Enabling Your Customer Engagement Success

    Review of Microsoft Dynamics Marketing 19.6

    The following features were introduced in Microsoft Dynamics Marketing 2016 Update 0.6 (version 19.6x) in mid-September 2016.

     

    1: Create smarter automated Campaigns with link-specific on-click triggers

    2: Create custom Landing Page links that pass default values to visible landing page fields

    3: Expanded support for date/time arithmetic in query criteria

    4: Expanded OData field for Purchase Order Items

    5: New SDK method for fetching category Values

     

    The original Microsoft notes are in Black, with additional Vepro comments and screen samples in Green text.

     

    1: Create smarter automated campaigns with link-specific on-click triggers

    Marketing email messages often include several different links, each associated with a different product, event, offer, service, or other resource. Previously, Dynamics Marketing treated all clicks equally, as a sign that a contact was showing general interest in the message content. But now you can fine-tune the trigger logic in your automated campaigns so that they can react differently to each link click.

     

    The example Campaign Workflow below shows how to track contacts who click various links in the email.  MDM Version 19.6 introduces more granular properties for links in Emails, so that you can work more effectively with the different Calls to Action from an Email, such as:

     

    • Offers
    • Hyperlinks to Websites
    • Hyperlinks to files for downloading 

     

    1.1: Sample Campaign Workflow

    In the Campaign Automation workflow, create your Email and add your hyperlinks in the usual way.

     

    1.2: Activate the Email

    It is important to prepare your email with all required links fully, before adding the new Email Link Triggers. In order to apply the new Trigger properties all the links must be applied, including Subscription Centres, Offers etc. and the email must be activated.

     

    1.3: Add the Trigger panel to create the Link based workflow

    The Trigger pane will be labelled Email Link Clicked

    Click the Trigger Properties menu.

    1.4: Trigger Properties 

    Notice at the foot of the Trigger Properties menu is a new Cog wheel icon.

    Click the Cog wheel icon.

    Be careful, as it is quite easy to miss this icon.

    1.5: Email Links

    A list of all the links in the Email is then displayed in the Select Links panel, including the Subscription Centre, Forward to a Friend, Offers, a Landing Page as well as the Hyperlinks that you have added.

    1.6: Select the Link

    You select one or more Links to create the workflow.

    In this case you can collect a list of all Contacts who have clicked on your website link.

    2: Create custom links that pass default values to visible landing page fields

    You can now construct custom links that include pre-defined values to be used as defaults on your landing-page forms. To do so, append the appropriate key/value pairs to the end of the standard landing-page URL, using the form-field names as keys. You can only pass values to visible fields (not to hidden fields).

     

    You might use this feature to pass product names, offer codes, or other non-personal information to a landing page, making the page easier for contacts to use. You could also use it to design a single landing page that supports many different products or brands.

     

    2.1 Sample Landing Page iFrame address

    In summary, the new custom Landing Page links described above must be added to the email text area wrapped in some HTML Razer code.

     

    2.2 Prefilled fields

    First decide which fields that you want to prefill in the Landing Page.

    For example, if you want to prefill the First name and Last name of the Contact to the Landing Page you add the following syntax to the iFrame address.

     

    &First%20Name=@Contact.FirstName&Last%20Name=@Contact.LastName

     

    2.3 Add the Prefilled fields to the iFrame URL

    Append the prefilled fields to the iFrame URL:

     

    https://veprodemo01.marketing.dynamics.com/LeadManagement/MaintainLeadForm.aspx?SOURCEKEYOID=100845&LANGUAGECODE=en-US&First%20Name=@Contact.FirstName&Last%20Name=@Contact.LastName

     

    2.4 Wrap some HTML code around the extended URL address, as follows:

    You cannot add the above address to Landing Page URL Hyper link field on the email. You need another step.

    You must wrap some HTL razer code around the modified Landing Page URL as follows:

     

    <a title="Register here"
    href=
    "
    https://veprodemo01.marketing.dynamics.com/LeadManagement/MaintainLeadForm.aspx?SOURCEKEYOID=100845&LANGUAGECODE=en-US&First%20Name=@Contact.FirstName&Last%20Name=@Contact.LastName">Register here</a>

     

    Notice the new Landing Page label “Register here”

     

    2.5 Add the new Landing Page link to the email.

    You must now add this HTML code to the Text pane in the Email editor. In this example the new HTML code has been added underneath the red heading Special Landing Page Connection.

    Remember to delete the regular Landing Page links that you may have added.

     

    2.6 Send the Email

    The Email is then sent.

    The Email receiver can see the new Landing Page link at the foot of the email 

    “Register here”

    2.7 Check the Landing page link at the foot of the Email

    Also note that if you hover your mouse over the “Register here” Landing Page link you will see the First Name and Last Name in the address at the foot of the page. These are the two fields that will pre-fill the Landing Page.

    2.8 Click the “Register here” link to see the Landing Page.

    Notice two things:

    • The First Name and Last Name fields have been pre-filled in the Landing Page
    • The First Name and Last Name appear in the URL address at the top of the screen

    2.9 Warning

    When you use this technique, the key/value pairs are exposed as plain text on the Internet. Never pass financial or personally identifiable information (PII), such as name, phone number, physical address, or email address, using this technique. One place where you can find out more about PII is on Wikipedia.

     

    The VEPRO CE Tools can be used to hide visible the pre-filled fields in the web address

     

    3: Expanded support for date/time arithmetic in Marketing Query criteria

    This update further expands your ability to create dynamic marketing lists (queries) that include date/time arithmetic and inequalities among their selection criteria. These capabilities give you even more ways to design automated campaigns and define your target groups.

    The existing date-part placeholders (TodayDay, TodayMonth, TodayYear, and TodayDayMonth) all now support inequality operators (such as less-than or greater-than) in addition to the equal-to operator. They also now support all integers for arithmetic operations (previous versions only allow you to increment or decrement by one); the unit is always the same as the placeholder. So if today is July 19, 2016, then TodayDay+1 is the 20th of any month, while TodayMonth-6 is all of January of any year.

     

    We also introduce two new specified-date-part placeholders: MONTH(n) and YEAR(n). These let you identify a specific month or year using an integer. For example, use MONTH(3) to find any day in March of any year, or YEAR(1999) to find any day in 1999. These two placeholders do not support arithmetic operations (such as MONTH(4)-1). 

     

    You can also use MONTH or YEAR alone (or MONTH(TODAY) and YEAR(TODAY), which are equivalent) to find values that match the month or year in which the query runs (similar to TodayMonth and TodayYear, but without support for arithmetic)

     

    3.1 Sample Marketing Query using Today(Month) Calculations

    The following simple Query shows how the new operators can be used.

    The Query aims to list Contacts with a Contract expiry date for the next three months.

     

    We have used two operators:

    • All Contacts with a Contract Expiry date greater than or equal to of TodayMonth+1, (i.e. next month).
    • All Contacts with a Contract Expiry date less than or equal to TodayMonth+3

     

    4: Expanded OData feed for Purchase Order items

    The OData feed for purchase order items now provides values for the expensed amount and the balance of cost versus expenses. These fields help to identify purchase order items that have not been expensed or are only partially expensed. 

     

    In Power BI you can aggregate these values on the purchase-order level, identify orders that are not fully expensed, and drill down to the relevant order items.

     

    4.1 Sample Purchase Order Table field list

    There is a new field in the OData Purchase Order Items table called Balance now visible in Power BI.

    This field shows the outstanding balance on a sample Purchase Order. 

    When an Expense is posted to an Order the Purchase Order will not be closed leaving an outstanding balance on the Order.

     

    4.2 Sample MDM Purchase Order with an Expense balance

    This is a sample Purchase Order, showing PO 100113.

    The Original Order for £10000

    Partial expense of £5000

    The Balance showing as £5000

    4.3 OData tables in Power BI

    In Power BI you add the Balance field from the OData Purchase Order Items table

     

     

    5: New SDK method for fetching category values

    Fetch category values and IDs so your SDK-based solutions can create drop-down lists and submit valid values.

     

    Feedback / Questions

    If you have any feedback or questions related to this post please add them below and we'll be sure to respond.

    If you would prefer to keep your feedback or questions private please contact us via our Contact Page.

    Write a comment

    Comments: 0