A / B Test Scenario

In a normal Campaign (without Cells and Splits), the Campaign screen presents the user with four chevrons across the top of the screen that represent the four key steps in a Campaign -- Setup, Content, Review, and Status.

When you add Cells and Splits to the Campaign, the Campaign screen presents the user with three additional steps, representing the Cells and Splits workflow -- Setup Cell Tree, Setup Testing Elements, and Setup and Launch Campaign.

To split your Campaign into multiple cells:

  1. In the Tool Bar on the Campaign screen, click Actions > Cells & Splits. A confirmation dialog box is displayed; click yes. The 1. Setup Cell Tree screen is displayed.

  2. The This Cell's Code field is automatically populated with a default cell code consisting of CELL_ followed by the Object Reference ID for this Campaign. For example: CELL_15691. Optionally, enter a custom cell code in this field.

Note: If you created this Campaign by copying an existing Campaign, please note that the new Campaign will contain the same Cells & Splits, with the same Cell Codes as the base Campaign. If you don't modify those Cell Codes in the new Campaign, you may unintentionally reuse those Cell Codes, which may cause unexpected results to appear in your Campaign reports. In most cases, you'll want to modify the Cell Codes in the newly copied Campaign.

  1. Click split into testing cells.

  2. Select the A/B Test radio button.

Optionally, if you need to remove the cells and splits from a Campaign, click Actions > Undo Cells & Splits. A confirmation dialog box is displayed; click yes.

Split Methods

The next step in the process is to determine the method used to split your Campaign Audience, and to create the desired hierarchy of parent cells and sub-cells.  

From the Split by drop-down menu, select the split method you want to use:

Split by Percentages

Splitting by percentage allows you to assign a specific percentage of the parent Audience to each sub-cell.

Split by Amounts

Splitting by amount allows you to assign a specific record quantity to each sub-cell.

Split by Field Values

Splitting by Field Values is a bit different than the other split methods, because the system generates all of the sub-cells for you, rather than you having to create them. When you split by Field Values, you select a field on the Campaign source table, and the system automatically generates a sub-cell for every discrete value in that field.

Split by Filter

Splitting by Filter allows you to use a Filter to define the Audience for each sub-cell. Filters execute from the top-level of the cell hierarchy downward. This means that the selected Filter for a sub-cell will only query records that were selected by the parent Campaign Filter.

Cell Tree Features

The Cell Tree is an important tool to help you keep track of WHAT you're editing. Within the Cell Tree, the currently selected cell is always highlighted in bold. In addition to serving as a navigation tool, the Cell Tree also provides quick access to the following feature:

  • Rename a Cell: Within the Cell Tree, hover your mouse cursor over the cell that you want to rename, and click the edit icon. The Edit Cell Code pop-up window is displayed. In the Cell Code field, enter a new cell code, then click ok.

Winning Options

The next step is to configure how you want the system to determine the "winner" in your A/B Test.

  1. From the Send Winning Campaign drop-down menu, select one of the following deployment options:

Manually

If you select Manually, the system won't determine a winner, and won't automatically deploy messages to the Winner Cell; see the Send Winner section below for more details on how to manually send messages to the Winner Cell.

Automatically

If you select Automatically, the system will determine the winning variable conditions based on the business rules you provide below; in addition, the system will automatically send out messages to the Winner Cell, using the winning variable conditions.

Variable Conditions

The next step is to select what Campaign element or elements are going to be different between each of the sub-cells.

  1. Beneath the cell list, from the Elements to split drop-down menu, select one of the following options:

    • None: All sub-cell values are inherited from the parent cell.  

    • Subject line: Set a subject line for each sub-cell in order to test the effectiveness of a subject line.

    • Content: Define message content for each sub-cell in order to test the effectiveness of different content.

    • Any: This option presents you with a list of all the possible Campaign elements that can be varied, grouped into different categories. Place a check mark next to one or more elements. The possible elements that can be varied are:

General Settings

Email Components

Response Options

Sending Options

  • Content / Links

  • Seed List

  • Deduping

  • Exclusion List

  • Metadata

  • Special Processing Step

  • From Name and Sender Profile

  • To Name

  • Subject Line

  • Reply Handlers

  • Email Headers

  • Preheader

  • Hidden Inbox Summary

  • PURL

  • Sending Schedule

  • Messages Per Hour

  1. In the Tool Bar, click save.

Populate Sub-Cells

After you've defined all of the options as described above, the next step is to actually populate the different Campaign variants in each of the different sub-cells.

Sub-cells automatically inherit the characteristics of their parent cell, except for the particular element, or elements, that you're changing. For example, let's say you chose to modify the Subject line. You would enter unique Subject Lines into each sub-cell. These sub-cells would inherit all of the other Campaign elements (From Name, From Address, content, etc.) from the parent cell.

The system supports two different methods of populating the sub-cells in your Campaign. Depending on the complexity of your cell hierarchy, and the number of elements being tested, you may find one method works better than the other. The first method is to select the Campaign element being tested, and to define that element in every sub-cell.  Then you would select a different Campaign element, and repeat that process.

The other method is to focus on a single sub-cell, and to populate all the different variable elements in that sub-cell. Then, you would move on to the next sub-cell and repeat that process.

Both of these methods are described below.

Define a Single Element Across All Sub-Cells

This method allows you to edit multiple sub-cells from the same screen, by first selecting the Campaign element that you want to test.

Define All Elements Within a Single Sub-Cell

This method allows you to define all the variable elements within a specified sub-cell.

Send Winner

If you set up automated winning conditions (see Winning Options above), the system will determine the winning sub-cell based on the rules you defined. The system will them populate the Winner Cell with the winning variable conditions, and deploy messages to the Winner Cell.