'Wait' flow steps in engagement program stream transition rules

[tomh2]

Hello, let's say I have an engagement program with 2 streams (actual program is much more complex). 

I am using a smart campaign to add leads to the program, via either stream 1 or 2 depending on certain filters.

I am using transition rules to manage the flow from stream 1 to stream 2 with a wait step of 11 days as follows:

Stream 1
Content: EDM1

Stream 2
Content: EDM2
Transition rule: 
Smart list: EDM 1 is delivered; Member of Engagement Program Stream is not Stream 2
Flow: Wait 11 days; Change engagement program stream -> New stream: Stream 2

My question is:
1) will the flow step in the transition rule above (i.e 'wait 11 days') work?
2) will the 'wait' flow step also apply to leads added directly to stream 2 via smart campaign?

I have seen people say you should use smart campaigns to pause people's cadence instead of using 'wait' flow steps in transition rules, but why? I am aiming to have as few smart campaigns as possible given the complexity of the program I'm building.

[mktouser1]

Best practice would definitely be to manage this in external smart campaigns, rather than using transition rules. This makes the transitions easier to configure, more clear, and allows you to track transitions via campaign membership. 

I would assume (you should test) that unless you pause someone during the transition they'll continue to receive casts from whichever stream they're a member of while in the wait step. This is best managed in external campaigns. 

[uditmathur]

Hi @tomh2 ,

All though i have never used such approach & in general wait step is not used in transition rules, BUT logically speaking since Transition rules are designed to PULL leads in your approach will work as long as you keep the wait step BEFORE the "Change engagement program stream".

But the issue here would be since the Lead is still in Stream 1, they will continue to receive the content from this stream & i am not sure if that's what your use case will permit.

So as a best practice you should use a separate Smart Campaign to transition leads within streams. 

I will also like to advice you AGAINST using of Email delivered, sent, opened to use as a criteria to transition leads as these are not definite action & not necessarily define lead interest.

Hope this helps   👍

[Aashish · Accepted solution]

Hi @tomh2 

I have tested this using test engagement program where i was pulling leads from stream1 to stream2 using transition rule email is delivered. So answer of your question is:

1) will the flow step in the transition rule above (i.e 'wait 11 days') work?

Yes, it will work.

2) will the 'wait' flow step also apply to leads added directly to stream 2 via smart campaign?

NO, it will not apply.

Take care of followings:

1) Wait time must end before second stream cast.

2) As @uditmathur suggested keep the wait step before the Change Engagement Program Stream.