Exercise - Create a customer journey
To put your Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys knowledge into action, we have provided you with a scenario to create and go live with a simple customer journey. The four parts to this scenario include creating sample contacts, building a segment, designing an email, and setting up a journey to send the email to the specified segment.
The purpose of this hands-on exercise is to introduce you to some of the core marketing features of Dynamics 365.
Learning objectives
At the end of these exercises, you'll be able to:
Create contacts.
Create a segment.
Create a marketing email.
Create a customer journey.
Overview
Contoso Coffee wants to target contacts who live in New York with a simple email campaign.
Your first task is to create sample contacts. Then, you will build a segment by pulling in specific contacts from New York, create an email, and then set up a customer journey to send an email to the contacts that are specified in the segment.
Create contacts
Open the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys app.
Navigate to the Outbound marketing work area.
Go to Customers > Contacts.
Select + New from the command bar.
Fill out the First Name, Last Name, and Email fields with your name and email. In the Address 1: State/Province field, enter New York. Select Save & Close.
Create a second contact. Enter sample data for the First Name, Last Name, and Email fields. In the Address 1: State/Province field, enter New York. Select Save & Close. (We suggest using a different email address for each contact.)
Create a third contact. Enter sample data for the First Name, Last Name, and Email fields. In the Address 1: State/Province field, enter New York. Select Save & Close.
Create a segment
Open the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys app.
Navigate to the Outbound marketing work area.
Go to Customers > Segments.
Select + New from the command bar.
Select + New Dynamic Segment from the command bar.
The Segment Templates dialog box opens; select Skip to close it and continue to the New Segment screen.
Name the segment New York Contacts.
On the Definition tab, select Add query block to create a query against the contact entity. You can see the entity being queried by checking the value shown on the drop-down list at the top of the query block. By default, the new query block creates a Contact based query with a new row. Your segment currently includes no filters (clause rows), which means it will find all the contacts in your database. But you only want to find the new test contacts that you just created.
Select the Select attribute drop-down list.
Select Address 1: State/Province.
Change Equals to Contains.
Where it says Enter text, enter New York.
Select Save and then select Check for errors. Correct any errors, if needed.
Select Go live.
Select Refresh.
You should now see a Members tab. Verify that the three contacts that you created are listed as members.
Note
If you don't see the Members tab yet, give the system some time to refresh. You might also see additional contacts listed on this tab, depending on the data that was already set up in your system. If you don't see the three contacts that you created, return to the Contacts area and verify that New York is listed in the Address 1: State/Province for each contact, and then double-check that it's the field that is being pulled into your segment.
Create an email
Open the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys app.
Navigate to the Outbound marketing work area.
Go to Marketing execution > Marketing emails.
Select + New from the command bar.
From the template gallery, click Skip to start from scratch.
In the top left, enter Embrace Your Coffee Passion in the Name field.
Select Save.
In the Subject line field, enter Embrace your coffee passion.
In the Preheader field, enter Start your day with Contoso Coffee.
Update the general styles of the email.
From the Toolbox, navigate to the General styles tab.
Change the Font family to Segoe UI.
Change the Body text size to 18px.
Change the Body text color to #404040.
Upload a logo.
From the Toolbox, select the Elements tab. Drag and drop an image element into the first section on the designer.
On the right, click Choose an image then select Browse library.
Click + Upload. Drag a sample logo image onto the Upload files dialog box and then select Upload. When the image is done uploading, select Done.
Select the image and click Select.
On the right, add Alt text (for the logo).
In the Link to field, select URL and add a link of your choice.
Expand the Size and alignment and Spacing sections and use the tools provided to make any further modifications to the logo (sizing, padding, and so on.)
Add a hero image.
From the Toolbox, drag and drop a one column section below the section with the logo image.
Select the column within the section. Expand the Spacing section and change all spacing to 0px.
Select the section. Expand the Spacing section and change all spacing to 0px.
From the Toolbox, drag and drop an image element into this new section.
On the right, select Choose an image, then select Browse library.
Select + Upload. Drag a sample hero image onto the Upload files dialog box and then select Upload. When the image is done uploading, select Done.
Select the image and click Select.
On the right, add Alt text.
Add copy.
From the Toolbox, drag and drop a one column section below the section with the hero image.
From the Toolbox, drag and drop a text element below the logo image.
Change the Outer spacing to 30px.
Add copy:
Good morning FirstName,
We all know mornings can drag, and sometimes the standard morning beverage just isn’t enough to see you through those early hours. Propel yourself through the morning commute, with our new dark brewed enriched higher-caffeine blend.
Add dynamic content.
In the textbox, select FirstName.
Click Personalization in the text toolbar.
In the Content assist dialog box, select Dynamic content then select the following:
Select entity: Contact
Select relationship: No relationship
Select field: First name
Click Insert.
FirstName will be replaced with {{contact.firstname}}. When the email is sent to its intended recipients, {{contact.firstname}} will be replaced with the contact’s first name.
Add a button.
From the Toolbox, drag and drop a button element below the text.
In the Link to field, select URL and add a link of your choice.
Change the Button text to View our blend selection.
Change the Font to Segoe UI.
Change the Button color to #404040.
Expand the Size and alignment and Spacing sections and use the tools provided to make any further modifications to the logo (sizing, padding, and so on.)
Make any additional changes as desired.
Save your changes.
Check for errors. Correct any errors as needed.
Click Preview and test then preview the email on your desktop, tablet, and mobile device.
Select Test send.
Enter your email address. Change the Test contact to any of the contacts that you created earlier.
Select Test send.
Navigate to your inbox. Verify that you receive the email. Review the content. (This email might end up in your spam folder, so be sure to check that folder as well.)
Return to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys and open the email. Select Go live on the command bar.
Create a customer journey
Open the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys app.
Navigate to the Outbound marketing work area.
Go to Marketing execution > Customer journey.
Select + New from the command bar.
From the template gallery, select Simple Email Journey.
Click Select.
In the header section, click the drop-down arrow to expose and edit the details about the journey. Update the following information:
Name - Nurture Journey
Start Date - Select today, 15 minutes from now
Is recurring - No
Save your changes.
Define the audience for the journey.
An audience tile was already added from the template. Select Set audience.
The Audience properties pane will appear on the right side of the page.
In the segment lookup field, search for the segment that you created earlier; New York Contacts. Remember this segment must be in live status to show up in the search, so if you don't see your segment, you might need to go back to the segments area and publish the segment.
After you select your segment, the first tile populates with the segment name and the Audience pane displays the segment properties, such as Content count.
Add the email that is to be sent through the journey.
A choose an email tile was already added from the template. Select it.
In the Email lookup field, search for the email that you created earlier.
After you select the email, the email tile populates with the email name and the Send an email pane displays the email properties.
Go to the General tab.
Ensure that Target is set to Contact.
Change the end date to two days from today.
Change to your local time zone.
Select Save.
Select Check for errors and correct any if needed.
Select Go live.
When the start date/time for the journey is reached, you'll receive the email. Navigate to your inbox and open the email. (This email might end up in your spam folder, so be sure to check that folder as well.) Click a few links within the email.
Return to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys and open your customer journey.
Click the audience tile. Review the KPIs on the right.
Click the email tile. Review the KPIs on the right.
Click the name of the email to open the email. Navigate to the Insights tab. Review the various insights generated from your email.