Automated program messages are managed through either the program editor or through your outbound triggered messages. Review the following best practices guidelines to ensure consistent metrics and reporting while editing your program messages.

Instructions:

Add a Message to your Program

1. Navigate to Automation > Automated Programs
2. Hover over the blue plus sign icon and click on New Automated Program (Journey Builder) or New Automated Program (Classic Editor)
3. Click on the Program Messages tab and then click Add Program Message 
4. Choose the type of message you will be adding to your program: Blank, Template, Previously Sent, Scheduled, Draft, or a Program message.
   
5. Blank messages will automatically open up the Email Composer
6. For all other message types, select the checkbox next to the message you are adding, then click Submit

Edit your Program Message using Best Practices

1. After adding your Program Message, hover over the message and click Edit to open the Act-On Email Composer.
   • Additional information for editing your email messages: Email Branding and Overview
2. When finished making changes, click Save.

Tip: Edit messages without deleting them, or backup messages before deletion

Any messages associated with your automated program are independent versions of the draft or template used to create it. Editing the original draft or template will not change a message that is attached to a program.

Exercise caution when deleting a message from your program, as you will not be able to recover any edits or metrics attached to the deleted message. You may download an HTML and text copy of your email message for editing purposes; however, doing so will not preserve existing message reports. 

We recommend editing messages without deleting them as best practice. 

Download HTML and Text Version

1. Hover over a message in your Program Messages, then click Edit
2. Navigate to the Design tab and click on Download Creatives
3. Click Yes to download a zip file containing the HTML and text versions of your email
4. You may now delete this message from your program

Track edits to Program Steps

When a particular message is used multiple times in your program, you may notice that only one report generates to represent the multitude of instances where that message appears. 

You have the option to track each instance of the message in your program separately from the others. 

1. Navigate to Automation > Automated Programs > Program Messages 
2. Click Add Message, then Program Message to create and add a new copy from the original
3. Click Submit

If the message was created directly in the program:

1. Open the email message in either the Program Dashboard or by navigating to Outbound > Other Message > Triggered Messages
2. Select New Message to create a copy in Drafts or Templates
3. Add additional messages using the newly created copy

You can view program messages and reports by navigating to Outbound > Other Messages > Triggered Messages > Program tab.

Here is the complete list of messages for your Automated Program nurture campaigns:

Note: Messages can be edited here without interrupting programs that are running.

Add a Send Email block to the Program Flow

1. Click the Program Flow tab in your Program dashboard
   • Automated Journey Builder
     1. Click the plus sign icon to add a new step
     2. Click Send Email and give your step a descriptive name 
     3. In the Select Message dropdown menu, select an email underneath the Select Message category or Click To Add New Message To The Program
     4. Click Submit
   • Classic Editor
     1. Drag the Send Email block into the appropriate positions throughout your program steps
     2. Select Edit to choose a message to apply to the step

Note: If your program's next step is a conditional branch and dependent on audience engagement, give additional time to respond by adding a Wait step after a Send Email step.

Optional Steps:

       Conditional Messages: Sends an alternate message based on the contact's engagement history or list membership.

       A/B Messages: Tests variations on a message until a winning message is selected based on your audience's clickthrough engagement.

View your Message Results

In the Email tab of the Dashboard, you will find a listed view of all messages included in your program steps, as well as the most up-to-date performance metrics.

Drill down into individual message reports or download a full Message Summary Report and Message Rollup Report by navigating to the Actions dropdown menu located at the top of your Program dashboard.

Individual message reports are also available by selecting the message in a program's Steps tab. Learn more about the information in your message reports.

Note: For message reporting to appear in your Dashboard or Triggered Messages, it must be included in the actual program steps, rather than just attached to the program as an associated message.

Program messages may be added and removed from steps while retaining their underlying data. However, if your program is deleted or a message is deleted from the program, the message(s) and reporting will also be removed from the Dashboard.

Note: Clearing a program's history, which removes the record of contacts previously run through program steps, does not affect message reporting. This action can produce an apparent discrepancy between quantities of contacts recorded in program steps and those of program message reports.

Next Steps

Ensure best results by Testing Your Automated Program.