Promo Blast v1.1 - What Changed?

As a Cortex Marketer, you have probably used Promo Blast before, and are familiar with the contrast it paints against the rest of Cortex.

This week ReSci is pleased to announce a major overhaul to Promo Blast that we are calling "Promo Blast v1.1".  This work brings with it much anticipated and highly requested changes to the Promo Blast workflow and UI.  In this article we will cover the changes and carryover from Promo Blast v1.

What's New?

• Promo Blast now uses Cortex Templates
  
  Cortex Templates?  What does that mean?  This means that your templates now follow the same rules as templates for any other Cortex stage. 
  
  - All templates are found inside the stage controls, and the Templates library in Data Management is now obsolete. 
  - Promo Blast can now clone templates into other stages, and other stages can clone templates to Promo Blast.
  - Quick Test and Realistic Test sends are available in the builder
  - Promo Blast now works with "Cortex Stage" and "Cortex Template" based Smart Segments
  - Multiple subject lines are supported by default
  - Product recommendations are supported by default
  - Incentives are supported by default
  
  
• Promo Blast uses Cortex Reporting
  
  That's right, no more jumping between "Experiment Stats" and "AI Stats"!  Promo Blast is now treated as another Cortex Stage for reporting and will feature in Trend Details, Deliverability Stats, and the Report Builder.  
  - Deliveries, opens, and clicks can now be viewed in real time through Trend Details
  
  
• New Processing, Editing, and Send Statuses
  
  Before, a promo blast would run initial processing upon its creation.  Now processing is delayed until 5 hours before the scheduled send time.  This brings several changes.
  - Template and Segment changes stick.  No more cancelling a blast just to make a change to the template or segment.
  - Scheduled blasts no longer "own the day".  A user can receive a Cortex stage and Promo Blast in the same day, assuming the first send is before the Promo Blast begins processing.
  - Cancelled blasts now show "cancelled" not "completed"

What Didn't Change?

• Promo Blast Overrides Cortex
  
  Promo Blast is not affected by Cortex send priority rules.  When you schedule a send to a segment, every user is going to get that message.  

What Else Changed?

- Promo Blast no longer supports timing optimization
- Clone and Create features are removed from Experiment Stats 
- Clone and Create features are removed from Data Management > Templates
- Recommendation Schemes now match names displayed in Cortex
- Onsite Campaign support removed (unused feature)
- CustA and CustB merge tags are no longer supported (unused feature)
- Control Groups no longer supported (unused feature)