You've got a solid plan to modernize your expiring product alerts using Dynamics 365 Marketing journeys! Importing the Excel data into a custom table and using it for segmentation and personalized emails is a great way to bring this process into your CRM and gain better tracking.
Let's break down your question about "regarding" and how it works in this scenario:
Understanding "Regarding" in Dynamics 365 Marketing Journeys:
When you send emails through a Dynamics 365 Marketing journey, the "regarding" activity is typically created for the Contact record that the email is sent to. This allows you to see a history of marketing emails sent to each individual contact on their timeline.
Will it Bubble Up to the Associated Account?
No, by default, the "regarding" activity created for a Marketing journey email sent to a Contact will NOT automatically roll up or be directly associated with the Account that Contact belongs to.
Here's why:
- Direct Relationship: The email activity generated by the journey is directly linked to the specific Contact record that was the recipient of the email. The system's primary focus for tracking email engagement in a marketing context is at the individual Contact level.
- Potential for Many Contacts per Account: An Account can have multiple associated Contacts. If every email sent to a Contact automatically "regarded" the Account, it could lead to a very noisy and potentially irrelevant activity timeline on the Account record.
How to Potentially See This Information at the Account Level (Workarounds):
While there's no automatic rollup, here are a few potential approaches you could consider if you need to see this information at the Account level:
- Custom Workflow or Plugin: You could create a custom workflow or plugin that triggers when a Marketing email activity is created for a Contact. This workflow/plugin could then:
- Retrieve the parent Account of the Contact.
- Create a separate activity (e.g., a custom activity type or a note) on the Account record indicating that an expiring product alert email was sent to one of its associated Contacts.
- You would need to carefully design the logic to avoid creating redundant or overwhelming information on the Account timeline.
- Reporting and Segmentation: Instead of relying on the "regarding" activity on the Account timeline, you could focus on creating reports or segments that aggregate this information at the Account level. For example:
- Report: Create a report that lists Accounts and shows the most recent expiring product alert email sent to any of their associated Contacts.
- Segment: Create an Account-based segment that identifies Accounts with Contacts who have recently received an expiring product alert.
- Dedicated Interaction Entity (More Complex): You could create a custom entity to track these expiring product alerts. When the journey sends an email, you could create a record in this custom entity, linking it to both the Contact and the Account. This would provide a dedicated place to view and report on these interactions at both levels.
- Leveraging Marketing Insights (Limited Account Rollup): Dynamics 365 Marketing does offer some aggregated insights at the Account level, but these are typically focused on broader engagement metrics (e.g., website visits, form submissions by contacts within the account). It's less likely to directly show the "regarding" activities of individual emails in the same way as the Contact timeline.
Recommendation:
For your scenario, focusing on the "regarding" activity at the Contact level within the Marketing journey insights and the Contact's timeline is the most standard and straightforward approach.
If you absolutely need to see this information at the Account level, creating a custom workflow or plugin (Option 1) would be the most direct way to achieve it within the platform. However, carefully consider the potential noise and design the logic thoughtfully.
Reporting and segmentation (Option 2) might be a less intrusive way to get the aggregated information you need at the Account level without cluttering the Account's activity timeline with individual email "regarding" activities.
In summary:
- The "regarding" activity for Marketing journey emails will be directly associated with the Contact recipient.
- It will not automatically bubble up to the associated Account.
- You can explore custom workflows/plugins or reporting/segmentation strategies to see this information at the Account level if required.
Consider which level of detail and association is most crucial for your team's workflows and reporting needs.
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