How does MXO prioritize Actions?

MXO prioritizes eligible Actions to select the best Action to show to a customer, using Priority Rules. The out-of-the-box Priority Rules let you prioritize Actions based on:

• Interest and Marketing Priority
• Interest first
• Interest only
• Marketing Priority
• Random

For a full explanation about the different types of Priority Rules available, see Priority Rules . For example, you may want to prioritize Actions based on both recent customer interest and previous purchases.

In the example above, we have tailored the Eligibility Rule to ensure we always promote products a customer has purchased previously rather than alternatives.

For more information, see Priority Rules.

How do I configure Arbitration?

You configure which Priority Rule to use for prioritizing Actions when you create an Optimization Point.

As part of the configuration process, you can also limit the scope of Actions available for inclusion in arbitration based on your Propositions. This ensures that MXO only presents customers with Actions applicable to their current interest.

For example, on the homepage of a banking web site a business might want to show details about all their current special offers. On the credit card page, however, they only want to display details about special offers relating to credit cards.

For more information, see Define Where to Show Personalized Content to Customers.

The Arbitration Process

The goal of arbitration is to pick the best Action to present to a customer from a set of eligible Actions. The set of eligible Actions available depends on a number of factors, including the context of the Optimization Point where the arbitration is applied. The following diagram explains the arbitration process.

MXO starts with the full set of enabled Actions.

Step 1: Eliminate any Actions that don’t have the right Proposition scope.

You can limit the scope of Actions displayed to customers based on your Propositions. For example, on the credit card page of a website, you might want to limit the scope of Actions displayed to those relating only to credit cards. An Action for a promotional offer on savings account may not be relevant on the credit card page and should be eliminated from the list of available Actions.

Proposition scope for an Optimization Point can be set either at a parent-level Proposition or a child-level Proposition. If the Proposition scope for an Optimization Point is set at the parent-level, all Actions with a Proposition scope set at either the parent-level or any child-level beneath that parent are eligible to be shown at that Optimization Point. In our example, this means that if Proposition scope for the Optimization Point is set to Credit Cards, all Actions with a Proposition scope of Credit Cards or associated child propositions, such as Gold Credit Card or Platinum Credit Card, are eligible to be shown at that Optimization Point.

Step 2: Filter out Actions that don’t have any Assets with the right Viewpoint and/or Recognition Status.

You can set viewpoints for Assets to ensure the correct Asset is displayed at the correct viewpoint. For example, to display a script in the call center agent interface. An Action containing only this Asset would not be suitable to use in a web-based optimization and should be eliminated from the list of available Actions.

You can also limit the type of customer an Action can be shown to based on whether they are an anonymous, recognized or verified customer. For example, you might want to display an offer only to verified customers who have logged on to your website. An Action containing Assets applicable only to anonymous customers would not be suitable to use here and should be eliminated from the list of available Actions.

Step 3: Filter out Actions where the Effective Date Range renders them inactive at the time of arbitration.

You can create an Action for a promotional offer that is only applicable to a current campaign. You want MXO to ignore this Action outside the relevant campaign dates and remove it from the list of available Actions.

Step 4: Filter out any Actions that are already shown for the current Touchpoint.

Actions can be shown multiple times for a single Touchpoint if there are multiple Optimization Points. If an Action has already been selected for a different Optimization Point on a Touchpoint it will be removed from the list of available Actions.

Step 5: Evaluate any Eligibility Rules to filter out ineligible Actions.

You can assign Eligibility Rules to Actions to ensure they are only shown to eligible customers. For example, you may have an Action for a promotional offer on car insurance that you only want to show to customers who have shown high level of interest in car insurance in the last 30 days. If a customer has not shown any interest in car insurance recently, MXO excludes that Action from the list of available Actions.

Step 6: Rank remaining Actions based on prioritization method configured.

After all invalid and ineligible Actions have been excluded from the list of Actions available to show at an Optimization Point, MXO ranks the remaining Actions, based on the prioritization method configured, to determine which is the best to show to the current customer.

For example, when ranking by Marketing Priority you assign each Action you create a priority number. That number is based on the marketing priority you want to assign to an Action. The ranking process involves checking the Priority number assigned to each Action. The returned numbers are used to rank the remaining Actions and those with the highest Priority number go into the Asset selection process.

If during the ranking process, an Action returns a missing value, then the Action is excluded from ranking. If more than one of the top ranked Actions return the same number, one is picked randomly.

Asset Selection Process

After MXO selects an applicable Action or Actions, the next step is to determine the correct Asset or Assets to display at the Optimization Point.

1. Verify if the Action has already been delivered to the current customer with a certain Asset.
2. If yes, and the same Asset is still available and meets the associated viewpoint and recognition status criteria, that Asset is displayed.
3. If no, and there is more than one Asset available with the correct associated viewpoint and recognition status, MXO picks the best valid asset to display according to a customers recognition status

What happens if there are no Assets available for a customer's recognition status?

If there are no assets available for a customer's recognition status, the first time that customer is eligible for the Action, MXO picks an asset from a lower recognition status.

What happens if there are new assets available for a customer's current recognition status?

If a customer is eligible for the same action more than once and the customer returns under the same conditions MXO picks the same asset to show, irrespective of whether or not new assets are available for the current recognition status.

What happens if a customer's recognition status is elevated?

If a customer is eligible for the same Action more than once and the customer returns under the same conditions, MXO picks the same asset to show, irrespective of their recognition status change.

What happens if the original asset shown has been deleted?

If a customer is eligible for the same Action more than once and the customer returns under the same conditions, MXO picks the best valid asset to display according to a customers recognition status.

Where can I view more information about the Arbitration Process?

You can view more detailed information about how MXO arrives at a decision to display a specific action at an Optimization Point in the Event feed in Monitor. The event captured for an Optimization Point provides a detailed view of the Arbitration process, including information about how the top five Actions performed during that process, invaluable when testing and troubleshooting your configurations.

Example

In this example, MXO displays the High Yield Savings (offer) Action at the Banner - C1st Online Optimization Point, as this is the only Action to make it through the entire Arbitration process.