Managing campaign evaluation
In the Campaign Evaluation section of your Application, you can decide the order and mode in which the Rule Engine evaluates your campaigns.
To view the Campaign Evaluation page and manage how campaigns are evaluated, create at least 2 campaigns.
Here, you can create evaluation groups, add campaigns into them, and select the evaluation mode by which triggered campaigns (campaigns that have at least one successful rule) in each group are applied.
After you set up the campaign evaluation page according to your campaign strategy, add each new campaign to the correct campaign evaluation group. You should update the campaign evaluation tree only if you change your strategy or add more use cases.
Before you learn how to use this feature to, for example, control how your campaigns are combined and prevent customers from obtaining rewards from several campaigns in the same session, we recommend reading Understanding campaign evaluation first.
Creating a campaign evaluation group
When you create an Application, a base group for campaign evaluation exists by default. The evaluation mode of the base group is set to stackable. Each campaign you create in the Application is automatically added to the base group by default unless you select a different group during campaign creation.
You can create evaluation groups on two levels:
- Within the base group.
- Within a group inside the base group.
For example, your campaign evaluation tree might look like this:
To create a campaign evaluation group:
- In the Campaign Evaluation section of your Application, on the right of the base group, click > Create group.
- In Group name, type the name of the campaign evaluation group.
- In Description, type a description of the group.
- In Evaluation mode, select the mode in which the Rule Engine evaluates the campaigns within the group.
- Click Create Group.
To create a group within a group (subgroup), on the right of the group, click > Create group inside.
Setting campaign evaluation mode
You can set the evaluation mode of each campaign evaluation group. The evaluation mode determines how the Rule Engine evaluates the campaigns in that group.
All campaigns in a campaign evaluation group inherit the evaluation mode of the group, meaning you cannot change the evaluation mode of individual campaigns.
Campaigns are evaluated from top to bottom in each group.
You can select one of the following evaluation modes:
| Evaluation mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Stackable | More than one triggered campaign can be applied. Triggered effects from campaigns stack up, meaning they can be combined. |
| Only the first campaign in the group that is triggered is applied. More than one campaign can be applied if there are stackable evaluation groups inside the group. | |
| Only the triggered campaign that provides the highest discount value is applied. |
You can set the evaluation mode of a group in two ways:
- While creating or editing a group, in Evaluation mode, select the mode, and save your changes.
- In the menu of a group, click Set evaluation mode, select the mode, and save your changes.
Campaign evaluation examples
Let's take a look at a few examples that show in more detail how campaign evaluation works.
Example #1: Awarding multiple coupon discounts
Imagine we have a base group with three campaigns inside:
- Campaign 1: Gives a 10% discount on the total purchase if a valid first-time customer coupon code is redeemed.
- Campaign 2: Gives a 20% discount on the total purchase if a valid mid-season sale coupon code is redeemed.
- Campaign 3: Notifies anyone who completes an order about a future promotion.
We want to award customers who enter both a valid first-time customer coupon code and a mid-season sale coupon code. We also want to notify them about a future promotion when they complete their order.
To do that, we set the evaluation mode of the group to stackable (Image 1) so all triggered campaigns in this case are applied. That means customers get a 30% discount on the total purchase and are notified about a future promotion.
On the other hand, if we:
- Set the evaluation mode of the group to first campaign (Image 2), only the first triggered campaign in the group is applied. This means customers get a 10% discount only from the first-time customer code.
- Set the evaluation mode of the group to highest discount value (Image 3), only the triggered campaign that offers the highest discount value is applied, in this case, Campaign 2.
Example #2: Awarding one coupon discount
Continuing from the previous example, say we want our customers to be able to redeem only the coupon code that gives the highest discount value, but also be notified about a future promotion.
To do this, we create a campaign evaluation group that we name Group 1, and we add Campaign 1 and Campaign 2 to it. We set the evaluation mode of the base group to stackable, and the evaluation mode of Group 1 to highest discount value (Image 1).
When customers now enter the two coupon codes, only the code that gives the highest discount value is applied, but the customers are also notified of a future promotion.
If we also set the evaluation mode of the base group to highest discount value (Image 2), the campaign that gives the highest discount value is applied, but customers aren't notified about the future promotion.
Example #3: Rewarding customers who shop from the mobile app
Imagine we also want to reward customers who shop from the store's mobile app, but we don't want this deal to be combined with other deals. To do this, we add a fourth campaign to the evaluation tree from the previous two examples:
- Campaign 4: Gives a 15% discount to customers who shop from the store's mobile app.
- Group 1: Contains Campaign 1 and Campaign 2, which give a 10% and a 20% discount on the total purchase if valid first-time customer and mid-season sale coupon codes are redeemed.
- Campaign 3: Notifies anyone who completes an order about a future promotion.
We ensure Campaign 4 is first in the base group, and we set the evaluation mode of the base group to first campaign (Image 1). When our customers shop from the store's mobile app, only Campaign 4 is applied as the first triggered campaign in the evaluation tree.
On the other hand, if a customer shops from a web browser and doesn't redeem a coupon code, the first triggered and applied campaign is Campaign 3 (Image 2).
Example #4: Awarding the highest discount value
Let's imagine a different example where we have four campaigns that give discounts, and we want to ensure our customers get the highest discount. Here is what our evaluation tree looks like:
- Campaign 1: Gives a €10 discount on the total purchase.
- Group 1: Contains Campaign 2 and Campaign 3, which give a combined discount of €20 on the total purchase only when applied together.
- Group 2: Contains Campaign 4, which gives a €12 discount on the total purchase, and Campaign 5, which gives a €15 discount.
We set the evaluation mode of the base group to highest discount value, the evaluation mode of Group 1 to stackable, and the evaluation mode of Group 2 to first campaign (Image 1). This ensures Talon.One only applies Campaign 2 and Campaign 3 to the customers' orders since they give the highest discount of €20.
However, let's imagine a scenario where the two campaigns are not triggered together, but Campaign 1, Campaign 4, and Campaign 5 are triggered (Image 2). In Group 2, the first campaign of the two is applied. Although the €12 discount is not the higher discount value of the two, the group considers its own evaluation mode first. Then, between Campaign 1 and Group 2, the €12 discount of Group 2 is applied.
Managing campaign evaluation groups
In the Campaign Evaluation section of your Application, in the menu of a group, you can perform a number of actions:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Make the group the default campaign evaluation group. This means new campaigns in the Application are added to this group by default unless you select a different group during campaign creation. You can do this only to a group that is not already the default group. | |
| Lock the group to prevent adding and removing campaigns and groups. To allow this for a locked group, click Unlock group. You cannot lock default groups. | |
| Set the evaluation mode of the group. | |
| Make the group first in its parent group. | |
| Make the group last in its parent group. | |
| Move the group to another group. You can only move groups that don't contain other groups inside them. | |
| Merge the group with another group to create one group that contains the contents of both groups. You cannot merge default groups. | |
| Change the name, description, and evaluation mode of the group. | |
| Create a group inside a group, also called a subgroup. Subgroups have their own evaluation mode and don't inherit the mode of their parent group. | |
| Ungroup the contents of the group. This dissolves the group and adds the campaigns and subgroups to the parent group. |
In the menu of a campaign, you can make the campaign first or last in its group, and move it to another group.
- To change the order of groups and campaigns or move them elsewhere, you can also use the drag and drop action.
- In the top right corner, you can undo or redo an action, cancel your changes, or save your changes to put them into effect.
- If you have a long expanded list of groups and campaigns, in the menu of the base group, click Collapse all groups to collapse them. To view them all again, click Expand all groups.
- To find a specific campaign, above the base group, in Campaign name, type the name of the campaign you want to find.