Next Best Action in Flows

Use Next Best Action in MoEngage Flows to let Merlin AI select the optimal channel and send time for each user based on their behavioral patterns.

The Next Best Action (NBA) option in Flows is powered by insights on user behavior gathered by Merlin AI, the machine learning module of MoEngage. NBA lets marketers engage with each user on their preferred channel at the best time to deliver the campaign for that user. For more information, refer to Most Preferred Channel (MPC) and Best Time to Send (BTS).

NBA reduces assumptions and guesswork and uses data gathered about user behavior to select the best channel and time to engage with each user. Using NBA in a flow would help create a hyper-personalized flow for each user. Thus, flows with NBA will help drive better engagement as they are not based on the collective trends of a group of users but on each user’s past engagement trends.

NBA is available for all Enterprise clients by default. For other plans, this feature is available as an add-on option with BTS and MPC. To enable this feature, please contact your MoEngage Customer Success Manager (CSM) or the Support team.

How does NBA work?

When a user enters the NBA stage, Merlin AI chooses the MPC based on the data from the user’s engagement trends for the past 60 days. The specified fallback channel is used if the MPC is unavailable for a user. Also, marketers can send the campaigns to the users at the best hour based on Merlin AI BTS information on the user. Merlin AI picks out the BTS for the user based on their activity for the past 60 days, and this information is available in the User Profile. MoEngage uses the BTS for every user who enters the NBA stage in the Flow. When this information is unavailable, we send the campaign at the default time (for users for whom BTS info is unavailable).

Adding the NBA Stage

To add NBA as a stage in a Flow, do the following:

1. Select NBA from the stages in the Flow.
2. As illustrated in the image below, the NBA screen pops up upon adding the NBA as a stage.
3. Choose the Fallback channel in the dropdown. You can choose any one of the following channels as the Fallback channel:
   • Push
   • Email
   • SMS
   • WhatsApp
4. Select the Send the notification at the best time to send (Merlin AI) checkbox to send the campaign at the BTS.
5. If you choose to send at BTS, you can choose one of the following default times in case BTS is not available:
   • Yes, Immediately - In case the BTS isn’t available, the campaign will be sent to the channel chosen immediately.
   • Yes, at App’s best - If the BTS isn’t available, the campaign will be sent to the channel chosen at the App’s best time (when the app has the best collective engagement).
   • No, Don’t send - If the BTS isn’t available, the campaign will not be sent.
6. Click Done to add NBA as a stage.

Once NBA is added as a stage, you get the following view in the canvas.

You can configure the Push, Email, SMS, and WhatsApp campaigns for the NBA stage by clicking on the pen icon (hover on the NBA stage to view this option). If the MPC is Push for a given user, the campaign configured in the NBA Push Stage gets sent at the configured time. Otherwise, the NBA Email campaign is sent to the user at the configured time, as Email is the fallback channel.

Deleting the NBA Stage

Click on the delete icon (hover on the NBA stage to view this option) to delete the NBA stage. You can retain any or none of the channels configured in the NBA stage. When you select a channel to be retained, it gets added as a stage, replacing NBA. For example, if Push (the NBA Push channel configured) were to be retained, it will get added instead of NBA.

Campaign Analytics

The following NBA specific information is available in the Flows Canvas for a published Flow for the NBA stage.

1. Number of users who have Entered and Exited
2. Number of users who were reached through the FallBack Channel
3. Engagement Score
4. Engagement Score Uplift
5. CVR
6. CVR Uplift
7. When BTS is activated, the number of users who had received communication at Default Time is also available.

Engagement Scores

The engagement scores are calculated differently when NBA alone is used without BTS and when NBA with BTS are used together, and they are detailed below.

When NBA is used without BTS

Scenario	NBA/Fallback Channel	Formula for the calculation of Engagement Score	Formula for the calculation of CVR
Users who were sent a campaign as per their Next Best Action information	NBA	(No. of Clicks For Push + No. of Clicks for SMS +1/10* No. of Opens for Email + No. of Clicks for Email+ No. of clicks for WhatsApp )/ Successful sents	No. of Conversions/ Impressions
Users who were sent a campaign using the Fallback channel information	Fallback or Default Channel	(No. of Clicks(in case of Push or SMS or WhatsApp) or [No. of Clicks + 1/10 no. of Opens(in case of Email)] / Successful Sents	No. of Conversions/ Impressions

Uplift Percentages

The formula for calculating uplift percentages for various scenarios is shown below.

Legend: Engagement Score - ES Default Score - DS

Uplift in ES (in % )= [(ES via NBA / ES via Default) - 1]*100

Uplift in CVR (in % )= [(CVR via NBA / CVR Default) - 1]*100

When NBA and BTS are used together

Scenario	NBA/Fallback Channel	Formula for the calculation of Engagement Score	Formula for the calculation of CVR
Users who were sent a campaign as per their Next Best Action information at their BTS	NBA	(No. of Clicks For Push + No. of Clicks for SMS +1/10* No. of Opens for Email + No. of Clicks for Email)/ Successful sents	No. of Conversions/ Impressions
Users who were sent a campaign using the Fallback channel information at the Default time	Fallback or Default Channel	(No. of Clicks(in case of Push or SMS) or [No. of Clicks + 1/10 no. of Opens(in case of Email)] / Successful Sents	No. of Conversions/ Impressions

Uplift Percentages

The formulae for calculating uplift percentages for various scenarios are shown below.

Legend: Engagement Score - ES

Uplift in ES (in % )= [(ES via NBA and BTS/ ES via Default) - 1]*100

Uplift in CVR (in % )= [(CVR via NBA and BTS / CVR Default) - 1]*100

The image below shows a published Flow with an NBA stage. On Hover at the NBA stage, all of the metrics mentioned above are displayed. In the following Flow, 3 users have entered the NBA stage. Among the 3, 2 have their MPC defined as Email and BTS defined as 4-5 PM and 2-3 PM, respectively. While one user neither has MPC nor BTS.

For the above Flow, the calculation of these metrics is shown below:

Sent via Fallback Channel is 1, as One user didn’t have MPC information. Since the same user didn’t have BTS info, the Sent at Default time is also shown as 1. So this user received the Email Campaign as soon as the user reached this stage.

Engagement Score (ES) = ((NBA clicks + (NBA opens/10))/NBA sents)*100 = ((3+(2/10))/2)*100 = 160

Default Scores (DS) = ((Default Clicks + (Default opens/10))/Default sents)*100 = ((1+(1/10))/1)*100 = 110

Uplift in Engagement Scores = ((ES/DS) - 1) * 100 = ((1.6/1.1) - 1) * 100 = 45.45%

NBA CVR = NBA conversions/NBA impressions*= 3/2*100 = 150%*

Default CVR = Default conversions/default impressions = 1/1 *100 = 100%

Uplift in CVR = ((NBA CVR /Default CVR) - 1) * 100 = ((150/100) - 1) * 100 = 50%

All MoEngage AI products, which were previously referred to as Sherpa AI, are now known as Merlin AI.