StartRight Process Overview

In this article, we will go over the steps and responsibilities involved in integrating you with Bloomreach Engagement using StartRight. As we go through the integration process, in each step, you will find a summary of what happens, and what is your and Bloomreach's role in that particular step.

Client-side requirements

StartRight enables you to unlock expert Use Cases quickly by activating your data natively in Bloomreach Engagement. There are certain well-defined activities you need to complete in order to make these expert Use Cases available. We will provide you with all the necessary guidance through this process, including data integration and Use Case launch.

These activities are dependent on the selected package and may include:

• Adding the Bloomreach Engagement tracking snippet to your website
• Importing customer data and consents
• Tracking behavioral data and purchase events from transactional systems

Project Outcomes Summary

• Fully functional integrated project according to integration phase description.
• Use Cases deployed according to the implementation phase description.
• Presentation of analytical insights during the final presentation
• Recommendations for the next steps during the final presentation

Please, find a detailed breakdown of the steps involved in the process below. Generally, the project typically starts with a scoping and discovery phase (finalization of requirements); continues to an integration phase (email integration, website integration, data imports, events tracking, integration with internal and external systems); and a marketing automation implementation (deployment of Use Cases). The project ends with an evaluation phase where integration and implementation results are presented.

During the project, deliverables and milestones may be changed by mutual agreement.

0. Inspiration

The necessary step before we even start with the integration process is all about familiarizing yourself with Bloomreach Engagement's capabilities and learning what can Bloomreach Engagement do for you in terms of marketing automation, emailing, and consolidating data to provide a single customer view across all channels.

Responsibilities:

You can learn more about Bloomreach Engagement in multiple ways. One way is to use our publicly available documentation. Here, you can explore Bloomreach Engagement's data structure, browse our comprehensive Emailing and Security sections, or read about our Campaigns, Real-time Analysis tools, or Recommendations.

Further information about our product can also be acquired by contacting our Sales and Marketing departments, and/or requesting a Bloomreach Engagement demo.

1. Scoping

The main goal of Scoping is to identify and discuss your business requirements, priorities, and current challenges, and prepare solutions based on that. We will also go through and verify your technical integration infrastructure and methods. As a result of this, we will provide you with a selection of Plug&Play Use Cases and technical infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

This process is led by Bloomreach's Solutions Consultant. You will need to guide us through your business in detail, including all of its technical aspects. Based on your business and integration requirements, our Solutions Consultant will prepare a selection of customizable Plug&Play Use Cases and Integration infrastructure.

With StartRight, you will be able to choose between 3 main packages: Express, Intermediate, and Advanced. As you have learned in the previous section, each package contains a number of specific Use Cases and certain types of integrations.

At the end of this process, together with our Solutions Consultant, you will align on the chosen packages and create a draft of the Scoping document.

Emailing questionnaire

A special step in the scoping process is the Emailing questionnaire. This questionnaire is concerned with your existing email domains and their statistics. You will need to collect and prepare these required statistics and finally fill in the questionnaire.

This helps us with identifying your emailing needs and preparing the best solutions for this channel.

2. Discovery meeting

The main goal of this meeting is to brief all involved stakeholders and align on scope outcomes. This includes validating solutions, milestones, deadlines, responsibilities, and key metrics; and discussing expectations or potential blockers. The process is led by Bloomreach's Solution Consultants and accompanied by the Client Services team, which will also be delivering the project afterward.

Responsibilities:

The result of this meeting is the final scope agreement and a finalized version of the Scoping document, both of which will be delivered by our Solution Consultants.

3. Delivery Kick-off

Our main task here will be to lay out and detail how cooperation will work in the project, understand the next steps, and create a detailed plan for the upcoming weeks. This meeting will be led by Bloomreach's Client Services team.

Responsibilities:

During this process, Bloomreach will define a complete project plan for implementing the technical and business requirements. This plan will involve all tasks, their desired start and end dates, and the person responsible for the task. We will also prepare and distribute all required kick-off documents, involving target architecture, technical definition documents, and/or tracking documents for technical requirements.

If you have not done so already, now is the time to assemble a project team with the required members for tasks on the project plan. Such a team would usually involve at least:

• CRM/Campaigns Manager
• Project lead/manager
• Tech Lead/Data architect
• Developers/Engineers

Together we will create the necessary communication channels, accesses, sharing documents, or other things needed for effective collaboration on the project.

4. StartRight Integration

In this step, we move from planning to the technical phase of the project. This phase is based on full cooperation between your IT and marketing teams and Bloomreach's Client Services team. Your technical team will be responsible for the proper functioning of the technical integration, which is the basis for the implementation of the Use Cases later on.

Responsibilities:

During this stage, your project team and Bloomreach will focus mainly on tasks related to the technical integration of the platform. Regular status calls are scheduled to discuss, for example, progress updates, any existing blockers, and the next steps. During this process, it is in the best interest of both parties to adhere to the defined timeline as closely as possible.

Bloomreach's team will support you during the whole process in the form of regular consulting sessions and will assure the proper functioning of the integration.

During Integration, two main processes will happen simultaneously.

Email Warm-Up

To set up the emailing channel, Bloomreach will configure the Email Service Provider account. Your team will need to update your domain records, design email templates, define consent categories and upload consent data.

Data Integration

Your IT department will need to execute the frontend and backend integration for customers, events, and catalog data. On the Bloomreach side, we will handle full quality assurance once the data is ready.

We will go over the Integration in great detail in the next section.

5. StartRight Implementation

As part of StartRight, you have access to a pre-scoped package of Plug&Play Use Cases. This package contains a combination of best-practice Dashboards, Analyses, Campaigns, and Templates that have been iterated over 1000s of hours working with some of the top brands in e-commerce.

The templates of the Plug&Play Use Cases will be provided by Bloomreach according to the descriptions in the Scoping document as soon as the integration of the necessary prerequisites is ready.

Responsibilities:

Fixed Bid Engagement

StartRight deployments are “fixed-bid” engagements. Our consulting team is committed to deploying the scoped work and is not held to a set number of man-hours in doing so. This means you can remain confident that your StartRight scope of work will be deployed in its entirety without any surprise consulting fees.

Time to Value vs Customization

Plug&Play Use Cases are functionally ready for deployment on Day 1. This means you can launch the campaigns immediately after adding your creative designs. Alternatively, you can choose to further customize the Use Case to your needs.

Bloomreach recommends the “quick launch” approach for three reasons:

• The Use Cases have undergone rigorous pre-testing and have a proven track record with some of the world’s best brands. Therefore, they exist in “best-practice” form from Day 1.
• You can achieve time-to-value much quicker. Configuring Use Cases further can create bottlenecks during the implementation, which in turn can cause your timeline to slip unpredictably.
• You can always customize further in the future anyway.

That said, we are aware that every business is unique. Every Plug&Play Use Case is fully customizable and you may decide to customize the Use Cases before launch.

For example, the Welcome Flow Use Case is set to trigger after an opt-in event and send three emails over a 10-day period. You can change these parameters, test different approaches, and edit the content of each email to match your business requirements.

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Please note that you will need to manage the customization and configuration of Plug&Play Use Cases with your own resources. If you need additional support from the Bloomreach team, please reach out to your Account Manager to learn more.

6. Final meeting

This meeting marks the end of the implementation of the project. All Use Cases are tested and evaluated and the next steps in cooperation are defined.