Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

Dreading switching to Real Time Marketing at end of June.

My company only started using D365 Outbound Marketing last year and I had just gotten good at creating journey and journey templates that could turn out new campaigns easily. I was utilizing dynamic segments and adding contacts to the segments gradually and the journeys I set up allowed the contacts to move through the campaign at their own pace by using the scheduling feature on emails or using the wait feature and utilizing the days of week and time of day that I want emails to go out at.

In real time journeys, that does not seem possible because the time delays are either specific date based or just general "wait x amount of hours". Theoretically I can use the quite time hours to create constraints when people start in a journey, but it's definitely a major step back from the functionality I had gotten used to in Outbound Marketing.

Any Ideas?

Categories:

Outbound to Real-Time Transition

Hello SS-11041921-0,

You've hit on a very valid concern shared by many Outbound Marketing users transitioning to Real-time Marketing. The shift in how journey orchestration and timing are handled is a significant change, and the granular control you've become accustomed to with Outbound's scheduling and wait features isn't a direct equivalent in Real-time Marketing.

However, while the approach is different, there are definitely ideas and strategies you can employ in Real-time Marketing to achieve similar (and in some cases, even more sophisticated) outcomes for your campaigns. It requires a shift in mindset and leveraging the new capabilities.

Here's a breakdown of ideas and potential workarounds:

1. Leveraging Behavioral Triggers and Attributes for "Paced" Journeys:

Instead of relying solely on time-based waits, think about triggering the next steps in your Real-time Marketing journey based on actual customer behavior and attributes:

Email Interactions (Opens, Clicks): Instead of a fixed wait, trigger the next email or action when a contact opens a specific email or clicks on a particular link. This ensures they progress based on engagement.

Website Interactions (Page Visits, Form Submissions): If you're tracking website behavior, trigger actions in your journey based on specific page visits or form submissions. This allows for highly relevant, context-driven follow-ups.

Custom Events: Define custom events based on actions within your product or other systems. Trigger journey steps when these events occur for a contact.

Attribute-Based Progression: Use conditions based on contact attributes (e.g., lead score, purchase history, demographics) to branch contacts down different paths in the journey, effectively "pacing" their experience based on their profile and behavior.

2. Strategic Use of "Wait Until" Tiles with Specific Date/Time Conditions:

While the "Wait Until" tile requires a specific date and time, you can use it strategically in conjunction with journey entry triggers and segment updates:

Batching Entries: Instead of adding contacts to the journey continuously, you could potentially batch entry based on when you want them to start a specific phase. For example, use a segment that refreshes daily, and the "Wait Until" tile could be set for a specific time each day.

Combining with Quiet Hours: As you mentioned, Quiet Hours are crucial. You can define your preferred send windows and ensure that even if a contact reaches an email tile outside of these hours, the email will be held until the next available quiet time slot.

3. Creating Multiple Smaller, Triggered Journeys:

Instead of one large, time-based journey, consider breaking your campaigns into smaller, more focused journeys triggered by specific actions or segment memberships. This allows for more granular control:

Welcome Journey (Triggered on Segment Entry): Immediately engage new contacts.

Engagement Journeys (Triggered by Email Opens/Clicks): Follow up based on specific interests.

Re-engagement Journeys (Triggered by Inactivity): Reach out to disengaged contacts.

4. Utilizing Branching and Conditional Logic:

Real-time Marketing's branching capabilities are powerful. Use "If/Then" conditions based on contact attributes, behaviors, or even time-based checks within the journey to create different paths and delays:

Check for Day of the Week: While not a direct "send on specific days" tile, you could potentially use a "Wait Until" tile with a condition that checks the current day of the week (if you have that attribute available or can derive it). However, this can become complex to manage.

Time-Based Attributes: If you can capture a contact's preferred interaction times as an attribute, you could use that in your branching logic.

5. Exploring Custom Triggers and Actions (Extensibility):

Real-time Marketing is built on the Power Platform, offering extensibility options:

Custom Triggers: If the OOTB triggers don't fully meet your needs, you might be able to create custom triggers based on specific events in your systems.

Custom Actions: You could potentially develop custom actions that introduce more sophisticated delay logic or scheduling based on specific criteria. This would require development effort.

6. Re-evaluating Your Campaign Flow:

The shift to Real-time Marketing might necessitate a re-evaluation of how you structure your campaigns. Instead of a linear, time-driven approach, think about a more event-driven and behavior-responsive flow.

Key Considerations and Tips for Transition:

Embrace the Event-Driven Model: Real-time Marketing excels at reacting to customer actions in the moment. Focus on leveraging triggers.

Map Your Outbound Journeys to Real-time Concepts: Analyze your existing Outbound journeys and identify the key pacing mechanisms. Then, brainstorm how you can achieve similar outcomes using Real-time Marketing's triggers, conditions, and waits.

Start Simple and Iterate: Don't try to replicate your most complex Outbound journeys immediately. Begin with simpler, triggered flows and gradually build complexity as you become more comfortable.

Leverage Customer Insights - Data: Ensure your customer profiles in Customer Insights - Data are rich with behavioral and attribute data to power your Real-time Marketing journey conditions and personalization.

Thorough Testing: Test your Real-time Marketing journeys extensively with different scenarios and contact data to ensure they behave as expected.

While the direct replacement for Outbound's scheduling isn't there, Real-time Marketing offers a powerful and flexible platform for creating highly personalized and responsive customer journeys. By strategically leveraging triggers, conditions, and the "Wait Until" tile, and potentially exploring extensibility options, you can adapt your campaign strategies and achieve effective customer engagement. It will require a learning curve and a shift in how you design your flows, but the potential for more dynamic and relevant interactions is significant.

If my answer was helpful, please click Like, and if it solved your problem, please mark it as verified to help other community members find more. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.

My response was crafted with AI assistance and tailored to provide detailed and actionable guidance for your Microsoft Dynamics 365 query.

Regards,

Daivat Vartak

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