In this lesson, you’ll learn how to implement a workflow to create a personalized recommendation campaign based on the user's RFM value.
Use the segments of the RFM analysis model to carry out a differentiated strategy according to the customer’s behavior and offer them recommendations that encourage them to make a purchase.
Objective: Conversion.
Elements used: Push.
Implementation time: 1 hour.
We recommend following all the steps and implementing this strategy from scratch in your account. However, if you need a shortcut, you can use the RFM recommended products campaign template in the Workflows Templates Directory.
Lesson summary
In this lesson, you’ll learn about:
- RFM analysis: what it is, how it works and how to apply it in a strategy.
- The “Fetch purchase information” node, used to obtain data related to the contact’s previous purchases.
- The "Is in segment" node, para comprobar si un contacto pertenece a un segmento determinado.
- How to create segments based on user RFM.
- How to create a custom field to log information about your contacts that is not on their file by default.
At the end of the lesson, you will have created in your account:
The personalized recommendations campaign based on buyer behavior that’s contained in this workflow, enabling you to send automated emails based on contacts’ RFM:
- If a contact belongs to the High RFM segment, they’ll receive an Upselling email.
- If they belong to the Medium RFM segment, they’ll receive a Cross Selling email.
- And if they belong to the Low RFM segment, they’ll receive an email with the Best Sellers of the last month.
Before you start: preliminary considerations
In this lesson you’ll learn how to segment contacts based on RFM to determine their value as purchasers. But what is an RFM analysis? At the end of this article there’s a link to the complete guide to RFM in Connectif, but here’s a summary to help you understand how it works:
What is an RFM analysis?
RFM analysis (Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value) gives us a precise, up-to-date segmentation of all our contacts according to their purchasing behavior over time.
This segmentation can be used to target contacts with different campaigns – as we will do in this strategy – but also to make predictions to help optimize results.
RFM properties
- RFM is based on three parameters, which are assigned a score between 1 and 5:
- Recency measures the time since the last purchase.
- Frequency measures the total number of purchases.
- Monetary Value measures the average purchase amount.
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The RFM analysis uses four contact fields to save the information relating to each user in their profile. Their characteristics are as follows:
- RFM fields are system fields that are created when you integrate Connectif, so they can’t be edited.
- All RFM fields are radio fields, so they can only have one of a predefined set of values.
- Connectif automatically recalculates the RFM fields once a day.
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To RFM analysis easier, Connectif has 11 groupings based on the purchase behavior they describe.
How to consult the RFM
- Go to "Contacts > Segments" and search or filter to find the contact you want to check.
- Once you’ve found it, click (Details) to access the contact’s profile.
- Check the values assigned to the contact in the corresponding RFM analysis and segment.
Strategy configuration
STEP 0. Workflow creation
How to create the workflow for this strategy
1. In your Connectif account, click "Workflows > Create new workflow" and then Create blank workflow.
2. Click (Edit) and name it "Recommended product campaign according to RFM".
3. Click Apply to save the new name of your workflow.
STEP 1. "Start" node
How to configure the "Start" node for this strategy
(This node will establish the target audience for the workflow).
4. Click (Edit node settings) for the “Start” node.
5. Under Select a limitation, check "All my list" and select "Contacts with email".
6. Under Select data source, check "All existing".
7. Click Update.
In this step we have instructed Connectif to activate the workflow for all existing email contacts when the strategy is initiated.
STEP 2. First "Is in segment" node (High RFM)
How to create the Dynamic Plus segment for this strategy
(In this step you’ll create a Dynamic Plus segment where you’ll group customers with High RFM).
8. Save the workflow and go to “Contacts > Segments”.
9. Click Create new segment, select the type Dynamic Plus segment and click Go to segment editor.
10. In the editor, add the conditions for the contacts to be included in the segment. In this case, you’ll add two filters to include contacts who are subscribed to the newsletter and belong to the highest RFM groups:
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Click the "Select field or activity" drop-down and, in the "Contact profile" group, choose "Newsletter subscription status".
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In the interface, locate the operator selector and select "Is equal to", and indicate "Subscribed" in the value dropdown, which will appear next.
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Click "AND" to link the next condition to the previous one.
- Click "Select field or activity" and, in the group "Value indicators" choose "RFM - Segment".
- In the operator selector, check "Is included in", and add "Champions" and "Loyal customers " in the value dropdown.
11. Click (Edit), assign a name to the segment, in this case "High RFM", and click Apply. Then click Save and return to the workflow for this strategy.
How to configure the "Is in segment" node for this strategy
(This node will check if the contact belongs to the first Dynamic Plus segment created, for High RFM).
12. In the node selection menu, go to "Conditions > Contact" and drag the "Is in segment" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Start" node.
13. Click (Edit node settings) for the “Is in segment” node.
14. Under Select a segment, choose the segment you just created.
15. Click Update.
In this step we have instructed Connectif to check if the contact belongs to the "High-RFM" segment before allowing it to continue along this branch of the flow. If it is not in that group, the contact will go to the next node "Is in segment", to continue with the checks.
STEP 3. “Fetch last cart” node
How to configure the "Fetch last cart" node for this strategy
(This node will obtain the last cart purchased by the High RFM contact).
16. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Ecommerce" and drag the "Fetch last cart" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Is in segment" node.
17. At the junction of this node with the previous one, click on the circle until "Yes" appears, so that only those contacts with High RFM continue along this branch.
18. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Fetch last cart” node.
19. Under Select cart status, choose the “Purchased” option from the dropdown, to fetch the last cart purchased by the contact.
20. Click Update.
In this step we have instructed Connectif to fetch the last cart purchased by the contact in order to obtain recommended products based on this purchase in the next node.
STEP 4. First “Fetch products” node
How to configure the "Fetch products" node for this strategy
(This node will fetch the product with the highest value from the cart).
21. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Ecommerce" and drag the "Fetch products" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Fetch last cart" node.
22. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Fetch products” node.
23. Select "Filtered products" as the main use case and click Next .
24. In Main use case settings:
- Select "1" in Number of products to fetch, to obtain a product related to this cart.
- In Select the source of the products, choose "Imported data" and add "Fetch last cart". Connectif will now fetch a product from the ones in the cart.
- Under Configure the order in which products will be chosen, select "Sort by descending price" and click Next . Connectif will now fetch the product with the highest price.
25. In Summary, locate the Number of products to fetch section and indicate “1”. Then uncheck the box desactiva "Fill with products until selected limit".
26. Click Finish .
In this step we have instructed Connectif to fetch the highest-priced product from the contact's last purchased cart.
STEP 5. “Set field” node
How to create the custom field in Connectif for this strategy
(In this step you’ll create a custom field to record the price of the most expensive product purchased by a High RFM contact in their file).
27. Save the workflow and go to "Contacts > Contact fields" and click Add new custom field.
28. To create the field:
- Assign the appropriate "Type" to the data to be collected by the field, in this case Decimal as it’s a monetary value. Do not mark this as required as it is not a required contact field.
- Assign a name to the field, in this case, "Highest Valued Product Price". You can modify the ID that is automatically generated if you wish
- Assign "0" as the minimum value and also as the default value, so that this is the amount that will appear if this field is not updated.
- • Assign an icon to the field if you don’t want the default one.
29. Click Save to create the new custom contact field and return to the workflow for this strategy.
How to configure the "Set field" node for this strategy
(This node sets the price of the most expensive product purchased in the custom field created).
30. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Contact" and drag the "Set field" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Fetch products".
31. Click (Edit node settings) for the “Set field” node.
32. To update the new field with the price of the most expensive product from the contact's last cart:
- Drag the "Unit price" field from the "Fetch products" node to the block to the left of the custom field created. This way, the product price obtained in that node, which is the most expensive of the last purchased cart, is the one that will be recorded in the contact's file.
- Under Operator, select "Assign".
33. Click Update.
In this step we have instructed Connectif to update the field we have just created in the contact's file, adding the price information of the most expensive product from their last purchase. This information is obtained from the data extracted by the two previous nodes.
STEP 6. Second “Fetch products” node
(This node will obtain products with a higher price than the most expensive product purchased).
34. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Ecommerce" and drag the "Fetch products" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Set field" node.
35. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Fetch products” node.
36. Select "Automatically related to a cart" as the main use case and "Best sellers" as an additional use case. Click Next .
37. In the Main use case settings:
- Select "6" under Number of products to fetch.
- Under Select related cart, choose "Internal Cart ID (Fetch last cart)".
- Click Add another condition and select “Unit price” from the dropdown. In the operator, choose "Is greater than". On the right, select “Imported data” and, after clicking “Select imported data”, choose the custom field created, for this example “Contact > Highest Valued Product Price".
- Check the box "Shuffle the fetched products" and click Next .
38. In Additional use case settings:
- Select "6" under Number of products to fetch.
- Click Add another condition and select “Unit price” from the dropdown. In the operator, choose "Is greater than". On the right, select “Imported data” and, after clicking “Select imported data”, choose the custom field created, for this example “Contact > Highest Valued Product Price".
- Under Select the time period of the purchases, choose "Last month's best sellers".
- Check the box "Shuffle the fetched products" and click Next .
39. In Summary, enter “6” in Number of products to fetch and click Finish .
In this step we have instructed Connectif to fetch six products related to the contact’s last purchased cart and then use them in the Upselling email. If enough products are not fetched, the email will be completed with the bestselling products. In both cases, products with a higher price will be fetched than the last most expensive product purchased (data obtained from the custom field we created in previous steps).
STEP 7. First Node "Send Email" (High RFM)
How to Set Up the Email for This Strategy
(In this step, you will create and send the Up Selling email with the recommended products).
40. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Email" and drag the "Send Email" node to the editor so that it connects with the second node "Get Products".
41. Click on (Edit Node Settings) of the “Send Email” node. Click on Create new content to create a new email.
42. Set up the composition and add the elements you want to your email, just as you have learned in previous lessons.
If you need it, all the steps to create an email are available in this lesson.
43. Once you have set up the text and images of your email, add a Products element and edit it:
- (Optional). Assign a name to it, in this case, "Last Viewed Products".
- In Template, select the second option.
- In Structure, configure the rows and columns to display and check the Show Incomplete Rows box. In this case, we have chosen 2 rows and 3 columns on desktop, and 3 rows and 2 columns on mobile.
44. Click on Save and return to the content list.
How to configure the "Send email" node for this strategy
(This node will send the Upselling email to contacts in the High RFM segment).
45. Select the email you just created and click Next .
46. Configure the sending, as you have learned to do in previous lessons:
- In the Send to a section, select "Contact".
- Indicate the "Newsletter" type of email.
- Configure the Parameters section of "Send to contact".
- Under Google Analytics, click "Enable Google Analytics" then Next .
47. In Variables, configure the information that will be customized in your email, as you have learned in previous lessons:
- Drag the Name field to match the {{name}} variable.
- Drag the information obtained from the second "Fetch products" node to complete the dynamic content of the email with recommended products based on the most expensive product in the contact's last purchased cart.
If you need them, all the steps to assign the product variables to an email are available in this lesson.
48. Click Finish .
In this step we have sent an email to contacts with High RFM. In the email we included personalized products related to the most expensive product in their last purchase, obtained through the previous steps. In addition, when configuring the UTM variable for the email button, we have assigned the product name, to report the name of the product clicked.
STEP 8. Second “Is in segment” node (Medium RFM)
How to create the Dynamic Plus segment for this strategy
(In this step you’ll create a Dynamic Plus segment where you’ll group customers with Medium RFM).
49. Save the workflow and go to “Contacts > Segments”.
50. Create a new Dynamic Plus segment and add the conditions for the contacts to be included in the segment. In this case, you’ll add two filters to include contacts who are subscribed to the newsletter and belong to the medium RFM groups:
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Click the "Select field or activity" drop-down and, in the "Contact profile" group, choose "Newsletter subscription status".
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In the interface, locate the operator selector and select "Is equal to", and indicate "Subscribed" in the value dropdown, which will appear next.
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Click "AND" to link the next condition to the previous one.
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Click "Select field or activity" and, in the group "Value indicators" choose "RFM - Segment".
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In the operator selector check "Is included in", and add "Potential loyalists", "New customers", "Promising" and "Need attention" in the value dropdown.
51. Click (Edit), assign a name to the segment and click Apply. In this case, "Medium RFM". Then click Save and return to the workflow for this strategy.
How to configure the "Is in segment" node for this strategy
(This node will check if the contact belongs to the second Dynamic Plus segment created, for Medium RFM
52. In the node selection menu, go to "Conditions > Contact" and drag the "Is in segment" node into the editor so that it connects to the first "Is in segment" node.
53. At the junction of this node with the previous one, click on the circle until "No" appears, so that contacts that do not have a High RFM are passed to this node.
53. Click (Edit node settings) for the “Is in segment” node.
54. Choose the segment you have just created, in this case "Medium RFM" and click Update.
In this step, we have instructed Connectif to check if the contact belongs to the “Medium RFM” segment before allowing it to continue along this branch of the flow. If it is not in that group, it will go to the next "Is in segment" node, to continue with the checks.
STEP 9. Third “Fetch products” node
How to configure the "Fetch products" node for this strategy
(This node will fetch the latest products purchased by Medium RFM contacts).
55. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Ecommerce" and drag the "Fetch products node into the editor so that it connects to the "Is in segment" node.
56. At the junction of this node with the first "Is in segment" node, click on the circle until “Yes” appears, so that only contacts with Medium RFM continue through this flow.
57. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Fetch products” node.
58. Select "Last purchased products"as the use case and click Next .
59. In Main use case settings, select "6" in the Number of products to fetch and click Next .
60. In Summary, locate the Number of products to fetch section and indicate “6”. Then uncheck the box, "Fill with products until selected limit".
61. Click Finish .
In this step we have instructed Connectif to fetch the last products purchased by the contact, in this case 6.
STEP 10. Fourth “Fetch products” node
How to configure the "Fetch products" node for this strategy
(This node will automatically obtain products related to the last products purchased by Medium RFM contacts).
62. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Ecommerce" and drag the "Fetch products" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Fetch products" node.
63. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Fetch products” node.
64. Select "Automatically related to a list of products" as the main use case and "Best sellers" as an additional use case. Click Next .
65. In Main use case settings:
- Select "6" under Number of products to fetch.
- Under Select the source of the products, add "Fetch products", which is the only option available and corresponds to the previous node, as "Imported data". As the "Fetch products" nodes of the different branches are not connected, they cannot be selected as imported data .
- In Configure the order in which products will be chosen, select "Best sellers of the last month" and check the box "Shuffle the fetched products". Click Next .
66. In Additional use case settings:
- Select "6" under Number of products to fetch.
- Under Select the time period of the visits, choose "Best sellers of the last month" and check the "Shuffle the fetched products" box. Click Next .
67. In Summary, locate the Number of products to fetch section and indicate “6”. Then check the box, "Exclude products exported by nodes before this one".
68. Click Finish .
In this step we have instructed Connectif to fetch products related to the contact’s last purchased products and then use them in the Cross Selling email. If Connectif doesn’t find enough products to complete the node (in this case 6), it will fetch the best-selling products of the last month.
STEP 11. Second Node "Send Email" (Medium RFM)
How to Set Up the Email for This Strategy
(In this step, you will create and send the email with the recommended products).
69. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Email" and drag the "Send Email" node to the editor so that it connects with the fourth node "Get Products".
70. Click on (Edit Node Settings) of the "Send Email" node. Click on Create new content to create a new email.
72. Set up the composition and add the elements you want to your email, just as you have learned in previous lessons.
If you need it, all the steps to create an email are available in this lesson.
73. Once you have set up the text and images of your email, add a Product element and edit it:
- In Template, select the second option.
- In Structure, configure the rows and columns to display and check the Show Incomplete Rows box. In this case, we have chosen 2 rows and 3 columns on desktop, and 3 rows and 2 columns on mobile.
74. Click on Save and return to the content list.
How to configure the "Send email" node for this strategy
(This node will send the Cross Selling email to contacts in the Medium RFM segment).
75. Select the email you just created and click Next .
76. Configure the sending, as you have learned to do in previous lessons:
- In the Send to section, select "Contact".
- Indicate the "Newsletter" type of email.
- Configure the Parameters section of "Send to contact".
- Under Google Analytics, click "Enable Google Analytics" then Next .
77. In Variables, configure the information that will be customized in your email, as you have learned in previous lessons:
- Drag the Name field to match the {{name}} variable.
- Drag the information obtained from the second "Fetch products" node to complete the dynamic content of the email with recommended products based on the most expensive product in the contact's last purchased cart.
If you need them, all the steps to assign the product variables to an email are available in this lesson.
78. Click Finish .
In this step we have sent an email to contacts with Medium RFM. In the email we have included personalized products related to the last products they bought or among the best sellers of the last month, obtained in the previous steps. In addition, when configuring the UTM variable for the email button, we have assigned the product name, to report the name of the product clicked.
STEP 12. Third "Is in segment" node (Low RFM)
How to create the Dynamic Plus segment for this strategy
(In this step you’ll create a Dynamic Plus segment where you’ll group customers with Low RFM).
79. Save the workflow and go to “Contacts > Segments”.
80. Create a new Dynamic Plus segment and add the conditions for the contacts to be included in the segment. In this case, you’ll add two filters to include contacts who are subscribed to the newsletter and belong to the low RFM groups:
- Click the "Select field or activity" drop-down and, in the "Contact profile" group, choose "Newsletter subscription status".
- In the interface, locate the operator selector and select "Is equal to", and indicate "Subscribed" in the value dropdown, which will appear next.
- Click "AND" to link the next condition to the previous one.
- Click "Select field or activity" and, in the group "Value indicators" choose "RFM - Segment".
- In the operator selector, check "Is included in", and add "About to sleep", "At risk", "Can’t lose them", and "Hibernating" in the value dropdown.
81. Click (Edit), assign a name to the segment and click Apply. In this case, "Low-RFM". Then click Save and return to the workflow for this strategy.
How to configure the "Is in segment" node for this strategy
(This node will check if the contact belongs to the third dynamic plus segment created, for Low RFM).
82. In the node selection menu, go to "Conditions > Contact" and drag the "Is in segment" node into the editor so that it connects to the second "Is in segment" node.
83. At the junction of this node with the previous one, click on the circle until "No", appears, so that contacts with neither a Medium RFM nor a High RFM are passed to this node.
84. Click (Edit node settings) for the “Is in segment” node.
85. Under Select a segment, choose the segment you have just created, in this case "Low RFM" and click Update.
In this step we have instructed Connectif to check if the contact belongs to the "Low-RFM" segment before allowing it to continue on this branch of the flow. If it is not found in that group, the strategy will stop as the contact will also not be found in either of the other two segments.
STEP 13. Fifth “Fetch products” node
How to configure the "Fetch products" node for this strategy
(This node will fetch the best selling products of the last month).
86. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Ecommerce" and drag the "Fetch products" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Is in segment" node.
87. At the junction of this node with the previous one, click on the circle until "Yes" appears, so that only contacts with Low RFM continue through this flow.
88. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Fetch products” node.
89. Select "Best sellers" as the main use case and "Most visited products" as an additional use case. Click Next .
90. In Main use case settings:
- Select "6" under Number of products to fetch.
- Under Select the time period of the visits, choose "Best sellers of the last month" and check the "Shuffle the fetched products" box.
- Click Next .
91. In Additional use case settings:
- Select "6" under Number of products to fetch.
- Under Select the time period of the visits, choose "Best sellers of the last month" and check the "Shuffle the fetched products" box.
- Click Next .
92. In Summary, locate the Number of products to fetch section and indicate “6”.
93. Click Finish .
In this step we have instructed Connectif to fetch the best selling products of the last month, up to a total of 6, in a random order. If this total is not reached, the most visited products, also randomly sorted, will be added to reach it.
STEP 14. Third “Send email” node (Low RFM)
How to configure the email for this strategy
(In this step you’ll create the email with recommended products to send to contacts with Low RFM).
94. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Email" and drag the "Send email" node into the editor so that it connects to the "Fetch products" node.
95. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Send email” node. Click Create new content to create a new email.
96. Set up the composition and add the elements you want to your email, as you have learned to do in the previous lessons.
If you need them, all the steps to create an email are available in this lesson.
97. Once you have configured the text and images of your email, add a Products element and edit it:
- Under Template, select the second option.
- Under Structure, choose the number of rows and columns to display and check the Show incomplete rows box. In this case, we have chosen two rows and three columns on desktop, and three rows and two columns on mobile.
98. Click Save and return to the content list.
How to configure the "Send email" node for this strategy
(This node will send the Best Sellers email to contacts in the Low RFM segment).
99. Select the email you just created and click Next .
100. Configure the sending, as you have learned to do in previous lessons:
- In the Send to section, select "Contact".
- Indicate the "Newsletter" type of email.
- Configure the Parameters section of "Send to contact".
- Under Google Analytics, click "Enable Google Analytics" then Next .
101. In Variables, configure the information that will be customized in your email, as you have learned in previous lessons:
- Drag the Name field to match the {{name}} variable.
- Drag the information obtained from the "Fetch products" node to complete the dynamic content of the email with recommended products based on the most expensive product in the contact's last purchased cart.
If you need them, all the steps to assign the product variables to an email are available in this lesson.
102. Click Finish .
In this step we have sent an email to contacts with Low RFM. In the email we have included (preferably) the best selling or most visited products of the last month, obtained in the previous step. In addition, when configuring the UTM variable for the email button, we have assigned the product name, to report the name of the product clicked.
Result
After completing these steps, you will have created your strategy to recommend products according to the value of your contacts sending them a personalized email in each case and helping you meet different objectives.
Congratulations!
You have reached the end of the lesson and completed the course to implement your first strategies in Connectif.
Back to course
Access the complete course index and explanation of each lesson here.
Related reading
If you want to dive deeper into any of the topics covered in this lesson, you can access the guide documentation:
- RFM Analysis, to learn more about this segmentation and other use cases where it can be applied.
- Coupons, to learn about this Connectif feature and how it can help you with segmented strategies such as this.
- Data Explorer, to learn how to analyze your strategies’ metrics and collect valuable data to optimize them.