Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) Journeys offer a powerful way to engage with customers through multiple channels such as email, SMS, WhatsApp, and push notifications. You can personalize interactions based on customer data, create automated flows with decision splits, and even integrate Salesforce CRM data or import contacts.

For many marketers, this functionality feels like a playground of possibilities. But for others, especially those new to SFMC or concerned about handling sensitive client data, it can feel overwhelming. This is why testing is a critical step in ensuring your journey operates as expected.

In this post, we'll cover the various ways to test your journeys, from using SFMC's standard test functionality to more advanced methods for testing complex scenarios like status changes and decision splits.

Standard Testing in Marketing Cloud

Salesforce Marketing Cloud comes with built-in testing functionality to ensure your journey is configured correctly before activation.

Validate Your Journey

Once your journey is set up, Marketing Cloud provides a Validate button. This performs a technical check to ensure all steps, decision splits, and criteria are correctly configured.

Test Mode

After validation, the Test button becomes active. Test mode simulates the journey flow using up to 10 contacts from your entry source.

Here's how it works:

1. Select up to 10 test contacts from your entry source.
2. Detail: Run the test to verify wheter the contacts enter the journey and how they progress through each step.
3. A blue line visually highlights their path through the journey.
   
   

This feature is ideal for a quick sanity check to ensure the journey's structure is functional. However, it has limitations, particularly for testing real-world scenarios with dynamic data changes.

Testing Complex Journeys: Abandoned Cart Example

Consider an abandoned cart journey where the goal is to prompt customers to finalize their purchases. Here's a common setup:

• Entry Source: Customers who abandoned their carts.
• Exit Criteria: Customers who completed their purchase exit the journey.
• Decision Split: Before sending reminders, a decision split checks whether the customer has made a purchase.

In this scenario, testing can be tricky because:

• Test mode only evaluates the current state of a contact at the point of entry.
• Dynamic updates (like a status change indicating a purchase) won't be reflected.

For such complex scenarios, we have put together 5 options for testing your journeys:

Temporarily remove entry and exit criteria, then use test mode to evaluate the journey.

• Add contacts with and without a purchase to your entry source.
• Run the test to observe how they progress through decision splits.

Pros: Simple and quick.
Cons: Doesn't replicate real-world behavior since entry/exit criteria are removed.

Replace your real entry source with test records and activate the journey.

• If your entry source is a Salesforce CRM integration, make sure you have the test contacts there and their status (change) gets updated during the journey.

Important: Ensure you have permission to edit test records in Salesforce when using Salesforce as the entry source.

For data extensions as entry source, verify that you can modify records during the journey. If you pull in the contacts from Salesforce CRM (for example via an sql automation in a data extension), then this works. If you update the test-contact status in Salesforce, this is reflected in the data extension and you will see how all decision splits work.

If you are working with, for example a data extension with imported contacts, you should check beforehand if you are able to edit the records in your data extension. This is only possible if you have a primary key. If you are not able to do this, you can't change the contacts status, so you will have to remove the entry criteria as mentioned under point 1 above, so people with and without purchases can reach the decision split that you want to test.

Pros: Enables testing of the journey as it would operate in production.
Cons: Requires manual setup of test contacts and status changes and does not work with data extensions without a primary key.

Incorporate a decision split at the start of your journey to filter test contacts:

• Add a test value (e.g., a specific attribute like your own name) that allows only test contacts to proceed while live contacts exit the journey immediately.
• This allows you to safely test the journey without impacting real customers.

Pros: Ensures live contacts aren't affected and you don't need a separate test entry source.
Cons: Requires the ability to update test records dynamically, and you have to be really sure your filter works to not impact the other people in the source.

Duplicate the journey and remove all communication activities (emails, SMS, etc.). Activate the copy with test contacts to evaluate how they progress through splits.

Pros: Allows you to safely test the flow without sending actual communications.
Cons: Requires additional setup and doesn't test communication content.

If you activate the journey but you want to have time to monitor it, you can add some waiting times for critical steps or messages (e.g., 1 hour) to give you time to monitor contact progression. This can prevent unexpected sends or actions. Observe whether contacts enter the steps as expected.

Final Tips for Effective Testing

1. Reduce Waiting Times in the test: Minimize wait durations during testing to speed up the process.
2. Track Test Contacts: Keep a record of test contacts' Subscriber IDs, emails, and statuses and date of status change. This allows you to quickly find them in the journey and validate of the results are according to expectations.
3. Engage an Expert: If you're unsure about your setup, consult with a Salesforce Marketing Cloud expert. They can review your journey and help you avoid common pitfalls.
   
   

By taking the time to thoroughly test your journeys, you can confidently launch campaigns that deliver a seamless and personalized customer experience. If you need expert assistance, feel free to contact us, we're happy to help you get the most out of Salesforce Marketing Cloud.