Broadcast campaigns send a one-time message to a preselected list or segment of users based on their history. Broadcasts can be sent to all users, or a specific segment/list at once or within some time.

Broadcast campaigns are further classified into the following based on their launch types:

Time-Based Broadcast Campaigns (One-Time & Recurring)

Time-based Broadcast Campaigns (One-Time and Recurring) can be set up by using the Launch Type: Broadcast at a specific time.

One-Time

For One-Time campaigns, you can choose either of the first two actions:

  • Immediately - This will begin sending the campaign upon clicking on Activate.

  • Later - This will give you the option to set a date and time for the launch.

Broadcast at a specific time: When Prime Time is deselected and Send Later is selected, the default time for the broadcast campaign to be sent will be 1 hour from the current time unless you input the time of your preference under Send On.

Recurring

A recurring time-based broadcast campaign can be set up the same way as a one-time campaign by selecting the Recurring radio button. With recurring campaigns, please ensure that one or both of the following is true:

  1. You have a dynamic segment to avoid sending a message to the same person every time.

  2. You have dynamic content that changes regularly, to avoid sending the same content to the same people every time.

With recurring time-based campaigns, you are given 3 options of occurrence:

  • Daily - You may choose what time of the day you want to send the campaign every day.

  • Weekly - You may choose what day of the week and time of the day you want to send the campaign every week.

  • Monthly - You may choose what day of the month and time of the day you want to send the campaign every month.

When a common Email ID is involved in multiple cases, there are some filters that come into play:

Inclusion Filter

When we include two lists containing a common email address, we will only receive the campaign once, so the OR operation works here.

Exclusion Filter

When we exclude two lists having common email address, the campaign will be not deployed to that list anyway.

Inclusion and Exclusion Filter

When we include a list having a set of email addresses that were a part of the list that is in the exclusion filter, the campaign will not be received to that common email addresses.

File-Drop Recurring Campaigns

File-drop recurring campaigns allow you to trigger a campaign to an audience in a file at the time the file is dropped onto a server. The Launch Type needs to be set as Broadcast when the file is dropped to a server.

When setting up the campaign, a dedicated FTP location is set up to accept files that will trigger this campaign. The Content portion of the campaign flow remains unchanged but does allow you to personalize the message via additional columns found in the File-Drop Campaign. 

Below, you will find the variations for launch options, the ability to add a sample file, and the variations in the audience selection.

Scheduling Options

When dropping a file to the server, the campaign can be sent:

  • When a file is dropped - The campaign will begin to process and launch immediately when it recognizes that the file has been transferred to the server.

  • With a delay of - The campaign will begin to process after some amount of time has passed (hours, days).

  • At - This allows the campaign to wait until a specific time and an optional specific day of the week before processing and sending.

Loading a Sample File

The user can upload an example file from their computer to render what the dropped file will look like. This sample file will aid in the audience selection process further helping you to pre-populate properties for easier targeting.

An example of a sample file:

user_id is a mandatory column when uploading files for file drop campaigns.

  • user_id needs to be lowercase.

  • Accounts set up with email as a key should also include the email address in the user_id column.

Variations in Audience Selection

For a single-version campaign, no audience selection is needed, as everyone in the file will receive the single version of the content that exists in the campaign. However, for multi-version campaigns, you can use the properties of the file to determine who will receive which version.

One-Time File-Based Broadcast Campaigns

This campaign type allows you to use a recently received file of subscribers as an audience for a broadcast campaign, without having to set the campaign up before the arrival of the file. The Launch Type for this campaign is Broadcast based on a file. Although the scheduling options are more similar to time-based campaigns, the audience selection is more similar to that of the file-drop campaigns.

Scheduling Options

When dropping a file to the server, the campaign can be sent:

  • Immediately - This will begin sending the campaign upon clicking on Activate.

  • Later - This will give you the option to set a date and time for the launch.

Loading a Sample File

The sample file should allow the user to upload an example file from their desktop of what the dropped file will look like.  This sample file will help in the Audience Selection process so that we can pre-populate properties for easier targeting.

An example of a sample file:

email

first_name

loyalty_flag

john@zetaglobal.com

John

Y

davidson@zetaglobal.com

Davidson

Y

vladimir@zetaglobal.com

Vlad

N

Variations in Audience Selection

For a single-version campaign, no audience selection is needed, as everyone in the file will receive the single version of the content that exists in the campaign. However, for multi-version campaigns, you can use the properties of the file to determine who will receive which version.

API-Triggered Broadcast Campaigns

This type of broadcast campaign can be triggered via an externally facing API. This campaign type is particularly useful for global events that affect a large number of people, such as concerts or weather-related communications.

API-triggered broadcast campaigns can be launched by setting up the Launch Type as Broadcast on API request. Within the request body of the API, you can pass over name-value pairs that can be used to dynamically input content relevant to the global event.

Sample API 

You can get the Sample API code on the Campaign Settings page by clicking on Get Sample Code, or visiting http://docs.zetaglobal.com/docs/send-api-broadcast-campaign for more details.

Send Options

You have three options when you want to trigger the campaign:

Option

Image

On API request

The campaign will start sending immediately after the API request is received.

With a delay of

The campaign will start sending after some delay.

On

The campaign will delay until a specific time on a specific day of the week.

Audience

By default, the campaign will be sent to the segments and lists that are assigned to the campaign. However, we also offer an option to change the audience from within the API call itself. The Use audience from API option in the UI will allow you to activate the campaign without including segments or lists for the campaign.

The campaign will be auto-archived after 30 Days