> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/products/crm-automation/event-driven-journey.md).
# Event Driven Journey
Smartico Journey Builder is a campaign planning tool that enables you to design and automate campaigns that guide users through their journey with a brand. Its foundation is the journey, which is the communication plan you design.
Canvas activities tell the Journey Builder who to communicate with and direct the population in the journey. The journey then continually evaluates the population to determine when to move them to the next activity.
{% hint style="success" %}
Learn more about [Campaigns](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/products/crm-automation/create-journey-flow)
{% endhint %}
Execute simple or multi-step marketing and data management activities on an immediate, triggered, or scheduled basis.
To decide between a campaign and a rule-based automation, see [Campaigns vs Automation Rules](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/products/crm-automation/campaigns-vs-automation-rules).
Create a Journey
### **Journey Definitions**
1. Choose a **name for your Journey**
2. Select **campaign status**
3. Choose [Entry Mode](#campaign-entry-mode) for the campaign
4. Select **campaign category**\
Each campaign category could have different sets of User & Global CAPs. Meaning you can limit communications on all channels based on the category of the campaign.
* Marketing campaign – Is counted in the global Analytical reports, to measure Entrance & Conversion KPIs
* Operation campaigns – are not included in Analytical reports, statistics can still be seen in the “Analytics” section of the campaign
5. Set **Control Group (%)**\
An important element for the proper evaluation of the campaign performance. Smartico will keep the specified % of the users outside of the Journey and will measure how they are achieving ‘Conversion Rule’ in the specified period of the Campaign duration i.e Conversion rule is “deposit approved”, will count how many users within the journey deposited during the period of the campaign compared to the ones who entered the CG without going through the engagements of the campaign
6. **Sticky Control Group**\
Provides the possibility to fix the behaviour of the Control Group per user.
When enabled, users who entered the Control Group of this campaign will always be in the Control Group if they enter this campaign again.
When disabled, the decision to enter the Control Group will be made again whenever the user is about to enter the campaign.
In the Back-Office the Control Group is configured with the “Set control group” switch and a percentage between 0 and 100; the Sticky Control Group option is called “Keep user in control group on re-enter” and appears only when the percentage is above 0. Users in the Control Group enter the journey but receive none of its communications, rewards or actions.
When Sticky Control Group is enabled, a user who has already gone through the campaign outside the Control Group is not moved into the Control Group on a later entry either: only a user who was previously in the Control Group stays in it, and a user who never entered before is assigned by the percentage.
7. Set **activity period**\
You can restrict the campaign to run only during a specific date range and include only specific days of the week.\
E.g., A campaign triggered by a deposit, but only if the trigger happens between 10:00 to 13:00 on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.\
You can limit the period of your campaign activity by specifying from and up to dates. it’s possible to set a campaign:
* Starting from a specific time but without an end date
* Finishing on a specific date, but without a start date, so it will be active immediately
* Setting a specific date period
* Leaving both fields empty, so it will run until explicitly stopped
* Restrict the activity period to specific weekdays or days of the month (e.g., a Happy Monday campaign for the entire month of April, active only on Mondays)
In the Back-Office, choose **Time period + Weekdays** or **Days of month** in the **Activity period** field.
Advanced Settings of a campaign: 1 — Activity period; 2 — Active hours within the day, in System time (UTC) or User time zone; 3 — Set control group; 4 — Keep user in control group on re-enter
### Max. campaign duration and active hours
**Max. campaign duration** is the longest time a user stays in the journey after entering it. The default is 24 hours and the maximum is 30 days; a longer value is rejected with “Campaign duration limit is 30 days”. When the duration ends the user leaves the journey, which also lets him enter again under the “Once during open journey” entry mode.
For real-time campaigns the Advanced Settings also contain **Active hours within the day**: enable it, pick a time range and choose **System time (UTC)** or **User time zone**. This is what you use for an example like “only between 10:00 and 13:00”.
### Conditions to enter the Journey
1. Set **Entry Trigger**\
The entry trigger can be any event defined in the system:
* Deposit approved
* User Login
* User Logout
* Sport Bet
* Casino Bet
* Mission completed
* Level completed
* Etc
2. Select the **Segment** you target to the campaign. For example;
* All VIP Bronze customers
* All customers with deposit count > 1
* Customers from Canada
* Players with favorite team Manchester United
* etc
You can configure additional conditions that will be combined with Segment to build an audience.
Segments and additional conditions are evaluated after the trigger event occurs, not beforehand, so a user is checked against them at the moment of the event. For real-time campaigns the additional conditions can use the properties of the trigger event itself.
### Campaign Entry Mode
The campaign entry mode can be one of the following sets the rule for the user to enter the campaign when and if he meets the conditions of the campaign (within the chosen population and based on the event that he triggered, or was triggered on him)
A campaign entry mode can be one of the following:
**Once during open journey**
If the user is inside an active journey, he will not be able to re-enter the same journey even if the entry conditions are met again; once the user has left the journey (finished it, been stopped, or reached the maximum campaign duration) he can enter again
{% hint style="info" %}
Example:\
Show a popup to any user that logs in but limiting the communication to 1 time per day.\
Trigger of campaign -> Login\
Campaign duration -> 1 day\
The user will login, will see the popup, and remain in the campaign for 1 day, if the user will login again in the same day, he will not re-enter the campaign (and will not see the popup again)
{% endhint %}
#### **Once in a lifetime of a user**
The user can enter this Journey one time only, this is the case in campaigns such as Registration Flow, 2nd Deposit Flow etc.
{% hint style="info" %}
Example:\
Upon a user that makes his 2nd deposit, he will enter the campaign, and will receive a second deposit offer, but will not re-enter the campaign ever again.
{% endhint %}
#### **Every time conditions are met**
The user will enter the Journey every time when the conditions to start the campaign are met and the user fits to the segment, even if he is actively engaged in the campaign and the campaign is not over yet for him. Essentially the user can be in parallel instances of the same campaign being in different stages of it.
{% hint style="info" %}
Example:\
Send an SMS after every deposit.\
The Journey duration can last for 1 second, 1 minute, 1 hour or 1 day, and include a more complicated set of actions, but every time the user will make a deposit, he will re-enter the Journey while still having another "parallel instance" of the same Journey.
{% endhint %}
#### **Stop and Start**
The user will enter the journey every time the conditions to start the journey are met. If during progressing in the journey the same entry conditions met again the user will restart the journey while the previous instance will be terminated.
### Availability, default and entry limit
The default entry mode of a new campaign is “Once during open journey”. “Every time conditions are met, run few at the same time” is available for real-time (event-triggered) campaigns only; scheduled campaigns offer “Once during open journey”, “Once in a lifetime of a user” and “Stop and Start”.
If the “Maximum number of entries per user” option is enabled for your label (ask your Smartico contact), real-time campaigns whose entry mode is not “Once in a lifetime of a user” also let you cap how many times one user can enter, from 1 to 10,000, counted over the lifetime or over a number of days.
See “[*Segments*](https://help.smartico.ai/welcome/products/crm-automation/segmentation)” for more information about populations.
### FAQ
**Can a user enter the journey again if the entry mode is “Once during open journey”?**
Yes, but only after he has left it. While the user is still inside the journey (it has not finished for him), a new trigger is ignored. Once he finishes the flow, is stopped by a stop rule, or reaches the Max. campaign duration, the next trigger that matches the segment lets him enter again. Use “Once in a lifetime of a user” if he must never re-enter, and set a short Max. campaign duration if you want to limit entries to, for example, once per day.
**Why did a user who matches the segment not enter the journey?**
Check, in this order: (1) the campaign status is Active and the event happened inside the Activity period and Active hours; (2) with “Once during open journey” or “Once in a lifetime of a user”, the user is not already inside the journey or, for lifetime mode, has never entered it before; (3) the user was not placed in the Control Group, where he enters but receives no communications; (4) the segment and additional conditions were true at the moment of the trigger event, because they are evaluated after the event; (5) the “Maximum number of entries per user” limit, if used, has not been reached.
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