The MarketFlow tab is a visual representation of solicitation process and allows you to easily keep track of and edit each step. You can construct your solicitation process, via a flowchart diagram. The MarketFlow nodes that can be used to build your solicitation logic are listed in the table below:

Topics:

To Build a MarketFlow

Select a node from the Actions pane.
Drag-and-drop the selected node to the Start node.
Fill in the properties for the node.
Repeat the previous steps as desired.

Actions

Actions are the pieces used to build a MarketFlow. Actions are processed from left to right and define the final stage of your TouchPoint. Each one carries out a specific task.

Name	Description	Properties
	Indicates the beginning of the MarketFlow solicitation logic. The start node is automatically populated in MarketFlow.	Heartbeat Interval - How often you would like a Polling TouchPoint to check if it is time to trigger another action. The time can be set to minutes, hours, days and weeks. Max Runtime - The maximum amount of time that the MarketFlow can run for. It is set to indefinite by default, but you can click on the box to change the timeframe. Mode - Determines what type of campaign you are creating. Select Standard If the campaign is a production campaign. Choose Test if you are using the campaign to run a test. Notify On Complete - Will send an alert to the user once the MarketFlow is complete or if there is an error.
	These are the nodes you use to contact consumers.	Description - A short description that will appear on the node. Template - The template to be used for solicitation. Templates can be opened and edited directly from the Touch Properties () icon next to the file name. Seed Table - The table to see your specified content in after running the touch. Continuation - Gives you commands for how to continue, after the touch has been made.
	These nodes allow a specified amount of time or an event to occur before moving onto the next step.	Description - A short description that will appear on the node. Wait Type - allows you to select what type of action occurs before continuing in the MarketFlow. Interval - Timeframe that MarketFlow pauses before continuing to the next step. Until - Either time of day or day of the week before continuing to the next step. Event - When a field is selected, an action is timed out, or an "else" branch is visible.
	These nodes allow you to split your selected customers. You can split by one of the following options: Branch Manager, Custom Filter, Quick Branch, or Random.	Description - A short description that will appear on the node. Split Type - Sets how the branches are split. Standard - Gives you an even split, based upon the number of branches selected Distributed - Uses a specific field to split the branches. Ranked - Allows you to select how the rankings of each branch are determined.
	The Combine node provides a way to visually connect multiple nodes to a single input node, without needing a landing.	Description - A short description that will appear on the node.
	These nodes allow you to leave your current branch and divert to a landing.	Description - A short description that will appear on the node. Target ID - The landing you are diverting to.
	These nodes create a target for a Go-To node. This is useful for common solicit logic that you use more than once.	Description - A short description that will appear on the node.
	Allows for notes to be placed in the MarketFlow.
	Ends the current branch of solicit logic.	Description - A short description that will appear on the node.
	Performs a job that consists of either a report or an external process	Description - A short description that will appear on the node. Job Type - You can select which type of job to run. Continuation - Command given as to what the job does after it runs. Immediately - goes to the next step, without the job being flagged as complete or having any errors. OnCompletion - goes to the next step when the job is flagged as completed, even with errors. OnSuccess - goes to the next step when the job is flagged as complete, with no errors.
	Allows you to send notifications to the consumers.	Description - The message included in your notification. Modes - Gives you the option to choose one or any combination Email, SMS or Desktop as the notification method.

Branches

The MarketFlow Branch action lets you embed conditional logic into your campaign output, essentially controlling “who goes where” in the MarketFlow. You can use branches to decide what solicitation channel – or combination of channels - is best for each person in the campaign universe based on their solicit preferences, or perhaps for testing different marketing tactics such as changes to your solicitation cadence.

MarketFlow branch based on channel

To Create a Branch

Click on the Branch action in the Actions pane.
Drag it over into the diagram where you want to add your branch.
Open the Branch Manager by clicking in the Details pane.
Use the interface to add branches and fill out the required information.

Using Branch Manager

Branches are created and edited using Branch Manager. It provides a powerful set of features for creating segments and splits, and managing the universe chosen for each group. Branch Manager lets you lets you build multiple segment groups, apply Nths (called “Allocations”) and constraints (e.g., max per site), split segments into subgroups as needed, then map each group to one of the following actions:

Branch – this is the most common action. A branch is a point in the MarketFlow diagram that can only be reached from a single place, called a “parent.” Visually, branches are shown with the label you provide, connected to the Branch Manager action in the diagram. Note that the same branch can be assigned to more than one segment group.
GoTo – you can direct a group to a Landing action by choosing GoTo and then typing in a landing name or choosing one from a dropdown list. GoTos are commonly used when you need to reach a MarketFlow branch from more than one place in your diagram. A landing can be reached from multiple points in the MarketFlow diagram.
Discard – this action is not as frequently used. If you discard a group, they are effectively bounced out of your campaign.

Segments and Splits

Branch Manager lets you divide the universe of records entering the branch into multiple segment groups. These segments are defined by adding a Filter. Once created, a segment can be Split.

Segment

A Branch Manager Segment is a group of the branch universe defined by a filter. For example, you might create a segment for females using a filter that says GENDER = F, then make a second segment for males with GENDER = M.

Split

A segment group can be divided into multiple subgroups, called splits. There are three types of splits, as shown in the table below:

Split Type	Purpose
Random	Random splits are determined in a completely random fashion, effectively “flipping a coin” for each record to decide what split to assign it to. This is the most commonly used split.
Distributed	Distributed splits are similar to random splits, except that you choose a “distribution field” that gets proportionally distributed between the splits. For example, if 65% of your total universe is female and you choose Gender as the distribution field, then each distributed split will receive 65% females.
Ranked	A ranked split is used when you want to base each split on a priority. For example, you might want the “best” 33% of your universe in the first split, followed by the next best, followed by the remainder.

When you create splits, the percentages default to an even number. For example, two splits will default to 50/50. However, this percentage can be adjusted if you like; e.g. 80/20 or 90/10.
You can create up to 99 splits. The minimum number is 2.

The “All Other” Segment

Once you add a filter to a segment, Branch Manager automatically creates a row at the bottom of the grid with the caption “All Other.” Records that are not selected by previous segments (because they don’t match any of the filters) end up here. All available actions (Branch, GoTo, and Discard) are valid for the All Other segment, as are splits. However, you cannot add a filter to the All Other Segment.

Limiting the Branch Universe

Branch Manager provides two powerful methods that let you limit or throttle records that enter the branch: Allocations and Constraints.

Allocation

Allocations are often used in cases where you may be working under a fixed budget for your output. For example, a catalog campaign may need to limit the number of catalogs to a specific number such as 100,000. You can set an Allocation on any Branch Manager segment, including the All Other segment. However, a split cannot contain an allocation, because splits are always a percentage of their parent group. Allocations can be entered in two ways:

Hard Number – you can enter any integer value greater than or equal to zero. A zero allocation means that the segment will be suppressed from output.
Percentage – these are entered by first pressing the period key and then entering a one or two-digit number. For example, 50% is entered by typing .5 on the keyboard. For percentages, Branch Manager performs the math at execution time and outputs exactly the number of records to equal that percent.

Allocations can be further modified using a Priority and Order.

Priority lets you control how Branch Manager computes the specified Allocation. The default priority is [Random], indicating that Branch Manager will choose records randomly. You can also select a Pass-Thru field from the current campaign, causing Branch Manager to sort records by the selected field and choose the first XXX records, where XXX is your Allocation. This is useful in cases where you want to output the best or most recent records, based on a model score or purchase date.
Order is used on conjunction with a non-random Priority setting. If you choose a field as your Priority, you can set how this field is sorted using Order. Acceptable values are Ascending and Descending. The default is Ascending.

Constraints

Branch Constraints are another way to limit a branch universe. The most common use of constraints is to prevent over-soliciting people. Examples are:

One per household (commonly used in direct mail or catalog).
One per email address – for email campaigns.
XX per business, where XX is the number of people you wish to target.

Constraints let you choose a field (e.g., HOUSEHOLDID, EMAILADDRESS, BUSINESSID), then enter the number of records you want to allow. For more information on constraints, click here.

The Branch Manager Toolbar

The following commands are available on the Branch Manager Toolbar.

	Command	Purpose
	Add Segment	Creates a new segment
	Auto-Build	Generates segments using each value of a selected field
	Split	Splits the selected segment
	Delete	Deletes the selected segments or splits
	Copy	Copies the selected data to the clipboard
	Paste	Pastes the contents of the clipboard into the selected cells
	Fill	Fills a group of cells with a value or series
	Constraints	Opens the Constraint dialog, used to limit the branch universe
	Move Up	Moves the selected segment up
	Move Down	Moves the selected segment down
	Simulate	Generates simulated counts by evaluating the MarketFlow logic

Branch Properties

Branch properties are shown in the Properties pane on the MarketFlow tab. Branches have no custom (branch-specific) properties.

Property	Purpose
Description	Descriptive label shown on the branch action in the MarketFlow diagram.
Internal ID	A system field used to track each record’s progress through the MarketFlow.

Touches

The MarketFlow Touch action is used to communicate with your customers and prospects. Touches are based on Templates, where the communication channel and required fields are defined (for example, an email touch requires subject lines and HTML templates, while a direct mail touch generally uses envelope teasers and lettershops). Additionally, templates control where the touch output is written: to an output file, an email delivery engine, or even a social media platform.

Not only do touches generate marketing communications, they also update MarketWide’s promotion history tables. Each person selected by the touch is recorded in promotion history along with the marketing channel, offer details, campaign information, and so on.

Using Touch Manager

Touches are added and edited using Touch Manager. It provides a powerful set of features for creating segments and splits, and managing the universe chosen for each group. Touch Manager lets you build multiple segment groups, apply Nths (called “Allocations”) and constraints (e.g., max per site), split segments into subgroups as needed, then code each group separately as needed for dynamic content or creative testing.

Segments and Splits

Touch Manager lets you divide the universe of records entering the touch into multiple segment groups. These segments are defined by adding a Filter. Once created, a segment can be Split.

Segment

A Touch Manager Segment is a group of the branch universe defined by a filter. For example, you might create a segment for females using a filter that says GENDER = F, then make a second segment for males with GENDER = M.

Split

A segment group can be divided into multiple subgroups, called splits. There are three types of splits, as shown in the table below:

Split Type	Purpose
Random	Random splits are determined in a completely random fashion, effectively “flipping a coin” for each record to decide what split to assign it to. This is the most commonly used split.
Distributed	Distributed splits are similar to random splits, except that you choose a “distribution field” that gets proportionally distributed between the splits. For example, if 65% of your total universe is female and you choose Gender as the distribution field, then each distributed split will receive 65% females.
Ranked	A ranked split is used when you want to base each split on a priority. For example, you might want the “best” 33% of your universe in the first split, followed by the next best, followed by the remainder.

The “All Other” Segment

Once you add a filter to a segment, Touch Manager automatically creates a row at the bottom of the grid with the caption “All Other.” Records that are not selected by previous segments (because they don’t match any of the filters) end up here. All available actions (Branch, GoTo, and Discard) are valid for the All Other segment, as are splits. However, you cannot add a filter to the All Other segment.

Limiting the Touch Universe

Touch Manager provides two powerful methods that let you limit or throttle records that enter the branch: Allocations and Constraints.

Allocation

Allocations are often used in cases where you may be working under a fixed budget for your output. For example, a catalog campaign may need to limit the number of catalogs to a specific number such as 100,000. You can set an Allocation on any Touch Manager segment, including the All Other segment. However, a split cannot contain an allocation, because splits are always a percentage of their parent group. Allocations can be entered in two ways:

Hard Number – you can enter any integer value greater than or equal to zero. A zero allocation means that the segment will be suppressed from output.
Percentage – these are entered by first pressing the period key and then entering a one or two-digit number. For example, 50% is entered by typing .5 on the keyboard. For percentages, Touch Manager performs the math at execution time and outputs exactly the number of records to equal that percent.

Allocations can be further modified using a Priority and Order.

Priority lets you control how Touch Manager computes the specified Allocation. The default priority is [Random], indicating that Touch Manager will choose records randomly. You can also select a Pass-Thru field from the current campaign, causing Touch Manager to sort records by the selected field and choose the first XXX records, where XXX is your Allocation. This is useful in cases where you want to output the best or most recent records, based on a model score or purchase date.
Order is used on conjunction with a non-random Priority setting. If you choose a field as your Priority, you can set how this field is sorted using Order. Acceptable values are Ascending and Descending. The default is Ascending.

Constraints

Touch Constraints are another way to limit a touch universe. The most common use of constraints is to prevent over-soliciting people. Examples are:

One per household (commonly used in direct mail or catalog).
One per email address – for email campaigns.
XX per business, where XX is the number of people you wish to target.

Constraints let you choose a field (e.g., HOUSEHOLDID, EMAILADDRESS, BUSINESSID), then enter the number of records you want to allow. For more information on constraints, click here.

The Touch Manager Toolbar

The following commands are available on the Touch Manager Toolbar.

	Command	Purpose
	Add Segment	Creates a new segment
	Auto-Build	Generates segments using each value of a selected field
	Split	Splits the selected segment
	Delete	Deletes the selected segments or splits
	Copy	Copies the selected data to the clipboard
	Paste	Pastes the contents of the clipboard into the selected cells
	Fill	Fills a group of cells with a value or series
	Constraints	Opens the Constraint dialog, used to limit the branch universe
	Move Up	Moves the selected segment up
	Move Down	Moves the selected segment down
	Simulate	Generates simulated counts by evaluating the MarketFlow logic

Touch Properties

Touch properties are shown in the Properties pane on the MarketFlow tab. These properties vary depending on the template setting for the Output Format.

Property	Applies To	Purpose
Description	(All)	Descriptive label shown on the branch action in the MarketFlow diagram.
Internal ID	(All)	A system field used to track each record’s progress through the MarketFlow.
Template	(All)	The solicit template being used for the touch
Seed Table	(All)	A table that provides solicitation seeds (optional)
Continuation	Email, Social	Controls how MarketFlow processes the touch; values are: Immediately – instructs MarketFlow to move to the following step in the diagram immediately (without waiting for the touch to complete) OnCompletion – tells MarketFlow to wait for the touch to complete before moving to the next step, regardless of whether an error occurs OnSuccess – MarketFlow will continue to the next step only if the touch completes successfully, with no errors
Winner/Challenger	Email	When enabled, turns on a test mode that tests multiple combinations of email HTML files, subject lines, and preheaders, then automatically chooses the “winning” combination
Target File	File	The name and location of the output file; supports multiple entries
Target Table	Table	The name and location of the output table
Append If Exists	File, Table	When enabled, this option appends output to existing data, otherwise existing data is overwritten

Scheduling TouchPoint Campaigns

As discussed in the Scheduler section of this manual, MarketWide's Scheduler allows you to automatically run TouchPoint reports on a defined schedule without having to manually setup and run each query or campaign. Setting up automatic reports saves you the time and effort of manually running and constructing campaigns repetitively and prevents you from forgetting to execute important reports.

Using the Scheduler function, you can create a schedule and arrange the dates and frequencies of the reports that need to be run. Due to MarketWide's architecture, these reports can run even if you are not logged into MarketWide or even if your local computer is off. This way, you can have MarketWide perform campaigns just after a database update, even if the update takes place after-hours or over the weekend. When you log on to MarketWide, the main task screen will display the scheduled report and its job statistics when completed.

To Schedule a TouchPoint Campaign

After building your TouchPoint, click Save ().
Once you have saved your TouchPoint click on File > Schedule.
In the Recurrence section, indicate whether you want a Single, Interval, Weekly, or Monthly report and enter the necessary information for the day on which you want it. Options vary for daily, weekly, and monthly reports. You may also set exceptions to exclude runs for weekends with the check-boxes.
In the 'Recurrence' section, indicate the date on which you want your report recurrence pattern to begin and when you want it to end.
Click Finish. The scheduled report appears in the Scheduler dialog.
Click Close to exit the Scheduler dialog

The MarketFlow Menu and Toolbar

The MarketFlow toolbar provides quick access to commonly used commands. Click an icon once to carry out the action.

Icon	Description	Menu Equivalent
	Creates a new TouchPoint campaign.	File > New
	Opens a saved TouchPoint campaign.	File > Open
	Saves the current TouchPoint campaign.	File > Save
–	Allows you to select how and where the TouchPoint campaign is saved.	File > Save As
	Opens a file from your local machine.	File > Local > Open
	Saves the file to your local machine.	File > Local > Save
	Opens the Print Preview window.	File > Print
–	Opens the Campaign Report window.	File > Reporting > Campaign Report
--	Opens the Frequency Report window.	File > Reporting > Frequency Report
--	Opens the properties window and gives you options to configure output in the reporting tab.	File > Reporting > Configure
	Opens the Scheduler module.	File > Schedule
	Opens the Properties window.	File > Properties
--	Exits the TouchPoint module.	File > Exit
	Sequentially undo up to the last 20 actions.	Edit > Undo
	Sequentially redo up to the last 20 actions.	Edit > Redo
	Copies the selected content.	Edit > Copy
	Pastes the clipboard content.	Edit > Paste
--	Clears all the actions from the MarketFlow panel.	Edit > Clear MarketFlow
	Opens the fill window, and sets all rows in the column to the fill value.	Edit > Fill
--	Puts the MarketFlow in a vertical view.	View > Orientation > Horizontal
--	Puts the MarketFlow in a horizontal view.	View > Orientation > Vertical
	Zooms in on the MarketFlow.	View > Zoom > Zoom In
	Zooms out on the MarketFlow.	View > Zoom > Zoom Out
	Adjusts the current MarketFlow view to fit the screen.	View > Zoom > Zoom to Fit
	Adjusts the current MarketFlow view to a 100% aspect ratio.	View > Zoom > 100%
	Changes the actions panel to a standard view.	View > Standard
	Changes the actions panel to a compact view.	View > Compact
	Opens the Constraints window, allowing you to enter criteria for selecting contacts.	Query > Apply Constraints
	Checks your campaign to see if it is valid prior to submitting or posting.	Query > Validate
	Submits your open campaign for execution.	Query > Submit
	Commits your campaign.	Query > Commit
	Submits your MarketFlow for execution.	Query > Start
	Allows you apply filters to the corresponding table.	Query > Table Filters
	Allows you to select Pass-Thru fields to attach additional information to your selected customers.	Query > Pass-Thru Fields
	Allows you to add/remove excludes.	Query > Excludes
--	Options pertaining to the MarketFlow grid.	MarketFlow > Grid
--	Commits the campaign and runs a simulation of the MarketFlow.	MarketFlow > Simulate
	Allows you to add/remove solicitation excludes.	MarketFlow > Solicit Excludes
	Opens the Select Template window and allows you to select a template to use for a campaign.	Campaign > Choose Template
--	Opens the Frequency Report Setup window.	Campaign > Matching Customers
--	Displays results of the MarketFlow, after it has been committed.	Campaign > Work Table
--	Allows you to view the customers from the current campaign, after the campaign has been posted.	Campaign > Posted Customers
	Opens the Campaign tab in the Properties window to add tracking information.	Campaign > Campaign Tracking
--	Uncommits your campaign.	Campaign > Uncommit
	Opens the TouchPoint Campaign Editor window and allows you to edit a template.	Tools > Launch TouchPoint Campaign Editor
	Opens The TouchPoint Template Wizard window and allows you to edit a template.	Tools Manage > TouchPoint Templates
	Opens the Solicit Template Wizard window and allows you to edit a template.	Tools > Manage Solicitation Templates
--	Opens the Options window.	Tools > Options
--	Displays help information about the MarketFlow tab.	Help > TouchPoint Help

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