Chapter 11: Your First Journey

The Problem

Segments are powerful, but they're snapshots. You want something more: "When a customer signs up, send a welcome email. Wait 3 days. If they haven't made a purchase, send a reminder. If they have, send a thank-you and add them to the loyalty program."

This is a journey—a multi-step experience that unfolds over time.

The Key Idea

Core concept

A journey is a sequence of steps that customers move through based on time and behavior. It's marketing automation defined as code.

Instead of configuring flows in a UI, you describe the experience to AI and get a YAML file that orchestrates everything.

Creating Your First Journey

Describe the customer experience:

> "Create a welcome journey: send a welcome email when someone signs up, wait 3 days, then send a follow-up if they haven't purchased"

AI generates:

name: Welcome Series
description: Onboard new customers with welcome and follow-up emails

entry:
  segment: New Signups

stages:
  - name: Onboarding
    steps:
      - type: activation
        name: Send Welcome Email
        id: welcome-email
        with:
          activation: welcome-email-sendgrid
        next: wait-period

      - type: wait
        name: Wait 3 Days
        id: wait-period
        with:
          duration: 3
          unit: day
        next: check-purchase

      - type: decision_point
        name: Did They Purchase?
        id: check-purchase
        with:
          condition:
            segment: Made First Purchase
        branches:
          - match: true
            next: thank-you
          - match: false
            next: reminder

      - type: activation
        name: Send Reminder
        id: reminder
        with:
          activation: reminder-email-sendgrid
        next: end

      - type: activation
        name: Send Thank You
        id: thank-you
        with:
          activation: thankyou-email-sendgrid

Understanding the Structure

A journey has three main parts:

Entry

Who enters the journey:

entry:
  segment: New Signups

Customers enter when they join the "New Signups" segment.

Stages

Organizational containers for steps:

stages:
  - name: Onboarding
    steps: [...]

Stages help you organize complex journeys into logical phases.

Steps

The actual actions and logic:

steps:
  - type: activation
    name: Send Welcome Email

Each step does something: send a message, wait, check a condition, etc.

Step Types

Type	What It Does	Example Use
activation	Send to a channel	Email, SMS, push notification
wait	Pause for time	Wait 3 days
decision_point	Branch based on condition	Did they purchase?
ab_test	Split audience	Test two messages
end	Exit the journey	Journey complete

How Steps Connect

Steps link via next:

- type: activation
  name: Send Welcome Email
  id: welcome-email
  next: wait-period  # Go here after

- type: wait
  name: Wait 3 Days
  id: wait-period
  next: check-purchase  # Then go here

Each step has an id that other steps reference. This creates the flow.

Visualizing the Journey

Push the journey in draft mode to see it in the Console:

> "Push this journey as a draft"

Pushing journey: Welcome Series (draft mode)

✓ Journey created in draft state
✓ Not launched - no customers will enter

View in Console:
https://console.us01.treasuredata.com/app/journeys/12345

Click the link to see the visual flow in the UI.

Draft mode lets you verify the flow visually before launching.

Entry Conditions

Control who enters:

Segment-based entry:

entry:
  segment: New Signups

With additional filters:

entry:
  segment: New Signups
  filter:
    attribute: country
    operator: In
    values: ["USA", "Canada"]

Re-entry Rules

Can customers go through the journey multiple times?

reentry: no_reentry        # Once only
reentry: allow_reentry     # Can repeat
reentry: reentry_after_exit  # Can repeat after finishing

Goals

Define what success looks like:

goals:
  - name: Made Purchase
    segment: Purchasers
    exit_on_goal: true

When a customer achieves a goal, they can exit the journey early. This prevents sending a "please buy" email to someone who already bought.

Mental Model: Choose Your Own Adventure

Journeys are like those books where the reader makes choices:

• Start: "You receive a welcome email. Turn to page 2."
• Page 2: "Wait 3 days. Turn to page 3."
• Page 3: "Did you make a purchase? If yes, turn to page 4. If no, turn to page 5."
• Page 4: "Thank you! The end."
• Page 5: "Here's a reminder. The end."

Each customer reads their own path through the story based on their actions.

Previewing a Journey

Before going live:

> "Preview the journey"

Journey: Welcome Series

Entry: New Signups segment
Currently in segment: 1,247 customers would enter

Steps:
1. Send Welcome Email → welcome-email-sendgrid
2. Wait 3 days
3. Check: Made First Purchase segment
   - If yes: Send Thank You
   - If no: Send Reminder

Estimated flow:
- ~70% expected to reach decision point
- ~25% expected to have purchased (based on historical data)

Validating and Pushing

Same workflow as segments:

> "Validate the journey"

✓ Journey syntax is valid
✓ All segments referenced exist
✓ All activations referenced exist
✓ No unreachable steps

Ready to push.

> "Push the journey"

Pitfalls

"Customers aren't entering."

Check the entry segment—it might be empty or have wrong criteria:

> "How many customers are in the New Signups segment?"

"The flow seems wrong."

Verify the next references:

> "Trace the path from welcome email to end"

"Activations aren't firing."

Check that the connection is enabled and working:

> "Show me the status of welcome-email-sendgrid activation"

What You've Learned

• Journeys are multi-step customer experiences
• Customers enter via segments
• Steps are actions (activate), waits, or decisions
• Steps connect via next and id references
• Goals define success and can trigger early exit
• Preview and validate before pushing

Next Step

You've built a linear journey. Chapter 12 explores advanced patterns—conditional branches, A/B tests, and complex decision trees.

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You've created your first journey. Next, you'll add intelligence to the path.