Seed lists

A seed list allows you to test where an email or SMS will land across different email clients and devices, as well as see how your campaigns are rendered in different browsers and email clients. For SMS seed sends, seed lists can include phone numbers.

The seed list feature in Blueshift requires you to upload a list of users (e.g., internal users) and then use it in a campaign. When the campaign is launched, it sends a copy of the first message to each user in the seed list.

The seed list behavior for different types of campaigns is as follows:

Create a new customer list

To create a new customer list, complete the following steps:

• Go to Customer Data > Lists and click + CUSTOMER LIST > File Upload.

• Select the File to upload. For file and data format, see Customer data format.
• Enter a Name for the list.

• Select the customer Identifier you are using to identify customers. Available options are:
  • Email
  • Phone number
  • Customer ID
• Sample data is fetched from the file.
• Verify the sample data.
• Add a Description.
• Click Upload.

Set up seed lists

• Follow the customer list creation process as mentioned above, and select Seed List as the option.

• Associate the Seed list to use with the campaign in the Monitoring section of the Properties tab.

Use phone numbers in seed lists (SMS)

To test SMS campaigns and templates with a seed list, include users with valid phone numbers in the seed list. When an SMS campaign is launched, Blueshift sends a copy of the first SMS message to each phone number in the seed list.

Seed list settings for continuous campaigns

You can choose the seed list sending behavior you prefer for your continuously sending campaigns (either event-triggered or continuous-segment-triggered campaigns). These settings are available under Campaign Properties -> Monitoring Preferences.

• Select Send to seed list only once if you want to send to the seed list only once per campaign launch.
• Select the Seed list send every time period settings to send the seed list at a set frequency.

As described in the table above, Seed list sends are based on the following conditions:

• Seed list sends are triggered when a message is successfully sent to a customer from the given campaign.
• Seed list send settings are defined in campaign monitoring preferences

Seed list send examples

In all examples, the campaign begins at 2 AM, and the seed list frequency is set to every 6 hours.

• Example 1:
  The first customer message is triggered at 3 AM.
  The seed list is sent at 3 AM along with the first message.
• Example 2:
  Messages are triggered at 2 AM and 10 AM (no trigger at 8 AM).
  The seed list is sent at 2 AM and 10 AM; it skips 8 AM because there is no trigger.
• Example 3:
  Messages are triggered at 2 AM and 8 AM.
  The seed list is sent at 2 AM and 8 AM, aligned with a 6-hour frequency.
• Example 4:
  The campaign starts at 2 AM, but no message is triggered at launch.
  It is paused at 3 AM and restarted at 4 AM.
  A customer message is triggered at 4 AM, which resets the seed list timer.
  The seed list is sent at 4 AM and again at 10 AM (6 hours after restart).

Subject lines for seed list emails

The Subject line for an email sent to the seed list has the following format:

• Seed List - {$original subject line} : ( {$seed list name}, {$customer email address} )
• BCC - {$original subject line} : ( {$customer email} )

For example, if the Subject line is "Best scooters in town", the customer email address is 'firstname.lastname@company.com' and the seed list is 'Default Seed List,' the subject line has the following format:

• Seed List - Best scooters in town: (Default Seed List, firstname.lastname@company.com)
• BCC - Best scooters in town: (firstname.lastname@company.com)

Note: Subject lines apply to seed list emails. SMS seed sends do not use subject lines.