Microsoft Dynamics Marketing is an online cloud service that can be purchased through the Microsoft Dynamics Online Portal as a paid instance.
To begin you must sign in to your Office 365 account and go to "Purchase Services" and select "Microsoft Dynamics Marketing".
Once your MDM instance is provisioned, you'll see “Marketing” in the navigation header of your Office365 Portal
When you first access your new instance of Microsoft Dynamics Marketing you’ll be routed to the Site Settings page of Microsoft Dynamics Marketing where you’ll need to define a few required settings such as the default currency for the organization to get started.
Scroll down to the bottom of the "Site Settings" page and click the checkbox to agree to the terms of the agreement and click Save or Submit.
Get Access to Microsoft Dynamics Marketing’s Functions
The first time you sign in as the site administrator you will have limited privileges to only access the administrative options (more noticeably you'll only see the "Settings" tile when you click "home")
User privileges are defined for each User ID and determine the Microsoft Dynamics Marketing features available to your user. User Privileges that are available are different depending on the User Type.
To update your user privileges, from the main navigation panel click Home - Settings - Users
Click the user you want the adjust permissions for. The Default user will be "MPADMIN"
You can then select the appropriate “Role” permissions from the "User" screen.
As an example lets add "View All" and "Edit All" priveleges to "Landing Pages", "Lead Management" and "Marketing":
This will add the "Marketing Execution" tile to your navigation.
If you need access to all areas of Dynamics Marketing you can click Grant All
If you have more users who'll need access to Dynamics Marketing, you can go ahead and create them, and assign priveleges to them like described above. A user wont be able to login to Microsoft Dynamics Marketing without User privileges assigned.
Part of Microsoft Dynamics Marketings (MDM) Digital Asset Management system includes the ability for you to work with files, file folders, and file libraries.
In this blog post I'll talk about
File and Folder Structure
MDM includes powerful functions to help manage all types of electronic Files, including
MDM organizes files in a recursive folder structure the same way Windows does. The recursive folder structures enable you to create an unlimited number of folders within folders to facilitate organizing files.
MDM has two types of Folders
At the top of the file structure there is a root folder called "Files". This root folder contains all files and folders and cannot be deleted. MDM automatically creates a folder for each entity which can be accessed from the "Files" section of the entities dashboard or from within the "File" window.
The "File" Window
MDM stores all the files that marketing and creative teams need to do their jobs in one place, the "File" window. This enables files to be easily linked to the projects that use them or the jobs that created them.
To view files and folders through the "File" window in the main navigation panel
The "File" window will open in the folder you last worked with
The top of the window shows the path to the file folder being viewed (1). You can click any of the folders in the path to display the contents of that folder, or click the sections in the file navigation tree to display the contents of the folder selected. Click the arrows to the left of the folder to expand or collapse the navigation tree (2)
Files and folders can be displayed in a grid view, or you can use the display slide tool (3) to change the display to small or large thumbnails.
When you upload files, the system will create a thumbnail of the file (4). The thumbnails are small graphical representations of the file that are stored in the MDM database.
MDM can thumbnail many types of files including
Using Search to Find Files Across Folders
You can search for files directly or apply filters to help with navigation to find files.
Type your search string, eg "Nokia" and click Go
You see resulting files across folders
The "File Maintain" Page
When you click on a file in the "File" window or from the "Files" dashboard of the entity it is on, MDM will bring up the "File Maintain" page.
The "File Maintain" page displays metadata and icons for a uploading version etc
In the upper right corner of the page you'll see four check boxes (1)
The Icons in the upper right corner of the page allow you to quickly
Important:
Clicking the "Details" button (1) will expand the "Details" section in which you find additional fields and descriptive attribute sections about the file
The "Created By" and "Create Date" fields (2) are populated automatically based on the contact record of the user who uploaded it and the date and time it was uploaded.
The "File Location" field (3) is hard coded as the MDM Database.
You can enter in additional descriptions and attributes about the file, they are not generated automatically.
If comments have been added to the file (during the Markup process - see later below), an additional "Comments" button will be displayed below the "Details" button to allow you to expand and see comments made on the file.
The lower part of the File Dashboard include options to:
Note:
Version Control
MDM provides version control features to help protect files. Site-wide version control settings enable the MDM administrative user to require version control for all files stored in MDM.
Under Settings -> File Options, check the "Version Control" checkbox, and click Save or Submit. When version control is on for a file, MDM displays all the versions together on the File profile, so you can open and work with each version if necessary.
Once a version has been stored in MDM, the version cannot be changed or deleted. By preventing users from overwriting versions, MDM can ensure that there is a clear trail of changes that were made to each file and that files are not overwritten or modified accidentally.
If version control is turned off, MDM replaces the current version of the file with the new one. The old version is permanently deleted.
Important
Adding Files to Favorites
You can flag files as either "My Favorites" (1) or "Site Favorites" (2) for quick access to files that you frequently use (click the down arrow to expand the vertical toolbar)
You can also right click the file and mark it as a favorite
The "My Favorites" folder can also be accessed from the "Files" section of your Contact Dashboard.
When you flag a file as a "My Favorite", the file will be added to your "My Favorites" folder which can be accessed from the "File" window by clicking on the "View My" (1) button.
When you flag a file as a "Site Favorite", the file is added to the "Site Favorite Files" which can be added as a Widget to your Home Page.
Note
Dragging and Dropping Files into Folders
You can upload files directly from your desktop to MDM by simply dragging and dropping them into a MDM file folder. Files can be added from within the "File" window, or by navigating directly to the "Files" section of the entity dashboard you want to add the file to.
Click the "Upload" icon (1) to display the "Upload" dialog
Navigate to the file in your Windows file system (1), drag the file to the "Upload" dialog (2) and click Upload (3)
The uploaded file now in the MDM folder
You can
Adding and Moving Files
Files that are already uploaded to MDM can be added to multiple folders within the "File" window as well by dragging and dropping the file into the new location in the folder tree.
Working with Folders in the "File Maintain" page
You can copy, move, and delete files using the "Folders" section of the "File Maintain" page
The "Add" icon will bring up a search box.
Marking Files Up
Once a file has been uploaded into MDM, you can add comments, shapes, boxes, circles, arrows, post it notes, etc. using visual tools right on top of the file.
If you click the "Process File" icon to thumbnail the file image and the file has been Marked Up, you will receive a warning notifying you that reprocessing the file image will permanently delete all Markup notes. You have the option to click OK to Process the file or Cancel to not process the file.
Click the "Mark Up" icon (1) to access the "Mark Up" screen for the file you want to mark up.
Or right click and click "MarkUp" directly in the "File" window
If the file you are going to mark up has multiple pages, a thumbnail image for each page is displayed.
You can only use the markup tools in the maximize view. Click the upper right corner of the image (1) to maximize or minimize the image.
The file name and version are listed at the top along with the "Mark Up" toolbar options.
Click on the dropdown next to the arrow to access the "Mark Up" tools available; comments, arrows, highlights, post it notes, callouts etc.
To mark up a file
Mark Uup comments are displayed in the "Comments" panel on the right side of the "Mark Up" page (1) with the user contact information that made them and the page they are on if there is more than one page.
A pushpin is seen in the picture (2) to indicate what part of the file the comment is regarding
Comments are in bold for the current page being viewed, comments made on other pages are greyed out to distinguish them.
The comments added to the "Mark Up" image are linked to the version of the file so that you can quickly see any comments that have been made in the "Comments" section of the "File Maintain" page.
You can click on the mark up comment to edit or view the comment.
There are several options for displaying mark up comments that can be applied from the toolbar on the "Mark Up" page. You can choose to set the view to
In the "View All" mode you can click on the "All" dropdown and select to only show comments made by specific users (in my example I'm the only editor):
The toolbar in the markup page lets you do a lot of thing with the file
Here is how a marked up file would look as a PDF. Comments will be displayed with icons (1) and you can display the text by clicking the icon (2)
Comments are also listed in the Comments section to the right (1)
Mass Updating Files
Users who have adequate security privileges can update multiple files in a single operation.
The "Mass Update" window is displayed:
Specify the changes you want applied to the selected files and click OK to update the files with the changes.
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Working with Folders
MDM’s recursive Folder structure enables you to create an unlimited number of folders within folders to facilitate organization.
MDM has two types of folders
System folders are created automatically for each entity and can be accessed from the Files section of the entity dashboard or from within the File Window.
User folders are created by users and are created from within the system file folders or other user created file folders.
To create a file folder, from within a system folder in the file window or the "Files" section of an entity dashboard click the "New Folder" icon (1) to display the "Add – Folder" dialog
The folder "Name" field (1) is a required field. You can also enter a "Description" for the folder, the "Created By" and "Create Date" (2) will populated automatically based on the logged in user’s contact record and date and time that it was created.
Click Save to create the folder - and the "Security" access panel is displayed. Depending upon the user privileges in "Files" you can grant or remove "Can Read" and "Can Update" rights to the folder.
Click Submit and the file folder you created is displayed where it was created.
You can click on the folder to open it, or click on the name of the folder in the file structure. Click the "Properties" icon (2) to edit the folder and access the security panel for the file folder.
Working with Libraries
Libraries are folders that are outside of the MDM file folder structure, but inside of the MDM database
Libraries are used to create folders that can be published to the Internet or your Intranet so files that need to be made available to non-MDM users can be accessed from a public URL.
Libraries can only be created in two ways, from within
Creating Libraries from the Files Window
When created from within the "Files" window, libraries can be created either from the root of the File navigation tree, or from within existing Library folders. This way they are outside of the file folder Structure, but within the MDM database.
To create a new Library from within the "Files" window
If you check the "Publish" checkbox, a public library URL is created specific to that library and displayed at the top of the page (I've hidden most of the URL behind a black bar in the screenshot above). If a Library is not public, no URL is generated and it can only be accessed by a logged in user with the corresponding security privileges.
Users with the corresponding privileges and permissions can add files to library folders through the "Files" window by drag and drop or browse and upload.
When accessed through the "Files" window, the files in libraries are able to be uploaded, downloaded, and edited by users with corresponding security access in the same way as non-library Files.
When you click on a file in a library folder that is accessed from within the "Files" window, MDM displays that file in the main browser.
MDM organizes Libraries in a recursive Folder structure in the same way as the files folder structure. This enables you to create an unlimited number of library folders within other library folders. To create a new Library folder from within an existing library, click into the existing library folder and click the "New Folder" icon.
Creating Libraries from within the File Libraries Window
To create a new library from within the "File Libraries" Window, from the main navigation panel
Existing libraries are displayed in the "File Libraries" window, but the MDM file folder structure navigation tree is not displayed.
To create a new library folder from within the "File Libraries" window, click the "New Folder" icon and give it a name, check the "Library" checkbox, and if you wish to make it public, select the "Publish" checkbox and click Save.
Users with the corresponding privileges and permissions can add files to library folders through the "File Libraries" window by drag and drop or browse and upload.
Files accessed from the "File Libraries" window can only be downloaded or uploaded depending on the user privileges. They cannot be edited and the "File Maintain" page cannot be accessed through the "File Libraries" window. If you want to change a file, you must access the file from the "File Maintain" page or from the "Files" window.
Public Libraries
Public libraries and the files in them can only be accessed from the public library URL that is provided by a MDM user with the corresponding privileges and permissions.
Each public library created at the root level of the file folder structure has a separate public URL (1), so that you can have separate branches of public library URLs.
There is no restriction on navigation and access within the specific public library URL branch, so any files or library folders or library sub folders (2) within that specific public library url branch can be accessed by a non-user who has the public library URL.
When accessed through the public url the files can only be downloaded, they cannot be edited or overwritten and no new files can be uploaded through the public URL.
If you want to change a published file, you must login to MDM and access the file from the File Maintain Page to modify the file.
Security
Access to Files, Folders, and Libraries is controlled by "Security" settings.
Security settings are determined by the user type and the user privileges. You can click the "Properties" icon while in a folder or library to display the security settings for that folder or library.
To check security for an individual file, click the security section from the file maintain page to display the security settings for that file.
User Privileges
You can control security settings for files, folders, and libraries using User "Privileges".
Options include
in "Files", "Libraries" and "Markup".
So this concludes my first post on Digital Asset Management in Dynamics Marketing. In my next post we'll take a look at managing Equipment.
See also
In Dynamics Marketing you can generate Leads from visitors to a landing page. You can score the leads using lead scoring models, allowing you to prioritize which leads to target first.
In this blog post I'll explain a bit about Lead Scoring Models and Landing Pages, and then take you through an example of using those to generate and score leads.
Lead Scoring Models
A Lead Scoring Model (LSM) contains Lead Scoring Rules that are applied to Leads generated by one, several or all of your Marketing Campaigns or Programs. The Lead Scoring Rules are displayed in the "Rules" section of the Lead Scoring Model.
Rules are separated into two sections, "Condition" and "Action".
"Condition" section
In the "Condition" section of the rule you can choose from a variety of Fields, Operators, and Values.
The Field option that you select will determine the Operator and Values that are available as well as the corresponding Actions that can be applied.
Field options are eg "Name (Lead)" so you can act upon the name of the visitor, or "Landing Page" so you can act upon which Landing Page the visitor submitted info fromOperator options are determined by Field type
and will enable additional Condition qualifier values to suit the rule.
"Action" Section
In the "Action" section you define the score value that will be applied to the Lead that meets the Conditions defined.
Certain Condition Fields have corresponding Action Devaluation Fields that will allow for score deprecation to occur based on recency of the action.
Lead Grades and Sales Ready Grade
If you prefer to show lead quality using words, phrases or symbols, Dynamics Marketing can generate Grades in addition to scores.
To add Grades to a Lead Scoring Model, enter the Grade Name (such as a letter grade, or word such as hot or cold), enter the From and To score range for the Grade and continue through to the next line until you have a set of Grades to match your Lead Scoring Model range.
You can identify certain Grades as Sales Ready by selecting the grades and clicking the "Sales Ready" icon. You can also remove the Sales Ready grade by selecting the Remove Sales Ready Grade icon.
The Sales Ready Score will be identified on Leads that the scoring model applies to and Leads that are Sales Ready will be marked accordingly in the Scoring section on the Lead. The lead header will show a score indicator and the grade associated to the score is displayed at the end of the Lead name.
Landing Pages
Landing Pages are used to collect information from visitors to a web site.
They are commonly used to collect information about leads and prospects, to register for an event, or to get a visitor to join a distribution/mailing list.
Microsoft Dynamics Marketing enables you to collect information without writing any HTML code or computer programs. The information can be gathered and added to Microsoft Dynamics Marketing’s marketing database.
Microsoft Dynamics Marketing Landing Pages work in conjunction with Lead Management to enable you to create forms that can be embedded into web pages that result in the automatic creation of Marketing Contacts, Companies and Leads in Microsoft Dynamics Marketing.
To help format the Landing Pages are organized into three sections
Landing Page "Behavioral Analysis" section
In the Behavioral Analysis you associate the Landing Page with the marketing entities that the Landing Page is being created to promote; an existing Program and/or Campaign, a Source Code, a Phone Number, and/or an Offer that will associated with the Landing Page. If the Landing Page is being used to generate Leads, depending upon Lead Creation Strategy of the Client or Site Company that the Landing Page is for, a Program or Campaign selection may be required.
Landing Page "Lead Management" section
In the "Lead Management" section you can enable the Landing Page to automatically generate leads. In order to generate geads from your landing page you need to check the "Generate Leads" checkbox.
The "Lead Management" section holds several prepopulated, required, and optional fields
Landing Page "Content" section
In the "Content" section of the Landing Page you define the content and design options of your Landing Page.
To help structure your Landing Page this section is organized into three additional sections:
"Form Details" sub section
In the "Form Details" sub section you define which fields you want to have available for visitors to fill out when submitting the Landing Page form.
"Requirements" are the fields that you select to comprise what will be displayed on the Landing Page form for the visitors to fill out, and have options for
The "Subscribe" field is a type ahead field that displays all lists for the Landing Page company that are specified as Subscription lists. Only one list can be specified, the list name is not shown to the visitor and is not displayed by default.
The Iframe URL is the string that needs to be placed on a web page using an Iframe tag. This allows you to embed the Landing Page where ever you want to place it on the page. ve entered all of the details of your Landing Page you can click Preview to see what it will look like.
Every Landing Page form will automatically have a security code generated on each visit that must be entered in order for the form details to be submitted to help prevent automated submissions.
Example of using a landing page to generate and score leads
In this example we will
pic 1: Click Home - Marketing Execution - scroll to "Lead Management" - click Landing Pages to open Landing Page grid
pic 2: Click "+" (New) to open the "New Landing Page" dialog
pic 3: Type a name for the landing page, set the Start/End Date and then click Submit to save and close the new landing page
We will return to the landing page later and do some further settings - but before that we'll create Lead Scoring Model for scoring future visitors to the landing page.
pic 4: Click Home - Settings - scroll to "Rules and Models" - click Lead Scoring Models to open the Lead Scoring Models grid
pic 5: Click "+" (New) to open the "New Lead Scoring Model" dialog
pic 6: Type a name for the model and then click Save (to display the lower dashboard)
pic 7: Click "+" (New) to display the "New Rule" dialog
pic 8: In the "New Rule" dialog
pic 9: Click "+" (New) to display the New Rule dialog
pic 10: In the "New Rule" dialog
pic 11: Having defined the rules we can now create entries for the Grades (Grades is a way to show the lead quality using words, phrases or symbols)
pic 12: Create three grades, eg "Cold", "Luke Warm", and "Warm" - and set their intervals to respectively 0-10, 11-49, and 50-100
pic 13: Check the checkbox to the left of "Warm" and then click the "Set Sales Ready Grade" icon
pic 14: The grade "Warm" is now displaying a "Yes" in the "Sales Ready Grade" column, indicating that leads with a score of 50 or higher is sales ready. Click Submit to save and close the Lead Scoring Model
pic 15: The new model now listed in the grid of Lead Scoring Models
Since our lead creating strategy is tied to campaings (by default) we'll now create a new (simple) Campaign to hook the lead scoring model up to, and after that connect the landing page and the campaign
pic 16: Click Home - Marketing Execution - Campaigns to show the Campaigns grid
pic 17: Click "+" (New) to display the "New Campaign" dialog
pic 18: leave Template blank and click Submit
pic 19: In the "New Campaign" page
pic 20: Select Landing Pages in the dashboard drop down
pic 21: Select your new Landing Page in the grid, and then click Submit to save and close the campaign
Now its time to return to the landing page, connect it to the campaign, and define the fields we want the landing page to display
pic 22: Click Home - Marketing Execution - scroll to "Lead Management" - click Landing Pages. Then open your new Landing Page and expand the "Behavioral Analysis" section
pic 23: Verify that your new landing page is now connected to your new campaign
pic 24: Expand the "Lead Management" section, and check the "Generate Lead" check box
pic 25: Type a name for the Lead Management model
pic 26: Expand the "Content" section, and note the Landing Page iFrame URL (The Iframe URL is the string that needs to be placed on a web page using an Iframe tag. This allows you to embed the Landing Page where ever you want to place it on the page - we'll not touch on that part in this example)
pic 27: In the "Content" section expand the sub section "Form Details", and scroll down a bit to see all the fields you can define for the Form (aka the Landing Page)
pic 28: Uncheck all fields but "First Name", "Last Name", and "Subscribe" (the "Subscribe" field is a special field allowing a visitor to the landing page to add him/her self to our subscribers list)
pic 29: In the "Subscribe" drop-down select a marketing list
pic 30: Scroll down to the bottom and click Save
pic 31: Now scroll up until you see the iFrame URL. Click the URL to test the Landing Page - does it show the fields you selected? does it create a Lead with the correct score? Does it add the visitor to the marketing list if the Subscribe field was checked by the visitor?
pic 32: The Landing Page iFrame is displayed. Note that all field are present, including the "Subscribe" checkbox
pic 33: Provide an email address, first name, last name, check the "Subscribe" check box, and then click Submit to save and close the submission
pic 34: MDM acknowledges your submission
pic 35: In the lower dashboard of your Landing Page, select Leads in the drop-down - and verify that there is now a new Lead submitted via the Landing Page. Click the Lead to open the Lead.
pic 36: Note the score in the upper left corner is 55 as expected (5 point from submitting via the landing page, 50 point for the last name), and note under Interactions that the Lead is related to the Lead Model
pic 37: Expand the "Scoring" section. Note the "Sales Ready" fields is set to "Yes", and note the (currently flat) timeline for the lead score (at 55 points). Since we did put a weekly devaluation rule in place, the timeline will show a lower lead score one week from creatíon (55-2=53)
pic 38: Lastly we want to check if the "Subscribe" field did its job; that is, added the visitor to the correct Marketing List. Click Marketing Execution - scroll to "Marketing Lists" - click Marketing Lists to open the Marketing Lists grid
pic 39: Click the Marketing List you selected when setting the "Subscribe" field to open the Marketing List
pic 40: Verify that the information the visitor submitted is added to the list of Contacts for the Marketing List
So with Landing Pages, Lead Scoring Models and Campaigns you have a perfect toolbox for generating Leads - Leads with a Lead Score, enabling you to prioritize and decide which Leads you should work with first.
Your MDM Leads can be synchronized with your Dynamics CRM (free connector) for your to work them through the Leads-to-Opportunity process there and (when done) return the Opportunity to MDM
In Dynamics Marketing you can use Events to manage and plan marketing activities such as trade shows, conferences, exhibits, etc. that take place at a specific venue or location.
Events are the center of which many other functions revolve, and can be simple or complex depending upon what other functions you want to utilize to manage your Events.
Event Templates
In Dynamics Marketing you can create events from 'scratch' or from pre-built Event Templates. You will make it much easier and consistent for your users to create events if you build Event templates for them to utilize.
In this blog post I'll walk you through how to build an Event Template for a "Three Day Product Launch", including
Building an Event Template
Click Home - Marketing Execution - "Event Management" - Templates to open the list of Event Templates
Click "New" (the "+" icon) to open the New Event Template dialog
Give your new Template a name and set start/end dates (actual dates are not important - its more the date span, indicative of how many days of planning is to be expected)
Clic Save to display the dashboard
In the dashboard click the arrow to expand the drop-down to display a list of related entities
In the drop-down click Brief to display the Brief question list (currently empty)
Click "New" (the "+" icon) to open the Brief questions dialog (where you pick the questions to include in the Brief)
Click "Attendance" and note the question below (questions are set up in Settings by your admin) - and then click Submit to return to the dashboard
Note that the Brief now displays your question about Attendance ("How many attendees are we expecting?")
Click "New" (the "+" icon) to open the Brief questions dialog
Then click "Audience" and note the question below - and then click Submit to return to the dashboard
Note that the Brief now displays your question about Audience ("Who are we targeting?")
Repeat the above for "Goals"
In the drop-down click Team to display the Team list (currently empty)
Click "New" (the "+" icon) to open the Team grid
Add a placeholder role (Account Manager) to the Team (later we'll replace the placeholder with an actual person
Add a another placeholder role (Graphical Designer) to the Team (later we'll replace the placeholder with an actual person
In the drop-down click Task to display the Task grid (currently empty) and then click "New" (the "+" icon) to open the Task dialog
In the New Task dialog
Note the Task grid now displays the two new tasks
Last but not least help your users with at short guidance in the Description text box, eg. "Please 1) Answer Brief questions 2) Assign Tasks to Contacts 3) Add additional tasks" and then click Submit to close the Event Template and return to the list of Event Templates
Note your new template is listed in the list of Event Templates
Using the Event Template
Now your users can create new events based off of your new Event Template.
Click Home - Marketing Execution - "Event Management" - Event to display the list of Events
Click "New" (the "+" icon) to open the Template dialog
Expand the list of Event Templates
Pick your Event Template
Then click Submit to open the new event
Provide
Click Submit to save and close the new event and return to the list of Events
Verify that your new event is listed.
In my next blog post I'll walk you through how you can add venue, facilities, sessions, staff, equipment, registrants and more to the event - and how to handle travel for the speakers.
In Dynamics Marketing you can create automated rule-based marketing campaigns using intuitive flowcharting tools to automatically send email messages, queue outbound calls, assign tasks, create leads, send collateral, etc.
You can assign triggers to specific events such as
And you can set actions to occur on a recurring schedule or based on passage of time.
The Campaign Automation possibilities are endless, for example:
To create a new campaign
Click Home - Marketing Execution - Campaigns
In the list of Campaigns click "+" (New)
Select a Template/blank and then click Submit
Your new campaign opens
You are now ready to click the Automation tab and start automating you campaign. Click the Automation tab to display the campaign automation flowchart
Campaign Automation Flowchart
The Campaign Automation Flowchart is a graphical flowchart that displays all of the Operations that are included in an automated campaign. It is the user interface that enables you to create and modify the Campaign Automation actions.
The canvas for creating the Campaign Automation Flowchart occupies the majority of the page and the panel on the right has the various Activities (Action Types, Marketing Lists, Response options) that you select to structure the Campaign Automation. Flowchart.
Dynamics Marketing allows you to build the campaign automation process by using a drag and drop editor to build a variety of automated actions that can be triggered based on the flowchart you define.
Add a Static or Dynamic Marketing List by clicking on the corresponding icon and dragging and dropping it into the "Add marketing list" field.
Once you’ve added your Activity additional flowchart activity sections are created so that you can fully develop the flowchart.
Adding a Trigger action will create flowchart options that allow you to define (1) a direct Activity result based on the previous action and (2) a Scheduled one based on the action not occurring.
If you drop an activity onto an existing one (eg a "Landing Page" onto an "Email") it will display the interlocking symbol to indicate they are directly interlocked.
Right-click on an Activity that you added and you can select to Delete, Copy, or Paste the Activity.
Click on the Zoom icon to change the display of the Campaign Automation Flowchart to provide a larger overview, click it again to return to the detailed view.
You can enable the "Multi-Selection" icon to select multiple activities at once to copy, delete, and paste to quickly add or remove highlighted sections in the flowchart.
Click the Multi-Selection icon, left-click and drag to capture the Activities.
Once selected, right-click at the root of the selected Activities and choose your editing option. If you’re copying the Activities right-click on the Activity that precedes where you want to paste the copied items and select Paste to add them in.
Activities Panel
The Activities Panel of the Campaign Automation page provides the "Action Types", "Marketing Lists", and "Response" actions that can be incorporated into the Automation Flowchart.
The Activities Panel is where you can select or create the specific Properties or Entities that are the Activities of the campaign, define what Responses will occur based on the Actions, and outline the steps that should occur next as result. You can also define specific Goals that you are hoping to achieve from the marketing campaign.
Action Types
The Action Types available are listed in the following table. Select from existing ones or create new ones directly from the Activities Panel.
Marketing Lists
The Marketing Lists options you can select are Static (Lists) or Dynamic (Queries). Select from existing Lists/Queries or create new ones.
Response
The Response actions that you can use to drive the Automation Actions are Scheduler or Trigger. These allow you to define specific Responses to occur based on the preceding Action Type and behavior that it produced. You can also setup an Automation Action to occur at a specific date and time, reoccur based a set interval, or to wait to occur after a set period of time has passed.
Activity Properties
The Properties are driven by the Activity selected.
Click on the Activity in the flowchart that you want to define, and click Properties in the Activities Panel to see the available Operations specific to the Activity Properties.
You can click the New icon "+" to create a new item directly in the Automation page to add as the Operation for the Activity.
If there are existing selections available, you can click on the item listed to see the details of that option.
Click the Full Editor icon to open the item in the Full Editor page to review or make changes (not show here, but please see my previous blog post for details).
Click Select to select the mail
The mail place holder in the flow chart now displays the selected mail
Repeat this process for each Activity in your Campaign Automation Flowchart until you have set Operations for all of the Activity steps you defined
You can monitor direct results and see the metrics displayed in the Activity field for each Operation of the flowchart so you can easily see how your campaign is performing. You can then make modifications in place to help improve the success of your campaign.
The available Operation item selections displayed in the Properties panel are custom to the Activity that is selected from the flowchart.
Trigger
The Trigger Type Operations are driven by the Activity type(s) that precede the Trigger and will provide relevant Operation action selections accordingly.
Scheduler
The Scheduler Response is utilized in two ways in the Campaign Automation Flowchart. The Scheduler Activity is automatically included as an alternate action to all Trigger Operations, or can be used as a stand-alone Response to define a future Activity Operation.
If a Trigger Operation is not met, the Scheduler Response provides the continued workflow options of the next Activity to occur at a specific time and date, or after a set number of days.
Goal
You can define and customize the Goals specific to the Campaign Automation Flowchart by clicking on Goal in the Activities Panel. Click the to see New icon to add additional Result types to the existing Goals, select the Result type and click the Delete icon to remove.
Validate and Activate
When you are done setting up your Campaign Automation Flowchart you can use the Validate action to verify and review the automation process workflow that you’ve defined.
Click the Validate in the upper right corner of the Automation page to run the Validation check of your Campaign Automation Flowchart.
If there is an issue with the workflow, the Activity field that did not pass the Validation process will be identified with a warning sign. You can mouse over the warning to see a description of the problem that needs to be corrected.
Once you’ve gone through and Validated that your flowchart is ready, you can click Activate in the upper right corner of the Automation page to start the Campaign Automation process.
Thats it - building automated campaigns in Dynamics Marketing is as easy as drag and drop.
Stay tuned for more post on Dynamics Marketing
With Microsoft Dynamics Marketing you can unleash your marketing potential. You can easily plan, execute, and measure campaigns from start to finish. Bring your marketing vision to life—engage customers across channels, build pipeline, and demonstrate the impact of your marketing.
In a series of posts I'll take you around the corners of Dynamics Marketing, starting with the Email Designer. With the Email Designer you can design powerful personalized Email Marketing Messages.
To open a new email message in the Email Designer
1. Click Home – Marketing Execution – Email Marketing Messages to open the list of email messages
2. Click "+" (New) icon to open the Template dialog
3. Pick a template (or leave blank) and then click Submit
A canvas for designing your email opens At the top of the canvas you specify various metadata for the email, including its type. In the lower part of the canvas you'll find the designer
Three types of Email Marketing Messages
At the top right you can pick between three types of Email Marketing Messages that you can send - Commercial, Transaction, and Campaign Automation messages.
The difference between Campaign Automation Messages and other Commercial Email Marketing Messages is that they are Active messages for the duration of a specific campaign and are triggered to send based on Automation Actions (more about that in my next post)
Commercial Email Marketing Messages are sent at a specific point in time and are not actively running messages.
Four Tabs
In the lower half of the Email Designer you can do your primary email designing work in one or more of four tabs
Insert Field Drop-Down
The "Insert Field" drop-down gives you the ability to merge fields into your message from contact records on your Marketing List such as First Name, Last Name, Company, and Phone Number to allow you to make the message more personal.
Position your cursor in your message where you want to insert the field, and select the field from the Insert Field drop-down menu.
Insert Plug-In drop-down
The "Insert Plug-In" drop-down allows you to choose from the Plug-Ins that have been created for the company that the Email Marketing Message is for. The Plug-In options are
A Subscription Center and Sender Address are required to be placed in the body of the Email Marketing Message if you are sending a Commercial message.
To insert a plug-in you position the cursor in your message where you want to insert the Plug-In, and select the Plug-In you want from the Insert Plug-In drop-down.
Image Manager
If you plan to add Images to your Email Marketing Message, you must first place the image into the Image Manager. You can open the Image Manager by clicking on the Image Manager icon in the tool bar of the editor.
In the Image Manager you can
Once you’re ready click the image that you want and click Insert to merge the image into your Email Marketing Message.
Segment specific Dynamic Content
Microsoft Dynamics Marketing allows you to make the email message more relevant to the receiver by adding Segment-specific Dynamic Content to your Email Marketing Message.
You can use dynamic content to customize the
In order to utilize the Segment-specific Dynamic Content in your Email Marketing Message you must add Marketing Lists to the email message to define the segments of recipients that you are marketing to.
You could define a segment for eg. "Strawberry Lovers" and another segment for "Banana Lovers"
The Lists/Queries that you add will appear in the Content Segment drop-down box of the Email Marketing Message.
Dynamic Content that is common to all recipients in the segment you pick in the Content Segment drop down is added to the body of the message.
To add dynamic content that's specific for a marketing segment
Just click the box to arrange the layout and shape that you want it to take for the Dynamic Content.(eg. insert a picture of a strawberry etc)
All other segment parts of the message become un-editable while you edit the contents of the segments placeholder, just like the placeholder is un-editable after you select other segments in Content Segment drop down
You can also specify a different From contact and Subject of the Email Marketing Message to be specific to that segment.
Code Blocks
You can include Code Blocks in your messages to further customize it for recipients based on recipient preferences or location.
In the example below I'll drop the static "Dear" prefix and make it language specific - I'll use the french word "Cher" if the recipient is french, otherwise use "Dear"
1. To add a Code Block place your cursor in an editable field in the body of the message and click Add Code Block.
2. A blue colored block is added, double-click in the block and the Edit Code Block dialog box appears. Insert your code (eg. If Contact.Country == France; then use “Cher”; else use “Dear”)
3. Click OK to apply the code block
Performance
Once you've put your Email Marketing Messages into work (more on that topic in later posts) you can analyze the email marketing performance using a broad range of Performance metrics in Dynamics Marketing:
In the Spring Wave press release June 2nd 2014 Microsoft reinforced that its contractual commitments for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online meet the requirements of the European Union’s “model clauses” (1) and the high standards of European Union (EU) privacy law as acknowledged by the “Article 29 Working Party,” (2) making Microsoft the first — and so far the only — company to receive this recognition.
Notes
Microsoft partners with access to PartnerSource can now make use of the below Learning Plan for the Microsoft Dynamics Marketing integrated marketing management solution.
Learning Plans can help your employees focus on specific goals and access the training they need to gain in-depth product knowledge and obtain certifications for Microsoft Dynamics Marketing applications. By becoming trained and certified in various disciplines, your employees can document their knowledge on Microsoft Dynamics Marketing and showcase their expertise to your customers.
Read more here