Testing activities

It's possible to run an activity without including it in an automation, but you should do that only when you're testing the activity. Except for a few activities that alert you when they are complete, such as file imports, monitoring the progress of an activity running outside an automation is difficult or even impossible.

For example, if you run a query activity outside an automation, the only way for you to know when the activity is complete is to check whether the results of the query have appeared. This isn't a practical approach because, depending on the query's complexity, it could finish in as little as a few seconds or as much as many hours. You might find yourself checking for results over and over, never knowing whether they haven't appeared because an error caused the query to stop prematurely or simply because it hasn't completed yet.

By executing the query in a step in an automation, even if it's the only step in the automation, you can easily see whether the step is failing to progress or has encountered an error.

File-naming patterns

Some activities, such as the file import, file transfer, and data extract activities, require you to specify a file name when you're setting them up. However, because automations run periodically on their own, you might need to include a date in the file name so you can tell at a glance whether the file is the right one.

To help you have unique names for your files, Marketing Cloud lets you indicate a file-naming patterns instead of a static file name when you're setting up activities that need one. In the naming pattern, you include placeholders for the year, month, and day in the file name. The system replaces the placeholder with the current year, month, and day (as needed) so you can have different file names on different days.

For example, instead of entering subscribers.csv in the file name field, you would enter subscribersMMDDYYYY.csv. When the system processes the file name, it replaces the MM with the two-digit month, the DD with the two-digit year, and the YYYY with the four-digit year of the current day.

Data extract activity

Use the data extract activity to bundle a file of Marketing Cloud data to transfer it out of Marketing Cloud so you can use it in a different business system. For example, you might extract tracking data to import it into a separate analytics system.

Interestingly, you can use this activity also to transform an XML file to a comma-delimited, tab-delimited, or pipe-delimited file. This can be a convenient activity to use before importing an XML file into your Marketing Cloud account.

To create a data extract activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Activities screen, click the Create Activity button, near the top right of the screen.

2. In the Create New Activity window that appears, select Data Extract and then click Next.

   The Create New Data Extract Activity window appears.

3. Complete the information on the Properties tab, and then click Next.

   Specify a name and description for the activity, and also a file-naming pattern for the file that results from the extract. Don't forget to include the file extension (for example, CSV, ZIP, or TAB) in the file-naming pattern.

   The list of extract types that you can choose from depends on what is available in your account. Commonly available types include tracking data and data extensions.

   For the file transfer activity to find and move the file that results from a data extract activity, you must use the same file name when you're setting up both activities.

4. Complete the information on the Configuration tab, and then click Next.

   The fields on this tab vary depending on the extract type you chose in the preceding step.

5. Review the information on the Summary tab, and then click Finish.

File transfer activity

You can use the file transfer activity to upload to Marketing Cloud a file that you created elsewhere, or to download a file from Marketing Cloud. For example, you might use this activity right after the data extract activity to move a file of analytics data to a transfer location.

When you're using the file transfer activity to upload a file, the same activity can decrypt the file, or decompress the file, or both.

This activity only makes the file available to Marketing Cloud; it does not update your subscriber data with the information from the file. See the “Import file activity” section, later in this chapter, for instructions on updating your subscriber information.

To create a file transfer activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Activities screen, click the Create Activity button, near the top right of the screen.

2. In the Create New Activity window that appears, select File Transfer, and then click Next.

   The Create New File Transfer Activity window appears.

3. Complete the information on the Properties tab, and then click Next.

   Specify a name and description for the activity. Also choose one of the following for the file action:

   • Manage File: Choose this option to use the activity to get content into Marketing Cloud from an outside file.
   • Move a File from Safehouse: Choose this option to use the activity to get a file out of Marketing Cloud.

4. Complete the information on the Configuration tab, and then click Next.

   Indicate the file-naming pattern and the location where you want to transfer the file to or from. Don't forget to include the file extension (for example, CSV, ZIP, or TAB) in the file-naming pattern.

   For the file transfer activity to find and move the file that results from a data extract activity, you must use the same file name when you're setting up both activities.

   For Manage File activities (file into Marketing Cloud), the Configuration tab is also where you tell Marketing Cloud if you want it to decompress and decrypt your file. A few additional controls help you prevent importing old data or overwriting data in your Marketing Cloud account too soon.

   For Move a File from Safehouse activities (content out of Marketing Cloud), the Configuration tab is also where you tell the activity how to encrypt your file.

5. Review the information on the Summary tab, and then click Finish.

Filter activity

To create a group from a subscriber list, you set up the filter logic in a filter activity. When the automation runs, the system applies that logic to the subscriber list you've indicated and creates a group of subscribers that satisfy the criteria.

You have to set up your data filter separately before you can use it as part of an activity. See Chapters 11 and 17 for more information about filters.

To create a filter activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Activities screen, click the Create Activity button, near the top right of the screen.

2. In the Create New Activity window that appears, select Filter, and then click Next.

   The Create New Filter Activity window appears.

3. Complete the information on the Properties tab, and then click Next.

   Specify a name and description for the activity, as well as the location of the data filter that you want to use.

4. Complete the information on the Configuration tab, and then click Next.

   Choose the list to which you're going to apply the filter logic. Also choose the name you want to give the resulting group and where you want to store that group.

5. Review the information on the Summary tab, and then click Finish.

Import file activity

You use the import file activity after you've transferred a file into Marketing Cloud using the file transfer activity. The import activity uses the information from the file you transferred to update your subscriber data.

To create an import file activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Activities screen, click the Create Activity button, near the top right of the screen.

2. In the Create New Activity window that appears, select Import File, and then click Next.

   The Create New Import Definition window appears.

3. Complete the information on the Properties tab, and then click Next.

   Specify a name and description for the activity as well as the file-naming pattern of the file to import. Also specify information about the file, such as where Marketing Cloud can find it and which delimiter it uses. You can use the other options to prevent the import from importing bad or old data. You can also set up the activity to alert you when the import is complete.

   If you set up your automation to import files on a schedule, problems can occur outside your control that cause the file you're importing to not post to the FTP site on time. The options on this tab are great safeguards to prevent duplicate imports of the same file if that happens.

4. Complete the information in the Destination tab, and then click Next.

   Choose the subscriber list or data extension to import the data into. Also choose whether you want to add, update, or overwrite the information you already have.

5. Complete the information on the Destination tab, and click Next.

   Map the columns from your import file to the columns in your subscriber list or data extension:

   • If you choose Map by Header Row, the names of the columns in your source file must match the names of the fields in your subscriber list or data extension.
   • If you choose Map by Ordinals, you can choose to map the first, second, third, and so on field in your import file to the field that you want the content imported to.
   • If you choose to Map Manually, you upload a sample file so that the system can show you all the columns to map to the subscriber attributes or data extension columns.
6. Review the information on the Summary tab, and then click Finish.

Refresh group activity

In the Email app, you can create a group to contain a subset of a subscriber list. The system populates the group based on either a data filter or a number of randomly selected subscribers. However, the group you create remains static; you need to use the refresh group activity to reapply the logic and generate an up-to-date subset of the list.

For example, if you create a group of subscribers whose birthday is today and send them a happy birthday message, you should refresh the group tomorrow to get the new subset of subscribers who should receive the birthday greeting.

You have to set up your group separately before you can use it as part of an activity. See Chapters 8 and 11 for more information about groups.

Because of the simplicity of this activity, you do not create a stand-alone refresh group activity. Instead, you specify the details of the activity directly in the automation. See the procedure for creating an automation in the following section.

To create a refresh group activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Automation Studio Overview screen, create or open an automation, and then click the Workflow tab.
2. Drag the Refresh Group activity from the Activities list to a step on the automation canvas.
3. Click the Choose button, select the group you want to refresh, and then click Done.

SQL query activity

The SQL query activity is similar to the filter activity: Both create a subset of records based on logic that you've set up. The SQL query activity must be used with data extensions, though; you can't use it to filter subscribers in a subscriber list. The SQL query activity can filter any data extensions, not just those that contain subscriber records.

Before you begin, make sure you have nearby the name of the data extension you're going to query. You can't easily look up the name of a data extension when you're creating the activity.

You have to set up your data extensions separately before you can include them in this activity. See Chapter 6 for more information about data extensions.

To create an SQL query activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Activities screen, click the Create Activity button, near the top right of the screen.

2. In the Create New Activity window that appears, select SQL Query, and then click Next.

   The Create New Query Activity window appears.

3. Complete the information on the Properties tab, and then click Next.

   Specify a name, description, and storage location for the activity. Also enter the SQL of the query.

4. Complete the information on the Target Data Extension tab, and then click Next.

   Choose the data extension where you want the system to put the results of the query. You can choose to add, update, or overwrite the information that's already in the data extension.

5. Review the information on the Summary tab, and then click Finish.

Send email activity

Use the send email activity to automatically send an email that you've created previously. See Chapter 11 for information about creating emails.

To create a send email activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Activities screen, click the Create Activity button, near the top right of the screen.

2. In the Create New Activity window that appears, select Send Email, and then click Next.

   The Create New Send Email Activity window appears.

3. Complete the information on the Choose & Configure Email tab, and then click Next.

   Select the email message you want to send, specify the subject line, and select the sender and delivery profile.

4. Complete the information on the Choose Recipients tab, and then click Next.

   Choose the lists and groups to which you want to send the message.

5. Review the information on the Summary tab, and then click Finish.

Wait activity

The wait activity tells Marketing Cloud to wait for a period of time before proceeding to the next step in an automation. Because this activity makes sense only in the context of an automation, you can't create a stand-alone wait activity. See the procedure for creating an automation in the following section.

To create a wait activity, use the following steps:

1. From the Automation Studio Overview screen, create or open an automation, and then click on the Workflow tab.
2. Drag the Wait activity from the Activities list to a step on the automation canvas.

3. Complete the Wait window that appears, and then click OK.

   Specify an amount of time to wait or a time of day to resume the automation.