Profile filter * This function lets you select some of your subscribers regardless of their current mailing list assignment. By using the profile filter, you may define several characteristics to define a new subscriber list where only subscribers who fulfill the characteristics are entered. This filter may check on every characteristic you define as long as there are corresponding data fields designed with the database designer. To show you how this type of profile filter works, we will briefly describe the data fields again. 

 

Function and purpose of the profile filter 

The steps for sending newsletters in BACKCLICK are usually as follows: 

 

1. Choose a mailing list
2. Enter the content of the newsletter
3. Start sending

 

The number of subscribers who will receive the newsletter is defined by your choice of mailing list. It is impossible to limit the number of subscribers by defining characteristics, but you may create a target group newsletter for certain subscribers on the list. This target group newsletter will differ from the “universal” mailing list newsletter that is sent to a specific number of subscribers. While creating the target group list, you may define the number of subscribers who should receive the newsletter. This is done by choosing one or more results of the predefined filter. The profile and BACKCLICK filter will display the results in a special query. 

Example: 

Select all of the subscribers who have chosen “Female” as gender. They will receive a special e-mail. 

To create a target group newsletter, you need to follow these steps: 

1. Create a new profile filter 

2. Create a target group newsletter (Write Newsletter -> Target Group Newsletter or Campaign Manager) 

3. Select the profile/BACKCLICK filter that should be used (target number of subscribers) 

4. Save the newsletter 

5. Send out the newsletter 

 

Static quality of the profile filter 

The profile filter in BACKCLICK was designed to establish the number of subscribers who fulfill the characteristics of a filter at the moment of storing or updating. If a time period “x” extends between creating/storing and sending the target group newsletter, any changes in the subscribers’ database will NOT be considered by this filter. This means that after storing the profile filter, new registrations or suspensions will not be updated. 

Example: 

The result contains 1,000 subscribers at the point of storing the filter. After you have sent the newsletter, only 900 subscribers appear in the statistics. This means that 100 subscribers “TITLE=Miss“no longer exist in the subscriber database. If, in the meantime, another 100 women register in the subscriber’s database, the filter is only sent to 1,000 subscribers and not to 1,100 subscribers. By using the function “Updating filter result,” you can get the most current result from the subscriber database in the profile filter menu, at any time. This function can only be executed manually! 

 

Dynamic quality of the profile filter 

The dynamic quality of some profile filters should be carefully chosen. This will update the filter result just before sending starts automatically. This function guarantees that all changes in the subscriber’s database that were carried out between storing the filter and sending the newsletter to its target group influence the result. With this, the result of the filter query reflects its most recent status. 

 

Database designer and the WebInterface 

By using the database designer, you can define all the data fields for the subscribers’ database in BACKCLICK. You may create these data fields so as to obtain information including name and address, as well as sociodemographic data (age, marital status). You can decide at any time what information you need from your subscribers, and whether the information is required or optional. The data fields contain information such as layout, contents, etc. The names of the individual data fields of your subscriber database (salutation, name, profession, etc.) are called field names. The data fields that you have laid out with the database designer are inserted into the templates using a BACKCLICK-specific TAG. The information that the subscribers enter while signing up for a newsletter or checking out will be taken into the subscriber database automatically. Every subscriber will get his or her own profile in the database, called the master data set. All of the data fields may be used for any search, or in creating a profile filter. 

PLEASE NOTE: This does not apply to the data field “E-MAIL.” Searching for an e-mail address does not really make sense, because an e-mail address only exists once in the system. This data field is replaced by the data field [DOMAIN]. Please read Chapter “Database Designer,” for more information. 

To create, change, update, or delete profile filters, choose the menu “Target Group Search > Profile Filter.” 

 

Abb. 9.1 - Zielgruppensuche 

 

Create a profile filter 

Here you can create new profile filters, which can be configured according to your wishes. Choose a name at random, and enter it into the entry field provided. Then, choose the function “new profile filter.” 

 

Abb. 9.1.1 - Neuen Profilfilter anlegen 

 

The choice of a mandator is does not relate to this section, because only the BACKCLICK administrator (bcadmin) can see this menu item. 

 

In the example we have chosen, the choice “all women” is announced for all mailing lists now. Enter the name of this filter (Women here) and click on the button “OK.” The query editor then appears. All of the predefined data fields are available for the queries. 

PLEASE NOTE: This does not apply to the data field “E-MAIL.” Searching for an e-mail address does not really make sense, because an e-mail address only exists once in the system. This data field is replaced by the data field [DOMAIN]. 

 

 

Abb. 9.1.2 - Einstellungsmöglichkeiten des anzulegenden Profilfilters 

 

If you want to execute a query on the database with the profile filter, first you need to decide which mailing lists will be 

searched for subscribers in your query. When you are defining a new profile filter, all the mailing lists you have a right to will 

be shown to you as choices. All the subscribers to the lists in the righthand box will be included in the new profile filter. In this 

example, all of the mailing lists are selected, so that no more entries are available in the lefthand box. This may be done by 

using the arrow boxes with the double arrow, but also by using: : [+] marks all of the mailing lists [-] cancels everything 

that you have marked [i] reverses everything that you have marked. After that the simple arrow can be used for making 

choices (invert). 

 

Graphical editor for the conditions 

To get a filter result, you can connect many conditions at random with the logical operations AND or OR. To be able to represent these combinations graphically, we have built a special editor that makes it possible to set these combinations. 

For example: a condition is “TITLE = Miss” 

a combination is “TITLE=Miss” AND “CITY=Boston” AND “AGE>20“ AND “AGE<30”. 

To connect several conditions, you must sort them into groups. However, all conditions of a group can be connected with AND or OR. Picture the whole process as being in the form of a tree. The root of the tree corresponds to your desired overall results. You find the name “result” in the first line and the first column. This represents the root of the tree. The name cannot be changed. In the first line, second column, you define the logical rules that should be followed by all the groups you will define later. Note that all groups can only be connected with AND or OR. 

In the graphic condition editor, there are five table columns. 

- The names of the groups are shown in the first lines of the column. Double-click on the name you want to change (apart 

from “result”). 

- The logical operator of the groups can be defined in the lines of the second column. 

- In the lines of the third column, the database field is represented for the respective condition in a select box, and can be 

chosen there. 

- The operator is represented in the lines of the fourth column (equal to, unequal to, etc.) 

- The value to be checked can be inserted in the lines of the fifth column. 

 

The “result” that summarizes all conditions cannot be deleted or changed at any time. Many groups can be added to the new 

profile filter at random, and the groups may arbitrarily own many conditions (see “Enter Conditions”). Note, however, that the 

speed with which the results are shown decreases with an increasing number of conditions. The speed depends on the 

number of data sets to be searched, as well as the number of conditions. A query can last several minutes if the database is 

big and if there are many conditions. 

 

Creating conditions 

First, you need to add a group to the “result.” Click on the -button, and a new group will be displayed (automatically created with an AND combination). It is now possible to name the new group(s). This is helpful if there are several groups that contain different conditions. 

You now need to add a new condition to the group. Click on the -button and the new condition is produced. You may also name the conditions you have produced (see “Name Group”) and define them. To do this, you need to select a data field. A double click on the select box where all the predefined data fields are listed will open the select box. 

You will find these data fields in the delivery status: 

TITLE: refers to the salutation indicated by the registered subscriber (Mister or Miss, if not filled in: no detail) 

FORMAT: refers to the format in which the newsletter is sent to the subscriber (HTML & text (2), HTML (0) or text (1) are 

possible here) 

LASTNAME: refers to the last name the subscriber has given. (The name can be entered as free text in the field “value.”) 

FIRSTNAME: refers to the first name the subscriber has given. (The name can be entered as free text in the field “value.”) 

There are two additional data fields: 

1. [DOMAIN]: You can select subscribers who belong to a certain domain or not (e.g. aol.com, t online.de, web.de, gmx.de). NOTE: This data field is the likely replacement for the data field [E-MAIL]. 

2. [CHANCE PART]: If the filter finds, for example, 10,000 subscribers that fit the filter, but you only want to send the newsletter to 5,000 subscribers, you may limit the number of subscribers by selecting them at random. In this case, the operator must be [equal to]. You can indicate the number of subscribers by selecting an absolute number (e.g. 5,000) or in per cent (50%). 

 

Choice of operators 

The following operators are available to you for constructing the query condition: 

 

• equal to -> the entered value must agree with the value on the database to 100%
• unequal to -> the entered value must not agree with the value on the database to 100%
• less than -> the number indicated as the value must be smaller than the stored value in the database
• greater than -> the number indicated as the value must be higher than the stored value in the database
• equal to and less than -> the number indicated as the value must be equal to or smaller than the stored value in the database
• equal to and greater than -> the number indicated as the value must be equal to or higher than the stored value in the database
• similar -> the string entered as the value is contained either completely or partly in the value in the database
• not similar to -> the string entered as the value is NOT contained either completely or partly in the value in the database
• Regular expressions represent a kind of filter criterion for texts and numbers by being coordinated with the text in the form of a sample. This makes it possible to check words starting with “S” and ending with “D” without knowing the numbers or characters in between. Secondly, it is possible to produce sets of words from regular expressions, as a kind of stencil without having to indicate every word one by one. So, for example, an expression that produces all conceivable character sequences (words) starting with S and ending with D can be indicated.

 

To complete the query condition, , you will now enter the value with which the contents of the database fields shall be compared. You can enter numbers, characters, and special signs here. If you select the operators “less than”, “greater than,” “less than or equal to,” or “greater than or equal to,” you may only insert numbers due to the logic. 

In our example, we enter the character string “Miss,” because the value “Miss” is stored with women in the data field TITLE and can be filtered out. For this example, also select the data field [SALUTATION]. The operator is [equal to] here and the value that will be checked is “Miss” (free text: search strings can be chosen here). The result will look like this: 

 

 

Abb. 9.1.3 - Neuen Profilfilter anlegen - Datenbankfeld auswählen 

 

Test of the query 

Because the salutation can only be “Miss,” “Mister” or “no detail,” all persons registered in the system who have indicated the salutation “woman” will be filtered out now. In the event that all subscribers entered “no detail” as a value, the data field “value” will remain empty. Up to this point, you will not know exactly how many subscribers your query applies to. To help you get a better idea of this number, BACKCLICK lets you execute a real-time test on the database. First, click on the “test” button. This will open a separate window in which you will see the number of subscribers who satisfy all the conditions. Our target group would consist of 367 women in this example. 

 

Abb. 9.1.4 - Testergebnisanzeige 

 

Storing filter result 

You may change the conditions as long as they fit your requirements, and until a sufficiently large or low number of subscribers is available. Please click on the -button afterwards. You will be led to the profile filter overview once more. Note that a click on the -button triggers both the query on the database and the storing. For complex filter queries, storing can last for some minutes! The profile filter just created will now be displayed in a list, with the details: “name (ID/ number).” Without further configurations, this result is based on the database result at the time you clicked on the button “storing.” Even if another 100 women subscribed to the system afterwards, they would not be contained in this profile filter as subscribers. This is the so-called “static quality” of the profile filter. You may also update the filter before sending the newsletter. In that case, mark the check box “automatic update before the dispatch” (see figure below) while configuring the profile filter. This function then produces the dynamic quality of the profile filter. 

 

 

Abb. 9.1.5 - Einstellungen zum Profilfilter abschließen und speichern 

 

Updating filter result 

The second way to correct the number of current subscribers before sending the newsletter may be found in your submenu “profile filter” — but only for profile filters that already exist. The current result of the profile filter may be seen by selecting “update filter result.” Every profile filter that exists in the system will be shown in the list on the righthand side. Select the desired filter here, and click on the button "ok". This will open a separate window displaying the name of the filter and the number of subscribers to be checked (for verification), as well as the number of subscribers that satisfy the conditions. 

 

Abb. 9.1.6 - Aktualisierte Filterergebnisanzeige 

 

Export profile filters 

If you would like to use the result of the profile filter query for something other than to send a newsletter in BACKCLICK, you 

can also export the list of the correct subscribers into a CSV format. Select the menu item “export filter result,” and choose 

the name of the subscriber list you want to export by using the list. You then click on the -button. 

 

Abb. 9.1.7 - Profilfilter exportieren 

 

This process can last for several minutes depending on the number of subscribers to be exported. Progress in preparing the export file is shown to you in real time. You will find the exported file(s) in the overview “Subscriber Export,” in the main menu, “Subscriber Management.” All of the exported data will be displayed in the category “Profile List.” The file names agree with the names of the profile filters. 

 

Abb. 9.1.8. - Profilfilter Exportdatei 

Change profile filter 

If you want to change the query conditions of a certain filter, select the function “change profile filters” and the corresponding 

filter using its name. Then click on the “ok”-button. The query editor will now open again automatically. All attitudes and 

conditions that you set when creating the profile filter are restored, using the lists of names completed when creating the 

profile filter. You can change, test, and store these conditions now at your own discretion. 

 

Erase profile filter 

If you no longer need a certain filter, you can select and delete it using its name. Please confirm this by selecting “yes” for 

the safety query if you really want to delete it.

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