Listrak's Test feature allows you to test a journey prior to activating it. User Acceptance testing allows you to make any necessary changes, as a result of your testing, to ensure the journey functions the way you expect.
How Does the Test Function Work?
The testing function allows you to specify a contact or group of contacts who can enter the journey once a test is activated. Contacts who are not included in this list will not be entered into a journey, even if they take the specified action. The option to test a journey will only be available for draft or inactive journeys.
The test function requires two things: 1) your site to be fully integrated with Listrak and 2) a contact's email address or phone number to be tied to the specific event being tested in the journey.
For example, when testing a List Subscription Journey, a phone number would be entered into the test when they are included in the test criteria and subscribe on your site, for example, through a pop-up. If you added your phone number to a popup and then abandon a cart, you will receive any email abandonment messages in the journey if your email address is also tied to your phone number because you have provided your phone number in a data acquisition SMS message. Listrak uses a lookup in both live and test journeys to identify if a contact has provided both their email address and phone number. Test participants will receive any messages they are eligible for based on the channel and any configured decision splits.
⚠️ At this time test journeys are not available for Winback Journeys.
Identifying Contacts for a Test
Click on the name of the journey to open the one you would like to test. The first step in setting up a test is to identify who should receive the test. Tests can be sent to email addresses and phone numbers (if SMS is provisioned) to experience the full experience of the journey. For clients using the NextGen platform you can also use the ListrakID associated with a contact.
The path that the specified contacts will take through a journey will depend on their past behaviors and information, for example purchase behavior. Including multiple email addresses or phone numbers with different behaviors will allow you to test multiple paths.
💡 In order for a contact to enter a journey they must be subscribed to the list or opted in to the SMS program AND perform the action associated with the journey (subscribed, purchase, abandon a product etc.).
💡 All path conditions and re-entry rule conditions must be met by test contacts to enter a journey and receive the specified messages.
Configuring the Test
Once you have determined who should be included in the test you can configure it in the interface.
1. Click on the Activate Test button at the top of the Journey Hub builder
2. In the popup, fill in your testing details
Add the email address(es), phone number(s), or ListrakID(s) who should be eligible for the test journey.
Choose how to handle any wait steps in the journey.
💡 Change all wait steps to 5 minutes for a quick review of the logic
3. Click Activate Journey
Activating the journey from the testing popup will place the journey in test mode. Only the contacts who were specified in popup will be entered into the test.
Ending the Test & Making Edits
Once the contacts have received all messages based on the configuration of the journey and the specified wait times you can end the test.
1. Click on End Test
2. Confirm that you wish to end the test in the popup
💡 If you end a test prior to all contacts completing the journey they will be removed from the test.
3. If the test revealed changes in configuration are necessary, click the Edit button to be taken back to the canvas
4. Make any changes necessary
5. Re-test the journey, if desired
6. Activate the campaign
💡 Test messages are included in your message allotment, but will not appear in the Visual Insights of your journey.