QUESTIONS THAT APPLY TO THIS TOPIC
- What are housekeeping actions?
- When should I use housekeeping actions?
- How do I use housekeeping actions?
- How do I change the due dates on campaigns?
- How do I clear a campaign track?
- How do I add contact groups to or remove contact groups from a campaign?
ANSWER
Housekeeping actions are campaign steps that allow you to manage a certain aspects of a campaign. There are three actions that are classified as “housekeeping actions”:
- Flushing a campaign track: This action can either remove all the contact groups from within a campaign or move them into another campaign.
- Delay a campaign: This action allows you to change the due-date for items within a campaign, either moving the date backward or forward (delaying or accelerating the campaign items).
- Synchronize a campaign with a Selection Rule: This lets you add contact groups to or delete contact groups from a campaign based on a selection rule.
Starting a Housekeeping Action
Housekeeping actions can be started manually from the Campaign Manager. Once the Campaign Manager is started, simply click on the “Files” menu option, then select the menu item “Housekeeping Action”.
The three possible actions are represented by the labeled tabs in this box, that is, Flush Track, Delay Campaign, and Synchronize. We’ll look at each of these actions individually.
Flushing a Campaign Track
“Flushing a campaign track” refers to the action of deleting or moving all Contact Groups from a campaign track. This action does not allow you to only delete or move some of the Contact Groups; it will perform the action of all of them.
From the “Housekeeping” window, click on the tab labeled “Flush Track”. You will see a few options you can select for this action:
- Source Track: This is the track that you wish to flush, that is, remove Contact Groups from. Use the drop-down menu to select the track you wish to flush.
- Speedbutton: This action allows you to choose a speedbutton to run on each CG in the selected track you wish to remove. Click on the button next to the box labeled “Speedbutton” to find and select the desired speedbutton, if any. Note that this is optional.
- Remove from Campaign. This option, when selected, will simply remove all the CGs from the “Source Track” in the campaign.
- Move to Another Campaign: This option, when selected, will move all the CGs from the “Source Track” to another track in another campaign. Click on the button labeled with the three dots to view all campaign instances and tracks, then select the one to which you wish to move the CGs to. Note that selecting this option also allows you two more options:
- Move Campaign Address Bundles: By checking this box, the campaign address bundles for all the CGs are moved to the new campaign and track; not selecting this will move the default address bundle instead.
- Carry Campaign History into Destination Campaign: By checking this box, all current campaign history for each CG will be transferred into the new campaign and track; not selecting this will not transfer the campaign history.
When you’ve made all the selections you wish, click on the button labeled “Run”. This will process the “Flush Track” housekeeping action using the options you chose.
Changing a Campaign Due Dates
To change the due date for all items, follow these steps from the “Housekeeping” window:
- Click on the tab labeled Delay Campaign. The window changes and displays a box along with the text “Delay remaining actions by”.
- Enter the number of days by which you want to delay the campaign actions (the window shows a list of actions affected by the change and also the new due date based on the value you enter). It’s important to note that the delay is expressed in business days, that is, weekdays excluding Saturdays and Sundays.
- Once you’ve entered the desired number of days, press the button labeled Run. This will process the change you made to the campaign.
Note: You can also move the date forward instead of backward. To do this, enter the number of business days to “delay” the actions to a negative number. For example, if you wanted the campaign actions to start a day sooner, enter the value “-1”. If you wanted it to start five business days earlier, enter “-5”.
Synchronizing a Campaign with a Selection Rule
The term “synchronizing”, as used here, refers to the action of adding or removing CGs which match a given selection rule, in effect “synchronizing” the selection rule with the campaign.
From the “Housekeeping” window, click on the tab labeled “Synchronize”. The options available for the Synchronize housekeeping action will appear.
Select the values for the options as you desire:
- Selection Rule to synchronize with: Using either the drop-down menu or pressing the button to the side of this box will present you with all the selection rules which can be used in this action.
- Speedbutton for added Contact Groups: You can choose which speedbutton to run on the CGs as they are added to a campaign’s track. To do so, use the button at the side of this box to locate the desired speedbutton. Note that this is optional.
- Speedbutton for removed Contact Groups: You can also choose which speedbutton to run on CGs as they are removed from campaign. Use the button at the side of the box to locate the desired speedbutton. Note that this is optional.
- Destination Track for Added Contact Groups: If adding CGs, select which campaign track to which you wish to add them by using the drop-down menu in this box. Note that this option is not available if you choose the “Remove” synchronization style (see below).
- Synchronization Style: With synchronization, you have two options: adding CGs or removing CGs. Click on the option that matches the action you wish to take.
Once you’ve selected all the options you’d like, click the button labeled “Run”. The synchronization housekeeping action will execute using the parameters you selected.