Knowing how to use correctly dates in filters unlocks many scenario possibilities for your marketing campaigns. See below the main aspects you should take into account when building your filters.
Openings: In this article, we are showing examples of filters using email openings. Please note that this metric is impacted by the Apple Mail Privacy protection.
Using the correct date format
Keep in mind two aspects when you wish to segment using a date:
- If you are comparing dates (for instance, emails opened within X and Y), use the YYYY-MM-DD date format.
- If you are using dates from your database (eg, birthday segment), input the exact same date format as your database. For instance, if your birthday fields were input as DD-MM-YY, you need to use the same format (ex: 15-12-83, not 83-12-15). This is important if you’re planning to use the date variables.
Using date variables
When using conditions on dates, you can use variables to dynamically select the current day’s date, as used in the birthday filter example below.
- $day$ => current day
- $month$ => current month
- $year$ => current year
Remember that, for custom database fields, you need to use the exact format you entered. If your database dates use the format DD-MM-YYYY and want to use the variables, enter --. If you use the format YYYY/MM/DD, use //.
Filtering on a single list
Contacts in Splio are subscribed to lists you can use to filter them. To do so, use the "Memberships" condition from the criteria panel, as in the image below.
Lists can be accessed through DATA > Lists.
Rolling periods
You can send automatic emails aimed at specific filters based when a specific event occurred in the past or in the future (the choice depends on the event).
This may be useful when creating reminders or reactivation campaigns.
You can also refer to a future period. You will find these options in Loyalty conditions when dealing with card expiration dates for example.
Date ranges
For all types of events, Splio allows you to select a time range.
If you need to find all contacts who clicked on a link when the promotional offer was in force, you can use the following condition using two fixed dates:
Alternatively, if for an instance you need to send a survey to everybody between 30 and 60 days ago since they signed up for your newsletter, you may find the following condition interesting:
Summary of most used filters in marketing use cases
1. The Welcome campaign filter
New Filter > Contact filter > Individual > Creation date
You can filter your contacts according to the date when they entered the database.
- "Event fixed date" allows you to select any specific day as the point of reference, whereas with
- "Event rolling date" you can set a date relative to the time of calculation.
The welcome filter is always built on the contact’s table and linked to a trigger scenario.
2. The Birthday campaign filter
- New filter > Contact filter > Birthdate > Next event anniversary
Use this operator to match contacts at a specific time (in days, months etc.) before their birthday for example. - Alternatively, if you wish to target those contacts whose birthday happens within the current month or in a specific month of the year, make sure to follow the below structures when creating your target.
This option works only if the "birthday" field has been set up as a string format.
For birthday during the current month:
For birthday during the current month:
The number corresponds to the month in the year so for birthdates contains -01-: (you're targeting January birthday), birthdate contains -02-: (for February) birthdate contains -03-: (for March)....and so on until birthdate contains -12-: (for December)
The birthday filter is always built on the contact’s table and linked to an auto scenario.
3. The Ramp-up campaign filters
a) New filter > Contact filter > Custom field
If you are migrating the data from your previous CRM, you will more likely rely on a custom field, “deliverability” or other, to save the history of your contacts before Splio.
In the above example, using “deliverability” to distinguish previous inactive (ina) contacts.
b) New filter > Contact filter > Sort the results by [field] [ordering] & limit the number of results to [X]
You can build your filter mixing different criteria of activity (emails received, opening or both) while using the option of limiting the number of users in the top sort bar. That’s an alternative way to handle the ramp up instead of using the standard split targeting option in a manual campaign. You can also enter the campaign category to narrow down the criteria of your filter.
In the above example, sorting your contacts who received and opened more than 12 emails in the last 3 months according to criterium “date of creation in DB”, descending order and limiting the number to 1000 contacts.
c) New filter > Contact filter > Number of emails opening (“sort the results by” optional)
During your ramp-up phase, you may need to build a filter returning a high volume of contacts that you’ll use as population for your split sending. Again, you can narrow your search by entering a campaign category or adding the sorting option to limit the size.
In the above example, using “number of emails opening” > 0 more than 3 months ago.
The ramp-up filters are always built on the contact’s table and are usually linked to a manual campaign (split targeting option).
4. The Reactivation campaign filters
a) New filter > Contact filter > Some time ago
Use “X days ago” to retrieve the inactive contacts on a punctual day in the past
In the above example, retrieving the contacts who opened and clicked exactly 180 days ago.
b) New filter > Contact filter > Number of emails received AND opening (sort by optional)
In the above example, retrieving the contacts who received more than 12 emails without opening in the past 3 months (enabled sorting by option)
The ramp-up filters are always built on the contact’s table and are usually linked to an auto campaign (preferred option), trigger or manual through split sending.
5. The Loyalty points expiration filter
New filter > Contact filter > Q / NQ points expiration date
In the above example retrieving all loyalty members opt-in to a program owning Q points expiring in 7 days.
The loyalty points expiration filters are always built on the contact’s table and linked to a trigger scenario.
6. The Post-Purchase campaign filter
New filter > Receipt filter > Date of creation
In the example, returning all receipts being generated in the past 30 minutes (API sync).
The post purchase filter shall be always built only on the sales table (receipt) and linked to a trigger scenario.
7. The Abandoned Cart campaign filter
New filter > Abandoned cart filter as inclusion > Date of creation
New filter > Receipt filter as exclusion > Date of creation
For this type of campaign we will include all abandoned carts being generated in the last 30 minutes and exclude the receipts generated in the last 30 minutes. This inclusion and exclusion will take place in the scenario setup.
The standard abandoned cart and receipt filters shall be built only on the sales table (abandoned cart and receipt) and linked to a trigger scenario.
8. The MW Pass Holders campaign filters
a) New filter > Contact filter > Mobile Wallet Pass Registration State “empty” | opt-in to a loyalty program
If you are subscribed to a loyalty program but have not yet added the Pass, you can incentivize Pass adoption by sending a dedicated newsletter.
In the above example, the filter will retrieve all loyalty members who have not added the Pass yet (MW Pass Registration State is empty).
b) New filter > Contact filter > Mobile Wallet Pass Registration State “empty” | custom field
If you are running a loyalty program outside of Splio, it is likely that you are synchronizing the card code of your members by using a custom field of the contact table.
In the above example, the filter will retrieve all loyalty members outside of Splio (custom field of the card code not empty) who have not added the Pass yet (MW Pass Registration State is empty).
c) New filter > Contact filter > Mobile Wallet Pass Registration State “unregistered” | custom field
Your customers may also have added the Pass at some point and then deleted it. You still have the possibility to retrieve this population through a filter for example to send a survey to get feedback and incentivize them in coming back.
In the above example, the filter will retrieve all contacts who added the Pass a while ago but deleted it at a later stage (MW Pass Registration State is unregistered).
The MW Pass Holders filter shall be built on the contact table and linked to a trigger scenario (preferred option) or a follow-up to automatic or manual campaign (doable option).