The following three branching best practice examples will show you how to build "if/else" logic into your journeys to send more targeted messages based on customer browsing behavior and shopping history.
You should know
To make it easier to distinguish between message types in reporting, use the following wait step times for different journey types:
- Cart Abandonment: 1 hour (Mobile)
- Cart Abandonment: 1 hour (Never purchased)
- Post Purchase: 7 days (MMS)
- Post Purchase: 14 days (Frequent Purchaser)
Cart abandonment with branching for cart size
Send a different cart abandonment message to subscribers who've added multiple items to their cart versus those who've added only one item.
- Create a Journey, either from a prebuilt journey or from scratch.
- Add a Branch step. For more, see Add steps to a journey.
- Add a Wait step.
Note: New Carrier guidelines limit the rate of sending cart abandonment reminders to one text per event which must be sent within 48 hours. We recommend sending your cart abandonment message 15-60 minutes after the subscriber abandons. See Carrier guidelines for more details. - Add a Branch that separates customers who've made a purchase since starting the journey from those who haven't. This ensures that subscribers who’ve made a purchase don’t receive any text messages and leave the journey.
- Add another Branch that separates customers who've added to their cart multiple times in the last hour versus those who haven't.
- Trigger: Traveler has added to cart
- Frequency: More than 2 times
- Recency: In the last 1 hour
- Add a Send text message step under each branch to tailor your message:
- Example message to subscribers who added to cart multiple times: “We know you’re eyeing a few items we love! Don’t forget to checkout today.”
- Example message to subscribers who added to cart a single time: “Looks like you left something in your cart. Don’t forget to check it out!”
- Add End journey once the journey is finished.
Cart abandonment with branching for device type
Send a cart abandoner message with a cart link to customers who are on mobile devices and send a cart abandoner message without a cart link to all other devices.
Customers who add to a cart on their desktop may be taken to an empty cart link on their mobile devices, so we recommend including the relevant link for each audience.
- Create a Journey, either from a prebuilt journey or from scratch.
- Add a Branch step. For more, see Add steps to a journey.
- Add a Wait step.
- Carrier guidelines limit the rate of sending cart abandonment reminders to one text per event which must be sent within 48 hours. We recommend sending your cart abandonment message 15-60 minutes after the subscriber abandons. See
- Add a Branch step with the following statements:
- Subscriber has made a purchase at least once since starting the journey.
Note: This step will ensure that customers who've made a purchase since adding to cart won't receive a triggered message.
- Subscriber has made a purchase at least once since starting the journey.
- Add another Branch step underneath the Else branch with the statement:
-
Device Type when traveler that added to cart is Mobile.
Note: Adding this additional branch will allow you to send different messages to customers who've added to cart on a mobile device vs. desktop / other (tablet).
-
Device Type when traveler that added to cart is Mobile.
- Add a Send text message step under the Device Type is Mobile branch and include a product cart link. Including a product cart link will link subscribers back to the product page of the last product your subscriber added to their cart.
To do so:
- Select the Link icon under the message body.
- Type or paste in the URL.
- Add any UTM campaigns, and then select Shorten and Insert URL.
- Select the Link icon under the message body.
- Add a Send text message step under the Else branch and include a link to the homepage or other popular page.
Note: Product cart links won't work on desktop if a subscriber was browsing on a mobile device. - Add End journey once the journey is finished.
Post-purchase with branching for customer frequency
Send different post-purchase messages to subscribers who are first-time customers versus repeat customers.
- Create a Journey, either from a prebuilt journey or from scratch.
- Add a Branch step. For more, see Add steps to a journey.
- Add a Wait step.
- Add a Branch that allows you to send different messages to customers who've made a previous purchase versus those who've never made a purchase.
- Under the Else branch, embed another Branch step with the select the criteria of:
• Trigger: Traveler has made a purchase
• Frequency: Equal to 0 times
• Recency: Over all time - Add a Send text message step under each branch to tailor your message:
- Add End journey once the journey is finished.
• Example message to first time purchasers: “Thanks for being a new customer! Join our referral program by visiting this link”
• Example message to repeat purchasers: “Thanks for being a loyal customer! As a thank you, here’s 10% off your next order!
Add branches to send different subsequent messages to new vs. returning subscribers
Send different messages to subscribers who’ve signed up for the first time versus returning subscribers who’ve signed up at least once before. This scenario is most common in welcome journeys, but you can add these branches to other kinds of journeys, too.
- Click the dot below your first Send text message step and click Branch.
- From the side panel, set the following for your branch, then click Save:
- Condition: What action the subscriber has taken
- Action: Has signed up only once
- Channel: Choose text or email
- Your journey now has two branches: one for new subscribers, and one for resubscribers. You can add steps like Send text message and Wait to each branch.
- When you’re finished adding steps to each journey branch, click Turn on in the upper right corner to enable your journey.