Sending multiple emails w/ wait steps using nested Default Programs inside Engagement Program?

[cwillmschen]

Hi! I have a client asking for a drip campaign with an irregular cadence. There are 4 different flows that users will fall into in real time based on their answers to a Health Assessment, and each flow has a different set of emails with unique wait steps.

What would be the best setup for this? I was thinking an Engagement Program with Streams set up for each of the 4 user flows. Then each Stream would have a nested Default Program with a Smart Campaign to send EM1, Wait 7 days, send EM2, Wait 30 days, send EM3, etc... People would be sorted into the appropriate Stream via Smart Campaign, and each Stream would be set to cast daily.

Would this work? I haven't seen any info (after some extensive searching) on whether there are any issues with sending multiple emails through a nested Default Program within an Engagement Program. Any pitfalls or other ideas here? Anything will help!

[Balkar_Singh]

I don't think you need to forcefully build this in an engagement program - why not build separate sequences and then request those sequences (smart campaigns) with specific flows from an entry smart campaign?

[cwillmschen]

That was my other thought. How would scheduling work in this type of program since we want it to pull people into each flow everyday? I'm not keen to use a trigger since we don't know what time the Health Assessment data will sync into Marketo. I'd rather use a recurring batch campaign that sends people into each flow at the same time everyday (ie. 11am). Do you foresee any issues with that kind of setup?

[Michael_Florin]

I think this works fine within the confines of an Engagement Program. It has been described here in this community quite often under "variable cadence" or "flexible cadence" IIRC. 

But you should not use Smart Campaigns that have Wait Steps between email sends, instead these wait steps should be around cadence changes from Paused to Normal. I've tried to describe that more in detail here:

https://marketomagic.blogspot.com/2022/10/engagement-program-with-variable-cadence.html

Oh and yes: Recurring batches to add people to Engagement Programs is a very good idea. Let these run an hour or two before your stream fires and you're golden.

[DeniseGreenberg]

Hi @Michael_Florin - I have a similar situation.  Only I was planning to use the smart campaign in a nested Email program ONLY to send one email - preceded by a wait step so as to achieve the variable interval between send. E.g.:

Smart List

Member of Engagement Program is True

Flow

Wait 7 Days

Send Email

[Michael_Florin]

Hi Denise - but don't you run into a scenario then where the wait collides with the next cast from the Engagement Program?

I have the feeling that pausing/un-pausing a person in a program is a more reliable setup.

[Balkar_Singh]

I don't see any issues in this setup. Recurring campaigns should work pretty seamlessly.