number of undelivered emails (those that have not been sent by Creatio) grouped by sending errors. The diagram uses information from the [ Audience ] detail and shows records with the following responses: “Canceled (unsubscribed from all emails),” “Canceled (invalid email),” “Canceled (incorrect email),” “Canceled (email not provided),” and “Canceled (Duplicate email).”
Note. To receive the “Canceled (duplicated email) response, enable the [ Prevent to send duplicated emails to recipients with the same address ] system setting. Read more: Prevent sending duplicate emails to the same email address.
Delivery error chart The delivery error chart (Fig. 2) displays the total number of undelivered emails (those that have been sent by Creatio, but have not been delivered) grouped by delivery errors. The diagram uses the information from the [ Audience ] detail and shows records with the following responses: “Soft Bounce,” “Hard Bounce,” “Rejected,” “Delivery error.”
Possible reasons of delivery errors Several factors may cause undelivered email:
emails may be blocked by spam filters of email providers
the low reputation of your email account on an email provider server
email sending quota set by email providers
outdated list of emails
The high “Hard bounce” rate indicates that your email recipient list contains many invalid email addresses. The “Soft bounce” response indicates temporary problems, such as “mailbox full.” If a large number of recipients unsubscribe from your emails, this may indicate that your recipient list is outdated. The “Denied” response may also mean that an email was not delivered due to technical reasons. Read more: Personal responses.
Delivery statistics The delivery statistics diagram (Fig. 3) displays metrics for unique email responses. The data is updated every 5 minutes.
Fig. 3 Delivery statistics diagram
The data on the delivery statistics diagram and the [ Email totals ] may differ from the data on the [ Audience ] tab. This is because Creatio receives aggregated and individual responses at a different rate. The data is displayed on separate “metric” dashboard components. Each indicator can have either a percentage or a quantitative value. The percentages are displayed to the total number of delivered emails (the [ Delivered ] metric).
Delivered The number of delivered emails. Indicates the total number of recipients, whose mail provider response is “Accepted by the server.” You can display this metric in the list using the [ Delivered ] column.
Opens The number and percentage of times emails were opened. The indicators are calculated based on opens by unique recipients. For example, if a recipient opens an email several times, the indicators will show only one “open.” These indicators account for cases when no information about opening the email was received from the recipient, but information about clicked links, unsubscription or flagging the email as spam exists. The metric can be displayed in the list using the [ No. of opens ] and [ Opens, % ] columns.
Clicks The number of emails where recipients followed links in the message text and its percentage to the number of delivered emails. The indicators are calculated based on clicks by unique recipients. For example, if a recipient follows same link in the same email several times, this will still count as a single click. Clicking the “unsubscribe” link does not count as a “click” in this metric. The metric can be displayed in the list using the [ Number of clicks ] and [ Clicks, % ] columns.
Unsubscribes The number and percentage of unsubscribed recipients. The metric can be displayed in the list using the [ No. of unsubscribes ] and [ Unsubscribe rate, % ] columns.
Spam The number and percentage of times the emails were sent to spam. Only manual spam flagging will be calculated. The metric can be displayed in the list using the [ No. of spam complaints ] and [ Spam rate, % ] columns.
You can also view the number of sent emails. To do this, display the [ Sent count ] column in the list. Send a system email
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Use this function to send important non-marketing emails, such as notifications about updates or service unavailability. System email ignores the “Do not use email” checkbox if it is selected on the [ Communication channels ] tab of the recipient’s contact record and sends an email to the contact.
Use system emails to send only service, transaction emails and important customer notifications. Using system emails for marketing purposes might lead to issues with the domain reputation and decrease the email deliverability.
To convert a marketing email to a system email, select the [ System email ] checkbox on the [ Parameters ] tab when creating a new email (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 [ System email ] checkbox on the email page
Note. By default, the [ System email ] checkbox is displayed on the email page. Use the “Enable option “System email” system setting to hide the [ System email ] checkbox.
Campaign element reference
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Campaign diagrams consist of campaign elements connected with flows.
Marketing email Sends a trigger email to campaign participants who are transferred via the element’s incoming flows.
Adding event audience
Adds campaign audience from a dynamic or static folder, as well as from a custom filter.
Triggered adding
The element adds participants to the campaign audience automatically, on a trigger.
Add from event
Adds the audience of the event to the campaign’s participant list.
Add from landing
Adds participants to the campaign when a web form is filled out on a landing page.
Add to event Adds participants from the campaign to an event.
Add data
Creates new Creatio records based on the data of the campaign’s participants.
Modify data Modifies existing records.
Timer
Launches a campaign or activates the following campaign element at a specific time, either once or regularly.
Exit from campaign
The element enables participants who correspond to the specified filter conditions and those transferred to this element by incoming flows to exit the campaign.
The [ Marketing email ] element The [ Marketing email ] element enables you to use trigger emails (created in the [ Email ] section) in your campaigns.
The execution time of this step depends on the configured flows.
Note. You cannot use bulk emails in a marketing campaign.
To set up the [ Marketing email ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram. 2. In the [ Which trigger email to send? ] field, select a trigger email from the [ Email ] section to send to the email audience (Fig. 1). The other fields are locked and populated with the value specified upon the creation of the trigger email.
Fig. 1 – Set up the [ Marketing email ] element
3. When setting up the [ Marketing email ] element, select email responses to advance the participants down the outgoing flows, if available. You can transfer participants down a flow unconditionally or only advance those participants whose responses match the selected options in the flow's properties area. 4. Select one or several links from the email template (Fig. 2) when selecting the [ Email clicked ] response. Only the participants who click the selected links will proceed down the condition flow.
Attention. If no link list is specified, clicking any link will result in proceeding down the flow.
If the trigger email template has dynamic content, Creatio will treat all URLs in each replica as unique URLs. When you populate the [ Redirection URL ] field for a trigger email with dynamic content, you will see the list of links from all template replicas. Select all available link variants to enable recipients of each replica to go down the condition flow.
Delay countdown starts as soon as the participant reaches the element. For example, if you set a 3-day transition delay for the “Email opened” condition, all contacts who open the email within 3 days will transfer down this condition flow.
Attention. If you select the “Email clicked” transition option and later change the link in the email template after the start of the campaign, you need to replace the old link with the new one in the “URL” field.
The [ Add audience ] element The [ Add audience ] element is designed to add campaign participants from a dynamic or static folder or using the specified filter settings (Fig. 3). You can add an unlimited number of [ Add audience ] elements to the campaign diagram. The audience always consists of contacts. Associated entities, such as leads, accounts, or orders, are stored in Creatio separately.
2. Use the [ Select an object (entity) that holds the campaign audience data ] field to select the object for importing the campaign audience. For example, you can import leads. In this case, the connected contacts will be imported to the campaign audience. The list of available entities is specified in the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup. 3. Select “Folder” in the [ Specify which records will be converted to the campaign audience ] field to add contacts from a pre-configured group. Select “Filter” to filter records using filter conditions.
a. If you choose “Folder”, select the name of the group in the [ Which folder to add participants from? ] field.
b. If you choose “Filter”, set up the filtering conditions. For example, filter leads with a certain need maturity who live in a specific city.
4. By default, the participants from the specified folder will not re-enter the campaign after they exit it. Select the [ Re-entering the campaign ] checkbox to enable participants to go through the campaign multiple times. You can specify the number of days before the participants can re-enter the campaign in the [ Quantity of days before next campaign entrance ] field. For example, you can set up an NPS campaign to launch every 90 days. The countdown starts the moment the participant is added.
The participants who have not yet completed the campaign and are set to re-enter again will receive the “Suspended” status. Read more: Re-entering the campaign.
You can select the [ Recurring entrance ] checkbox in the [ Participation rules ] group when setting up the properties of the [ Triggered adding ] element (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4 – Participation conditions upon a repeated triggered adding
The [ Recurring entrance ] checkbox is selected: when a participant is re-added from a trigger, their current campaign progress will be suspended. Use this option to make the contact start the campaign anew after re-adding. For example, the contact can be sent an introductory email upon each lead registration.
The [ Recurring entrance ] checkbox is cleared: when a participant is re-added, the campaign fragment before the delay will be executed. The contact will proceed their transition through the campaign. You can use this feature to send confirmation emails (transaction emails). In this case, the contact will receive a corresponding email after a triggered adding of a lead and continue to transition through the campaign steps without restarting. Otherwise, the contact will change their current step, and a logical error will happen.
Add objects to the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup. You can edit the list of available objects in the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5 – The [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup
2. Click [ Lookups ] in the [ System setup ] block.
3. Open the contents of the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup
4. Click [ New ].
5. Populate the values of the new lookup record:
a. Specify the name of the object in the [ Caption ] column. This caption is displayed in the [ Add participants when this object is added/updated ] field in the setup area of the [ Triggered adding ] element.
b. Specify the name of the object in the database in the [ Object ] column. You can use the Section Wizard or Detail Wizard to look up the object (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6 – Locating the object name in the Section Wizard
c. Specify the name of the column which connects the necessary object to the “Contact” object in the [ Path to contact object ] column.
The [ Triggered adding ] element The [ Triggered adding ] start element adds participants to the campaign audience automatically, on a trigger.
The audience always comprises of contacts. Associated entities, such as leads, accounts, or orders, are stored in Creatio separately. For example, if you select the “Lead” record type in the element, Creatio adds the contact, specified in the lead profile. The specifics for the connection between the added participant and the trigger record are specified for each object individually.
Participants are added to the campaign as soon as the trigger fires. The audience list on the [ Participants ] tab is updated when the campaign is launched (whether manually or automatically).
Two types of events that activate the triggers:
Existing record modified. Creatio adds participants to the campaign audience whenever an existing record is updated (modified) in a specific section. Tracked fields are specified during the element setup. The updated record must meet the filter conditions
New record added. Creatio adds participants to the campaign audience whenever a new record is added in a specific section, detail, or lookup. The newly added record must meet the filter conditions.
The “Record modified” trigger event To set up the [ Triggered adding ] element for a record modification (Fig. 7):
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. In the [ Add participants when this object is added/updated ] field, select the object whose record will trigger adding a new campaign participant. The list of available field values is specified in the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup. For example, to add campaign participants whenever a lead record is modified (advances on the “Nurturing” stage), select the “Lead” object. All leads added to the campaign must be connected to a contact. Use the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup to map the contact fields.
3. In the [ What event should happen? ] field, select "Record changing” and proceed to populate the fields that appear. 4. In the [ Trigger activates when the following columns are modified ] field, specify the columns whose values
should be modified for the “Record updated” event to occur. For example, to add participants to the campaign if the lead stage is changed, select the “Lead stage” column. 5. In the [ The modified record must meet filter conditions ] field, specify the conditions that the record should meet to trigger the element. For example, to add participants to the campaign once the lead stage is changed to “Nurturing”, set the “Lead stage = Nurturing” filter. If you do not specify the filter, any change in the specified columns will trigger adding new campaign participants. 6. By default, the participants from the specified folder will not re-enter the campaign after they exit it. Select the [ Re-entering the campaign ] checkbox to enable participants to go through the campaign multiple times. You can specify the number of days before the participants can re-enter the campaign in the [ Quantity of days before next campaign entrance ] field. For example, you can set up an NPS campaign to launch every 90 days. The countdown starts the moment the participant is added.
The participants who have not yet completed the campaign and are set to re-enter again will receive the “Suspended” status. Read more: Re-entering the campaign.
As a result, each time a new lead reaches the [ Nurturing ] stage, the [ Triggered adding ] element will add the connected contact to the campaign audience.
Fig. 7 – Setting up the “Record modified” event
The “Record added” trigger event
To set up the [ Triggered adding ] element for adding a record (Fig. 8):
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. In the [ Add participants when this object is added/updated ] field, select the object whose record will trigger
adding a new campaign participant. The list of available field values is specified in the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup. For example, to add campaign participants when adding an order record, select the “Order” entity. All orders added to the campaign must be connected to a contact. Use the [ Entity settings for campaign signal ] lookup to map the contact fields.
3. In the [ What event should happen? ] field, select “Add record” and proceed to populate the fields that appear.
4. In the [ The added record must meet filter conditions ] field, specify the conditions that the record should meet to trigger the element. For example, to add campaign audience when adding a new order on the website or in the mobile app only, set the “Order channel = Website; Mobile application” filter. Without the filter, any new orders will trigger the adding of new campaign participants.
5. By default, the participants from the specified folder will not re-enter the campaign after they exit it. Select the [ Re-entering the campaign ] checkbox to enable participants to go through the campaign multiple times. You can specify the number of days before the participants can re-enter the campaign in the [ Quantity of days before next campaign entrance ] field. For example, you can set up an NPS campaign to launch every 90 days. The countdown starts the moment the participant is added.
The participants who have not yet completed the campaign and are set to re-enter again will receive the “Suspended” status. Read more: Re-entering the campaign.
As a result, each time a new order is created on the site or in the mobile app, the [ Triggered adding ] element will add the connected contact to the campaign audience.
Fig. 8 – Setting up the “Record added” trigger event.
As soon as a new participant is added to the campaign, they move through the campaign steps until they reach an element or flow with a configured delay. This occurs even if the [ Triggered adding ] element adds the same contact as the campaign participant several times (e.g., if two different leads with the same contact trigger the element at different times).
Whenever such a participant goes down a conditional flow for the first time, any subsequent instances of the same participant will not be able to go down that conditional flow. If a campaign element should not execute for a participant more than once, be sure to place a conditional flow between it and the [ Triggered adding ] element. For example, the same participant will not be able to go down the “Wait 2 days” conditional flow twice (Fig. 7).
The [ Add from event ] element
Use the [ Add from event ] campaign element to integrate event audiences with your campaigns. The [ Add from event ] element is triggered when new records are added to the list of event participants (Fig. 9). This
element works similarly to a [ Triggered adding ] element configured for adding participants from an event audience. Participants are added to the campaign as soon as they are added as the event’s participants. The audience list on the [ Participants ] tab is updated when the campaign is launched (whether manually or automatically).
To set up the [ Add from event ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. Use the [ What event connect with? ] field to specify the event whose audience will be added to the campaign audience. A contact added to the [ Contacts ] detail on the [ Audience ] tab of the event will also be added to the campaign audience. After the parameter has been filled in, the properties area will display the event’s dates, type, and owner. These fields are locked and populated with value specified upon the creation of the event. 3. Select the [ Recurring entrance ] checkbox to suspend the execution of the campaign’s flow and start the campaign from step one when the contact is re-added to the event participant list. Read more: Re-entering the campaign.
Fig. 9 – Setting up the [ Add from event ] element
Use the [ Add from landing ] start element to integrate landing pages and campaigns (Fig. 10).
The [ Add from landing ] element is triggered when a web form is filled out on a landing page This element works similarly to a [ Triggered adding ] element configured for adding participants when creating a connected object. A contact will be added to the list of campaign participants as soon as a web form is filled out on a landing page. The audience list on the [ Participants ] tab is updated when the campaign is launched (whether manually or automatically). To set up the [ Add from event ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. In the [ What landing page to connect with? ] field, select one of the previously added landing pages. After the parameter has been filled in, the element’s properties area will display the landing page URL, status, and the Creatio object bound to the landing page. These fields are locked and populated with the value specified upon the creation of the landing page.
3. Select the [ Recurring entrancen ] checkbox to suspend the execution of the campaign’s flow and start the campaign from step one when the contact is re-added to the event participant list. Read more: Re-entering the campaign.
Fig. 10 – Setting up the [ Add from landing ] element
You can set up the filtering by the object specified in the properties of the [ Add from landing ] element when moving to the next campaign element. For example, as displayed on Fig. 11.
The [ Add to event ] element The [ Add to event ] element adds campaign participants to an event (Fig. 12).
To set up the [ Add to event ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram. 2. Use the [ What event connect with? ] field to select the event whose audience will be populated with new contacts from the campaign audience. After the parameter has been filled in, the properties area will display the event’s dates, type, and owner. These fields are locked and populated with the value specified upon the creation of the event.
3. When setting up the [ Add to event ] element, you can select email responses for the transition of the participants if the element has outgoing conditional flows. Possible audience responses will be available in the condition list (Fig. 13).
Fig. 13 – Using the [ Add to event ] element with condition flows
This way, only the participants whose campaign responses correspond to those selected in the condition flow will transfer down that flow. The campaign will take into account the responses available at the time of transfer for participants who have not transferred yet. For example, if you set a 3-day transition delay for the “No response” condition, all contacts who have the “No response” response by the end of the 3-day period will transfer down this condition flow.
Note. You can add custom event participant responses in the [ Status of participation ] lookup.
The [ Add data ] element The [ Add data ] element adds new Creatio records and populates them with data from the participant’s contact record or any records that are directly connected to the participant’s contact record (Fig. 15).
To set up the [ Add data ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. In the [ Which object to add data to? ] field, select the target object (section, detail, or lookup). For example, to add a new activity, select the “Activity” object.
3. Click [ + ] in the [ Which column values to set? ] area and choose the fields that will be populated for the newly added record. For example, to connect the new activity to the participant’s account, select the “Account” field. All selected fields will display in the element properties area. By default, the element enables you to add data to four system objects - “Call”, “Activity”, “Contact in folder” and “Lead”. You can configure the list of available objects in the [ "Add data" element - allowed objects ] lookup.
4. Use the [ Which column values to set? ] area to specify how each of the fields will be populated in the record that the [ Add data ] element will create. All required fields in the new record must be populated. The following methods are available:
Manual input. You can specify the field value manually, using the same controls that are available for the same type of field on a regular record page: type in the values of text and numeric fields, select checkboxes for Boolean fields, select the value from lookups for lookup fields, and enter specific dates in the date fields. For example, to create an activity of the “Call” type, manually select “Call” in the [ Type ] field.
Out-of-the-box macro. Certain columns have ready-made macros. For example, select the “Date and time” macro in the “Start” field to populate the field with the date and time when the new record was added.
Custom macro. Use custom macros to populate the fields of the updated record with values from the participant’s contact record or records in other objects that are connected to the Contact object. For example, you can populate the “Owner” field of the new activity record with the same value as the one specified in the “Owner” field for the campaign participant’s contact (Fig. 14).
2. Click [ Lookups ] in the [ System setup ] block.
3. Open the contents of the The [ "Add data" element - allowed objects ] lookup.
4. Click [ New ].
5. Populate the values of the new lookup record:
a. Specify the name of the object in the [ Caption ] column. This name is displayed in the [ Which object to add data to? ] field.
b. Specify the name of the object in the database in the [ Object ] column. You can use the Section Wizard or Detail Wizard to look up the object (Fig. 17).
Fig. 17 – Locating the object name in the Section Wizard
c. Specify the name of the column which connects the necessary object to the “Contact” object in the [ Path to contact object ] column. The column is usually named “Contact”.
d. Specify the list of available columns as comma-separated values in the [ Allowed columns ] column. This determines which object columns are available for selection in the [ Which column values to set? ] field. Type in “*” to make all columns available.
e. Specify the list of restricted columns as comma-separated values in the [ Restricted columns ] column. These columns will not be available for selection in the [ Which column values to set? ] field. Values in this column have a higher priority than values in the [ Allowed columns ] column. If you make all columns available in the [ Allowed columns ] column (the “*” value), the restricted columns will not be available for selection during the setup.
The [ Modify data ] element The [ Modify data ] element modifies the existing section records, detail records, or lookup entries. With the [ Modify data ] element, you can use data from the participant’s contact record, as well as the connected objects, to set the corresponding values in the modified record (Fig. 18).
To set up the [ Modify data ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. Use the [ Which object to modify data of? ] field to select the object whose records Creatio will modify. For all objects, except the “Contact” object, the record must be connected to the participant’s contact. For example, if you select the “Lead” object, the element will modify the data of the lead, connected to the participant’s contact record. By default, the element only enables you to modify the “Contact” object data. You can configure the list of available objects in the “Modify data element - allowed objects” lookup. Add new objects to the lookup the same way as with the [ "Add data" element - allowed objects ] lookup.
3. Specify the list of record fields to modify in the [ Which column values to set? ] field. For example, select the [ Type ] field to change the type of the contact. The fields specified in this area are populated with custom values. Other fields do not change their value during campaign execution. Populate the fields the same way as the [ Add data ] element’s fields.
The [ Timer ] element Use the [ Timer ] element to exercise complete control over the campaign element execution time frames (Fig. 19). You can transfer participants to the following campaign steps at the time and frequency specified in the timer properties.
The timer can be set to trigger once or regularly based on a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). The parameters of the [ Timer ] event will differ depending on the selected “Frequency of timer start” option.
To set up the [ Timer ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. Specify the [ Timer ] element’s operation using the [ Timer validity ] field. For example, select “Once.” The base settings of the element are different depending on the frequency. The following frequency options are available:
3. In the [ Process start time ] field, specify the time of day when the timer triggers the process. You can choose one of the following options:
“Period” – the timer will trigger for each campaign execution that falls within the specified hours. For example, campaign frequency is set to 1 hour and the campaign starts at 1:00 PM. A timer with the [ Execution time ] set as a period from 3:40 PM to 4:40 PM will be triggered 3 times (one for each campaign execution): at 2:00 PM, 3:00 PM, and 4:00 PM.
“Exact time” – a specific time of day at which the timer is triggered, regardless of the campaign default frequency. For example, execution time of a [ Timer ] element is set to 2:40 PM. The campaign frequency is 1 hour and it starts at 1:00 PM. In this case, the campaign will execute all elements that go before the timer in the campaign diagram at 2:00 PM and the timer will advance the campaign participants to the next elements at 2:40 PM.
4. Use the [ Timer validity ] field to specify the frequency of the [ Timer ] element. Populate these fields if you need to limit the time frames of the [ Timer ] element operation. For example, you can set the timer to trigger during the next two months only. Use this parameter to deactivate part of the campaign flow without termination of the whole campaign. To configure the timer validity, select the [ Start date and time ] and [ End date and time ] fields.
[ Start date and time ] – on this date and time, the timer starts working according to the selected frequency options.
[ End date and time ] – on this date and time, the timer stops working. Any participants who are transferred to the [ Timer ] element after the specified time, will not advance to the next campaign elements.
5. Select the [ Set time zone ] checkbox to set the timer time zone if it is different from the campaign time zone. If campaign participants are located in different time zones, use several [ Timer ] elements to execute campaign steps at an appropriate time for each time zone.
Note. The [ Execution time ] and [ Timer validity ] options are not available for the timer with the “Once” frequency.
Fig. 19 – Example of using the [ Timer ] element on a campaign diagram
“Once” Select the “Once” timer frequency option to advance campaign participants to the next elements only once, at a specific time. For example, you can set up sending a notification email about an event planned for a specific date.
Any participants who arrive at the [ Timer ] element after the specified time will not advance to the next campaign element.
“Every day” Select the “Every day” frequency option to advance campaign participants to the next elements once a day during the time or period, specified via the [ Execution time ] settings. For example, you can set up a sending of emails only during working hours.
“Week” Select the “Week” option in the [ Frequency of timer start ] field to advance campaign participants to the next elements every week, on selected weekdays, according to the [ Execution time ] settings (Fig. 20). For example, you can send marketing emails on workdays only.
Fig. 20 – The [ Timer ] element settings for running the campaign weekly, every Monday and Wednesday
“Month” Select the “Month” option in the [ Frequency of timer start ] field to have the timer triggered at the specific days of the month (i.e., on the first Monday of every third month), at the time specified in the [ Execution time ] settings (Fig. 21). For example, you can set the sending of the monthly newsletters on every tenth day of the month.
Fig. 21 – The [ Timer ] element that runs the timer on the first Monday of the month, every three months
Additional properties of the “Month” timer frequency:
[ Run every ] – specify the timer frequency in months. For example, you can set the timer to trigger every third month.
[ Start day ] – select days on which the timer triggers.
1. [ Day of the month ] – the timer will trigger on the specified day of month (e.g., every tenth of the month).
2. [ Day of the week ] – the timer will trigger on the specified day of week (e.g., every third Friday of the month).
3. [ First/last work day ] – the timer will trigger on the first or last business/regular day of the month.
“Other frequency” Select the “Other frequency” option in the [ Frequency of timer start ] field to set a custom timer frequency via a
Fig. 22 – The [ Timer ] element configured to run the timer on day 6 of the month every 2 months
Populate the [ Cron expression ] field with a valid cron expression to set a custom timer frequency. If the expression is correct, its interpretation will be displayed under the [ Cron expression ] field.
Learn more about using cron expressions in QUARTZ documentation.
The [ Exit from campaign ] element The [ Exit from campaign ] element enables participants to exit from a campaign (Fig. 23):
By meeting the filter conditions of a specific static or dynamic folder (regardless of the current campaign step).
By reaching the [ Exit from campaign ] element as part of the campaign flow.
By both (the campaign flow and folder conditions) if the element has an incoming flow and the folder is specified.
Note. Incoming flows are optional for [ Exit from campaign ] elements.
You can add several [ Add from folder ] elements to a campaign diagram.
To set up the [ Exit from campaign ] element:
1. Place the item on the diagram.
2. Select “Filter” or “Folder” in the [ Specify which records will be excluded from the campaign audience ] field.
Specify “Folder” to exclude participants from a campaign based on their properties. Then, select a dynamic folder with the corresponding filter in the [ Select folder to exclude participants from campaign ] field. As a result, any participants who meet the filter conditions will exit from the campaign automatically regardless of their current step. For example, to set up a campaign exit point for participants who have unsubscribed from trigger emails and thus have not reached the goal, configure a dynamic folder with the ‘Unsubscribed” Email response and specify it as a folder for excluding the participants.
Specify “Filter” and set up a filtering condition to exclude matching participants.
3. Select the [ Campaign goal ] checkbox to mark the achievement of the campaign’s goal upon exit. For example, you can use it to count participants who confirmed their participation in an event. All participants who transfer to this step via an incoming flow or by meeting the folder conditions will have the “Reached the goal”
value in the [ Current step ] column on the [ Audience ] tab of the campaign page.
Fig. 23 – [ Exit from campaign ] elements on a campaign diagram
Participants exit from a campaign as follows:
Via flows. If the [ Exit from campaign ] element has incoming flows, all participants who have reached this step exit the campaign.
Via flows after going through all of the campaign’s steps. If the incoming flows of the [ Exit from campaign ] element are configured without a group to exclude, all of the participants will go through all of the campaign steps.
Via folder conditions and flows. The participants who reached this step via an incoming flow as well as those who meet the conditions of the dynamic folder (regardless of their current campaign step) all exit the campaign. Lead source tracking
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
You can track lead sources and channels. Analyzing the lead channel performance enables choosing the most prospective channels for further development. Information collected by the tracking code displays in the [ Lead engagement ] field group on the lead page. The lead source tracking provides the following information about potential customers:
Lead page with channel information and lead engagement origin
Lead channel. The [Channel] field displays the resource type that delivered the lead: “Social accounts,” “Search- based advertising” or “Direct traffic.”
Lead source. The [Source] field displays the name of the resource, e.g., “Twitter.”
Name of the website domain that redirected the user to the tracked website. It will be displayed in the [Redirection website] field, e.g., “facebook.com.”
Name of the landing page on which a potential customer submitted the web form. It will be displayed in the [Landing] field.
Name of the marketing email that redirected the user to your website, and also the name of the campaign that includes the corresponding email. This information displays in the [Bulk email] and [Campaign] fields accordingly. The fields are only available in Marketing Creatio.
Lead source tracking operation
1. Every time the tracking code redirects a potential customer to your website, two URLs will be written to the cookie files:
URL of the website that redirected the user to your webste (referrer)
2. When a potential customer populates the form on your landing page, the information about the referrer and the redirection URL will be sent to Creatio. The system will analyze the URLs and identify the lead channel and the source website.
3. After the customer completes the landing page form, Creatio will add a new lead and write the URL analysis result in it. Based on the redirection URL, Creatio will also link the generated leads to the marketing emails that originated them. Similarly, Creatio will link leads to the corresponding campaigns.
Using cookie files in the lead source tracking The lead source tracking creates two cookies containing the following data:
The [BpmRef] cookie contains the name of the website domain (referrer) that redirected the users to your website. Redirection URL will display in the [Redirection address] field of the [History] tab on the lead page.
The [BpmHref] cookie contains the URL of the website that redirected the user to your website. The redirection
URL might contain tracking parameters (e.g., the UTM marks) used by the tracking code to determine the lead attraction channel. For example, http://www.?reatio.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=c1. The redirection link is stored in the [BpmHref] database column and is not available in the application UI.
Determining the external, internal, and direct traffic The following rules are applied for the redirections from external links to your website and for your website's internal redirections. These rules define the way the data is written to the [ BpmRef ] and [ BpmHref ] cookie files regardless of the initial values they contain:
Each external redirection from a new source will result in overwriting the referrer and the redirection URL in the corresponding cookies.
Your website's internal redirections will not result in data overwriting in any of the cookie files.
When a direct link is used to access your website, the direct link to your website page is saved in the [ BpmHref ] cookie file, while the referrer value remains blank. This occurs regardless of the previously used website redirection source. Thus, Creatio takes into consideration only the last source and the redirection link to your website.
Using the UTM marks In Creatio, UTM marks are used in bulk and trigger emails. These marks enable obtaining additional information about lead sources and analyzing the efficiency of marketing emails and campaigns. UTM marks are variables that are added to all URLs in a bulk email. The marks are added sequentially, at the end of each URL, and are separated with the “&” character. The following UTM marks are used to determine lead sources:
The utm_medium mark determines the lead source channel, or the type of resource used to attract the lead, such as a search engine, social network, etc.
The utm_source mark determines the specific information resource used to attract the lead, for example, Facebook, Google, etc.
The utm_campaign mark determines the campaign that involved the bulk email. If the bulk email was not conducted as part of a Creatio campaign, specify the trigger email subject in the mark name.
The utm_term mark determines a keyword in the campaign and is used mostly for search-based advertising.
The utm_content mark is used to distinguish similar content or links in the same email. For example, if an email contains two links with a call to action, you can use the utm_content parameter to assign different values and perform split tests.
Rules for determining lead sources (with examples)
Using tracking to determine the lead source and the lead channel Creatio analyzes your website visits and identifies the lead sources using the tracking code and landing pages. Tracking results can be obtained from the page of the lead sent to Creatio from your landing page. The results are generated using the data contained in the [ Channel ] and [ Source ] fields on the [ History ] tab. The [ Channel ]
field displays the lead traffic type, for example, “Social accounts”, and the [ Source ] field displays the advertising system used, for example, “Twitter”. Use the [ Leads ] section analytics to obtain the performance indicators for a certain lead channel or source. Creatio uses the following information to analyze the lead sources:
UTM marks: “utm_medium” (lead channel) and “utm_source” (lead source);
Unique identifiers of redirections from Google and Yandex search engines that are added automatically (“gclid” and “yclid”). For example, if you post an advertisement in those search engines.
Source website (referrer) URL that redirected your customer to your website.
The [ Lead channels ], [ Lead sources ], and [ Lead source URL ] lookup values are used for the analysis of the redirection URL and the source website.
Note If you already use tracking rules for channel classification, sources, and used marks, we recommend that you supplement the contents of the mentioned lookups.
Below are the rules used by Creatio to identify the lead source and channel.
Lead channel identification rules The rules are listed by priority. This means that if rule 1 is satisfied, then rules 2 – 5 will not be checked, and so on.
If the redirection URL contains the “utm_medium” For example, the redirection URL value is mark value, the channel will be populated with the “http://site.com/page?utm_medium=social”. value corresponding to that mark (1). In this case, the channel will be populated with the “Social accounts” value.
2. utm_source mark
If the redirection URL contains the “utm_source” For example, the redirection URL value is mark value, the channel will be populated with the “http://site.com/page?utm_source=creatio”, which found source default value (2). means the customer clicked the link in the Creatio bulk email. In this case, the channel will be populated with the “Email” value.
3. Google AdWords/Yandex redirection ID. Direct
If the redirection URL obtains the value from For example, if the redirection URL is Google (“gclid”) or Yandex (“yclid”) redirection, “http://site.com/?gclid=123xyz” or then the “Search-based advertising” will be “http://site.com/?yclid=123456”. specified as the lead channel.
4. Referrer
If the redirection URL does not contain UTM mark For example, the referrer is “mobile.twitter.com”. values, then the source website (referrer) will be In this case, the source will be populated with the analyzed. To do this: "Twitter” value and the channel – with the “Social If the referrer of the found source website is account”. included in the [Lead source URL] lookup (source website sub-domains are also included in the search), then the lead channel will be populated with the site URL value (4);
If the found referrer is not included in the [Lead source URL] lookup, then the channel will be populated with the “Redirected from another website” value.
5. Direct traffic
If the redirection URL does not contain UTM mark values and the referrer is not identified, then the channel will be populated with the “Direct traffic” value.
Lead source identification rules The rules are listed by priority. This means that if rule 1 is satisfied, then rules 2 – 5 will not be checked, and so on.
Source identification rule Case example
1. utm_source mark
If the redirection URL contains the “utm_source” mark For example, the redirection URL value is value, the lead source will be populated with the value “http://site.com/page? corresponding to that mark (3). utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin”. In this case, the source will be populated with the “LinkedIn” value.
2. utm_medium mark
If the redirection URL contains the “utm_medium” mark For example, if the redirection URL value is value, the lead source will be populated with the “Other “http://site.com/page?utm_medium=social”. source” value.
3. Google AdWords/Yandex redirection ID. Direct
If the redirection URL obtains the value from Google For example, if the redirection URL value is (“gclid”) or Yandex (“yclid”) redirection, then the “Google “site.com/?gclid=123xyz”, then the source AdWords” or “Yandex. Direct” will be specified as the will be populated with the “Google AdWords” lead source accordingly. value.
4. Referrer
If the redirection URL does not contain UTM mark For example, if the source website value is values, then the source website (referrer) will be “mobile.twitter.com”, then the lead source analyzed. To do this: will be populated with the “Twitter” value. If the referrer of the found source website is included in the [Lead source URL] lookup (source website sub- domains are also included in the search), then the lead source will be populated with the site URL value(4);
If the found referrer is not included in the [Lead source URL] lookup, then the lead source will be populated with the “Other website” value.
5. No source
If the redirection URL does not contain UTM mark values and the referrer is not identified, then the lead source will not be specified.
Notes (1) – use the [Lead channels] lookup to link the “utm_medium” mark to a lead channel. Possible values of the UTM marks for each channel are displayed on the [ Lead channel code ] tab of the lookup page. (2) – use the [Lead sources] lookup to set the default channel for the lead source. (3) – use the [Lead sources] lookup to link the “utm_source” mark to a lead source. Possible values of the UTM marks for each source are displayed on the [ Lead source code ] tab of the lookup page. (4) – use the [ Lead source URL ] lookup to link the source to a website URL.
Using tracking to determine a campaign and a bulk email You can estimate the efficiency of your bulk emails and campaigns using the lead tracking for the leads generated from landing pages. While analyzing the redirection URLs, Creatio identifies the bulk email and the campaign that redirected the customer to the landing page of your website and where they submitted the landing page form. On the lead page, you can find out the bulk email and the campaign connected to the lead. To do this, use the [ Bulk email ], [ Campaign ] fields, and the [ Lead engagement ] field group on the [ History ] tab. You can get the summary information about the efficiency of the bulk emails and campaigns using the analytics in the [ Leads ] and [ Campaigns ] sections.
A campaign is identified based on matching of the “utm_campaign” marks in the redirection URL and on the campaign page. If there are several campaigns found for the “utm_campaign” value, the lead page will display the last campaign (by creation date). A bulk email is identified using the bulk email unique Id contained in the redirection URL (“bulk_email_rid”).
Using tracking to set up determining of a campaign and a bulk email To start tracking campaigns, enter the “utm_campaign” mark value on the [ Properties ] page of the campaign. To start tracking bulk emails and the connected campaigns, go to the [ Parameters ] tab of the bulk email page and do the following:
1. Select the [Use UTM tracking codes] checkbox.
2. Select the marks: “utm_source,” “utm_campaign,” “utm_medium,” additionally – “utm_content” and “utm_term”.
3. Enter the list of domains to generate the redirection URL for using the marks entered.
Apart from the UTM marks, the redirection URL will also contain the unique Id of the bulk email (“bulk_email_rid”). Its value is generated in Creatio automatically and is added to all the redirection URLs in the email. The unique Id of each bulk email is stored in the [ RId ] system column. For example, a campaign page will include the following values:
[utm_source] – “creatio”
[utm_campaign] – “crm_day”
[utm_medium] – “email”
[utm_content] – “active_users” The domain list will include the “http://www.creatio.com/event-crm” website.
In this case, the website redirection URL will look like this: “http://www.creatio.com/event-crm/? utm_source=creatio&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=crm_day&utm_content=active_users&bulk_email_rid=17”
When an email starts, all contacts that were added to the [ Audience ] detail will be sent an email generated according to the email template. Creatio sends emails in batches. The number of emails in a batch must not exceed 20,000 emails.
Once the email starts, the information on the [ Template ] and [ Audience ] tabs, as well as in the [ Owner ] field becomes non-editable.
Once the last batch of a bulk email is sent, its status is changed to “Sent”.
Check the email progress You can see the email progress in the [ Status ] field, on the delivery diagram, as well as on the [ Email totals ], [ Sending progress ], and [ Audience ] tabs.
The email status is displayed in the [ Status ] field. The following email statuses are available in Creatio:
“WaitingBeforeSend” – the email is “on-hold”, waiting to be sent.
“PreparingToSend” – checking the available providers and preparing the email for sending.
“SendingInProgress” – Creatio is in the process of sending emails. “Error” – an error has occurred during sending.
“Completed” – emails have been successfully sent.
The progress chart displayed on the email page shows the current sending and delivery status of your bulk email. Read more: Email progress.
Use the [ Email totals ] tab to view the latest updates about email deliveries and recipient responses and analyze “opens” and “clicks” dynamics. Read more: Open and click rates.
The [ Audience ] tab displays responses per recipient – delivered, opened, clicked, etc. This tab is updated gradually as Creatio receives and processes responses from the email provider. Read more: Personal responses.
Check email completion status You can monitor the general status of a bulk email in the list of the [ Email ] section.
Email status is shown in the [ Status ] field on the email page and in the list of the [ Email ] section (Fig. 1).
Information about email status for a specific recipient can be obtained based on responses from email recipients or email servers. The information is available in the [ Audience ] → the [ Audience ] detail → the [ Response ] column on the email page (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Response details for email recipients
To view dates and exact start/end time for an email:
1. Open an email page.
2. Go to the [ Sending progress ] tab → [ Sending duration ] field group. The start and finish date and time are available in the [ Started on ] and [ Finished on ] fields, respectively. Lead duplicate search
PRODUCTS: MARKETING SALES CREATIO
The lead duplicate search helps to obtain information about customers with similar needs and to eliminate duplicate leads. In contrast to searching for duplicate contacts and accounts, the duplicate search is not started manually. The results of the lead duplicate search are displayed automatically on the [ Similar leads ] detail of the lead page. Duplicates cannot be merged since several similar needs may arise from one customer.
The lead duplicate search in Creatio is performed according to the pre-configured rules for searching for duplicates grouped as “Similar leads”. To enable or disable individual rules:
1. Click to open the System Designer.
2. Open the [ Setup duplicates rules ] link.
3. In the section [ Filter ] menu, select the [ Show folders ] command.
4. In the list of folders, select the "Similar leads" folder. The list will display the pre-configured duplicate search rules.
5. Select a rule from the list and click the [ Open ] button.
6. On the rule page:
a. Clear the [ Active ] checkbox to disable the rule.
b. Select the [ Active ] checkbox to enable the rule (Fig. 1).
The lead duplicate search will be performed based on the rules with the selected [ Active ] checkbox. Check trigger email sending status
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
After a marketing campaign with a trigger email starts, it will add contacts to the audiences from time to time. Each contact who is added to the audiences will be sent a trigger email shortly after they are added to the audiences.
The trigger emails are sent according to settings of the corresponding marketing campaign whenever it adds new recipients to the trigger email audiences.
The audience of an event-based trigger email is populated automatically ( e.g. when a visitor fills out a landing page form on your website). Each new contact in the audience warrants sending a new trigger email immediately.
If you set a trigger email to send periodically during the day, it will be sent in specific intervals to all new contacts in the audiences on the moment of sending the email. The trigger email starts when the corresponding campaign launches. For example, if the time interval is set to “30 minutes” and the campaign started at 13:07, the trigger email will be sent at 13:37, 14:07, etc.
If you set a trigger email to send at a specified time, it will be sent once a day to those contacts who are included in the email audience at the time of sending. For example, in the campaign you can specify that the sending starts at 12:00 p.m. You can set the email to start three days after a customer orders the trial version of your product (this is done through native campaign settings). As a result, the trigger emails will be sent daily, at 12:00 p.m. to those contacts who populated the landing page starting from 12:00 p.m.
After the trigger email starts, the information on the [ Template ] tab becomes non-editable. Also, it is not possible to edit the owner and the connected campaign or to run a split test.
Unlike bulk emails, trigger emails cannot be stopped directly. You can stop a trigger email by stopping the corresponding campaign.
You can view a specific contact response to an email on the contact page: the History tab → the Email - Bulk emails detail → the Response column. Learn more: Personal responses.
Trigger email sending progress The sending progress can be analyzed on the Email totals tab. Here you can view the latest updates about email deliveries and recipient responses and analyze open and click dynamics.
The following information is available on the [ Parameters ] tab of a trigger email:
Date and time of starting and finishing the last sending.
Duration of sending, if the email is in the “Completed” status.
View a contact’s response You can view a specific contact response to an email on the contact page: the History tab → the Email - Bulk emails detail → the Response column (Fig. 1). The [ Email - Bulk emails ] detail records contact’s responses to bulk and trigger emails. You can also view the marketing email responses on the bulk email page. Learn more: Personal responses.
Fig. 1 Email responses of a specific contact
We recommend displaying the [ Category ] column in the detail list. The column will specify the email category: bulk or trigger. You can set up an advanced filter or a dynamic folder in the [ Contacts ] section through the Email response (by column Contact) column. By selecting a folder in the filter block of the [ Contacts ] section, you will obtain a list of contacts who have email responses.
Note. The number of days during which the final response is recorded for each contact is indicated in the “Time period (days) to update email statistics” (“MailingStatisticUpdatePeriod” code) system setting. After the specified time, the responses on the contact’s page, as well as on the [ Audience ] tab of the email page will not change.
To set up a dynamic folder:
1. Go to the [ Contacts ] section and add a new dynamic folder. Enter the folder name, for example, “Contacts with email responses”.
2. Set up the following filter conditions (Fig. 2):
The [ Audience ] tab of the email page displays participant responses to marketing emails. Set up a content block
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Content block elements arrange other elements of a template. You need at least one block in your template to be able to add non-block elements. Blocks cannot contain other blocks.
A block has a table-like layout. Blocks can hold two types of “rows”:
Sections are multi-column rows. A section can have up to 6 columns. Use sections to arrange most types of content. They are also preferable in general because of their flexibility.
Banners are single-column rows. Use banners to insert images that will fill all available space and fit inside the element regardless of the image size. You can align the background image of a banner vertically and horizontally. As an alternative to using banners, you can specify a background image of an entire block. However, this background image will not stretch or shrink to fit the borders of the block.
By default, a block has one section and no banners. A block must have at least one section or banner. It is not possible to delete the only section or banner of a block.
You can add multiple sections to a single block or add multiple blocks; there will be no visible differentce for the email recipients. We recommend adding any reusable content as separate blocks and saving them to the Block Library for later.
Create a content block To add a block to a template, drag&drop the [ Block ] ( ) element from the element grid onto the working area (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Using the content designer
There are several ways you can select a block in the working area:
Click any element inside the section or banner, then press [ Esc ] to go up the navigation tree until the [ Block ] element is selected.
Click any element inside the section or banner, then click “Block” in the breadcrumb navigation in the setup area. Click the leftmost element if “Block” is not yet visible (Fig. 3).
Fig. 2 Selecting the block by clicking on the right border
Fig. 3 Selecting the block by using the setup area
When a block element is selected, its context menu appears on the right (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4 Block context menu
- Change block position. Drag the block up or down to reorder the blocks in the template.
- Copy the block. A copy block will appear directly under the original block.
- Remove the block from the template. This will permanently remove any blocks that have not been saved in the block library. Deleting a block from the template will not delete it from the block library.
- Save the block in the Block Library. Creatio will prompt you to enter the name under which the block will be saved.
Set up a content block Use the setup area on the right to configure the [ Block ] element.
The setup area comprises of three tabs:
[ Structure ] – the default tab available in the Campaign Designer and Process Designer. It is the only tab available when you open the Content Designer from the Process Designer. [ Dynamic Content ] – this tab is only available in the marketing Content Designer for Marketing Creatio. Use it to set up different variations of a block for different conditions, configured on the [ Rules ] tab.
[ Rules ] – this tab is only available in the marketing Content Designer for Marketing Creatio. Use it to set up rules that can be used for defining dynamic content.
The [ Structure ] tab (Fig. 1) includes the following properties:
Fig. 1 Block setup area
Note. Tabs other than the [ Structure ] tabs are only available in Creatio Marketing and Creatio CRM bundle.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Section Add, remove, and move the sections and banners of the block.
constructor To access the setup area of a section or banner, click the corresponding item in the section list. Click [ Add section ] or [ Add banner ] to add sections and banners.
Click to remove a section or banner. Note that you cannot delete the last section (banner) from a content block.
Background Set background image and/or color for the entire block. Note that sections and banners can have their own background settings that may cover the background of the block. Background style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (2) to enable them.
Clear this checkbox to disable all background settings of the current block.
Click to open the color picker and select the background color. Click and enter the URL of the image to display on the background.
Note. If the recipient’s email client fails to load the image, the recipient will see the background color instead.
Banners A banner is a single-column block “row”. The main purpose of the banner element is to display a background image and some content over it (Fig. 1). Unlike the [ Block ] element, you can align the banner background image.
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Size, px Configure the height of the banner by specifying the [ Height ] field value.
This value is used to set up the minimum height. If the height of the content of the banner exceeds this value, the banner will stretch vertically.
Vertical align Align the contents of the banner vertically (top , middle , or bottom ).
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the content of the banner and each of its borders.
Padding is specified separately for each side.
Background Set background image and/or color for the entire banner. Note that elements dropped onto the banner can have their own background settings that may cover the background of the banner.
Background style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (2) to enable them.
Clear this checkbox to disable all background settings of the current banner.
Click to open the color picker and select the background color.
Click to enter the URL of the image to display on the background.
Note. If the recipient’s email client fails to load the image, the recipient will see the background color instead.
The image will stretch or shrink to fit the banner. We recommend using large or vector images as a background.
Align the background image of the banner vertically (top , middle , or bottom ) or horizontally (left , center , or right ).
Note. Alignment may produce no visible effect depending on the ratio of the image and the current ratio of the banner.
Section A section (Fig. 1) is a multi-column block “row.” This is the default subordinate element of the [ Block ] element. A section does not have its own background image.
The [ Section ] setup area consists of several groups of settings: [ Column constructor ], [ Padding, px ], [ Corner radius, px ], [ Background ] and [ Borders ].
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Column Add and delete columns, specify their widths, or equalize them and reverse the order constructor of the columns on mobile devices.
To access the setup area of a column, click the corresponding item in the column list.
Click the “%” field and specify a new value to change the width of a column. The width of the next adjacent column will be adjusted.
Click to remove the column. You cannot delete the only column.
Select the [ Equalize ] checkbox to ensure that all of the columns have equivalent width. If you add or remove a column when this checkbox is selected, the widths of all columns will be adjusted to match each other.
Select the [ Reverse the order of columns on mobile ] checkbox to reverse the order of ungrouped columns and column groups on mobile devices.
As a result, the last column or column group will be at the top of the section, and the first column or column group at the bottom.
Note. This does not affect columns displayed side-by-side on mobile, i.e., columns inside column groups.
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the content of the section and each of its borders.
Padding is specified separately for each side.
Corner Specify the circular radius of the corners of the section. Leave this property empty for radius, px sharp corners. This defines the circular radius of all 4 corners of an element.
Note. Use the [ HTML ] element with inline or embedded CSS styles to specify elliptical corners and other exotic effects.
Background Set background color for the entire section. Note that elements dropped onto the section can have their own background settings that may cover the background of the section.
Background style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (2) to enable them.
Clear this checkbox to disable all background settings of the current section.
Click to open the color picker and select the background color.
Borders Configure the borders of the section.
Border style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (3) to enable them.
Click to open the color picker and select the border color.
Update the field to specify the border width. To hide the border, select the “Hidden” border style.
Use the dropdown menu (4) to select the border style. When the border settings are enabled, the “Solid” style is selected by default. The following styles are available:
– Hidden
Note. The border is defined but invisible. The border width effectively equals 0.
Note. The border is defined but invisible. The border width effectively equals 0.
– Dotted
– Dashed
– Solid
– Double
– Groove
– Ridge
– Inset
– Outset
Select or clear [ Top ], [ Bottom ], [ Left ] and [ Right ] checkboxes to enable or disable the border style settings for the corresponding border.
Columns A column is a structural element used to arrange other elements in a section. To add a column, click the [ Add column ] button the [ Section ] element setup area.
The [ Column ] setup area comprises of the following setup groups: [ Vertical align ], [ Padding, px ], [ Corner radius, px ], [ Background ] and [ Borders ].
Fig. 2 Column setup area
Property Function
Breadcrumb Use “breadcrumbs” at the top of the setup area to navigate the parent (column, navigation (1) section, banner, block, and template) elements.
Align Align the contents of the column vertically (top , middle , or bottom ).
Attention. Vertical align for a column on mobile may not work in case when the vertical alignment of the highest column in the section is not set to middle.
Padding, px Specify the distance (in pixels) between the content of the column and each of its borders.
Padding is specified separately for each side.
Corner Specify the circular radius of the corners of the column. Leave this property empty for
Corner Specify the circular radius of the corners of the column. Leave this property empty for radius, px sharp corners. This defines the circular radius of all 4 corners of an element.
Note. Use the [ HTML ] element with inline or embedded CSS styles to specify elliptical corners and other exotic effects.
Background Set background color for the entire column. Note that elements dropped onto the column can have their own background settings that may cover the background of the column.
Background style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (2) to enable them.
Clear this checkbox to disable all background settings of the current column.
Click to open the color picker and select the background color.
Borders Configure the borders of the column.
Border style settings are disabled by default. Select the checkbox (3) to enable them.
Click to open the color picker and select the border color.
Update the field to specify the border width. To hide the border, select the “Hidden” border style.
Use the dropdown menu (4) to select the border style. When the border settings are enabled, the “Solid” style is selected by default. The following styles are available:
– Hidden
Note. The border is defined but invisible. The border width effectively equals 0.
– Dotted
– Dashed
– Solid
– Double
– Groove
– Ridge
– Inset
– Outset
Select or clear [ Top ], [ Bottom ], [ Left ] and [ Right ] checkboxes to enable or disable the border style settings for the corresponding border.
On the desktop, the columns will be arranged exactly how they are displayed in the Content Designer (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 The standard layout of a section with 6 columns
On mobile devices, columns are normally not displayed side by side. Instead, they are re-arranged vertically (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 The mobile layout of a section with 6 columns
You can force columns to display side by side on mobile by grouping them. A column group is a sequence of columns displayed side-by-side on mobile.
To group two adjacent columns:
1. Select the [ Section ] element using the [ Section constructor ] of a [ Block ] element or the breadcrumbs navigation of a column or its child elements. buttons will appear between columns (Fig. 3).
2. Click the (Fig. 3) button between the columns that you want to group. If one of the columns is already a part of a column group, the ungrouped column will become part of the column group. If both columns are parts of their respective column groups, both column groups will become one column group.
On mobile, grouped columns display side by side. Use the [ Preview ] tab at the top of the page to view how your email template displays on mobile.
You can also reverse the order of columns on mobile so that the last column is displayed at the top of the section and the first at the bottom. For example, if you have a two-column header with a logo on the right and a title on the left, a mobile device will normally display the title first and the logo second. However, if the order of columns is reversed, the logo will display on top.
To reverse the order of ungrouped columns and column groups on mobile devices, select the [ Reverse the order of columns on mobile ] checkbox (Fig. 4).
Note. This does not affect columns displayed side-by-side on mobile, i.e., columns inside column groups.
Personal responses
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
The recipient individual responses are updated as soon as they are received from the server of the email provider. Use the [ Response ] column of the [ Audience ] tab to view responses from each email recipient (Fig. 1).
Note. Test email recipients are not included in the email audience.
Recipient individual responses to bulk and trigger emails are also available in the [ Contacts ] section.
Depending on whether an email was sent or not, there are two groups of responses:
responses received if an email was sent;
responses received if an email was not sent.
Such responses can be received both from the mail provider server (e.g., “Invalid email address)” or “Delivery error” responses) and from the email recipient (e.g., “Opened”, “Clicked”).
The following table lists the possible Creatio responses and their descriptions. Some of the below responses can replace each other, others are final. When receiving a final response, no further change is possible.
Response Meaning Reasons for receiving the response
Delivered The email has been successfully The email has been delivered to the delivered to the recipient but has not recipient’s provider. been opened yet.
Opened The email has been successfully The recipient has opened the email at delivered to the recipient and has been least once. You can view the number of opened. opens on the [ Audience ] tab → the [ Opens ] column.
Clicked The email has been successfully The recipient has opened the email and delivered to the recipient and they have clicked any of the links, except for the clicked its link. unsubscribe link. Such a link can be represented by a button, a clickable image, a contact data link, etc. You can view the number of clicks on the [ Audience ] tab → the [ Clicks ] column.
Unsubscribed The email has been successfully The recipient has opened the email and delivered to the recipient but they have clicked its “Unsubscribe” link. unsubscribed from the email. The [ Do not use email ] checkbox in the recipient’s contact profile is selected automatically. These contacts will not receive emails further. Final response.
Note. The responses listed above are displayed on the opens/clicks chart and are calculated on the click heatmap. Read more in the Analyze open and click rates article.
The email was not sent
Response Meaning Reasons for receiving the response
Planned Sending has not started yet. The planned time for the email start has not come yet.
Canceled The email is not delivered to the The email audience contains recipients with (duplicated recipient. Final response. the same email address and the [ Prevent email) to send duplicated emails to recipients with the same address ] (PreventDuplicatesSending) system setting is enabled.
response recipient. Final response. the delivery process.
Delivery error The email was sent, but not An error has occurred while sending emails delivered to the recipient. Final to the server. response.
Sent to Email has been sent to the bulk This response is set when the email provider email server but the reply has not sending request has been sent to the email been received yet. server. This response might not be replaced by the final one for 48 hours. Reasons:
The recipient mailbox is temporarily unavailable.
There are issues with the recipient’s domain.
After 48 hours, the response will be updated to the final one.
Rejected — The email was not delivered to the Delivery failed due to technical reasons. only for the recipient. Final response. A message has been sent to several equal UniOne email addresses within one email (one of provider the messages will receive a positive response, another one will receive “Rejected”).
The recipient email address has been blacklisted by the server of the mail provider: temporarily (it received a “Soft Bounce” response sometime earlier or the message was flagged as spam) or permanently (manually or upon receiving a “Hard Bounce” response).
Soft Bounce The email has been sent to the The recipient's mailbox is full.
provider’s server, but the provider The recipient mail server is in the could not deliver it within the set autonomous mode (overloaded, time (UniOne — 24 hours, Elastic temporarily unavailable or undergoing Email — 48 hours). In most cases, maintenance). such emails can be resent (e.g., in another campaign). The sender's IP address has a low reputation. If an address repeatedly receives a The SPF-record (necessary for verifying the "Soft Bounce" response, it may sender's domain) is configured incorrectly. indicate that the address is no longer used. The recipient's server flagged the email contents as spam.
Hard Bounce The email message was not This response is set in case of a constant delivered to the recipient. The [ Do delivery error, for example:
not use email ] checkbox in the The contact’s email is incorrect. recipient’s contact profile is selected The specified email does not exist. automatically and the [ Valid ] checkbox will be cleared. Final response.
Invalid email The email message was not The email address is defined as non- address delivered to the recipient. Final existent based on the results of the email response. provider server verification.
Stopped (time The email message was not sent to The emailing expired before the emails were to send the recipient. Final response. sent expired)
Canceled The email message was not sent to The recipient unsubscribed from emails of (unsubscribed the recipient. Final response. this type. by email type)
Note. The responses above are also displayed in the general error diagram on the [ Email totals ] tab. Read more in the Analyze delivery rates article.
Changing responses Responses that indicate that the email was not sent or that no delivery confirmation was received are final and cannot be changed in the course of one email campaign.
The responses received for the sent emails have different priorities. If a new (non-final) response is received, all previous responses with lower priority will be replaced with the new response (Fig. 2).
For example, a recipient opened an email, then clicked a link and afterward marked the email as spam.
Note. The number of days during which the final response is recorded for each contact is indicated in the ”Time period (days) to update email statistics” (MailingStatisticUpdatePeriod) system setting. After the specified time, the responses on the contact’s page, as well as on the [ Audience ] tab of the email page will not change.
Configure restriction of the number of emails for sending
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Adjust the email restriction settings and your customers will not receive an excessive number of emails from your company. It helps to reduce spam complaints. For example, you can configure sending of no more than 2 emails per day and no more than 10 emails per month. Note that the configuration is based on the email category – you need to set up separate email sending restrictions for bulk and trigger emails. If you want to configure the same restrictions for all email types, create
two identical rules of [ Bulk email ] and [ Trigger email ] categories (the [ Email category ] column).
To set up:
1. Open the system designer by clicking the button.
2. Go to the [ System setup ] block → click Lookups.
3. Open the Bulk email restriction rules lookup.
4. Click the New button to create a rule. A new string appears in the editable list.
5. Specify the values of the new record in the new string (Fig. 1):
a. Name – specify the name of the rule. For example, “10 emails per week”. b. Time period, days – specify the period (days) for the email restriction.
c. Maximum sending – specify the maximum number of emails that can be sent to the contact during a specified time.
d. Email category – specify the category that the restriction applies to: “Bulk email” or “Trigger email”. e. Email type – select the type of emails that the restriction applies to. This column displays values from the [ Email type ] lookup.
Fig. 1 Configure restriction of the number of emails for sending
6. Click the button to save the added record.
7. Repeat these steps for each new rule.
You can create an unlimited number of rules. All rules added to the lookup are considered to be active.
Creatio checks whether marketing communication has been reached for each recipient, whenever a new marketing email is sent. If at least one of the thresholds is reached for a recipient, the system will not send another email to this recipient and set "Communication limit" as their response. Set up tracking of lead sources
If you are using web analytics tools (for example, Google Analytics), then you probably have your own tracking rules already established for source and channel classification and UTM marks used. In such a case, we recommend that you save all your website URLs and UTM values used in Creatio. To do this, use the following lookups:
[Lead channels] – contains the list of all resource types that provided new leads, e.g., “Social accounts,” “Search-based advertising,” or “Email.” The [Lead channel code] field of the lookup page contains the “utm_medium” mark values related to the channel. For example, the “display,” “cpm” and “banner” values for the “Media advertising” channel. These values will be used to identify the channel.
[Lead sources] – includes the list of resource names the user was redirected from, e.g., “Twitter,” “Google,” or “Creatio marketing.” The [Lead source code] field of the lookup page contains the “utm_source” mark values related to the source. For example, the “facebook,” “facebook.com,” “fb,” and “fb.com” values for the “Facebook” source. These values will be used to identify the source. Here you can also set up the default channel for the selected source. For example, the “Social accounts” channel for “Facebook” and “Search- based advertising” channel for “Google AdWords.”
[Lead source URL] – contains the list of source websites (referrers) identified by Creatio. Here you can also set up the default source for the selected referrer. For example, the lookup contains the following URLs by default: “facebook.com” (“Facebook” source), “twitter.com” (“Twitter” source), “linkedin.com” (“Linkedin” source), etc.
The above lookups contain the most frequently used website URLs and marks pre-configured. You can supplement the lookups with the values used in your company.
Add a new lead channel
1. Open the System Designer by clicking in the top right corner of the application window. In the system designer, click the [Lookups] link.
2. In the [Leads] field group, open the [Lead channels] lookup.
3. Add a new lookup record by clicking the [Add lead channel] button. In the displayed string, enter the channel name, for example, “Partner sale” and click on the toolbar.
4. Click on the toolbar to open the page of the record that you created.
5. On the [Lead channel code] tab, click the [Add] button. On the opened page, enter the “utm_medium” marks to be used to identify the selected channel, for example, “affiliate.” Save the page. In the same way, you can add other values for the “utm_medium” marks to be used for the channel identification.
Note The rules of determining a lead source and channel are described in the “Rules for determining lead sources (with examples)” article.
As a result, the channel will be saved in the lookup. It will be used to identify the channel during lead tracking. In our case, when the “http://site.com/page?utm_medium=affiliate” redirection URL is received, the lead channel will be filled in with the “Partner sale” value.
1. Open the System Designer by clicking in the top right corner of the application window. In the system designer, click the [Lookups] link.
2. Open the [Lead sources] lookup.
3. Add a new lookup record by clicking the [Add lead source] button. In the displayed string:
4. Specify the source name, for example, “Admitad.com.“
5. Click in the [Default channel] field and select a channel, for example, “Partner sale.” This value will be used to fill in the lead channel if the “utm_medium” mark value is not obtained from the redirection URL while the “utm_source” mark value is.
6. To save the record, click on the toolbar.
7. Click the toolbar button to open the page of the record that you created.
8. On the [Lead source code] tab, click the [Add] button. On the opened page, enter the “utm_medium” marks to be used to identify the selected channel, for example, “admitad” for admitad.com. Save the page. In the same way, you can add other values for the “utm_source” marks to be used for the source identification.
As a result, the source will be saved in the lookup. It will be used to identify the channel and the source during the lead tracking. In our case, when the “http://site.com/page?utm_source=admitad” redirection URL is received, the lead source will be filled in with the “Admitad.com” value and the lead channel – with the “Partner sale” value.
Add a website as a source
1. Open the System Designer by clicking in the top right corner of the application window. In the system designer, click the [Lookups] link.
2. Open the [Lead sources] lookup.
3. Add the new record to the lookup. In the displayed string:
a. In the [URL] field, enter the source URL, for example, “mysite.com.”
b. Click in the [Lead channel] field and select a source, for example, “Admitad.com”. This value will be used to fill in the lead source if the UTM marks are not obtained from the redirection URL while the referrer mark value is.
4. To save the record, click on the toolbar. In the same way, add other referrers that can be identified as lead sources.
As a result, the new referrer will be saved in the lookup. It will be used to identify the channel and the source during the lead tracking. In our case, when the “http://mysite.com/” referrer value is received, the lead source will be filled in with the “Admitad.com” value and the lead channel – with the “Partner sale” value.
Embed a cookie tracking script on your website To ensure correct lead source tracking, add cookie tracking code to each website page.
Attention Lead source tracking setup is done by the website administrator. To insert the tracking code, you need access to the HTML source code of your website and permission to edit it.
2. Place the tracking code in the source HTML code of each page on your website. You can paste the code anywhere before the closing tag at the end of the page. If you do not insert the code in all the website pages, Creatio will not be able to collect all the data about the potential customers redirected to your website.
After performing the lead source tracking settings, the lead source and channel will become available in Creatio. The tracking information will display on the [ History ] tab of the lead and contact pages. Stop a bulk email
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Stop an email before the sending starts You can stop a bulk email before any email messages are actually sent. Creatio does not start sending emails immediately, so if you manage to stop a bulk email within a certain period (10 seconds by default) no actual emails will be sent. You can modify the delay time using the “Delay time before sending email, seconds” (“MandrillMailingDelayInSeconds” code) system setting.
To stop an email after it has started, click the [ Stop sending ] button and confirm the action in the pop-up window that appears (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Stopping a bulk email
The email will be stopped and a notification will appear in the notification area. The email will change to “Paused”. You can start the email later by clicking the [ Start sending ] button on the email page (Fig. 2).
Stop an email after the sending has started The ability to stop emails after sending has started depends on the number of email recipients. Bulk email sending is performed in batches. By default, the number of emails in a batch cannot exceed more than 20,000 emails. If you have less than 20,000 recipients, after the delay time all emails will be sent immediately in one batch. If you have a large number of recipients in your bulk email, then the next batch will be terminated when the bulk email is aborted. It is not possible to stop any batches that have already been sent.
To stop an email after it has started, click the [ Stop sending ] button. The email status will be changed to “Stopping”, but sending of the current batch will continue. After sending all emails in the current batch, the email status will change to “Paused”. A notification will appear in the notification area.
You can start the bulk email later by clicking the [ Start sending ] button on the bulk email page. In this case, emails will be sent to those recipients to whom the emails from the current bulk email were not sent. Monitor campaigns
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
You can monitor the flow of your campaigns using campaign log. To open the log, click the [ Campaign log ] action in the [ Campaigns ] section (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 The [ Campaign log ] action
You can also open the campaign log from the campaign page. Click [ Actions ] → [ Go to campaign log ]. The log will be automatically filtered by the current campaign.
The list view of the campaign log (Fig. 2) displays information on campaign element execution. Aggregate metrics are available in the analytics view.
The log contains information on elements from all campaigns. After you start a campaign, its events will start appearing in the campaign log. The campaign log is activated automatically and does not require additional setup.
Campaign log list Each record in the list is a separate log event. Log data is displayed as a list of records with the following columns:
Campaign The name of the campaign where the log event has occurred. Click the campaign name to open the corresponding record in the [ Campaigns ] section.
Action The name of the logged action type.
Step The name of the campaign element in the Campaign Designer that triggered the logged action.
Number of Number of participants involved in the logged action. participants
Status Status of the campaign execution step (“Success” or “Error”).
Start Start and end dates of the actual campaign execution step. Depending on the action type, it can be: start or end of the campaign (for “Campaign execution” actions), start/end End date dates of a campaign element execution (for “Element execution: ” actions) or date of adding and removing campaign participants manually (for “Participant adding (manually)” action).
Duration, Duration of the execution step in minutes or seconds. m (sec)
Scheduled The date on which the campaign was planned to start if the campaign start was scheduled date to a specific date in conditional flows.
Error If the status is “Error”, the field displays the error message that can help with diagnosing details and resolving the campaign errors.
Types of logged campaign actions Creatio logs three types of campaign actions:
Campaign execution Indicates the start of a campaign. The first action logged for any campaign.
Element execution: campaign diagram.
Participant adding (manually) Indicates manual adding of a participant to the campaign.
Monitoring counters on the [ Campaign flow ] tab Once you create a campaign flow in the Campaign Designer, the [ Campaign flow ] tab of the campaign page will display the campaign diagram with participant counters for every campaign element, as well as a set of checkboxes that enable different types of counters (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 Participant counter filters in the [ Campaign flow ] tab
Step complete – select to view the number of participants on a step that completed successfully. These participants are queued to transfer to subsequent campaign step(s).
Step incomplete – select to view the number of participants on a step they reached but are yet to complete. These participants are usually delayed by a conditional flow.
Step in progress – select to view the number of participants on the step which is being executed at the moment.
Executed with error – select to view the number of participants on a step in which the error occurred.
Participating suspended – select to view the number of participants on a step in which their participation was suspended. These participants are likely set to re-enter the campaign.
History – displays the total number of participants who reached this step since the start of the campaign.
If you add new participants to a campaign at different time, use the filter by date to find out how many participants were added to the campaign at a specified period and what their current step is. The filters by date are available when the counters are enabled. The counters display only the contacts added during the specified period: “today” ( ), “current week” ( ) or custom period ( ).
To edit the campaign diagram, click [ Edit ].
Monitoring participants on the [ Audience ] tab The tab displays all campaign participants (contacts), their current steps on the campaign diagram and status (Fig. 5).
The period when the list of participants is available on the [ Audience[ tab is configured in the [Start mode ] field on the campaign page. If “manual” is selected, the list will be displayed as soon as the campaign starts. If the campaign has the “at the specified time” selected, the list of participants on the [ Participants ] tab will be displayed at the first launch of the campaign according to the schedule. The list will not be displayed until the campaign starts.
The [ Audience ] tab primary columns are available in the table:
Contact Full name of the campaign participant.
Status The status of the campaign participant: “Participating” or “Exited”.
The “Participating” status indicates that the contact continues to advance through the steps of the campaign. The “Exited the campaign” status indicates that the contact no longer participates in the campaign.
Current Campaign step (campaign element) the participant is currently on. step
Step “Yes” or “No”, depending on the participant’s execution of the corresponding step of the completed campaign. For example, clicked the email link or filled out the web-form.
Step The date and time when the participant advanced to the step, specified in the [ Current step modified ] column. on
Step Date and time when the participant completed the step. completed on
Lead predictive scoring enables minimizing the amount of working time that your managers spend on low potential leads and increasing the number of leads converted to opportunities. The prediction is performed for every qualified lead. It takes into account the lead parameters and the working history.
Predictive score – a machine learning tool that displays the probability of lead conversion to a new opportunity on a scale from 1 to 100 points (Fig. 1).
Note. In case the predictive score is not displayed in the lead profile, you need to verify if lead predictive scoring is enabled and a trained model instance exists in the [ ML models ] section of Creatio.
Fig. 1 Lead profile with a predictive score
Depending on the probability of lead conversion to opportunity Creatio determines general likelihood of lead conversion:
– high predictive score (80-100 points)
– medium predictive score (50-79 points)
– low predictive score (1-49 points)
Predictive scoring is not performed for non-qualified leads and the predictive score for such leads is set to “0”
.
The predictive score is regularly recalculated since lead nurturing process is having a constant impact upon the probability of its conversion to opportunity. The score can either be raised or decreased if the lead information has not been updated for a long time. Learn more about predictive scoring in the “Predictive scoring” article.
Launch of predictive scoring You can launch lead predictive scoring for a single record as well as for all the lead records being nurtured. You can launch it automatically or manually for a selected record.
Set up automatic predictive scoring Predictive scoring is initiated automatically:
During lead qualification. In this case the score prediction is only performed for the qualified lead.
Every day, when Creatio is not excessively used. In this case the score prediction is performed for all the leads being nurtured.
To set up the automatic launch of the predictive scoring process for all nurtured leads:
1. Click to open the System Designer.
2. Click [ ML models ] in the “System setup” block.
3. Open the lead scoring page.
4. Navigate to the [ Setting up background update of prediction results ] detail on the [ Parameters ] tab and switch the [ Perform background update of prediction results daily during the maintenance window ] slider to the right.
Note. You can set up the period when Creatio is least loaded (to run resource-heavy processes) in the [ Maintenance periods ] lookup.
Launch predictive scoring manually To manually launch predictive scoring for any lead, highlight the record whose score needs to be displayed in the [ Leads ] section, and select the [ Evaluate predictive score ] command from the [ Actions ] menu (Fig. 1).
Data processed during predictive scoring calculation To evaluate the lead predictive scoring, the machine-learning model analyses the data of the lead and its linked records. We recommend populating Creatio with maximum information about the lead for its processing during the predictive scoring.
During the scoring process, the machine-learning model processes the following data of the lead and the connected objects.
Lead need type.
Availability of a qualified contact and contact details (role, type, department, job title, mobile phone, business phone).
If there are no contact details on the lead page, Creatio verifies if these details are populated on the corresponding contact page.
Availability of a qualified account and account details (category, industry, type, number of employees, web site, country).
If there are no account details on the lead page, Creatio verifies if these details are populated on the corresponding account page.
Lead engagement data (source, channel, website events, landing).
Lead aggregated indicators:
number of days after lead qualification
number of leads per contact
number of leads per contact registered within the last 2 weeks
number of phone calls and emails per lead (monthly, quarterly, total)
number of days after the last phone call
number of days after the last email
Lack of one or several parameters from the list might have considerable impact upon the lead predictive score accuracy. Add custom HTML code to an email template
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
The [ HTML ], aka “Smart block”, element (Fig. 1) enables implementing custom HTML code into your template and enriching it with reusable user-defined macros.
Use the [ HTML ] element to set custom styles such as elliptical rounding of corners, non-uniform borders, multiple background images, etc. You can also use this element to import templates designed in third-party software. To do this, add all the HTML code of such a template to the [ HTML ] element.
Note. The [ HTML ] element is intended for use by HTML-savvy users who are familiar with web design and can code their custom designs in HTML.
Creatio will check your custom code for errors before adding it to the template. You can review the errors and warnings in the validation panel. Warnings do not affect the validation while saving. To save the [ HTML ] element to the template, fix all detected errors.
Adding a macro You can add custom macros to the HTML code of the [ HTML ] element. When sending an email, Creatio replaces the user-defined macros with the corresponding values specified in the [ HTML ] setup area. The [ HTML ] element enables marking variables (text, font color or images) in the element code and set up custom macros for editing.
When the user creates a macro, the Content Designer generates a corresponding field and maps the value of the field to the macro. If the macro is reused in the same [ HTML ] element, the value of the field will be mapped to every instance of the macro.
The following types of macros are available:
New String – a single-line macro. Read more >>>
New Text – a multiline macro. Read more >>>
New Picture – an image source macro. Read more >>>
New Color – a color picker macro. Read more >>> The setup procedure is as follows:
1. Select an [ HTML ] element on the template and click [ Edit HTML ].
2. Select the part of the code that you want to replace with a macro. 3. Right-click the selected code. A macro context menu will appear.
Note. Right-clicking when nothing is selected in the editor does not produce a macro context menu.
4. Select the type of macro in the menu. You can create a new macro or add another instance of a previously created macro to the code. If macros have already been added to the [ HTML ] element, they will also be displayed in the context menu.
5. Specify the title of the currently selected macro in the [ Macro constructor ] area on the right (Fig. 2), so that you can identify this macro later.
Fig. 2 Editing the title of a macro
6. Click [ Save ] to apply changes.
As a result, a new field will be available in the [ HTML ] setup area on the right (Fig. 3). Changing the value of the field will immediately update all macro instances throughout your [ HTML ] element.
1. Select an [ HTML ] element where you need to delete a macro and click [ Edit HTML ].
2. In the [ Macro constructor ] area on the right, click next to the macro that you want to delete (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4 Deleting a macro field
3. Click [ Save ] to apply changes.
As a result, all instances of the macro will be replaced with the current value of the macro. The macro will be no longer available in the setup area of the [ HTML ] element.
Macro types
String macros Use this macro type to insert a short single-line text that is not white space pre-formatted (Fig. 5).
Any white space characters in the macro value will be inserted as-is. This means that some breakable white space characters (particularly, character tabulations and new lines) or a sequence of such characters will display as a single space character. Additionally, pressing the Enter key when editing the field does not produce a new character. As a result, the text will display as a single line unless user-defined CSS rules forbid such behavior.
Text macros Use this macro type to insert long multiline white space pre-formatted texts (Fig. 6).
When the user populates a “New Text” macro field with a string, new lines will be converted to line breaks, multiple space characters will be replaced with unbreakable space characters, and character tabulations will be replaced with a sequence of four unbreakable space characters. Additionally, pressing the Enter key when editing the field will produce a new line character.
As a result, the displayed text preserves white space pre-formatting of the source text in the source macro field.
Picture macros Use this macro type to replace or provide the value of the “src” attribute of an container or the value of a “url” CSS property.
When the macro is created, the Content Designer generates an image source field ( ) mapped to the macro. Use this field to add image to the template. You can upload a local image or specify an image URL (Fig. 7).
Note. The field supports Data URIs. You can insert a base64-encoded image instead of a URL. Base64-encoded images are part of the HTML code of the message and are not normally filtered by email clients that prevent external images from loading by default.
Color macros Use this macro type to replace or provide color definitions for embedded style sheets and in-line element styles (Fig. 8).
When a new “Color” macro is created, the Content Designer generates a color picker field mapped to the macro. Use the field to pick a color for your macro. The macro will generate a hexadecimal RGB color code, preceded with the “#” sign, e.g. “#0d2e4e”. Open and click rates
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Use the Click stats tab of the email page to access a detailed performance statistics on every link in your emails (Fig. 1).
“Clicked” response during the email sending process. For example, if a recipient clicks multiple links in one email, they will be recorded as a single click.
The [ Click stats ] tab displays click numbers for all individual links in the email, i.e. each click is taken into account during calculations. For example, if the recipient clicked two or more links, all clicks will be taken into account.
Displaying of dashboards on the [ Click stats ] tab depends on the email content type: dynamic or static. For emails with dynamic content the number of links depends on the URLs used in all template replicas. The click statistics treats each URL in each replica as a unique link, regardless of whether it is in the dynamic or static content block. Creatio adds a unique parameter to all URLs in a template. This parameter is used for differentiating links from different replicas by Creatio. Click stats are calculated separately for each replica. More information on the topic is available in the “Configure dynamic content for emails” article.
Analyze the heatmap Click heatmap is a tool to measure and display statistics by clicks. The click heatmap shows clicks directly on the email template. Each clicked link shows the number of clicks next to it (Fig. 1). The color of the click prompt illustrates how popular the link is: the minimum number of clicks in the email is marked in blue, while the maximum number is marked in red.
Fig. 1 Email click heatmap (static content)
A “click” on the heatmap represents a unique contact from the email audience, who followed a link in the email. If the same recipient clicked the same link several times, the heatmap will still display this as a single click.
For emails with dynamic content, the heatmap is available for each of the different replicas (Fig. 2). To see the click stats for a replica, select it in the list to the left of the heatmap. Creatio calculates click statistics separately for every replica.
You can use the Calculate recipients button for this purpose. When you click the button for each replica,
Creatio calculates the number of contacts such replica has been sent to, as well as the percentage of the replica recipients from the total email audience. The calculation results are displayed under the replica titles.
Fig. 2 Email click heatmap (dynamic content)
Analyze the opens/clicks chart The link performance bar chart (Fig. 1) displays the number of unique clicks per link.
Use it to analyze how popular the email links are. You can edit link titles that are displayed on the chart using the Links detail.
Fig. 1 Link performance chart
If you use more than 7 unique links in your email, their titles will not be displayed in the chart. To view the detailed information on each of the links, hover the cursor over the corresponding bar on the chart (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Viewing link details on a link performance chart
The title remains unchanged in the email template.
Use the Group by unique links checkbox to see the click stats totals by the email URLs.
For emails containing dynamic content, the [ Links ] detail will display the full list of hyperlinks from all replicas of the template. To evaluate the click dynamics for each of the replicas, use the quick template filter. The detail displays the link URLs as they were added to the email template. The parameters that Creatio automatically assigns to each link are not displayed.
Analyze the dynamics of “opens” and “clicks” time-wise Use the opens/clicks chart (Fig. 1) to analyze the opens/clicks dynamics during the day to determine the best time to send emails.
The opens/clicks chart is available on the Email totals tab. The chart data updates every two hours.
Fig. 1 Link performance chart
The line chart is used to display the number of unique opens and clicks.
The X-axis displays the period after the email start (2 days by default) in 1-hour intervals.
The Y-axis displays the number of unique recipients. If a recipient opens an email and clicks on a link several times within a certain time, the graph will only take into account the time of the first open and click. Also, if a recipient opens an email and clicks on the unsubscribe link, the chart will record an additional open and click.
Note. You can change the period of the link performance chart via the “Stats update interval for emails, hrs” system setting.
Use the [ Marketing plans ] section in Creatio to create marketing plans for promoting a brand, attracting new leads, schedule a series of activities, such as events, webinars, and bulk emails. You can manage your marketing activities in terms of weeks, months, and quarters.
In the [ Marketing plans ] section, there are two types of records: a “marketing plan” and a “marketing activity.”
A marketing plan is a schedule of activities that comprises the marketing strategy of a company. The schedule contains several activities with assigned owners, deadlines, and budgets.
Marketing activity is a specific activity within a marketing plan.
Note. A list of marketing activities can be found in the [ Marketing plans ] section and is not to be confused with the [ Activity ] section records.
All marketing plans can be viewed by clicking the button at the top of the section workspace.
To view detailed information, open the page by clicking the marketing plan title.
To view activities for all marketing plans, click the button.
To view and analyze activities within each of the marketing plans, we recommend using standard filters or set up a custom folder in the [ Filter ] menu.
Note. For example, to display the calendar of activities within a specific marketing plan, set up a standard filter for the [ Marketing plan ] column.
By clicking the and buttons at the top right of the workspace section, you can choose whether records are displayed as a drop-down list or as scheduled periods in the calendar (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Viewing marketing activities as a calendar
In the [ View ] button menu, you can choose to display activities by week, by month, or by quarter. You can view the yearly plan by using the scroll bar at the bottom of the calendar.
Note. To display additional data in the list of marketing plans or activities, configure the columns by clicking the [ View ] button in the upper right part of the screen.
To view the planning performance, go to section dashboards by clicking .
Create a marketing plan
In the “Marketing plans” view , click the [ New plan ] button. A new record page will open (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Populated marketing plan page
1. Populate the required fields – [ Name ], [ Type ], [ Status ], [ Start date, ] and [ End date ].
2. Specify the name of the brand and the planned budget.
3. Add marketing activities by clicking the button on the [ Marketing activity ] detail.
4. Save your new marketing plan.
Manage planned marketing activities To edit the list of activities, select a marketing plan from the list by clicking its name. The plan page will open. Here you can create a list of activities that are conducted as part of a plan. To add a new activity, click . This opens the activity page with the [ Marketing plan ] field populated automatically (Fig. 3). To remove an activity, highlight it in the list and select the [ Delete ] command in the menu.
Assess activity distribution and workload To assess activity distribution:
1. Go to the “Marketing activity” view.
2. Click and select the calendar display.
3. Select a time period: week, month, quarter.
4. Visually estimate the workload for a particular calendar period and adjust it by changing the planned dates of the activities. To adjust the dates of a planned activity, click the activity name in the calendar and drag it to the desired date. This option is available only when activities are displayed in terms of weeks. The date and other activity parameters can also be changed on the activity edit page.
To assess the employee workload, set up an appropriate filter in the [ Filter ] menu.
Analyze marketing channels To track how effective a specific channel is, set up filtering by channel in the [ Filter ] menu. For example, to check the usage of the email channel in the planned marketing activities:
1. In the [ Filter ] button menu, select the "Add condition" option.
2. Specify the column by which records will be filtered. In the second field, specify the name of the channel, for example, email.
3. Apply a customized filter, by clicking .
4. You will see a list of all activities for which the email channel is used.
Assess marketing budget compliance To control the execution of the marketing budget, use the “Planned budget” and “Actual budget” metrics,
available in the [ Marketing plans ] section dashboards. Section dashboards can be opened by clicking .
To assess budget compliance for a specific activity or a specific marketing plan:
1. Click the [ View ] button in the activities list, set up the [ Planned budget ] and [ Actual budget ] fields.
2. Additionally, set up a filter for marketing plans in the [ Filter ] menu.
After applying the filter, you will see a list of activities of the marketing plan, as well as the planned and actual budgets for each activity. Transitions between campaign elements
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
In order for a campaign to function correctly, its elements must be properly connected by flows. Some elements can function without flows, for example [ Exit from campaign ].
Flows can work unconditionally. For example, all contacts added on a trigger in Fig. 1 will advance to the next element and receive a congratulatory email. Flow can also advance campaign participants to the next element only when certain conditions are met. For example, only those participants who clicked the link in the email on the
previous step will advance to the event step (Fig. 2). Set up conditions for advancing to the next element to fork the campaign into multiple branches with differing sets of steps.
To add flows, select the needed campaign element on the diagram and click the arrow that appears (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 – Set up the transition between elements
Conditional flows transfer participants to the next step only when the specified conditions are met. For example, a specific response was received from the participant, a certain amount of time has passed, etc. The following types of conditions are available:
delay before executing the next element
transition depending on participant response
transition depending on configured filters.
You may configure several conditions for a single condition flow. If several conditions are configured for a single condition flow, only those campaign participants who match all conditions will be able to advance to the next campaign step. Flows with unspecified conditions will immediately advance participants to the next campaign step regardless of their response or filter conditions.
Delay before executing the next element A delay suspends the transition of the campaign participants to the next step for a specified period of time. For example, campaign participants (Fig. 2) who opened the webinar invitation and clicked the link will receive a reminder email three days later.
Conditional flows have two options in the [ Enable delay before executing an element? ] field:
“No, execute after the previous one.” Select this option to advance the participants to the next step according to the default campaign execution frequency.
“Yes, for specified time period.” Select this option to advance the participants to the next step after a certain number of days (hours) at the specified time (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 – Transition delay example
The campaign element with the configured transition delay is executed every day at the time indicated in the flow properties. Select a delay unit (days or hours) specify the number of days/hours in the [ Quantity ] field.
Wherein:
A 1-day delay equals a 24-hour delay. Delays are always recalculated to hours on the back end.
If the delay unit is “days” and the quantity is “1”, the element will be executed next day at the time specified in
If the delay unit is “days” and the value is more than “1”, the element will be executed after the specified number of days, at the time selected in the [ Execution time ] field.
Use the [ Exact time ] checkbox to specify the exact time when the transition occurs.
Transitions depending on participant response The [ Marketing email ] and [ Add to event ] elements can process participants’ responses. Responses enable custom interaction with the participants depending on their actions on the previous step.
For example, the outgoing flows of the [ Marketing email ] element provide the following responses:
1. “Email delivered”:
“Email opened”.
“Email clicked”.
“Spam complaint”.
“Recipient unsubscribed”.
2. “Email undelivered”:
“Delivery error”.
“Soft Bounce”. is received as a result of a temporary problem with the recipient's address, for example, if the recipient's mailbox is full or any other temporary problem occurred.
“Hard Bounce”. A hard bounce response is received as a result of a permanent delivery error, such as an invalid email address domain.
3. “Email canceled:
“Email limit reached”.
“Rejected”.
“Canceled (unsubscribed from all emails)”.
“Canceled (sender's name not valid)”.
“Canceled (sender's domain not verified)”.
“Canceled (duplicated email)”.
“Canceled (email not provided)”.
“Invalid email address”.
“Canceled (incorrect email)”.
“Canceled (invalid email)”.
“Canceled (template not found)”. “Canceled (unsubscribed by email type)”.
On Fig. 3, the next campaign steps for those participants who opened the email and those who clicked the link will
Fig. 3 – Transitions depending on participant response
Transition by filter conditions Use filtering to advance only those of the participants who match the filter conditions (Fig. 4).
Select “Filtering conditions” in the [ Which conditions must the contacts meet to transition to the next step? ] field to display the filter, and specify the required conditions. You can configure any filtering conditions for the contact and its connected objects. For example, on Fig. 4, a participant is added on a trigger after event registration and immediately receives an invitation email. Subsequent transition depends on the filtering conditions: newsletters are only sent to those contacts who participated in the event, and only if the “Status” connected object is “Completed.”
Fig. 4 – Transition depending on the configured filters
Attention. Filtering based on connected objects may cause errors due to discrepancies between the campaign and the object of the marketing email. For example, adding a lead as a connected object when passing information about an event participant to the marketing email will trigger an error. That is because the event participant is the connected entity of the campaign, and the lead is not.
Permit monitoring the email status by Creatio support
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
We recommend that you set up monitoring of your email status by the support service before you start working with emails. If you do this, Creatio support will be able to resolve any potential bulk email issues faster. Support service employees will have access to aggregated bulk email metrics that do not contain personalized email message texts, email templates, etc.
The procedure is different for cloud and on-site applications.
Instructions for on-site applications are available in the Set up marketing emails.
Instructions for cloud applications are as follows:
1. Open the system designer by clicking the button.
2. Click “System settings” in the “System setup” block.
3. Open the “Enable monitoring of the email troubleshooting indicators” (EnableEmailIndicatorMonitoring) system setting and select the [ Default value ] checkbox.
4. Click [ Save ].
As a result, the support service employees will be able to identify and eliminate potential email issues and restore email sending. Leads FAQ
PRODUCTS: MARKETING SALES CREATIO
How to assign the owner of a lead? Lead distribution includes the assignment of the lead owner, need clarification and the decision to nurture further or proceed to handoff.
This step is optional and may be performed at any lead stage, except the final stages ("Awaiting sale“ and ”Satisfied”).
As the owner assignment is not a mandatory action, after the qualification stage is complete the lead is transferred to the “Handoff to sales” stage. To assign an owner, you need to return to lead distribution by clicking the lead distribution stage on the workflow bar (located at the top of the lead page), or go to the [ History ] tab and specify the owner on the [ Lead distribution ] detail.
What is the purpose of the "Continue nurturing"? The decision to hand off a lead to sales or to continue the nurturing is made based on whether there is sufficient information to start the sale and whether the customer is ready for a deal. If the customer is not interested at the moment, but communication is still available and the possibility to close the opportunity exists, select the “Back to nurturing” task completion result.
During the nurturing, you can determine the further strategy of working with the lead: to clarify the customer need or to specify missing data.
As a result, the lead remains at the distribution stage, and you can continue working on it later. Otherwise, you'd have to select the "Not interested" stage and such a lead would become unavailable for further work.
What is the difference between the lead source and lead channel? Lead channels are resources involved to attract leads, for example, search engines, email, social networks, media resources, etc. A lead source is a specific resource from which a lead is transferred into Creatio, for example, the Google search engine, email, Facebook, etc.
What is the difference between the [Account] and [Account
name] fields on the lead page? The account information can be found in two places:
On the [ Registration info ] detail of the [ Lead info ] tab. The fields on the details are populated automatically when you add a new lead to Creatio and only with the data that the user provided during registration on the landing page. If a user has not entered the company name on the landing page, then the [ Account ] field on the [ Registration information ] detail will be blank.
The account profile is located on the left side of the lead page. This interface enables you to register a new company or to associate an existing account with the lead based on registration data from the [ Initial data ] tab. If a user has specified the company name registered in the [ Accounts ] section, Creatio will pull in the profile information for the account and enable you to associate it with the lead.
What is the logic of automatic contact creation? A contact is added automatically when creating a new lead via landing page if the [ Create contact ] checkbox is enabled.
When adding a new lead manually:
If the lead is added for an existing contact, this contact will be specified in the corresponding profile on the lead page and you can connect the lead and contact records via the [ Select from similar ] option.
If the contact specified in the lead mini page does not exist, it will be added automatically after clicking the [ Qualify ] button.
What data from the lead page are passed to the contact page? When a contact is created automatically, all basic information about the contact (name, communication options) is passed to the contact page from the lead page.
How does the contact and account search work when qualifying a lead? The [ Name ] and [ Company ] fields are standard fields in the web form on the landing page. Information from these fields will be used to populate the [ Contact name ] and [ Account name ] fields on the [ Lead info ] tab. Contact and account profiles are located in the left part of the lead page. These blocks contain general information about contact and account connected with the lead. If a contact or account are similar to the existing ones, the existing contact or account can be connected with the lead page via the [ Select from similar ] option. (Fig. 1):
Conditions that enable selecting from similar contacts and accounts are described below.
Similar contact:
Values of the [ Contact name ] and [ Email ] fields on the lead page are equal to the [ Contact name ] and [ Email ] fields on the contact page.
Values of the [ Contact name ] and [ Mobile phone ] fields on the lead page are equal to the [ Contact name ] and [ Mobile phone ] fields on the contact page.
Similar account:
Value of the [ Account name ] field on the lead page is equal to the [ Account name ] field on the account page. Values of the [ Account name ] and [ Country ] fields on the lead page are equal to the [ Account name ] and [ Country ] fields on the account page.
How to start the lead management process? By qualifying the lead, you begin to work on the process. The lead management business process starts automatically after clicking the [ Qualify ] button and continues running as you work with a lead. You can also customize the lead management business process according to your needs. To do this, create a new business process or copy an existing one and change it accordingly. Specify the name of the new process in the “Lead management business process” system setting. The details of the business process features are described process setup documentation.
How to disable a base sub-process? To disable a base sub-process, copy an existing business process and give it a new name. Disable the required sub-process and specify the name of the new process in the “Lead management business process” system setting More ways of configuring and working with business processes are described in the process setup documentation.
How to change the standard lead management process? How do I add or modify process stages? You can delete, change or add process stages, and change the list of activities in accordance with your needs.
To change the set of stages and transitions between them use the [ Lead stage ] and [ Available transitions between lead stages ] lookups.
To change the list of basic activities, which are created during the process execution, you need to replace the default process with a custom copy.
To do this:
1. Open the [ Process library ] section.
2. Find the default process that you want to change. The lead management process consists of several sub- processes, each referring to a particular stage. When searching for a subprocess, mind the name and the prefix. For example, if you need to change the “Qualification” stage of the lead management process in Financial Services Creatio, sales edition, look for a process called “Lead qualification v7.8.0(lead finance).”
3. Create a copy of the base lead management process by clicking the [ Copy ] button record in the process record.
4. Make the required changes in the copy. You can change the elements, remove elements or add new ones.
5. Save the edited copy and publish.
6. Specify the name of modified copy in the [ Value by default ] field of the “Lead management business process” system setting.
7. Go to the original version of the corporate sales process and disable it by clicking the [ Actions ] → [ Disable ].
Detailed descriptions of business process management are available in the Creatio business process documentation.
After performing the settings, the system will use the custom lead management process.
How to search for duplicates? The lead duplicate search helps to obtain information about customers with similar needs. You can delete duplicate leads manually, if needed. Leads that look like duplicates will be displayed on the [ Similar leads ] detail. Detailed information about this functionality is available in the Lead duplicate search. Personalize email content with macros
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
You can use macros to add sender's and recipient's personal details (name, job title, etc.) when setting up email templates. When sending an email, the macros will be replaced with the corresponding values of the contact page fields (recipient's or sender's).
You can add macros to the email's header and preheader, sender's name and sender's email as well as the email's subject and body. It is also possible to personalize the email images with macros.
You can use:
Basic macros. They let you add data from the recipient's or the sender's contact profile to the template. For example, you can add their full name, job title, etc.
Custom macros. They let you add data from the records connected to the recipient's or the sender's contact profile. For instance, you can add an account name from the relevant contact page.
Linked entity macros. They let you add data from the linked object's records to the template. For example, you can add the relevant content (a link to the recorded webinar, an event location, etc.) by adding a linked entity macro based on the “Event participants” linked object.
Add a basic macro
Case. Add a salutation for the recipient to the email text.
1. Open the email template in the Content Designer. 2. Click the template text in the area where you would like to place the macro.
3. Click → [ Basic macro ] in the toolbar above the text.
4. Select the “Salutation” macro in the “Recipient” group and click [ Select ].
5. Save the template 6. This will add [ #Recipient.Title# ] macro to the relevant area of the email. When sending the email, the macro will be replaced with the value of the [ Recipient’s name ] field on the recipient's contact page (Fig. 1).
[ #Owner.Account primary Your company's primary phone number. phone# ]
[ #Owner.Account web Your company's website. address# ]
Contact owner information macros
[ #Contact.Owner.Name# ] The name of the manager of an email participant — the user specified in the [ Owner ] field of the recipient's contact. This macro is available only in the [ Sender's name ] field of the template header. It lets you send emails on behalf of the employee responsible for each email participant
[ #Contact.Owner.Email# ] The email of the manager of an email participant — the user specified in the [ Owner ] field of the recipient's contact. This macro is available only in the [ Sender's email ] field of the template header. It lets you send emails from the email address of the employee responsible for each email participant.
Add a linked entity macro
Case. Send emails on behalf of the lead's owner.
1. Open the email template in the Content Designer.
2. Click in the [ Sender’s name ] field. This will open the column selection window.
3. Click [ + ] to the left of [ Email participant ] field and select [ Linked entity ] in the newly-opened dropdown.
Note. You need to specify the linked entity used for email macros in the [ Audience source ] field at the top of the email page. You can read more about forming the bulk email audience in the Add bulk email audience article.
4. Click [ + ] to the left of [ Linked entity ] field and select a connected object in the newly-opened dropdown, for instance, [ Owner ].
5. Specify the connected object's column, for example, [ First name ].
This will add the [ #LinkedEntity.Owner.GivenName# ] macro to the [ Sender's name ] field. When sending an email, the macro will be replaced with with the value of the [ First name ] field of the connected record (the owner).
Note. You can read more about using linked entity macros when sending test emails in the Send a test email article.
Marketing email metrics
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Section analytics enables evaluating the results of all or only selected emails per period. The visual display of data about the number of sent and delivered emails, opens and clicks, spam complaints, etc. helps monitor audience involvement and determine the most popular email materials. To open the [ Email ] section analytics, click the Dashboards view.
Note. More information about working with dashboards and dashboard setup is available in the “Set up dashboards” article. Configuration of the [ Delivered ], [ Opens ], [ Clicks ], [ Soft Bounce ], [ Hard Bounce ], [ Unsubscribes ] and [ Spam complaints ] indicators is performed by a developer.
Delivered Percentage and quantity of delivered emails. The percentage of delivered emails is calculated based on the total number of sent emails in the [ Sent ] indicator.
Opens Percentage of the number of opened emails against the total number of delivered emails.
Clicks The percentage of unique clicks against the total number of delivered emails.
Soft Bounce The percentage of delivery errors with a “Soft Bounce” response against the total number of sent emails.
Hard Bounce The percentage of delivery errors with a “Hard Bounce” response against the total number of sent emails.
Unsubscribes The percentage of recipients who unsubscribed against the total number of delivered emails.
Spam The percentage of recipients who made spam complaints against the total number of delivered emails.
Delivery The total number of undelivered emails grouped by reasons for non-delivery. The chart errors is based on records that received the following responses: “Canceled”, “Invalid email address”, “Delivery error”, “Soft Bounce”, “Hard Bounce”, “Canceled (unsubscribed from all emails)”, “Canceled (invalid email)”, “Canceled (incorrect email) and “Canceled (email not provided)”. The records are available on the [ Audience ] tab → the [ Audience ] detail.
Top List of email campaigns with the greatest number of recipients. Only emails with the “Sent”, emails by “Sending” and “In progress” status are displayed in descending order based on the number coverage of recipients.
Links by List of emails with the greatest number of unique clicks. The diagram displays emails in number descending order based on the number of clicks. of clicks
Top List of emails with the greatest number of opened emails. The number of opens is calculated recipients by the total number of “Open” and “Clicks” responses. The data is sorted in descending by opens order based on the number of opens.
Top List of contacts who clicked links within the emails most frequently. The diagram displays the recipients total number of emails from which the “Clicks” response was received. The data is sorted in by clicks descending order based on the number of clicks.
Prevent sending duplicate emails to the same email address
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
If you have several recipients with the same email address in your database, you can merge duplicates and avoid sending emails to the same email address. Use the Prevent to send duplicated emails to recipients with the same address system setting for this purpose. If the system setting is enabled and the email audience has several contacts with the same email address, Creatio will send a single email to one of these contacts, selected at random. The email response of the rest of the contacts with the same email address will be “Canceled (Duplicate email)”. The recipient is selected randomly.
The setup procedure is as follows:
1. Open the system designer by clicking the button.
2. Click “System settings” in the “System setup” block.
3. Open the “Prevent to send duplicated emails to recipients with the same address” (PreventDuplicatesSending) system setting and select the [ Default value ] checkbox on the opened page.
4. Click [ Save ].
As a result, Creatio will search for duplicate email addresses before sending emails. If it detects the same email address for several contacts, the email will be sent to only one of them. Campaign FAQ
The start time of trigger emails depends on the conditions that you set for it. Use the campaign page to configure the mailing conditions.
Click the transition to the “Marketing email” element in the campaign diagram and view its properties area on the right-hand side of the page. Use the fields in the properties area to specify the sending conditions. Read more >>>
What is the logic behind filtering emails when they are added to a campaign? When selecting emails to add to a campaign, the list does not display all of the emails located in the [ Email ] section. Bulk emails, trigger emails with the "Active" status, and trigger emails associated with other campaigns will not be available.
I have started the campaign, why it is not displayed in the campaign log? The campaign may not have actually started yet and there is nothing to log. The campaign will be started with the execution of its first step and the records will be displayed in the campaign log. The moment of execution is defined in the default campaign execution frequency or via execution time specified in the element with condition flows. More information about default campaign frequency can be found in a separate article. Save a content block for using in other emails
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Once you add a [ Block ] element to a template and populate its sections and columns with other content designer elements, you can save this block in the Content block library for future use. The list of blocks from the content block library is displayed on the left side of the Content Designer. Drag&drop ready-made blocks from the library to the working area to add them to your email or edit them (Fig. 1).
1. Open the template that contains the needed block in the Content Designer.
2. If necessary, modify an existing block or create a new one.
3. Make sure that the desired [ Block ] element is selected.
4. Click in the context menu on the right. A prompt box will pop up.
5. Populate the [ Block name ] field. This name will display under this content block in the block library. We recommend naming the blocks in a way that would describe their contents and purpose of the content block. Such an approach helps find the content block when you work with templates in the Content Designer.
6. Click [ Save ] (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Saving a new block
The new block will appear in the library of the Content Designer.
Edit an existing block in the Content Library To edit a block, drag&drop it into the working area. Edit and save the block. Delete the old versions of the block if no longer needed.
Delete an existing block from the Content Library To delete a block from the library, hover the mouse pointer over the block you want to delete. A frame will appear around the element. Click in the top right corner (Fig. 1).
How Creatio calculates the number of opened emails To get information about email opens, use the “pixel” tracking method. A one-pixel image is automatically added to each message sent as part of a marketing email campaign. After the recipient opens the email, the image is downloaded from the server. The number of downloads corresponds to the number of opens.
In some cases, the recipient's browser or email software can block image downloads. If the [ Opens ] column of the [ Audience ] detail shows “0”, but there are recorded clicks, it means that image downloading is blocked by the recipient’s software and accurate data about the opens was not received. Such cases are analyzed by the system and calculated within the [ Open rate, % ] and No. of opens metrics of the delivery statistics diagram. Read more about test emails in the “Analyze delivery rates” article.
MS Outlook only considers an email opened if it’s been viewed in a separate window. Previewing a message in MS Outlook is not considered as an “Open”, because in this case the images are not loaded. Test email opens do not count.
How Creatio monitors the “Marked as spam” responses Spam complaints must be monitored to prevent possible blocking of your emails by spam filters in the future.
Creatio will add “Marked as spam” response if an email is sent to the spam folder. An email can be sent to spam not only by the recipient but also as a result of being blocked by the email provider’s spam filter or because of detecting viruses in the email.
This type of response is processed through the Feedback Loop (FBL)) mechanism.
Feedback Loop (FBL) basics The FBL ensures that the sender is notified if a complaint was received about their emails from the
recipient. As soon as an email is flagged as spam, the email provider reports a complaint to the sender. Usually, the report contains the recipient’s email, the original message and the reason for flagging the email as spam. These reports trigger “Spam” response in Creatio. The [ Audience ] tab of the email page contains information about spam complaints.
Email providers that support FBL The following recipient providers can send “Spam” responses (the list is not complete):
Hotmail;
Microsoft (Hotmail, Outlook, Live, MSN);
Comcast;
Yahoo Mail;
AOL Mail, etc.
Gmail does not support FBL technology but uses an alternative mechanism for unsubscribing Gmail users from emails. It is a special List-Unsubscribe caption, which allows displaying the “Unsubscribe” button next to the “Report spam” button. In this case, the user is more likely to click the “Unsubscribe” button than report spam. All recipients who click the unsubscribe button or link will get the “Unsubscribed” response.
Yandex.Mail does not support FBL technology. If a mail service does not support FBL, the “Spam” response cannot be received from them. Marketing campaigns hot keys
By default, Creatio automatically processes email response data once per several minutes. We recommend that you stop parsing email responses for the time of integration sessions between Creatio and third-party systems to avoid data deadlocks. You can stop parsing every day at a specified time. The setup procedure is as follows:
1. In the [ Emails ] section, select [ Bulk email settings ] in the [ Actions ] menu. 2. On the opened page, select the [ Response parsing settings ] tab and specify the time when the response parsing should be stopped. Specify the preferred time frame for parsing email responses in the [ From ] and [ To ] fields (Fig. 1). Save the changes.
Fig. 1 The [ Response parsing settings ] tab
At the figure above, you can see an example of settings enabling the response parsing process stop daily from 1:00 to 4:00 AM. The changes will apply as soon as you save the settings. In this case, the response parsing will resume at 4:01 am. Response parsing time frames on this tab are displayed in the current user’s time zone. The parsing process will stop in according to the time zone of the user, specified in the “System operations user” (SystemUser) system setting. The Supervisor user is specified in this system setting by default.
Note. Specify the time zone of a user in the user profile. Read more in the “User profile article. The list of available time zones is configured in the [ Time zones ] lookup.
If you leave the [ From ] and [ To ] fields unpopulated or populate only one value, the response parsing process will be working continuously. Configure dynamic content for emails
Dynamic content enables changing the email content depending on the recipients’ segment. You can use any contact-related information for configuring the dynamic content – location, purchase history, website activities, gender, age, etc. This way, the recipients will get only the relevant and personalized information, increasing the number of loyal customers and email efficiency in general while decreasing marketing email expenses targeted at separate audience segments. Setting up an email with dynamic content involves the following steps:
1. Creating a new email record. You can use dynamic content in both bulk and trigger emails. The procedure for creating emails is covered in the “Create a bulk email” and “Create a trigger email” articles.
2. Setting up an email template. Build a template structure and add the content using regular Content Designer elements. Read more in the “Configure an email template” article.
3. Set up the dynamic content rules that will determine the conditions for segmenting email recipients. One email can have no more than 7 dynamic content rules. You can view the list of rules, add, edit, or delete them in the Content Designer. 4. Set up the dynamic content of the template. Select the blocks, whose data should differ and configure the dynamic content segments – the variants of the dynamic content block for every rule created at the previous step.
5. Use the “Preview” mode to see what your template looks like for different segments. 6. Send a test email to check the template display in different mail clients. Read more about test emails in the “Send a test email” article.
Set up dynamic content rules After you add a new record in the [ Email ] section, populate its fields and build the email structure, configure the rules for segmenting the audience and add the dynamic content.
To add a new dynamic content rule, perform the following steps (Fig. 1):
1. Open the template setup area. To do this, select any content block in the template and click on the right border of the block.
2. In the block setup area, open the Rules tab. The [ Rules ] tab might be hidden in the block setup area. To open it, click next to the [ Dynamic content ] tab (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Opening the [ Rules ] tab in the block setup area
3. In the Dynamic content rules area, click Add rule.
4. In the Filter condition settings area, specify the rule name, and set up a filter to determine the group of recipients for this specific rule. We will be using two dynamic content rules in our example: “Ladies” and “Gentlemen”. You will need to repeat steps 3-4 for each dynamic content rule. Filter conditions for the rules:
a. “Ladies”: contacts with the “Female” value in the [ Gender ] field (Fig. 3);
Fig. 3 Setting up a filter for the “Ladies” dynamic rule
1. “Gentlemen”: contacts with the “Male” value in the [ Gender ] field (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4 Setting up a filter for the “Gentlemen” dynamic rule
Note. To save time for setting up the rules that are used most often, you can copy their settings from dynamic folders of the [ Contacts ] section. To do this, click the [ Select from lookup ] button next to the [ Set up filter conditions ] field and specify the needed folder. The folder name and conditions are
To edit a rule, select it on the [ Rules ] tab of the content block setup area and change the rule name or filter condition. To delete a rule, select it on the [ Rules ] tab of the content block setup area and click the button (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5 Deleting a dynamic rule
Set up dynamic content for content blocks After setting up the dynamic content rules, create and add content blocks to the template. In our example, the blocks with the promotion description, the button and the unsubscribe link will be the same for all recipients (static), while the block with images will be dynamic and changeable.
To set up the dynamic contents for a content block (Fig. 1):
1. Select the content block, whose contents you want to make dynamic. Click on its right border. 2. In the block setup area, open the [ Dynamic content ] tab and click Add segment.
3. In the opened window, select the dynamic content rule that will determine the audience for receiving this specific content variant.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all rules that will affect the contents of the current content block. In our example, these are the “Gentlemen” and “Ladies” rules. You can apply the same rule to a content block only once.
5. On the [ Dynamic content ] tab, click Add default content. The segments with default content will be sent to the recipients who do not correspond to any of the selected dynamic content rules. In our example, these will be the addresses of contacts whose [ Gender ] field is empty.
Note. If you do not add a default content segment to a dynamic content block, the recipients that do not match the conditions of any of the dynamic rules will receive emails without this block.
As a result, the content block will have three segments, for which you can set up different content. 6. If a recipient matches the conditions of two and more rules, set the priority for these rules. In this case, the recipient will only see one content variant configured for a higher priority rule. Set up the priority of dynamic content rules for each segment using the and buttons to the right from the rule name.
7. Click the button in the upper left corner of the content block and select a segment.
8. Configure the content in the dynamic segment.
9. Repeat steps 6 through 7 for all dynamic segments of the template.
Note. No more than 30 dynamic segments can be set up for one email.
10.Save the template. As a result, several replicas (variants of displaying the content depending on the configured rules) will be
generated in the email template. You can see all the replicas in the Content Designer, in the preview mode (Fig. 2) or on the email page. Replica names are based on the names of the corresponding dynamic rules that are applied. In our example, the replicas are “Gentlemen,” “Ladies” and “Default.” If a template contains more than one dynamic block, replica names will include combinations of rules from all blocks: “Block A rule + Block B rule,” for example, “Gentlemen + New York.”
Fig. 2 Template replica preview in Content Designer
Check how your template displays in different email clients. Read more about test emails in the “Send a test email” article. After you send your email, you will be able to estimate its efficiency as a whole and the efficiency of each replica separately. Read more in the “Analyze email sending.” Marketing email FAQ
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
What is the difference between domain verification and email confirmation? Domain verification is done to display the correct sender name in the “From” field of emails and avoid unsanctioned emails on your behalf. After completing the domain verification, you enable the email service that your audiences use to sign your emails with your domain name. For example, if you are using UniOne and have not performed domain verification, your recipients will see the following in the “From” field of all emails: “UniOne_Smith ; on behalf of; UniOne_Smith ”
This means that the message was sent from your email provider’s server on your behalf. After the domain verification, the “From” string will contain only your email. Verification is performed on the DNS- server of your domain using the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) methods. The domain verification procedures for the supported providers are covered on the “Verify domain for UniOne” and “Verify domain for ElasticEmail” articles. Sender email address confirmation is confirming that your email address belongs to you. After performing this procedure, you can send emails on your behalf. This is a one-time procedure, performed if your Creatio emails are done via UniOne service. If your emails are sent via Elastic Email, there is no need to confirm the sender’s email.
After clicking a link in an email, an email recipient sees a page with an access error. Certain countries may limit access to certain email services. In this case, the recipients will not be able to open the link from the email. We recommend adding a full URL text of your links to the email body, as well as a recommendation to copy the link in the recipient’s browser.
What are the reasons for marketing email licensing errors? The license error can occur in the following cases:
The number of active contacts exceeds the number of available licenses. When you try to send a bulk email, Creatio checks the available marketing campaign and active contact licenses. Any contact added to a bulk email audience at least once - consumes an active contact license. If the number of active contacts (including those in the audience of your email) exceeds the total number of available licenses, the email cannot be sent. Learn more in the “Marketing Creatio licensing specifics” article. Creatio regularly notifies the users when the number of available active contact licenses becomes lower than 10% of the total number of paid licenses. Please check the “Notifications” tab of the Communication panel regularly. The minimum number of paid licenses required by Creatio (in percentage) is specified in the “Active contacts - warning threshold (%)” (ActiveContactsWarningThreshold) system setting.
A user tries to save a section record but does not have a license for this specific functionality. To be able to save an Email or Campaign section record, the user must have a marketing campaign license. Learn more in the “Marketing Creatio licensing specifics” article.
Are contacts with the “Soft Bounce” and “Hard Bounce” email responses still considered “Active”? Yes. Any contact for whom at least one communication attempt via emails, campaigns or events has been made within a year is considered an active marketing contact and requires a “marketing active contacts” license, even if the contact has “Soft Bounce” and “Hard Bounce” email responses.
Are contacts who were sent their emails via SMTP still
considered “Active”? No. The contacts, who were sent emails via the simple mail transfer protocol SMTP, for example, via a business process are not considered active. To be considered “active”, a contact must be a recipient of the email, a member of the campaign or event. Learn more about the active contacts in the “Marketing Creatio licensing specifics” article. Manage subscriptions for various email types
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
If you use several types of content in your marketing emails, for example, newsletters, special offers and invitations, we recommend enabling subscriptions for particular content types. As a result, your customers will receive only the content that they are interested in. For example, a customer may sign up for special offers, but not give consent to receive news and invitations.
Attention. Subscriptions to different types of marketing emails are not available in the base Creatio configuration. An additional setup by a software developer is required.
Custom unsubscribe page must meet the following criteria:
There must be a single page for the subscription setup. Users must not open additional pages to manage subscriptions to different types of marketing emails or unsubscribe from them.
There must be an option to unsubscribe from all emails.
Additional recommendations:
Brand the page by adding corporate name an logo.
The page should have an option to provide comments as to the reason for unsubscribing. Make user authentication optional.
Below is a general description of the setup process for subscriptions to different emails.
1. Create a list of the email types in the Email type lookup. 2. Create pages on your website where the customer can express their consent to receive particular materials from your company. Set them up as the forwarding pages on your landings.
3. Clear the checkbox for the “Unsubscribe user from all emails” (UnsubscribeFromAllMailings) system setting. This is required to avoid automatic unsubscribes from all emails when a recipient only unsubscribes from a particular type of email.
Note. The "Unsubscribe user from all emails” (UnsubscribeFromAllMailings) system setting is used for adding the automatic unsubscribe block to the email template and the correct functioning of the unsubscribe link. It is recommended to clear the value of this system setting unless you set up different types of emails as part of developer customization.
4. Specify the address of the unsubscribe page in the “Website to redirect unsubscribed” system setting. 5. Set up the integration of the created page with Creatio. Such integration is performed by Creatio development tools. After the setup is complete, information about subscription limitations for different types of email will be displayed on the Email subscription detail of the contact page. You can also use the [ Email subscription ] detail to manually specify the email types that the user has unsubscribed from on the [ Email subscription ] detail of the contact page. Set up fonts in the Content Designer
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
You can expand the list of fonts used in your email templates. When using rare fonts you can have your messages displayed in these fonts for your customers, even if they initially do not have these fonts.
Adding a custom font enables you to select it in the [ Font ] property in the setup area of [ Text ], [ Button ], and [ Navlink ] elements. Read more >>> Embedding a custom font lets email clients display emails using that font without having to use the “fallback fonts.” The email client will access the font using the URL that you specify. Read more >>> Modifying a font in the Content Designer to rename a font family or add, change, delete, and rearrange the fonts in the font-family. Read more >>>
Add a custom font Use the “Content builder font set” lookup to manage the list of fonts.
Case. Add a custom “Parchment Regular” font.
1. Click to open the System Designer.
2. Go to the [ System setup ] block → click Lookups. 3. Open the Content builder font set lookup.
4. Click New. 5. Specify the font family in the [ Name ] column on the left. In this case, specify “Parchment.”
6. Specify the font family value in the [ Fonts ] column on the right. The font family value is a prioritized comma- separated list of the primary font and fallback fonts, from most preferable to least preferable. We recommend adding at least one generic font family as a fallback font. For example, specify “Parchment, cursive.” 7. Click .
As a result, a new font family will be available in the [ Font ] property in the setup area of [ Text ], [ Button ], and [ Navlink ] elements as soon as the new item is saved. Note that adding a custom font and then using it means that the email clients will be instructed to apply the font whether it is available in the client application or not. If the email client fails to apply a font, it will use the
next fallback font in the font family list. If the email client exhausts the list of fallback fonts, it will apply a default font.
If you expect that your custom font will not be available in most client applications, make it an embedded font.
Embed a custom font Use the “Content builder customer fonts” lookup to manage embedded fonts. To embed a font (e.g., “Montserrat”):
1. Click to open the System Designer.
2. Click Lookups in the [ System setup ] block in the System designer. 3. Open the [ Content builder customer fonts ] lookup.
4. Click New. 5. Specify the font family in the [ Name ] column on the left. For example, specify “Montserrat.” Make sure that the font name that you specify matches the actual font name. 6. Specify the font URL in the [ URL ] column on the right. For example, specify https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Montserrat:wght@200&display=swap
Note. The value of the [ URL ] column is not restricted to the API URLs of Google Fonts. The [ URL ] field can be populated with the link to any font available online, including a self-hosted font.
7. Click .
Log out of the application and log back in to apply changes.
Attention. We do not recommend relying too much on embedding custom fonts. Some email client applications lack the feature to import custom fonts and will always use a fallback or default font.
Edit a Content builder font Use the “Content builder font set” lookup to manage font properties. To edit a font (e.g., “Parchment”):
1. Click to open the System Designer.
2. Click Lookups in the [ System setup ] block in the System designer.
3. Open the [ Content builder font set ] lookup. 4. Click the entry to edit. For example, click the [ Parchment ] entry.
5. Redefine the font family name in the [ Name ] column on the left. For example, change it to “MyCursives.” 6. Redefine the font family value in the [ Fonts ] column on the right. For example, add Pristina as the first fallback font: “Parchment, Pristina, cursive.” 7. Click .
As a result, if the Parchment font is not available in the email client application, the application will now attempt to apply Pristina before defaulting to the “cursive” generic font.
You can import the contacts that are connected to various objects to the email audience. “Contact”, “Lead”, “Event participant” objects are available by default. You can also add new objects, such as “Account” or “Order”. If you add a new object, Creatio will add to the email audience the contacts connected to that object's records. Read more about forming the bulk email audience: Add bulk email audience.
To import contacts, you first need to specify the object used to form the audience and set up how the object is connected to Creatio contacts. Any Creatio user with permissions to “Access to “Lookups” section” (“CanManageLookups” code) system operation can perform the setup. Read more: System operation permissions.
To add a new object:
1. Navigate to the [ Audience ] tab of the email page, click and select [ Manage objects ].
2. Click [ New ] in the top left of the newly-opened page. This will add an empty record to the [ Manage objects for audience import ] lookup.
3. Fill out the new record's fields (Fig. 1):
a. [ Object caption ] — specify the name to be used in the object list on the [ Audience ] tab of the email page. For example, “Account”. b. [ Entity object ] — select the Creatio object that will be used to form the email audience. For example, “Account”. c. [ Contact column path ] — select the object's field that contains the contact data. The contact specified in this field will receive the email. For instance, there is contact data in the [ Primary contact ] field of the “Account” object.
d. [ Email column path ] — specify the path to the [ Email ] field of the contact page.
Fig. 1 [ Manage objects for audience import ] lookup
The record is saved automatically. This will add a new audience-forming object to the button's menu on the [ Audience ] tab of the email page. Set up the email expiration date
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Specify the date and time when Creatio will stop sending the email regardless of its completion state. This is important for time-sensitive offers or event invitations.
You can set up the expiration date before Creatio starts to send the email. The expiration date settings are identical for bulk emails and trigger emails.
Note. These features are available since Creatio version 7.17.4. Toggle on the “BulkEmailThrottlingQueue” system setting to enable them in beta testing mode. Learn more: Add, enable, and disable functions. The “Bulk email expiration period (minutes)” (the “BulkEmailExpirationPeriod” code) was deprecated and retired. Follow the steps below to set up the email expiration date. These features are available out-of-the-box in Creatio 7.18.0.
To set up the expiration date:
1. Go to the [ Email ] section and open the needed record. 2. Specify when to stop sending the email in the [ Expiration date ] field on the [ Parameters ] tab (Fig. 1).
3. Click [ Save ].
Fig. 1 Setting up the expiration date
As a result, Creatio will stop sending the email on the date and time specified in the [ Expiration date ] field. Creatio will change the bulk email status to [ Expired ]. It will not be possible to resend the email to the remaining contacts. Creatio will mark the remaining contacts with “Stopped (time to send expired)” personal response.
If the campaign connected to trigger emails remains active, Creatio will keep adding participants to the audience. These participants will be marked with “Stopped (time to send expired)” personal response. You can use this to set up further conditional flows. For example, send another email to all contacts with “Stopped (time to send expired)” personal response. If you leave the [ Expiration date ] field empty, Creatio will not stop sending the email.
You can specify the priority of an email record in Creatio. Use this feature to manage the mailing order. Creatio sends emails with higher priority sooner. For example, you can set up the priority so that Creatio sends confirmation emails before newsletters.
You can set up the email priority before Creatio starts to send the email. Priority settings are identical for bulk emails and trigger emails.
Note. These features are available since Creatio version 7.17.4. Toggle on the “BulkEmailThrottlingQueue” system setting to enable them in beta testing mode. Learn more: Add, enable, and disable functions. These features are available out-of-the-box in Creatio 7.18.0.
To set up the email priority:
1. Go to the [ Email ] section and open the needed record. Select the required value in the [ Priority ] field on the [ Parameters ] tab (Fig. 1). The value is “Normal” by default. Click [ Save ].
Fig. 1 Setting up the bulk email priority
As a result, Creatio will use the value in the [ Priority ] field to calculate the sending order. Creatio sends the higher priority emails before lower priority emails. If the user sends multiple bulk emails with the same priority simultaneously, the email that reached the cloud email service sooner will be sent first. You can select one of the pre-configured priorities or add custom priority values and use them in the future. To do so:
1. Open the system designer by clicking in the top right.
2. Click [ Lookups ] in the [ System setup ] block. 3. Open the [ Bulk email priorities ] lookup.
4. Click [ New ]. 5. Enter the priority name, for example, “Critical.” Fill out the [ Description ] column if necessary.
6. Specify the needed value in the [ Priority ] field. The lower the value, the higher the email priority (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Adding a new value to the [ Bulk email priorities ] lookup
Attention. We recommend against changing or deleting the pre-configured values since this can affect the sending order of active bulk emails. Add a new lookup entry with a different priority value instead.
Set up the email delivery schedule
PRODUCTS: MARKETING
Creatio lets you customize the email send time and delivery schedule. The values specified in the email send time settings determine the time when Creatio passes the emails to the cloud service. The email delivery schedule determines when the cloud service passes emails to the email provider. This lets you schedule when the end recipients get the emails. This is useful for things like limited-time offers.
You can set up the email delivery schedule before Creatio starts to send the email. Delivery schedule settings are identical for bulk emails and trigger emails.
Note. These features are available since Creatio version 7.17.4. Toggle on the “BulkEmailThrottlingQueue” system setting to enable them in beta testing mode. Learn more: Add, enable, and disable functions. These features are available out-of-the-box in Creatio 7.18.0.
To set up the delivery schedule:
1. Go to the [ Email ] section and open the needed record.
Click the [ Parameters ] tab and go to the [ Delivery schedule ] detail. By default, the cloud service passes the emails to the email provider “Every day” from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. The recipients get the emails 24/7. You can specify other parameters:
a. Select “Every day” or “Days of week” in the [ Delivery schedule ] field. If you select “Days of week,” a widget for selecting delivery days will appear. For example, you can select weekdays only (Fig. 1) b. Fill out the [ Delivery time range ] field to specify the email delivery period. If you do not specify the time frame or keep the default value, the email delivery will start as soon as the cloud service processes the emails. For example, if you start the email at 8:00 AM and set up the delivery time frame between 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM, none of the emails will be delivered before 9:00 AM. If you keep the default value (from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM), the delivery will start at approximately 8:05 AM (the average email processing time is 5 minutes).
c. Fill out the [ Time zone ] field to set the reference time zone for the delivery time range. The time zone of the user who created the email is used by default. You can change this value. For example, if you are in Los Angeles (GMT -08:00) and plan to send emails based on New York’s time zone (GMT -05:00), specify GMT - 05:00, as displayed in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Setting up the delivery time range
Hover over the icon to the right of the [ Time range ] field to check the time zone settings. The tooltip will display the delivery time frame based on the time zone of the current user (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 The delivery time frame based on the time zone of the current user
As a result, the recipients will get the emails within the specified time frame according to their time zone.
Attention. Creatio starts to send emails based on the user’s time zone. Time zone settings only apply to the [ Delivery time range ] field group and affect the time when the cloud service passes the emails to the recipients.
Creatio lets you use throttling to balance the outgoing email flow. Use throttling to split a large email into multiple parts and send the parts to the email provider one by one during the specified time frame. This approach improves the delivery rate and prevents the emails from being flagged as spam or rejected by email providers. Use throttling when:
Sending multiple emails during a short period. Sending emails to new subscribers. Sending emails to subscribers you have not contacted by email for a long time.
Sending first emails from a new domain. Sending emails after changing the sender’s IP address.
Sending a test email that has to be changed or canceled during the mailing process.
In these situations, sending emails gradually enhances the domain’s reputation. The throttling mechanism also lets you control the outgoing email flow, which can be useful in cases like balancing the load on contact center agents. You can configure automatic throttling before Creatio starts to send the email.
Throttling settings are identical for bulk emails and trigger emails.
Note. These features are available since Creatio version 7.17.4. Toggle on the “BulkEmailThrottlingQueue” system setting to enable them in beta testing mode. Learn more: Add, enable, and disable functions.
These features are available out-of-the-box in Creatio 7.18.0.
To set up throttling:
1. Go to the [ Email ] section and open the needed record. 2. Select the relevant value in the [ Throttling settings ] field:
“Do not use throttling” to send the emails as usual. “Warmup cold audience” to send the emails using the pre-configured schedule. Learn more: Warm up cold audience.
3. If you choose the “Warmup cold audience” option, select one of the shared queues in the [ Throttling queue ] required field. Creatio sends all emails in a queue independent of the other throttling queues. Learn more: Set up a distribution queue and Warm-up examples. The “General” value is selected by default (Fig 1).
4. Click [ Save ].
Fig. 1 Setting up a throttling queue
As a result, Creatio will send the emails using the selected throttling mode.
“Warmup cold audience” is a throttling mode where Creatio sends a limited number of emails daily after the email starts. There is a fixed delay before each email. The daily limit and the delay help to emulate manual emailing, which is essential to enhance the reputation of the sender’s domain.
The pre-configured warm-up schedule is based on the best throttling practices, such as emailing daily for 2 weeks and longer with a gradual increase in the number of emails per day.
To change this schedule, contact Creatio support and specify the new daily limit and delay. We recommend that you only change this schedule for urgent reasons and with a basic understanding of warm-up strategies.
Note. If the email has more than 1 sender address (for example, set by a macro), Creatio will apply the schedule for each address individually. Learn more: Warm-up examples.
Set up a throttling queue A throttling queue is a tool to segment cold contacts. Throttling queues let you group several bulk or trigger emails to segment different pools of cold contacts for individual warm-ups. For example, a part of the audience originates from social networks and another part from a webinar. In this case, we recommend dividing the audience into different segments and create a dedicated throttling queue for each segment to keep the email marketing strategies separate. Learn more: Warm-up examples. Configure the queues in the [ Throttling queues ] lookup. To add a new queue:
1. Open the system designer by clicking in the top right. 2. Click the [ Lookups ] link in the [ System setup ] block.
3. Open the [ Throttling queues ] lookup. 4. Click [ New ]. 5. Enter the queue name, for example, “New queue.” Fill out the [ Description ] column if necessary.
6. Fill out the [ Code ] field with an alphanumeric code (Fig. 2). Creatio will use the code to segment bulk emails. You can use arbitrary names.
Attention. We recommend against modifying codes of existing lookup entries since this can affect the active bulk and trigger emails. To specify another code, add a new lookup entry and select this throttling queue when creating an email record.
Warm-up examples Find detailed examples of the warm-up mode in action below.
Day Daily email limit The delay between emails, sec
1 25 400
2 25 400
3 25 400
4 50 400
5 50 400
6 75 400
7 75 400
Example 1
Send the “Newsletter” bulk email to 100 recipients. Use the “General” throttling queue. Two sender addresses will be used: [email protected] (75 recipients) and [email protected] (25 recipients).
Creatio will use a separate schedule for each sender's email address. The bulk email will start from the Day 1 schedule for the “Warmup cold audience” mode. Emails from [email protected] will be sent in 3 days (25 emails per day). Emails from [email protected] will be sent in 1 day (25 emails per day).
Example 2
Send a “Webinar invitation” bulk email to the same contacts. Add a new sender address. Split the audience between the senders as follows: [email protected] (50 recipients), [email protected] (25 recipients), and [email protected] (25 recipients).
Emails to new sender addresses always start from the Day 1 schedule. If you have already used an email address for sending bulk emails, its schedule will start from the day where the previous bulk email stopped:
All emails from [email protected] will be sent in 1 day (25 emails per day) according to the schedule, starting from Day 1.
All emails from [email protected] will be sent in 1 day (25 emails per day) according to the schedule, starting from Day 2.
All emails from [email protected] will be sent in 2 days (50 emails per day) according to the schedule, starting from Day 4.
Example 3
Add 100 new recipients to the “Webinar invitation” bulk email contact audience and create the “New” throttling queue. Use 2 sender addresses: [email protected] (75 recipients) and [email protected] (25 recipients).
When changing the throttling queue, the email delivery always starts from the Day 1 schedule, even if you have already used the addresses in this bulk email:
All emails from [email protected] will be sent in 3 days (25 emails per day).
All emails from [email protected] will be sent in 1 day (25 emails per day), starting from Day 1.
Attention. Create a new throttling queue for each new audience segment to avoid disrupting the audience warm-up procedure.
