Using the Send email to visitor dialogue in BlueConic, you can have the website send a personalized email to known customers or visitors. The message subject and body can mix static text with values retrieved from the profile of the visitor. This makes it possible to compose and send a message that is highly personalized for each visitor. The email is only sent when a specific triggering event occurs that is based on the visitor clicking a specific item on a page or viewing a page.
In addition to text and values derived from profile properties, you can add hyperlinks to the body of the email message. The hyperlink leads to the URL you specify. You can also modify the value of one or more profile properties if the visitor clicks the hyperlink in the email message. You can also add one or more profile properties to the visitor's profile if they click the hyperlink.
Handling of the email is done by the BlueConic hosting environment, which uses the Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES) for the actual sending.
Adding a Send email to visitor dialogue
- Navigate to the Dialogues menu.
- Click the Add dialogue button.
- A pop-up window appears. Check the Show all box. Enter "email" in the Search bar. Click Send email to visitor. A new dialogue opens.
- Give the dialogue a unique name.
Configuring the Send email to visitor dialogue
Configure the send email dialogue by configuring the tabs that run across the top of the window: Who, When, Where, What, and Why.
Who tab
By default, the dialogue will be shown to "All visitors" -- the customer segment that includes all profiles. You can drill down to define an audience of profiles for this dialogue.
When tab
Use the When tab to set schedule rules for when to send emails, as well as the priority for this dialogue compared to others.
Where tab
On the Where tab, you select the channel(s) where this dialogue should be active.
What tab
Here you enter all the details for the email you're sending to visitors and customers.
Trigger
The Trigger setting defines the event that causes the email message to be sent to the visitor. There are two options:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| The visitor clicks an item | The email message will be sent if the visitor clicks an item on a page. To specify the item, use the Visual Picker or enter a valid jQuery selector to identify it. For complete information on jQuery selectors, see https://api.jquery.com/category/selectors/. For example: |
| The visitor enters a page | The email message will be sent if the visitor enters a page in the channel in which the "Send email to visitor" dialogue is active. |
Basic settings
To Email Address
In the "To Email Address" field, select "Configure" and specify the profile property from which the email address for each visitor will be retrieved, or add one or more email addresses to a static list. If you select a profile property and it contains more than one email address, the email will be sent to each of the addresses. If you add addresses to the static list, the email will be sent to these addresses.
You can additionally specify "CC" recipients or "BCC" recipients in a similar way. All will receive a copy of the same mail message. The difference is that CC recipients will be visible as recipients of the email, whereas BCC recipients will remain invisible.
Email Subject
In the "Email Subject" field, enter the text that appears in the subject of the email. You can combine text with values retrieved from one or more profile properties. This makes it possible to create a subject for the message that is personal to each individual visitor.
To enter the subject of the email, follow these steps:
- Click in the "Email Subject" field. A cursor appears.
- Type the text for the subject of the email.
- To enter a profile property that will be included in the subject, click the Select Profile Property button.
See Profile properties for complete information on working with profile properties. Once you have selected a profile property, a placeholder for it appears in the subject text surrounded by a dotted blue box within curly brackets. For example:When the message is sent, the value retrieved from the specified profile property will appear in that part of the text. See Rich text editor for complete information on adding a profile property to the message subject.
Advanced settings
From Email Address
In the "From Email Address" field, enter the email address that the recipient sees as the sender of the message. You must enter a valid email address in this field or no emails will be sent.
The email address you enter here needs to be confirmed. If you enter an unknown email address, you will receive a confirmation email from Amazon SES at that address after you have saved the dialogue. Click the confirmation link in the email you receive, and sending mail via the dialogue will function properly.
Delivery
The "Delivery" setting controls how many times the email message is sent to an individual visitor. To send the email only one time to each individual visitor, select "Send the email only once to each visitor." If this setting is left blank (not selected), the visitor will receive the email message each time the dialogue is triggered.
Tracking
Select this option to add the visitor's profile ID to the email, allowing the visitor to be tracked over multiple channels.
Composing your email message
In the email message box, you compose the body of the email message using the text editor. For complete information see Text editor.
Views, Clicks, Conversions, and the "Emails Opened" profile property
The "Views," "Clicks," and "Conversions" counters for the Send email to visitor dialogue are described below. In addition to these standard counters, there is a profile property "Interactions triggered via email" that keeps track of the emails a customer or visitor has opened.
Views
Each time an email is sent to a visitor, the "Views" counter is increased by 1 (one). If the visitor has more than one email address and receives the email at each address, this is still counted as only 1 view.
Clicks
If the visitor clicks a link in the email that was added using the Add Link button, then the "Clicks" counter is increased by one.
Conversions
If the visitor visits the conversion URL after clicking a link in the email that was added using the Add Link button, then the "Conversions" counter is increased by one.
"Interactions triggered via email" profile property
Each time a customer or visitor opens an email, it is added to the profile property "Interactions triggered via email." When creating a segment in BlueConic, you can use this profile property to define a new segment.
Setting the "tracking" option in the dialogue's What tab places a tracking pixel in email that is sent. A tracking pixel is a very small transparent image that the visitor doesn't see.
If the tracking pixel for an email is viewed, that is, if the email is opened, then the email will be added to the "Interactions triggered via email" profile property. The email will also be added to the "Interactions triggered via email" profile property if the visitor clicks a link in the email that was added using the Add Link button.
Testing and troubleshooting dialogues
For tips on testing your dialogues with the BlueConic Simulator, see the video and tips in Testing Your Dialogues. Also see the troubleshooting dialogues section.