The simulation tool offers the possibility to prepare all the messages to be sent as if they were sent for real, but without actually sending them. This tool is particularly useful for a message that contains a lot variants (personalization and conditions). Validating each variant can be time-consuming. Sending simulation can help you be more efficient and get a better insight on the variants. Creating regions is recommended to simplify the validation.
What is a region? A region is a section of the message in which the content varies according to personalization and conditions. This way, a region can contain several variants. Isolating variants in a region makes it easier to validate your message one region at a time instead of the entire email (you would have too many variants to verify). |
Prerequisites
- This function is available on demand and must activated.
- The message used for the simulation must be configured to include regions to validate (see Configuring a Message to Facilitate Validation of Variants).
Step 1: Send the Simulation
In the Test interface, in Sending simulation (options on the left), click Launch:
To return to a previous simulation, click Results.
Choose the recipients for that simulation, who should be the same as the real ones. Specify how you want to manage contacts with the same email address. The more you have recipients, the longer it will take for the simulation. You can click Calculate to see how many recipients the simulation targets. Then, proceed to the simulation by clicking Launch simulation:
As the simulation is similar to a real sending, processing time varies according to the number of contacts and variants. You can leave the simulation page and come back later on. When the simulation is over, you will be advised by email.
Step 2: Approve the variants
In the simulation results, you can consult different regions to validate if conditions and personalization for each variant is displayed correctly:
You can approve or reject each variant (buttons at the bottom of the page).
The variants with no markers show the content for contacts who do not match any of the region conditions.
You can see if a variant has been approved (green checkmark) or rejected (red x):
Once the simulation is completed, you can decide to send the messages, whether all variants have been approved or not. The simulation process is only a test tool and does not, in any way, prevent messages from being sent.