How the marketing services record behavior for triggers and targets

Certain triggers and targets in marketing activities record specific customer behavior. For example, the Catalog Browsing Behavior target records when customers browse specific parts of the store catalog so that Marketing Managers can target those customers in web and dialog activities. It is important to understand when the recording starts and stops, and what gets recorded.

Other targets and triggers that record behavior includes:

Online Behavior target
Records customers' searches for specific keywords. Can also record customer views of store pages that contain specific parameters in the URL.
Cookie Contents target
Records customers whose current session has a cookie from your site that contains certain values.
Customer Participates in Social Commerce trigger
Records customers' social commerce interactions, for example, posting a review or a blog comment.
Social Commerce Participation target
Records customers' social commerce interactions, for example, posting a review or a blog comment.
Customer Checks Out With Promotion trigger
Records customers that check out and apply a specific promotion to the order. For example, a customer that checks out and applies the Furniture Blowout promotion to the order.

When does recording begin?

The marketing services do not record all customer behavior all the time. Instead, the marketing services record behavior only when there is an active web or dialog activity that contains the target or trigger that specifies the behavior. This minimizes performance impacts.

For example, a Marketing Manager can create a web activity that contains the Catalog Browsing Behavior target that specifies Customers who have browsed the Furniture category three times:
  • When the Marketing Manager activates the activity, the marketing services begin recording customers who browse the Furniture category. If a customer browsed the Furniture category before the activity was activated, the marketing services have not recorded the behavior for this activity.
  • When the Marketing Manager deactivates the activity, recording of the Furniture browsing behavior stops.
Note: If the web or dialog activity has a start date and time, or an end date and time, recording takes place only within that schedule. For example, if the Marketing Manager activates the activity but the start date is in the future, recording does not begin until the start date arrives.

What behavior gets recorded?

The marketing services record only the behavior that is specified in the trigger or target.

For example, a Marketing Manager can create a dialog activity that contains the Online Behavior target that specifies Customers who have searched for the keyword "camcorder". When the dialog activity is active, the marketing services record only keyword searches for "camcorder." Keyword searches for other words are not recorded.