Getting started with Unica Journey

Define the entry source of data coming in to the Journey

The first step is to in designing a Journey is defining and creating an entry source for Journey. Unica Journey can receive input data from variety of entry sources. These sources input data into the Journey application. There are two types of entry sources available in Journey to support input of audience data into Journey:

File-based entry sources - Supported file types are CSV, TSV, and JSON. You can create this type of entry source if you need to get the static data input in Journey.
Real-time entry sources - Supports the following types of entry source:
- REST API entry source - This type of entry source supports input of data, at runtime, in Journey. You can use the REST endpoint to input data into Journey from external systems.
- Kafka entry source - This type of entry source supports input of data, at runtime, in Journey. You can input data from the external systems to Journey using the Kafka entry source. Unica Campaign and Unica Interact also uses the Kafka to send audience data to Unica Journey. Journey provides a dedicated Kafka topic for this data input.
- Unica Campaign - This type of entry source supports input of data, at runtime, in Journey. You can input data from Unica Campaign to Journey using Unica Campaign entry source.
  - When Unica Campaign entry source is selected, detail of all the Campaign flowcharts sending data to the selected Campaign entry source is displayed. Information includes Campaign Name, Campaign ID, Flowchart Name, Flowchart ID, and Last Run Date Time.
    Note:
    Campaign sends data to Journey on the entry source. Data definitions which are specified in the process box are for marketer’s use, making it easy to configure the data mapping as per the DD format.
    
    Campaign sends the data to entry source with the data format specified in data definition. Now, when data is pushed on entry source, then whichever Journey is using this entry source would start using this data and data will flow from all the journeys.
    
    There is no separation of data being send based on Entry Source + Data Definition - it’s just sent the data on Entry Source. IF you need to keep the data separate - you would need to create separate entry source for separate journeys.
- Unica Interact - This type of entry source does not require any input for creating entry source. Once the entry source is created, the unique code is used to send data from Interact to Journey.
- Unica Discover - This type of entry source does not require any input for creating entry source. Once the entry source is created, the unique code is used to send data from Discover to Journey.
  Note: The option of Unica Interact and Unica Discover are available from V12.1 Fixpack3.

Define the format of data coming in to the Journey

Unica Journey accepts data from variety of sources. Since it accepts data from variety of sources, it should know the format of the data coming into the entry sources. You should create a Data Definition in Unica Journey to define the format of the data. When creating Data Definitions, specify the Field Names, Data Type, Date format (for date type field) and length of the input field. Journey uses this to identify the format of the data coming in.

Create a Journey with Data Definition and Entry Source

You can create a Journey with multiple Entry Sources. Journey gives you the flexibility to use multiple sources for inputs like Files, Kafka, Unica Campaign, Unica Interact, Unica Discover, REST etc. You can add an Entry Source or delete an Entry Source during creation of a Journey or modification of a Journey. Additionally, you must assign a Data definition to the Journey. Data Definition helps Journey identify the format of the data coming into the Journey. You can add only one Data Definition in the Journey. Once the data definition is assigned, and the Journey is published, you cannot change the Data Definition. You can only change the Data Definition when you are in the draft state, but it can delete the configuration Touchpoints in the Journey.

Design a Journey

You can design a Journey using the Journey controls and the Touchpoints that are available in the Palette. The Palette is divided in two categories:

Touchpoints - allows to integrate with delivery channels.
Controls - helps user to design Journey execution logic.

Journey Touchpoints

The following table lists the Touchpoints and a brief description about it:


Icon	Touchpoint	Description
	Email	Sends email communication using Unica Deliver or Unica Link
	SMS	Sends SMS communication using Unica Link
	Salesforce	Performs CRM operations like add or update of contacts and leads using Unica Link.
	WhatsApp	Sends WhatsApp messages using Unica Deliver.
	AdTech	AdTech helps to sync audience from journey and campaign to the AdTech platforms like LinkedIn Facebook and Twitter.
	Mobile Push	Sends Mobile Push messages using Unica Deliver.

Journey Controls

The following table lists the Journey control and a brief description about it:


Icon	Journey control name	Description
	Decision	Allows Journey designer to split the Journey flow based on configured conditions on the audience data.
	Engagement	Allows Journey designer to split the Journey flow based on the audience response to any Touchpoint actions
	Join	Allows Journey designer to join the data flow from two branches.
	Delay	Allows Journey designer to introduce a delay in execution for the Journey audience in a defined stage.

Orchestration Controls

The following table lists the Orchestration control and a brief description about it:


Icon	Orchestration control name	Description
	Publish	Allows a designed Journey to output the Journey data to a flat file, a Kafka topic, or Entry Sources of type Kafka
	Database	Enable orchestration with other system by inserting/updating database row or updating a raw SQL. This will be executed for every record in the Journey.
	Rest API	It helps to integrate any available REST API with Journey.