Campaign Orchestration and Workflow Design
What you must understand
Workflows are the orchestration engine. Know the targeting workflow pattern: start → query → intersection/union → delivery → end. Understand activities (query, split, union, enrichment, wait, scheduler, approval), transitions, and variables (vars, targetData). Know how campaigns group workflows and how recurring executions differ from scheduled workflows.
Traps that appear in questions
- Transition population. A split sends different populations down different branches; a union merges them, but duplicate handling matters.
- Enrichment vs. query. Enrichment adds data to the working table; it does not filter. Filtering belongs in a query.
- Wait and approval. An approval activity pauses the workflow; a wait activity pauses for time. Confusing them breaks orchestration questions.
- Variables scope. Workflow variables are not automatically available in the delivery; you must map them.
Rule of thumb
Design workflows so each branch has one clear population and one delivery. If a branch can receive two populations, you likely need a union with explicit dedup.
Worked example
A campaign sends a reminder to non-openers. Query the delivery log for non-opens, intersect with the original target, then deliver. The intersection ensures only originally-targeted recipients get the reminder.