Creating a File

Configure the Settings and Fields tabs to define a file output. If required, use the Events, Seeds and Agent tabs.

Procedure

1. In the Settings tab, you can see an overview of the file's FTP output settings and some configuration options:
   • FTP Site: Select an FTP site from the list of configured sites
   • FTP Folder: Select an FTP folder from the list of configured folders. If these drop-down lists are blank, this means that no FTP site has been configured by your administrator.
   • File Name Prefix: By default, files will be uniquely named with a system generated string. Whatever is added in this field will be prefixed to the name. This prefix can be used to implement a naming convention so that campaign files can be easily identified.
   • Append to Existing File: Checking this option will create a separate output file for each campaign tactic, which will be appended to each time the tactic is run. If this is not selected, files will always over-write when a file of exactly the same name exists.
   • Add Version Number: Adds an incremental number to the end of the output file name
   • Generate separate file for each cell: By default, all records will be output in a single file. Checking this option will create a separate output file for each campaign cell, where multiple cells have been configured.
   • Insert File Header: The file will include a header consisting of the field names from the file layout.
   • Output Control File: Where a Control Group has been specified, checking this option will mean that this group is output to a separate file which will have Controll appended to the end of the file name.
   • Fixed Width Export: Over-rides the default settings to produce a fixed width file.
   • No Date Suffix: Does not add a date/time stamp to the appended file.
   • Add Date: Adds a date stamp in the file name, after the incremented number on the appended file's name.
   • Add Date/Time: Adds a date/time stamp in the file name, after the incremented number on the appended file's name.
   • Default Settings: This area will display the destination FTP file settings that have been configured by the administrator.
   • Output History: This area will display a list of previous file outputs for this tactic, with a View link for each one that will open an .html version of the selected file so that you can easily view the actual records.

File formats:

2. In the Fields tab, click the add button or drag and drop tables or columns to quickly create data fields. These fields are the fields that are required for the tactic and that will be included in the produced file.

   This could be mapped database fields like names , addresses , and reference numbers, or it could be static fields that can be set in the template and edited each time the tactic is used, for example a landing page URL that may need to be changed for different campaigns. There is also the option to set up fields whose values are based on campaign logic . This can be used to set up creatives that are customized for the target audience, perhaps with gender, life-stage, or cultural variables.

   Layout Selection

   Expand this section to display the [Import Layout] button where you can select an existing layout from the Document Explorer.
   Click Save fields in a Layout Template to save the configured fields in a layout template for later use.

   Value Options

   • Data: This option will let you browse to a database column to provide the value of the field. Click the browse button and select the required column from the generic selector that is displayed. Alternatively you can create a new in line engineered column by clicking in the field, selecting New then selecting the relevant engineering tool and entering the data.
   • Text : Although this option is called 'Text', it can be configured to be any number of data types. It can be used to configure a field that is static, a list of choices, or a free text field where anything can be entered.
   • Campaign Variable: This option will be used where you wish to include a variable that will be based on campaign logic. This can be used to set up creatives that are customized for the target audience. The list of available variables will include global variables, and campaign variables created on the Variables tab, or by creating new variables within the Layout tab.
   • Campaign Attribute: This can be used to configure a field that is based on a fixed campaign attribute like a Cell Name.

   

   Creative Instance Key

   You can add a CreativeInstanceKey, if required, to the file export produced by the tactic to allow Email Manager, or any other ESP to track and associate any responses to the campaign.

   To add a Tactic Instance:

   1. Add a new field within the Fields tab.
   2. Select the Type as Numeric
   3. Set the Width to be a minimum of 10.
   4. Select the Value as Campaign Attribute and the Creative Instance Key.

   

3. In the Events tab, use the Import Events tool to import events.

   Events are a key part of file tactics that allow you to the When in Segment tool to log campaign events based on filters that have been set up to capture responses, for example when a recipient enters a defined segment by purchasing a particular product, or have arrived on a landing page by clicking a link in an email, and the Response Attribution tool to monitor the success of a specific campaign and creative, for example seeing how many orders were placed as part of the campaign

4. In the Seeds tab, send campaigns as a test, for example to your marketing department, to see whether the campaign reaches its target audience without it affecting your message send count.

   The seeds file needs to be imported from the document explorer in either .csv or .txt file format. The seeds file needs to contain headers that map to the values in the Fields tab. Unless these values are mapped then the seeds cannot be sent. Note that any date fields used must be in a format recognized by Engine.

5. n the Agent tab, select an External Agent through which to output the file to Kettle for processing by the Kettle script (which may be reformatting data, adding columns, and so on) this amended file is output to FTP.

For file tactic, if no agent is selected the file is processed and outputted to the FTP file.

• Adding Creatives to a Tactic
  • Creating a File
  • Send a Message
  • Seeds
  • Omni Tactics
  • Tridion Email Tactic