Configuring email treatments
The Subject field allows the user to specify the subject for the email. The email subject can be static text, a property reference, or an expression which combines both static text and property references.
The user can also utilize the Key Code field to specify a code for the Email Treatment. This code can be used by downstream functionality, such as the Send Email shape in the action canvas.
When the Track Email Open Rate checkbox is enabled, the system automatically captures email opens (impressions) in Interaction History. This setting is enabled by default in a new Email Treatment.
The Email Treatment Editor enables the user to design high quality treatments to send to customers. This editor supports two modes of editing:
- Design – This is the default editing mode. In this mode, users can enter free-form content and use a wide array of editing tools to format this content. To apply formatting to content; select the content first and then, use the formatting icons to update the content’s format.
- Source – This mode is for advanced users and provides direct access to the source HTML for this treatment. In this mode, the formatting icons are disabled.
Users can switch between the two modes above by toggling the Source button:
The editor also includes an array of buttons to insert content (such as links, images, properties, etc.) into the treatment:
Two of the buttons in this array are essential in designing effective customer-focused treatments. These are further outlined below.
Extending the email treatment form with custom properties
If the default list of fields available on the email treatment form does not contain a property which you require, edit the EmailTreatments Decision Data rule used by the treatments.
For more information, see Managing Decision Data rules in Pega Customer Decision Hub. Any new properties you add to the form are automatically available for all previously created treatments.
Embedding Relevant Data
Relevant data can be embedded into the treatment via the Insert Property button:
Examples of this data include customer information, action details, etc.
Upon clicking this button, the Property Parameters dialog can be configured to embed the necessary data field. In addition to specifying the name of the field to be embedded, users can also specify:
- Format – Reference to a Format rule that determines how this field should be formatted.
- When – Reference to a When rule that determines whether this field should be displayed or not.
Embedding a Response Link
Response links can be embedded into an Email Treatment via the Insert Button button:
Clicking this button opens the Button Parameters dialog. This dialog presents the user with a variety of options for configuring the response mechanism for the treatment. The type of response link is determined by the value selected in the Function drop-down. The following options are available:
Accept action - This option embeds a link for the customer to accept the action. The user must select whether to direct the customer to a response screen or to an external URL.
Decline action - This option embeds a link for the customer to decline the action. The user must select whether to direct the customer to a response screen or to an external URL.
Open internal page – This option embeds a link to launch an internal page. The user must specify the name of the response screen (internal page).
Open external URL – This option embeds a link to launch an external URL. The user must specify the external URL to open.
Microsite – This option embeds a link to launch a microsite. The user must select the microsite from a list of all microsites configured in the system.
Tracking Click Rate
For each of the above functions, the user can enable the Track click rate option. The system automatically tracks clicks (in Interaction History) for any response links that are generated with this option enabled. This setting is enabled by default.
Redirecting to a Response Screen
This option is available for the Accept Offer, Decline Offer, and Open Internal Page links. The user can configure a response screen to be displayed when the customer clicks on a response link in the action email. This response screen is an internal page in the application and is typically configured using a Section rule.
- For Accept Offer and Decline Offer, the response screen value is defaulted to the value configured by the application administrator. In these cases, a typical response screen should represent a confirmation for the action taken by the customer (accept or decline) and any other information that needs to be presented.
- For Open Internal Page, the response screen can be considered as a page to provide more information on the action. This page can contain appropriately configured action buttons (such as accept and decline) that the customer can use to respond to the action.
If the value for the response screen is not set, the out-of-the-box default response screen (DefaultEmailResponse) will be used. Both customer and action data are available to be referenced when building and configuring a custom response screen.
Redirecting to an External URL
This option is available for the Accept Offer, Decline Offer, and Open External URL links. The user can further choose whether relevant Offer Data should be included while re-directing to the external URL. If selected, these values are passed as URL parameters to the external URL being launched. The following parameters are furnished:
- C – Customer ID
- R – Customer response
- I – Issue of the action
- G – Group of the action
- O – Name of the action
- T – Name of the Email Treatment
- W – ID of the Campaign Runs that initiated the action
- RA – Rank of the action in the Campaign Run (batch output) table
- OU – Name of the Campaign Run (batch output) class containing the action instance
Adding Style Options
The following style options can be specified for the response link:
- Button text – The text that is displayed to the user as the link
- Button image URL – Reference to an image that is displayed alongside the link
- Custom style – CSS formatting style that should be applied to the link
Previewing Included Sections
The Show the preview of included section checkbox (at the bottom of the Email Treatment editor) enables users to preview sections inline in the editor.
Testing the Email Treatment
The Test Message tab on the Email Treatment provides an easy way to test the look and feel of the Email Treatment when it is actually delivered.
The following options are available for configuring the test message:
- To – Recipients of the test email. Select either Test Recipients or
Seed List.
- Test Recipients - Enter list of recipients. Each entry can
either be the Operator ID of an existing user in the system or a valid email address. If
the operator ID is entered, operator information such as the name and email is populated
as the customer data and the test email is sent to the operator’s email address.
- Seed List - Select a predefined Seed List as the intended
recipients of the test email. The data for each seed is populated as the customer data
and is visible (if referenced) in the test email. In this case, the Email
1 column in the Seed List (.pyEmail1 property) specifies the email address
to which the test email is sent. Refer to the Seed Lists chapter for information on
configuring a Seed List.
- Test Recipients - Enter list of recipients. Each entry can
either be the Operator ID of an existing user in the system or a valid email address. If
the operator ID is entered, operator information such as the name and email is populated
as the customer data and the test email is sent to the operator’s email address.
- Subject – Enter the subject for test email.
- Test Account Settings – Specify Email Account settings for the test
email.
- Use Default Email Account - Select this option to use the
Default outbound Email Account.
- Specify Email Account - Select this option to specify the
outbound Email Account to use for delivering the test email. Specify the account name in
the Account field.
- From/Reply To: Use Email Account
Settings - Select this option to use the sender’s name and reply-to
address that is configured on the Email Account being used.
- From/Reply To: Use Operator Settings - Select this option to use the name and email address of the current operator for these values.
- From/Reply To: Override Account Settings
- Select this option to specify the sender’s name and reply-to address for the test
email. Specify these values in the From and Reply
To fields.
- Use Default Email Account - Select this option to use the
Default outbound Email Account.
After the test message has been configured, it can be sent via the Send Test Message button.
Upon clicking this button, the Email Treatment is saved and the test email is sent to the specified recipients. The status of the test is displayed.
Any errors in the test delivery are displayed in case of a failure. These can be corrected and the test email can be resubmitted for delivery.
Configuring email treatments for actions which are grouped together as a bundle
When designing Email Treatments for bundles, the user needs to consider the type of the bundle. A typical Email Treatment for an action bundle includes an overall description of the bundle and details for each of its members. Additionally, based on the bundle type, response links can be provided at the bundle and/or the member level.
The top level BundleTemplate Email Treatment is provided as an out-of-the-box sample.
This treatment includes the following salient pieces of a bundle Email Treatment:
- Bundle name - References the .OfferData.BundleName property
- Response link for bundle – Added using the Insert Button functionality
- Impression capture - References the RecordImpression section. With bundles, it is typical to include the impression capture section at the parent level.
- Member details - References the BundleTemplate section. This section uses the
BundleOfferMembers page list property to display the member actions in a grid with accept
and reject response links for each member.
The BundleOfferMembers property is populated at runtime to contain details of the various bundle members. This can be used in dynamic containers such as the repeating grid. Users can also make static references to member actions in this page list. For example, to display the name of the first action in the bundle, reference the .BundleOfferMembers(1).OfferData.pyName property.
Another common usage pattern is to update the grid in the BundleTemplate (or equivalent) section at the top level (PegaMKT-Work-Offer) to include a sub-section for displaying relevant action information, say MemberOfferDetails. Users can then create a top-level version of this section to serve as a base for all member actions. To customize the details for a particular issue or group, the user simply needs to override the details section in the appropriate issue or group class.
Identifying customers who open or respond to email treatments
Identity matching occurs when users open and respond to marketing emails sent via the application.
The following associations are captured when a customer opens a marketing email (handled by the IMPR service):
- CustomerID to UniqueID
- CustomerID to Email Address
- CustomerID to IP Address
- UniqueID to Email Address
- UniqueID to IP Address
The following associations are captured when a user clicks on a response link in a marketing email (handled by the PORE service):
- CustomerID to UniqueID
- CustomerID to IP Address
- UniqueID to IP Address
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