Send the Right Number of Messages
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Explain how Einstein Engagement Frequency works.
- Use a Frequency Split in Journey Builder.
Einstein Engagement Frequency
In new relationships, there is a fine line between calling too often and not calling enough. Similarly in marketing, it’s hard to know if you’re sending too many or too few messages. If you send too many you might get more unsubscribes (which can impact overall deliverability), while sending too few means leaving potential money on the table. Plus, that frequency threshold is different based on who you ask.
Einstein is here to help! Einstein Engagement Frequency uses AI to help predict how often you should send your email and mobile communications. This Einstein feature takes some of the guesswork out of email sending by identifying the optimum number of email messages to send for each contact. And even better, you can use this information to segment your audience in Journey Builder according to saturation level.
How Engagement Frequency Works
So how does the Einstein Engagement Frequency model work? The model makes calculations using the last 28 days of email engagement and behavioral data. This includes when messages are sent and opened, as well as unsubscribes. Each contact’s engagement and message frequency is analyzed to generate a personalized engagement frequency score. Based on this score, contacts are classified as having Saturated, On Target, or Undersaturated message frequency. The model analyzes how often each contact is sent to and how send frequency affects engagement. Engagement generally increases when send frequency increases until a contact reaches saturation. This tool will help you find the tipping point for each contact.
To learn more about how the Einstein Engagement Frequency model works, visit the help page for model details.
Similar to Send Time Optimization, you need to wait up to 72 hours after your admin activates Engagement Frequency before you can use it in Journey Builder.
Use Einstein Frequency in Journey Builder
Add the Einstein Frequency activity into journeys to make sending the right number of messages easy and smart. The Frequency Split automatically segments contacts based on their desire to receive emails and utilizes real-time send metrics in order to make these decisions.
Let’s review your segment options in Journey Builder.
Segment | Description | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
Saturated
| This is the segment containing all the contacts who have received more email messages than they prefer. | Limit the number of emails this group gets and try reaching out to them on a different channel. |
Almost Saturated
| This is the segment containing the contacts that are very close to becoming saturated. You can customize this setting to select subscribers who are one email away or up to five emails away from becoming saturated. | This segment can serve as an early warning indicator and can be customized per journey. Focus on sending only the most important emails to this group. |
Undersaturated
| This is the segment containing contacts who are receiving fewer than their preferred number of emails. | Experiment with adding an additional email or two to this path. You can also try out new content with this group. |
On Target
| This is the segment containing the contacts who are receiving the optimal number of emails. | Keep doing what you are doing. |
When a contact lacks enough engagement history for Einstein’s model, the contact is assigned a default score and is added to the associated path.
Add a Frequency Split to a Journey
Now let’s add a Frequency Split to a journey. Follow these steps.
- In Journey Builder, select the existing journey you want to edit.
- Drag the Frequency Split activity to a place on the canvas where you want Einstein to segment your audience.
- Click the activity.
- Click Add Path next to each of the segment paths you wish to include: Saturated, Almost Saturated, Undersaturated, or On Target.
- When you add the Almost Saturated path, select the appropriate saturation limit (from 1 to 5 emails) that indicates which contacts on this path reach saturation.
- Click Done.
Great! Now your emails are optimized for when you send and how often you send. Next up: let’s review the performance of these features in the associated Einstein dashboards.
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