Enable segments and campaigns¶
Amperity provides a set of features—the Campaigns page, segment insights, and predictive attributes—to help you understand your customer’s preferences and behaviors, and then to make better informed decisions as to how often you choose to interact with them.
Important
This topic assumes that you have already configured Amperity using the recommended patterns and workflows for:
Customer profiles, which contain profile and PII data for individual customers.
Transactions, which contain transactions, itemized transactions, and product catalogs that, when compared to customer records, identify how your customers interacted with your brands.
Please refer to those topics for more information about how to configure customer records and interaction records as data sources for use with segments and campaigns.
Steps to enable¶
Caution
Predictive modeling is an optional component of Amperity. If you plan to enable predictive modeling it is recommended to review the data requirements, and then take steps to configure columns and tables for predictive modeling.
The following sections describe the process for enabling segments and campaigns for your tenant:
Verify prerequisites¶
Tip
If you closely followed the steps for configuring customer profiles and transactions this section may be a formality. If your tenant has been on Amperity for a while and wants to enable segments and campaigns, you should carefully review of all data sources, Stitch results, and customer data tables to ensure that all of those components meet all requirements.
Verify each of the following items to ensure that Amperity is ready for enablement:
Data sources that contain customer records have profile semantic tags applied and each of those data sources run successfully from the Sources page.
Data sources that contain interaction records have semantic tag groupings applied for transactions, itemized transactions, and product catalogs, as appropriate and that each of those data sources are configured from the Sources page.
Note
Interactions records may require the use of domain SQL to ensure that all fields that require semantic tags are present in the data.
All data sources are processed successfully by Stitch.
Stitch output includes the following tables specific to interactions records: Transaction Attributes, Transaction Attributes Extended, Unified Itemized Transactions, and Unified Transactions.
The customer 360 database contains passthrough tables for Transaction Attributes, and Transaction Attributes Extended.
Tip
Add passthrough tables in the customer 360 database for each table that was defined in the Sources page using domain SQL.
The Unified Itemized Transactions table is added as a SQL table.
The Unified Transactions table is added as a SQL table, into which attributes from the Unified Itemized Transactions table are rolled up.
The Customer 360 table is updated to select attributes from the Transaction Attributes table.
The Customer 360 table is updated to select attributes from other tables that you want to associate with segments and campaigns, such as for loyalty programs.
Stitch QA has been performed against customer records and Transactions QA has been performed against interactions records. This should be thorough enough to understand that the data quality in the current customer 360 database is accurate and ready for predictive attribute modeling.
Note
The Stitch QA effort is not a one-time effort. It should be performed as an ongoing activity, complete with individual inspection of query results as necessary, to ensure that the quality of the data is maintained over time.
Data requirements¶
Amperity has the following requirements for segments and campaigns:
Data sources that contain interaction records–customer orders, items purchased by customers, products, brands, preferences, etc.–must be made available to Amperity.
Data sources should allow for applying semantic tags to support transactions and itemized transactions, either directly to the feed or (more likely) after reshaping the interaction records with domain SQL.
All required tables are present, along with all of the required fields for each table.
The Merged Customers table must have fields for given name, surname, birthdate, city, state, postal, and loyalty membership.
The Unified Transactions table must have fields for orders (date and time, revenue, quantity, and discount amount), purchases (brand and channel), digital channel, and store ID.
Note
Required fields for which there is no historical data should be added to the tables and should be configured to have NULL values.
Validation of revenue numbers. Compare the revenue numbers the customer expects to the revenue numbers that Amperity shows after processing all data to the customer 360 database. These numbers should be in alignment, though may not need to be exact.
Enable automated validations for transactions. Open the database in edit mode, and then under Features enable the AmpIQ option. This enables automatic validations for transactions data. Run the database, and then view the validation report. In the notification for the database run click Customer 360 validation report. Resolve issues that are highlighted in the report.
Caution
If you are planning to use predictive modeling, please review the data requirements for predictive modeling.
The following sections describe requirements for columns and tables, fields, and additional data requirements.
Columns and tables¶
Amperity uses specific columns across the following tables to enable features to support segments and campaigns:
Merged Customers
Transaction Attributes
Unified Customers
Unified Scores
Unified Transactions
The Unified Customers and Unified Scores tables are built as part of Stitch output when data sources with customer records have profile (PII) semantic tags applied.
The Transaction Attributes and Unified Transactions are built as part of Stitch output when data sources with interactions records have transactions and itemized transactions semantic tags applied.
The Merged Customers table is a version of the Unified Customers table that you must build in the customer 360 database to filter profile data. The Merged Customers table must be updated to roll-up transactions and itemized transactions.
Note
Ask your Amperity representative to add the Campaign Recipients table and enable it for your tenant.
Fields¶
The fields required by segments and campaigns fall into three broad categories:
Demographic fields include details such as gender, age, and location. Demographic fields help marketers understand the segments to which their customers belong.
Product fields include details about individual products, such as brand, department, and categories. Product fields help marketers understand which products their customers prefer.
Channel and location fields include details about how the customer chose a certain product, such as digital, in-store (and store location), and online. Channel and location fields help marketers understand from where a customer chose to purchase a product or a service.
The following table describes the fields that are required by column name, which component requires them, and the table (or tables) from which they are available. Columns that are required by predictive modeling are optional for tenants that do not plan to enable that feature.
Important
You must tag interactions records with transactions and itemized transactions semantic tags. Use domain SQL to reshape data sources to meet specific data requirements before applying those semantic tags as necessary.
The following columns must exist in the following tables as an output of the Stitch process or be part of the configuration of the customer 360 database:
Column Name |
Required for … |
Description |
|---|---|---|
address |
Campaigns page Segment insights |
The address that is associated with the location of a customer, such as “123 Main Street”. This column must be available from the following table in the customer 360 database:
|
amperity_id |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The unique identifier that is assigned to clusters of customer records that all represent the same individual. The Amperity ID does not replace primary and foreign keys, but exists alongside them within unified profiles. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
birthdate |
Predictive modeling |
The date of birth that is associated with a customer. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
city |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling |
The city that is associated with the location of a customer. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
country |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The country that is associated with the location of a customer. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
digital_channel |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The digital channel through which a transaction was made. For example: Facebook, Google Ads, email, etc. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The email address that is associated with a customer. A customer may have more than one email address. This column must be available from the following table in the customer 360 database:
|
|
gender |
Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The gender that is associated with a customer. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
given_name |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling |
The first name that is associated with a customer. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
item_discount_amount |
Segment insights |
Item discount amount is the discount amount that is applied to all units that are associated with a single item within a single transaction. |
order_id |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
An order ID is the unique identifier for the order and links together all of the items that were part of the same transaction. When an item has been returned or when an order has been canceled, the order ID is the unique identifier for the original order, including the returned or canceled items. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
order_datetime |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
Order datetime is the date (and time) on which an order was placed. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
order_revenue |
Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The total amount of revenue for all items in a transaction after discounts are applied, ignoring returns and/or cancellations. This column must be available from the following table in the customer 360 database:
|
phone |
Campaigns page Segment insights |
The phone number that is associated with a customer. A customer may have more than one phone number. This column must be available from the following table in the customer 360 database:
|
postal |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling |
The zip code or postal code that is associated with the location of a customer. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
product_category |
Campaigns page Segment insights |
|
product_id |
Campaigns page |
The unique identifier for a product. |
purchase_brand |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The brand associated with a customer interaction. This column must be available from the following table in the customer 360 database:
|
purchase_channel |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
A channel is the purchase method used by a customer. For example: online, point-of-sale, loyalty, in-store, and so on. This column must be available from the following table in the customer 360 database:
|
state |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling Segment insights |
The state or province that is associated with the location of a customer. This column must be available from the following tables in the customer 360 database:
|
surname |
Campaigns page Predictive modeling |
The last name that is associated with a customer. This column must be available from the following table in the customer 360 database:
|
Additional data sources¶
Additional data should be made available to Amperity beyond what is provided to support the basic requirements for segments and campaigns. Additional data will improve the quality of the downstream workflows that are available and will increase your ability to identify the right customer segments and profiles for which you will run campaigns.
The following types of data are recommended to be made available to Amperity as additional data sources:
Product information that contains details about categories, subcategories, and departments.
Channel information that contains details about purchases (in-store and online), channel types (digital, direct, and organic), social engagement (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.), and first-party data (Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics).
Specific demographics data, such as age, state, country, and gender. This type of data may already available from customer records that have made available to Amperity.
However, this information is often available from data sources that are not ideal for identity resolution. These data sources are still usable and can be configured as passthrough tables to your customer 360 database.
Another useful type of demographics data is one that provides detailed data about and across a broad collection of consumer categories. For example, Mosaic USA segments from Experian are a good choice for providing rich demographics data to Amperity.
Contact information that provides downstream campaigns the ability to contact the customer. This type of data may be in the form of an opt-in email list or it may be in the form of a list of addresses to which you can send direct mail.
Important
None of these types of additional data sources have a strict requirement. When determining if additional data sources should be made available to Amperity, consider the following:
What product categories does your marketing team typically use to make decisions?
What types of channels are used to determine budget allocation?
What types of demographic data do you use to better understand your customers?
What type of information does your company typically use to determine how to segment customers?
What types of attributes are important for your customer segments?
Enable visual segments¶
Important
Only tables that contain the Amperity ID and have been configured for use within the Segment Editor will be available to the Segments page.
The Segment Editor is the user interface for building segments. This editor uses a series of drop-downs, picklists, conditions, and values to define an attribute profile. Refresh segment insights to see how many customers match the profile, and then activate it as a segment.
A database must be made visible to non-admin users of Amperity so they may access database tables from the Segments page. Visibility is required to build segments via the Segment Editor or the SQL Segment Editor. To make a database visible to non-admin users, enable the Make available in visual Segment Editor checkbox within the table editor or select the checkbox in the In VSE? column from the list of tables in a database.
What is the visual Segment Editor?
The Segment Editor is the user interface for building segments. This editor uses a series of drop-downs, picklists, conditions, and values to define an attribute profile. Refresh segment insights to see how many customers match the profile, and then activate it as a segment.
Important
Only tables that contain an Amperity ID can be made available to the Segment Editor. The Customer 360 table is made available to the Segment Editor automatically. Other tables may be made available by selecting the checkbox in the In VSE? column from the list of tables in a database.
To enable visual segments
From the Customer 360 page, open the Databases tab.
Open a database in Edit mode.
Select the checkbox in the In VSE? column to make the table available to the visual Segment Editor
Click Activate.
Review features¶
After segments and campaigns are enabled, the following features are available in Amperity:
The Segments page.
The Campaigns page.