8.2 Campaigns and SuitePromotions

Campaigns and promotions do different jobs

The current exam objective reads: identify how to set up and use marketing campaigns. NetSuite's March 2024 study notes list groups, promotions, promo codes, email or marketing templates, campaign metrics, lead nurturing, and SuitePromotions as the campaign components to know, so this section teaches both the campaign and the promotion it can carry.

A marketing campaign decides who hears an offer, which message they get, which channel carries it, and how you measure the result. A promotion, in SuitePromotions, is the offer a transaction can apply. A promo code identifies that promotion. A code typed in an email does not reduce a sales order. Selecting the promotion on the sales order does.

Global subscription status

NetSuite stores marketing permission in Global Subscription Status, on the Subscriptions subtab under Marketing. Help uses four names: Confirmed Opt-In, Soft Opt-In, Soft Opt-Out, and Confirmed Opt-Out. There is no status simply named Unsubscribed. The preference label is Unsubscribed to Marketing by Default, and the status it writes is Soft Opt-Out.

The box is on Marketing Preferences. Help lists it at Setup > Marketing > Preferences > Marketing Preferences and at Setup > Sales & Marketing Automation > Marketing Preferences. Checked, new records start as Soft Opt-Out. Cleared, they start as Soft Opt-In. Leave it checked until you have consent to subscribe people. It applies when a record is created.

The October 2024 sample makes the same point. New customers, leads, prospects, and other new records take that soft default. Existing Soft Opt-In customers stay as they are. The box does not show the Campaign Subscription Center. That link lives in the Settings portlet and in the footer of campaign email.

• Confirmed Opt-In receives campaign email and opt-in messages. Only the recipient can set it.
• Soft Opt-In receives that same mail. You set it manually or by mass update. The recipient cannot.
• Soft Opt-Out receives no campaign or bulk email, and it still receives opt-in messages. Setting it clears every subscription category.
• Confirmed Opt-Out receives no campaign email, bulk email, or opt-in message. Only the recipient can set it, and can later opt in from the Customer Center or from a link in an earlier campaign message.

Manual entry and CSV import can set only a soft status on a new record. Mass update can set Soft Opt-In or Soft Opt-Out, and it cannot change Confirmed Opt-Out. Edit the customer, or run that mass update, when existing people must change. Soft Opt-In is not Confirmed Opt-In, and some jurisdictions require explicit permission before you mail.

Groups, templates, and the campaign event

A group is the audience. Dynamic membership follows whoever meets the saved search now. Static membership stays fixed, and it cannot exceed 10,000 members, so a larger audience must be dynamic. Support groups and sales groups must be static. Create a customer target group at Campaigns > Marketing > Groups > New, choose Dynamic, and base the saved search on purchases, location, category, lead source, transactions, or cases. Select that group on the campaign event.

Create the template at Documents > Templates > Marketing Templates > New. Set the subject, body, From name, and a From address validated at Setup > Sales & Marketing Automation > Email Addresses > New. The authorization code lasts 24 hours. Type a multi-use code in the body, or insert the coupon-code field for single-use codes.

On the campaign Events subtab, open Email. Set the target group, template, title, cost, status, and the SuitePromotions offer, then set the delivery date and save. That subtab also lists Lead Nurturing, Direct Mail, and Other Events. Each address receives one copy.

Soft Opt-Out and Confirmed Opt-Out recipients do not receive the campaign email. If promotion eligibility is a saved search, use that same search for the group, and keep both searches dynamic or both static.

Lead nurturing

Lead nurturing, sometimes called drip marketing, sends several messages as the lead responds. Each Lead Nurturing subtab row has a template and an optional promotion. Workflow Manager chooses who qualifies and which response sends the next email. Enable Workflow on the SuiteCloud subtab of Enable Features. The Workflow permission is required.

Campaign metrics

Open the measures from Reports > Marketing.

• ROI needs a cost on the campaign or the event. Revenue counts when that campaign is selected on the transaction.
• Lead source stores the campaign name on lead, prospect, customer, and contact records.
• Campaign response is automatic for email. Record responses yourself for every other channel.

ROI stays incomplete until a cost is entered. When the code is used on an order, promotion reports can show that discount revenue.

SuitePromotions and a promo code

Enable SuitePromotions at Setup > Company > Enable Features, Transactions subtab, Sales, and check Promotion Codes plus SuitePromotions. Auto-Apply Promotions is optional. Disable Revenue Commitments first, because the two features cannot run together. Customers also cannot open orders from the Customer Center while SuitePromotions is on, so enter the sales order in NetSuite.

Sales orders, cash sales, invoices, and return authorizations then show a Promotions subtab. Coupon Code and Promotions no longer appear on the Items subtab.

At Commerce > Marketing > Upsell > Promotions > New, choose item, fixed price item, order, shipping, or free gift. This chapter uses an order promotion. Enter the name, dates, buy conditions, get conditions, coupon code, and usage limits.

A currency discount is a flat rate. The amount is fixed. Discount Item for Accounting is only the accounting item. The rate is in What the Customer Will Get. The discount cannot exceed the order total. With Multiple Currencies, enter the flat rate in each currency.

Help's example tagline is $10 off your order when you spend $50 or more. Clear Buy Anything, select a minimum order amount, set Minimum Order Amount to 50.00, and skip specific items. Set Discount Type to Flat and Discount Rate to 10.00. An $80 item total meets that minimum because 80 is greater than 50. The discount is $10, and $80 minus $10 is $70. A $40 item total misses the minimum because 40 is less than 50, so the discount is $0 and the merchandise total stays $40. This example does not add tax or shipping.

A multi-use code can be reused. Each single-use code works once for one eligible customer. With no eligibility rule, anyone holding an unused single-use code can use it. The spring offer uses one shared multi-use code.

A spring email and a sales order

Save a dynamic customer group. Put the multi-use code in the email template. Create the order promotion with the $50 minimum and the flat $10 discount, and store that code on the promotion. On the campaign email event, select the group, the template, and the promotion, enter the cost, and schedule the send.

Soft Opt-In and Confirmed Opt-In recipients can receive the email. Soft Opt-Out and Confirmed Opt-Out do not. The preference checkbox does not change last year's Soft Opt-In customers, so mass-update those records if they should stop receiving mail.

Enter the sales order, select the customer, and add at least one item. On Promotions, add the spring promotion. Compute the merchandise this way: $80 qualifies and $80 minus $10 is $70, while $40 stays $40 with a $0 discount. Select the campaign on the transaction so the revenue counts toward ROI.

Practice these case, campaign, and promotion setups with the Oracle NetSuite Foundation practice questions.