Variable Element

Variables are data items that do not have a fixed value. They can be set up by the marketer and also at the point of execution of a phase in a campaign.

Variables are used to dynamically define attributes for recipients as they pass through an engagement cycle, for example a treatment code or an engagement score. The values are derived from a fixed list, or extracted from a database column, or can be entered manually.

Use variables to both personalize and target your campaigns to a specific audience.

At their most basic level you can personalize emails by including information that you know about your customers.

Some variables may categorize the campaign itself, for example for a specific brand or specific function such as Up-sell, Journey, Incentive or Re-engagement. Other variables will drive content specific for individual recipients or segments of recipients in the campaign, such as a Voucher Code, a specific Offer or to drive the image content within the Email Creative.

More advanced functionality allows you to use conditional logic and text manipulation to create sophisticated audience-driven campaigns.

Variables can have a pre-defined list of values they can be set to, or they can have no pre-defined value, so you can either add free text or import your own values specific to your campaign.

In this example message, variables appear in bold italics:

Dear John,

Your car insurance expires on 15 May. You can get a 20% discount if you renew before then.

Contact your local branch of Dynamic car Insurance.

(Variable Manager is located in Campaign Manager - select Campaign Manager from the navigation panel on the left of the screen. See the 'Variable Manager' section of this online help for full details.)

Adding variables to a campaign

1. Either open an existing campaign in Campaign View, or create a new campaign by clicking the New Campaign button in Campaign View.
2. Add a Variable element if one does not already exist in the campaign flow. Click the plus sign on the edge of the element you want to add the new element to (the plus sign could be blue , red or green ) and click the Variable option in the list that appears.

3. Click the Set Variable element you have just added.
4. In the panel that appears, enter a name for the variable in the Name field.
5. Click inside the Select variable field and select the variable you want to use from the drop-down list.
6. Set the value for the variable in the Set to field next to the variable you have selected. Below are the types of variable and the ways you can set their value:
   

   	Text; Url   Email   Numeric	Enter free text or select a value if there is a drop-down list. The variable could be mapped to a column in the database. If you want to override the database mapping, click the Manual Override button enter the value manually.
   	Date   Time/Date	Select a value if there is a drop-down list. The variable could be mapped to a column in the database, for example, Last Order Date. If you want to override that setting, click the Manual Override button and select a date manually from the date picker.
   	Time	Select a time from the drop-down list or the time picker.
   	Boolean	Can be set to True/False or Yes/No.

7. Click the Add icon to add more variables.

• Creating and editing campaigns in Campaign View
  • Adding and Removing Elements
  • Creating Audiences Overview
  • Timer Elements
  • Variable Elements
  • Campaign Settings
  • Email Elements
  • Events
  • File Output Elements
  • If Branch Element