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Creating an A/B Split Campaign

Creating an A/B Split campaign lets you send different versions of a message to some of your contacts to find out which message is most efficient. So you can validate which version will generate the most clicks or views to then decide which version will be sent to the remaining contacts in the campaign. The benefits of using a campaign instead of sending a unique message are that the campaign lets you see compared results and that by using a campaign, you are sure that a contact only receives one message, whether it be a test message or the final message of the same campaign.

Campaigns can either be current, closed or archived.

PrerequisiteTo be able to add messages to a campaign, messages must have been created and tested beforehand.
If you want to use groups in your campaign, it is better to create your groups in advance.
Access Path > Campaigns > A|B Split > Create campaign link in the Current section

 How To

Define the new campaign's properties
  1. In the campaign creation window, under the New campaign tab, specify the name of the new campaign and select the Without template creation type.
  2. Click on Create campaign.

    Field Description
    FieldDescription
    Name
    Campaign name. It is important to use a meaningful name that will help you easily find the campaign later in the list of all campaigns.
    TypeSpecify how the campaign should be created. For most users, the only possible option is Without template, and it must be selected to be able to create a campaign.
    ** The option to create a campaign using a template is rarely used and is only possible when a campaign template has been created for you by our team.
Specify messages to be part of the campaign

First, you must choose the messages that you want to send as part of the campaign. For an A/B test, you must add at least two messages to compare. Messages can only be selected from already created and tested messages; if a message was not tested, it will not be shown in the list of available messages to choose from. There is a filter available to help you find a message quicker.

  1. In the window shown under the Deployment tab, click on the Add a message link.
  2. In the displayed window, there should already be messages associated to the campaign, which were associated when messages were created. However, if no messages are associated, you can do so by clicking on the Associate messages to the campaignlink in order to open a list of the messages available in the project that can be associated.
    1. In the list of the project messages, select the message(s) to link to the campaign and then click on Associate to the campaign.

It is important to note that a campaign can have associated messages that are not necessarily included in the campaign.

  1. Back to the Messages associated to this campaign window, select the message(s) to include in the campaign and click Select.
Select contacts to be part of the campaign
  1. In the window shown under the Deployment tab, click on the Add contacts to the campaign.

  2. In the Adding contactswindow, select the recipients of the campaign:
    • All contacts in this project - Option that sends a message to all the active contacts in the current project.
    • Contacts in the following groups - Option that lets you send a message to groups of contacts. To choose the groups, select a group from the left area and move it to the right area by either clicking on the right arrow next to the name of the group, by dragging it or by simply double-clicking on the group name. If your project includes a large amount of groups, specify the first few letters of the group name in the Filter field to reduce the list of groups. To remove groups from the selection, proceed the same way as you just did, but by clicking on groups in the right area.
      It is possible to create all kinds of groups. More info... Creating a Group of Contacts
      To create defined and fixed groups to be used specifically for A|B Split campaigns, you can create groups based on a maximum of 10 segments. More info... Creating a Group of Contacts using segments
  3. Once the group or groups are selected, click on Add. To make sure you have the right groups and the proper number of contacts, click on Count.
Specify contacts to receive the A/B test messages
  1. Specify the percentage or number of contacts to which to send your test messages, amongst all the recipients of the campaign.
    Contacts to receive the test messages are randomly selected. Once the tests performed and results compiled, you will be able to select the most efficient message and proceed with the remaining recipients.
Plan when to send messages
  1. If you do not see all planning option, click on Show options in the upper right corner of this area. By default, the option is to Hide options.
  2. Enter the date and time of the mailing. By default, the mailing is done Now but you can send messages at another time. The possible options are:
NowThe message is sent as soon as the mailing process is completed and approved.
LaterThe message is sent at the specified date and time for all contacts. Click on the icon to select another date and on to select another time and time zone.
If you would rather send the message to contacts who are eligible at the time of sending the message, instead of sending it to contacts who are eligible when you set the schedule, uncheck the Use the current contact list option.
You can also choose to send the message based on one single time zone, or prefer sending the message so that contacts receive it to a specific time in their own time zone. If so, check the According to the contact option in the Time zone section.
The message is sent at the specified date and time of the contact's time zone. Click on to change the date and on to change the time.
For example, if you want to send a message to all your contacts on January 1st to wish them a Happy New Year, you don't want them to receive the message in advance, and surely not too late; with this option, you are certain that they receive the message at their proper time.
For the contact's time zone to be taken into account, this time zone must have been provided for contacts. When you want to provide this information for all your contacts, this definition can only be done via import or form ( opt-in or profile update for example). Otherwise, it can be done manually, one contact at a time, in the contact's profile by clicking on the icon.
  1. If you have a large amount of messages to send, you can control the delivery rate of messages so they are not all sent at once. For example, you might want to send a maximum number of messages per hour, or decide to send all the messages over a given number of hours.

Prepare mailing
  1. Once both messages and contacts are added to the campaign, the planning is done and parameters are defined as needed, click on Prepare mailing.
    A confirmation window asks you to validate some check points before finalizing the mailing of all campaign messages or just test messages.
  2. If all points are checked and validated, proceed by clicking on Confirm and prepare mailing.
Approve mailing
  1. Once the mailing has been prepared and confirmed, all is left to do is for you to approve the messages so they can be sent. To do so, click on Approve.
Identify the most efficient message

It is suggested to let some time go by before viewing test results, so contacts have the time to actually open the message. Once the winning message is identified, you can continue and complete the campaign by sending this message to the remaining recipients.

  1. To find out which test message is the best for your needs, consult the campaign's summary results. There are 2 ways to do so:
    • From the test message confirmation window, click on Results.
    • From a current campaign, select the campaign and then click on Edit.
  2. Consult Displaying A/B Split Campaign Results for more information about results.

  3. Choose the message you wish to send to the remaining contacts of the campaign by clicking on the Choose this message button of the winning message.
  4. The deployment window that opens is similar to the one that displayed when selecting messages and contacts, planning and defining parameters. The total number of contacts however will be reduced by the number of contacts to whom the test messages were sent.
Continue campaign
  1. In the deployment window, you should normally see the following:
    • A miniature image of the message you have selected as the most efficient, in the left pane.
    • A section entitled Progression, showing the status of the campaign, the number of targeted contacts, the name of each test message sent and the number of contacts remaining in the campaign, that is those who have not yet received a message.
  2. In the Recipients section, leave the default values, that is to send the message to All contacts in the field Restrict sending to the following contacts, unless you wish to perform another A/B test. If this is the case, specify the number or percentage of contacts to whom to send the test messages, as described under the previous step Creating an A/B Split Campaign.
Close and archive campaign

Once the campaign is completed and all associated messages were sent, it is recommanded to close, and even archive, the campaign. Unless you plan on reusing the same campaign very shortly after its first use, it is not a good idea to send the same campaign twice as results will combine both mailings, which will not provide you with appropriate results to figure out which message is the best.

  1. Once a campaign is completed, click on its name under the Current section and then click on Close.
  2. To reduce the list of closed campaign, it can be a good idea to archive some unused campaigns by clicking Archive; if later on you wish to view the results of an archived campaign, you just need to reactivate it, so it is moved back to the closed campaign list, allowing you to view results.

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