Real-Time Behaviors (Live Data)

This article focuses on using Real-Time Behaviors to create dynamic target groups for your marketing automation campaigns. Real-Time Behaviors primarily leverage data from a user’s current session to engage users based on their immediate actions. However, you can also use the Visitor scope to include historical data for more comprehensive targeting.

1 Introduction

Real-Time Behaviors enable you to target users based on live interactions on your website or app. By capturing user actions in real-time, you can engage users instantly with relevant messages. Additionally, the Visitor scope allows filtering based on actions taken in past visits, providing more flexibility beyond just the current session.

Examples:

• Users with products worth over €300 in their cart who show exit intent.

• Newsletter sign-ups: Users who subscribed either during the current visit or in a previous visit (using the Visitor scope)

• Users who spend more than 20 seconds on a product page.

2 Available Scopes for Real-Time Behaviors

When creating real-time behaviors, you can choose from the following scopes:

1. Visitor Scope: Filters based on actions taken across multiple visits (e.g., past newsletter sign-ups).

   • Key Benefit: Useful for targeting users based on historical actions but limited to data collected after the filter is created.
     

2. Visit Scope: Filters actions taken within a single session (e.g., total cart value during a visit).

   • Key Benefit: Ideal for session-specific behaviors, such as cart abandonment or session engagement.
     

3. Page Scope: Applies filters to individual page views (e.g., time spent on a specific page).

   • Key Benefit: Perfect for page-specific interactions like scroll depth or time spent on product pages.

3 Use Cases for Real-Time Behaviors

A) Engaging High-Value Cart Abandoners

Scenario: Target users who show exit intent and have added products worth over €300 to their cart.

• Action: Trigger a pop-up with a discount code to encourage purchase completion.
  

B) Showing a Custom Welcome Message for New Users

Scenario: Showing a Custom Welcome Message for New Users

• Action: Display a welcome teaser or pop-up, such as:

  • “Welcome to [Your Brand Name]! Discover our exclusive collection and experience unmatched quality.”

  • Alternatively, emphasize your brand’s strengths: “Join thousands of satisfied customers who trust us for premium quality and fast, reliable service.”

C) Offering Assistance to Engaged Users on Product Pages

Scenario: Identify users who spend more than 20 seconds on a product page and proactively offer help through a chat prompt.

• Action: Trigger a chat window offering assistance, such as: “Need help finding the right product? Chat with us!” This can help guide users who may be hesitating or have questions, potentially reducing abandonment rates.

D) Engaging Mobile Users with a Special Offer

Scenario: When a user is browsing on a mobile device, display a pop-up offering a mobile-exclusive discount or content to encourage conversions.

• Action: Show a pop-up with a mobile-specific offer, such as:

  • “Mobile Exclusive: Free shipping on orders placed today!”

  • Alternatively, offer a teaser to download your app if it enhances the mobile experience.

E) Triggering a Pop-Up for Engaged Scrollers

Scenario: When a user scrolls down 50% of the page, show a pop-up asking if they need help or offering additional content.

• Action: Display a pop-up message like:

  • “Looking for something specific? Chat with us!”

  • Or, promote a special offer: “You’ve unlocked a 15% discount! Use code SCROLL15.”
    

4 Creating Real-Time Behaviors

To set up a new real-time behavior, follow these steps to define target groups based on live user interactions:

Step 1: Navigate to the Real-Time Behavior Configuration

• Go to Marketing Automation > Target Groups > Real-Time Behaviors.

• Click on Create a New Real-Time Behavior.

Step 2: Select the Appropriate Scope

You can choose from the following scopes based on your targeting needs:

1. Visitor Scope: Filters based on actions taken across multiple visits.

2. Visit Scope: Filters actions taken within a single session.

3. Page Scope: Applies filters to individual page views.

Step 3: Define Your Filters and Conditions

When creating a real-time behavior, you have two options:

1. Select a predefined real-time behavior from the list.

   • These predefined behaviors serve as quick-start templates that include commonly used triggers, such as:

     • New Visitor

     • New Visitor Attempts to Leave Website

     • Visitors with High Cart Value

   • Once you select a predefined behavior, you will see the default filter configuration. You can then add additional filters to refine it further.

   • This is a great way to quickly set up common scenarios and customize them to fit your specific needs.
     
     

2. Create a new real-time behavior from scratch:

   • Manually select filters and set conditions based on your campaign requirements.

   • Use available filters such as exit intent, time spent on page, or device type.

   • Combine filters using “AND” / “OR” operators to create complex conditions.

Using Custom JavaScript Triggers

With the Custom JavaScript feature, you can define highly specific triggers using your own JavaScript functions. This is particularly useful for scenarios where predefined triggers are insufficient.

Example: The following example demonstrates how various JavaScript functions can be used to dynamically extract content, including reading the page title from the HTML, checking for specific text within the document title, and retrieving the number of search results displayed on the page.

How It Works
Custom JavaScript allows you to execute JavaScript functions and use their returned values for targeting. Depending on the return type of your JavaScript function, you can select one of the following trigger types:

• String Comparison: For functions that return string values.

  Example: document.querySelector('.base').innerHTML contains “Weather.”
  

• Boolean Check: For functions that return true or false.

  Example: document.title.indexOf('Capri') !== -1 checks if the title contains the word “Capri.”
  

• Numeric Comparison: For functions that return numeric values.

  Example: document.querySelector('.search .toolbar .toolbar-number').textContent is greater than 10.

4.1 Advanced Filtering Techniques

To refine your targeting and create more sophisticated real-time behaviors, you can leverage filters, containers, and logical operators. Below are some advanced techniques to optimize your configurations.

A. Combining Filters with “AND” and “OR”

Filters can be linked using “AND” and “OR” operators to create more complex conditions.

Example:

This condition means:

• On page en.home we tracked the event teaser.click, OR

• On page de.home we tracked the event teaser.click

Bracketing is applied automatically:

[Page = en.home AND Event = teaser.click] OR [Page = de.home AND Event = teaser.click]

B. Using Containers for Separate Conditions

Containers allow you to group filters and process them separately, which affects how conditions are evaluated.

Example:

This condition means:

• On page en.home OR page de.home we tracked the event teaser.click

The logic is:

[[Page = en.home] OR [Page = de.home]] AND [Event = teaser.click]]

Explanation: The conditions in each container are processed separately. This enables more granular control over the targeting logic.

C. Directly Combining Filters in the “Visit” Scope

In the Visit scope, you can combine multiple filter rules using the “Combined” checkbox.

Important:

• You must activate the “Combined” checkbox when you initially select the Visit scope.

• Once filters are added, it’s no longer possible to activate the Combined checkbox. If you need to use this feature, ensure you select the checkbox before adding any filters.

Example:

• With Combined Option: ALL products must belong to the sports category.
  

• Without Combined Option: ONE of the products must be from the sports category.
  

Note: Only one metric can be used in containers with combined filters.

D. Combining Containers with Different Scopes

You can combine filters across different scopes (e.g., Visit and Page) to create highly specific conditions.

Example:

The condition is interpreted as: The visitor must have viewed more than 10 products within a visit AND must have been inactive on a page for more than 40 seconds.

5 A selection of available filters