Overview
Upon launching a Campaign, a Job is initiated. A Campaign is a set of instructions and configurations, while a Job is an individual instance of those configurations sent to the Cloud environment. There are multiple steps that occur after launching a Job. Depending on the various configurations of the Campaigns, many different things can happen within the Job Launching Process.
This article describes what happens within each step of the Job Launching Process.
Table of Contents
Post-Campaign Trigger (Optional)
Process
The following steps of the Job Launch Process run in the order presented once the Initialization has begun.
Pre-Launch Extraction (Optional)
Pre-Campaign Trigger (Optional)
Supplemental Data Extraction (Optional)
Initialization
If an error occurs during one of the Initialization steps, the Job will be canceled and an email will be sent to the Notification Email address of the Campaign.
Pre-Launch Extraction (Optional)
Advanced options are available when scheduling a Job to run automatically. One of these options allows for the extraction of Audience data prior to the Job actually launching.
Depending on the configuration of the Pre-Launch Extraction, this process can begin at various times before the scheduled launch of the Job.
If the SQL statement within the Audience is unable to run successfully, the job will fail and an email is sent to the Notification Email of the Campaign.
Pre-Campaign Trigger (Optional)
Campaign Triggers are available in two methods. The Pre-Campaign Trigger is a (set of) SQL statement(s) that is configured to run during the Initialization stage of the Job Launch Process. The Post-Campaign Trigger is a (set of) SQL statement(s) that is configured to run during the Processing stage of the Job Launch Process.
If Pre-Launch Extraction is being used, the Pre-Campaign Trigger will also run at the specified number of hours before the job launch, and then recipient extraction will begin immediately afterward.
Campaign Triggers are configured within the Admin section of Accelerator.
If the SQL cannot be parsed correctly, has a syntax issue, or a connection cannot be established with the data source, then this will cause the Job Launch Process to fail.
Audience Data Extraction
The Audience Data Extraction step is when the SQL query for the Audience is run against the data source. Depending on the amount of data returned by the Audience query, this step can take a longer amount of time.
If the query has not completed by the time of the scheduled job launch, Accelerator will wait until the extraction is complete, and then it will launch the job immediately. However, if the SQL cannot be parsed correctly, has a syntax issue, or a connection cannot be established with the data source, then this will cause the Job Launch Process to fail.
Supplemental Data Extraction (Optional)
If the Template of the Campaign uses Supplemental Data (formerly called Context Data), then this is the step where the SQL statement of the Supplemental Data runs. The same rules apply to Supplemental Data as with Audience Data. Depending on the amount of data returned by the Audience query, this step can take a longer amount of time.
If the SQL cannot be parsed correctly, has a syntax issue, or a connection cannot be established with the data source, then this will cause the Job Launch Process to fail.
Rendering Confirmation
After Audience Data and Supplemental Data has been extracted, the first record returned from the Audience is used to attempt a preview of the Template. If the Template is unable to render successfully, then the Job Launch Process will fail.
Job Submission
The final step of the Initialization is sending the Job details to the Cloud environment. Once the Job is sent to the Cloud environment, the Job enters a Processing state. This is also when a Job receives a RequestId, which is useful for reporting purposes and working with MessageGears Support.
Processing State
Once the Job has begun a Processing state, it will then attempt to send contacts. If a Job fails at this point, then contacts are still sent and analytics are still returned, but any other processes will not run. For example, if Audience Recording fails, then the Post-Campaign Triggers will not run.
Audience Recording (Optional)
Audience Recording is a way to optionally record / store your final audience back into your data warehouse, which will include any labels applied during the Blueprint process. If using Audience Recording, the data is processed and collected. If there are any issues with connecting to database, or with the Audience Recording setup the Job will be marked as failed.
Post-Campaign Trigger (Optional)
If a Post-Campaign Trigger is set up for the Campaign, this is the step where the Post-Campaign Trigger SQL runs. If the SQL is unable to run successfully or there are issues connecting to the data sources, then the process will fail.
Collecting
As results are returned (delivery, opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, complaints), the Job is in the Collecting state. This Job will stay in the Collecting state for 30 days. During this time, these statistics will continue to update.
Completed
After 30 days in the Collecting state, the Job enters a Completed state. A Job in the Completed state no longer updates deliveries, opens, clicks, or bounces. Any unsubscribes or spam complaints will continue to update.
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