BlueVenn 2021.1 has landed, with highlights including a new campaign performance report, added security features and a host of new channels.
We’re excited to announce our first update of 2021, which will enable the BlueVenn technology to deliver more benefits than ever to our customers. We’re especially proud of the new capability to report on the metrics of grouped campaigns, the chance to make better use of live data sources to inform your campaigns, the enhanced capabilities of our Facebook and Google channels and a brand new Salesforce CRM integration.
Omnichannel Marketing Hub new features
New campaign performance report
It’s now possible to group different types of campaigns – e.g. upsell, cross-sell, and reactivation – into category sets to create holistic campaign performance reports to assess their combined success. You choose a category set and a time period, such as ‘upsell campaigns in the last 7 days’, and you’ll then be able to compare the key metrics for any campaigns that fall within those classifications, to check which are performing best. The results can be split by campaign or channel, and the breakdown shows the number of sent items, delivered, opened or clicked, the conversions and unsubscribe numbers, as well as any bounces.
Cascade Segmentation enhancements
We have enhanced our Cascade Segmentation feature so that it is now possible to choose prioritization actions as you build out a campaign audience. A typical example of when this functionality might be used is while planning a direct mail, in which you only wish to send one mailing per household. 
With this setting enabled to prioritize by household, if your query identified two people in the same household, then the system will only output one record. This eliminates the potential budget wastage associated with sending a direct mail or catalog asset multiple times to the same address.
External resources and external data improvements
It is now possible to configure an external resource connection to FTP locations. This means that, where there is an external source of data in the FTP location, it will be possible to pull that live data into BlueVenn Engage to impact personalization, suppression or change of direction along a campaign journey, based on the data. For example, it’s now possible to check and suppress against a home movers list before executing a campaign message.
A common use case for retail is to check against a live feed of stock and out-of-stock data, to determine if an offer for an out of stock product should be halted. Equally, a bank will be able to check someone’s credit score before sending them an invitation to apply for a credit card. It’s a way of weeding out unnecessary errors from a campaign before it starts.
Two factor authentication login
BlueVenn Engage can now be configured so that every login attempt uses two factor authentication. Those attempting to login will be sent a code, either via email or SMS, depending on their chosen contact method (configurable at the login screen). The system will prioritize SMS over email if both are available; this requires a Twilio account, but clients can use BlueVenn’s account if their data is hosted within our system. Requiring an authorization code will give organizations improved security.
Device ID inclusion – IP security and restrictions improvements
There is a new option to allow administrators to control allowed IP addresses. At user level, each user authorizes the IP address using two factor authentication, but now the BlueVenn Engage administrator within a company will be able to overrule this action by setting allowed IP addresses. Again, this adds an extra layer of security.
New Facebook offline conversions
It’s now possible to upload your company’s own purchase or conversion data straight from BlueVenn Engage to Facebook. If you run a Facebook campaign, for example one that encourages customers to buy shoes, provided you synchronize the purchase information into Facebook within 62 days of the campaign, Facebook will be able to match offline purchases (i.e. those who bought shoes in store rather than clicking the ad and making an online purchase) to people who received the campaign, on the basis of email address. This will enable improved analysis and attribution of the campaign’s overall success rate, i.e. the conversion ratio for the ad, not just online but offline too, within Facebook.
New Salesforce CRM Channel
This channel will allow you to pass lead information to Salesforce CRM by running a BlueVenn Engage campaign with an integration step, to update various properties on the leads. Data will be matched on field names in the chosen field list, and customers will be able to configure picklists on Salesforce data. 
When you come to run your Salesforce CRM integration you can set it up to look at the various fields within Salesforce, for example lead source, and apply an update. BlueVenn’s Salesforce CRM Channel provides several drop-down boxes, based on what you’ve configured, that will allow you to update the associated fields in Salesforce.
Updated Facebook Custom Audience Channel
Improvements have been made to the data matching, so that BlueVenn Engage now supports matching not only on the basis of the mandatory email address field role, but optionally via phone number, first and last name, country, and postal code. It is also now possible to create a Facebook audience from within BlueVenn Engage.
Updated Google Audiences Channel
Again, improvements have been made to the data matching, so that BlueVenn Engage now supports matching not only on the basis of the mandatory email address field role, but via phone number, first and last name, country and postal code. As with Facebook, it is now possible to create a Google audience from within BlueVenn Engage.
Customer Data Platform new features
File set handling in ETL
Data loading will be easier than ever, with added abilities to control the rules, speed and order of loading, as well as to schedule it to occur at convenient times during the week.
Additionally, a new file set reporting notification will ensure any data supply failures are speedily identified and rectified.
Import and export profile & transaction configuration
BlueVenn Unify now has the ability to easily transfer profile and transaction configurations between different systems, for example from implementation to live. The user can now copy a user record, profile record or transaction class to a separate BlueVenn Unify instance, with the option to transfer all or selected records.
ETL updates and improvements
New rules options have been introduced for data imports around matching strict column names, overwriting data with null values and implying gender, to assist marketers with their ongoing personalization efforts.
The option to apply strict column names allows you to select whether, for example, columns labelled First_Name and First Name are matched or not. The option to overwrite existing data with blank fields provides you with the ability to remove old/obsolete information (previously, existing data in a field would not be overwritten if the newest data imported contained a blank field, merging the old values with the new data). These options provide you with greater flexibility and control over what data is made available within BlueVenn Unify.
Inference of gender can now be made on the basis of either title, first name, or a combination of the two. Where title is selected, gender will be assigned only if a title is given and not if it is missing. Where first name is selected, if the title and first name conflict, the gender will be inferred by first name; in the case of a unisex name, such as ‘Alex’, no gender will be inferred. Where both options are selected, no gender will be inferred if the title and first name conflict, while if there’s a title and unisex first name it will be inferred by title. Conversely, if a gender specific first name is supplied without a title, the gender will be inferred by that first name.
To find out more about the new features of BlueVenn 2021.1, existing customers should speak to their Account Manager or look out for emails from the Customer Success Team, which will include the BlueVenn 2021.1 update video.
Alternatively, if you sign into the BlueVenn Support Portal, you will be able to access articles explaining every new feature in detail. Or, if you’re researching our platform, sign up for a demo today to gain a more detailed overview of BlueVenn’s technology.
