Every user is different, and their interactions with your brand should reflect that! With filter tiles, you can send users down different paths in a journey based on their individual attributes and behavior.
There are four types of filter tiles:
- A/B Split
- Yes/No Split
- Attribute Split
- Send to Journey
# In this article
# A/B Split tiles
A/B Split tiles let you add A/B tests to a journey. For example, you could use an A/B Split tile to determine which version of a campaign leads to more conversions.
To set up an A/B Split tile, add the number of branches you want and what percentage of users should travel down each branch. You can add up to 10 branches, and the percentages you set must add up to 100%.
# Example: Testing campaign performance
Let's say you want to determine whether users engage more with a product review campaign if they receive it one day after their order is delivered or one week later. Here's how you might do that:
TIP
Want to increase engagement by sending a campaign on each user's preferred channel? Try a Channel optimization tile.
# Yes/No Split tiles
Yes/No Split tiles let you send users down different paths in a journey, depending on whether or not they have completed some action or have a certain user profile field. For example, you could use a Yes/No Split tile to send different coupons to users who have made a purchase before and those who haven't. Users who match your criteria are sent down the Yes branch, and users who don't are sent down the No branch.
There are two filtering options:
- All events and user profile fields — Checks a user's entire profile and event history to determine if they match your filtering criteria.
- Only properties from the specific event that started each user's journey — Checks data from the single event that added the user to the journey.
NOTE
The option to check Only properties from the specific event that started each user's journey is designed to work with the Event occurs and API call entry sources in the Start tile. It's also possible to use it with the Other journey entry source, but Iterable can't confirm that the linked journey's entry source is an event or API call. Be sure to check your linked journey(s) and test thoroughly if you decide to set up a Yes/No Split tile in a journey that uses the Other journey entry source.
The Split Criteria section works the same way as the query builder in Iterable's Segmentation tool. You can add multiple clauses and require users to have any, all, or none of the criteria you set up. For optimal journey performance, it's best to include all of your filtering criteria within one Yes/No Split tile. (See Optimizing Journey Performance to learn more.)
Before you enable the tile, you can test your split criteria by making sure a few sample users go down the paths you expect them to. First, make sure that all of your split criteria are filled out and valid. (If there are any problems, you'll see a warning message and the affected fields will be highlighted in red.)
Once all of your split criteria are filled out and valid, click Preview results to see how users will flow through the tile once the journey is published and turned on. Add some sample users by Email and/or User ID, then click Check. You'll see whether each sample user would flow down the Yes or No branch if they were to go through the tile with its current settings.
# Example: Filtering sends
# Filtering by all events
Let's say you're a marketer for a coffee company, and you're setting up a purchase confirmation sequence in which you want to promote the "Iterable Blend" 12-oz. bag of coffee beans to users who have never purchased it before. You could use a Yes/No Split tile to check each user's entire purchase history to determine if they've ever purchased the Iterable Blend, then send different messages to those who have and those who haven't. Here's how you might do that:
# Filtering by the journey's starting event
Let's say you're a marketer for a coffee company, and you're setting up a purchase confirmation sequence in which you want to cross-sell coffee filters to users who just purchased the "Iterable Blend" 12-oz. bag of coffee beans. You could use a Yes/No Split tile to determine which product users purchased when they were added to the journey and send the cross-sell message only to users who just purchased the Iterable Blend coffee beans. Here's how you might do that:
# Attribute Split tiles
Attribute Split tiles let you send users down different paths in a journey
based on individual user attributes (like location or favoriteColor).
You can add up to 10 branches to an Attribute Split tile. By default, this tile includes an Everyone else branch — where users who don't match any of your criteria are sent. If you want users who don't match any of your criteria to exit the journey, you can either remove the Everyone else branch or leave it unconnected.
If a user meets more than one of your criteria, they'll go down the first branch they match. (Iterable checks for matches from left to right on the tile.)
NOTE
Attribute Split tiles can be set up to check for either exact value matches or
regular expressions (RegEx).
When RegEx characters (like ., *, and |) are included in one or more of
your specified values, the tile interprets these values as regular expressions.
(For example, the | character is interpreted as the "OR" operator.) When no
special characters are included, the tile checks for a literal value match.
If you don't want to use regular expressions in your Attribute Split values,
avoid using these characters, or add a \ before any special characters to
escape them.
# Example: Sending based on user attributes
Let's say you work for a pet company, and you want to send a health quiz to pet owners. You could use an Attribute Split tile to filter users by the species of pet they own and send the right quiz to each type of pet owner. Here's how you might do that:
# Send to Journey tiles
Send to Journey tiles let you add users to another journey. For example, you could use this tile to add users to a promo sequence after they've opted in to receive marketing messages from your brand.
When a user reaches a Send to Journey tile, they’re added to the linked journey, while also continuing down the path they're on in the original journey.
When you use the Send to Journey tile, the triggering data from the original journey is available in the linked journey.
NOTE
If the journey you want to send users to isn't showing up in the dropdown, make sure its entry source is set to Other journey. Then try again.
# Example: Sending based on user action
You could use a Send to Journey tile to add users to a product review sequence after they complete a purchase. Here's how you might do that:
# Tips and best practices
# Entry rules versus Yes/No Splits
Entry rules and Yes/No Split tiles work in a similar way, but they serve different purposes.
Entry rules prevent ineligible users from entering a journey. If you have a group of users who should not go through a journey, you can set up an entry rules (or rules) in the Start tile to filter them out before they're allowed to enter the journey. This is more efficient than using a filter tile after the Start tile and can improve journey performance.
For users that meet your entry rule requirements and are allowed to enter a journey, you can use Yes/No Splits to direct traffic throughout the journey.
# Avoid adding a filter tile directly after the Start tile
If you try to check for a certain user profile field immediately after a user enters the journey, Iterable may not have enough time to update their user profile before the user reaches the filter tile. To prevent this, add a short delay between the Start tile and the filter tile.
# Avoid using multiple Yes/No Split tiles in a row
For optimal journey performance, it's better to include all of your filtering criteria within one Yes/No Split tile. (You can add multiple criteria and clauses in the query builder.)
To learn more about setting up filter tiles efficiently, see Optimizing Journey Performance.