1. What is IBM Unica Campaign?

Answer: IBM Unica Campaign is a marketing automation solution used to design, execute, and analyze marketing campaigns across multiple channels, enabling targeted, personalized communication.

2. What are the key components of the Unica Campaign architecture?

Answer: Key components include the Campaign Flowchart, Audience, Cell, Offer, Segment, Session, and Campaign Server.

3. What is a Flowchart in IBM Unica Campaign?

Answer: A flowchart is a visual representation of campaign logic. It includes processes like selects, segments, extracts, decisions, and outputs to define the campaign workflow.

4. What is a Cell in IBM Unica?

Answer: A cell represents a segment of audience or data set within a campaign. Each cell can be assigned specific offers or actions.

5. What is a Segment?

Answer: A segment is a subset of your audience defined based on certain rules or criteria like demographics, behavior, or transaction history.

6. How do you schedule a Flowchart?

Answer: Flowcharts can be scheduled via the built-in scheduler in Unica or integrated with external schedulers using command line tools.

7. What is a Strategic Segment?

Answer: A strategic segment is a predefined group of audience members created outside a campaign flowchart for reuse across multiple campaigns.

8. What is the difference between Strategic and On-the-fly Segments?

Answer: Strategic segments are reusable across campaigns. On-the-fly segments are created within flowcharts and typically used only for that campaign.

9. What is a Snapshot process box?

Answer: It saves data to a table for reporting, reuse, or analysis purposes during or after the campaign.

10. How do you execute a campaign in Unica?

Answer: By running the flowchart manually or on a schedule, which processes all the boxes and generates outputs such as mailing lists or reports.

11. What databases does IBM Unica support?

Answer: IBM Unica supports databases like Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, Teradata, and others via JDBC.

12. What is the difference between Merge and Segment processes?

Answer: The Merge process combines multiple inputs. Segment splits data into multiple outputs based on criteria.

13. Explain the Extract process box.

Answer: Extract pulls data from the input cell or table and stores it into an external table for use in other systems.

14. How does Unica handle deduplication?

Answer: Deduplication is handled using the Segment or Merge process by setting criteria like “Keep first,” “Random,” or custom logic.

15. What is a Campaign Template?

Answer: A pre-built campaign framework used to maintain consistency and reduce setup time for similar campaigns.

16. How do you monitor a campaign’s performance?

Answer: Through campaign reporting, flowchart logs, cell tracking, and integration with tools like IBM Cognos or custom dashboards.

17. What is an Offer in Unica Campaign?

Answer: An offer is a message or promotion presented to customers, often associated with content, discount, or incentive.

18. How are offers assigned to customers?

Answer: Offers are assigned using the Offer process box within the flowchart and can be tracked for performance.

19. What is the purpose of the Mail List process box?

Answer: It generates output files for email or direct mail campaigns and can include personalization fields.

20. What is a User Variable?

Answer: A variable defined by the user to use in multiple flowchart processes, making logic dynamic and reusable.

21. How do you implement control groups in Unica Campaign?

Answer: By segmenting a portion of the target audience to exclude from the campaign for performance comparison.

22. What is Offer Tactic?

Answer: It represents a combination of offer and channel used for specific campaign execution and reporting.

23. How do you ensure data privacy in Unica Campaign?

Answer: By securing access to PII data, limiting user roles, and masking sensitive outputs where necessary.

24. Can Unica integrate with third-party tools?

Answer: Yes, through APIs, connectors, and ETL tools, Unica can integrate with CRM, ERP, email platforms, etc.

25. What is the use of the Snapshot table?

Answer: Used to store interim or final output from a campaign for analysis or re-use in another campaign.

26. What are Flowchart Sessions?

Answer: They are groupings of flowcharts within a campaign for logical or execution convenience.

27. What is a Treatment?

Answer: A treatment defines which offer is presented to which cell or audience.

28. What is Cell Code?

Answer: It is a unique identifier for a cell used for tracking responses and analyzing campaign results.

29. What is Response Tracking in IBM Unica?

Answer: It tracks how customers responded to offers using response cells and linking data.

30. How do you troubleshoot a failed flowchart?

Answer: By checking the flowchart logs, validating SQLs, reviewing data sources, and system logs.

31. What is Cell List Table?

Answer: A table that stores details of each cell output such as cell code, name, size, and offer assigned.

32. How do you reuse segments in another campaign?

Answer: Use Strategic Segments saved in the system for reuse.

33. How do you version control campaigns?

Answer: By maintaining versioned campaign templates or manually exporting campaigns as XML backups.

34. What is the use of Custom Macros?

Answer: Macros help create reusable expressions and SQL logic to reduce repetition and errors.

35. How does Unica handle large volumes of data?

Answer: Through optimized SQL, indexing, snapshot tables, and segmentation techniques.

36. What’s the difference between Standard and Advanced Mode in Segment?

Answer: Standard mode uses basic logic; advanced mode allows custom SQL expressions.

37. What is the difference between Campaign and Plan in IBM Unica?

Answer: Campaign is execution-focused; Plan is strategic, helping manage budgets, approvals, and scheduling.

38. How can you automate Unica Campaigns?

Answer: Using built-in schedulers, command-line scripts, and third-party automation tools.

39. What’s a Control Cell?

Answer: A group within the campaign excluded from receiving offers to measure true campaign impact.

40. What is a Suppression List?

Answer: A list of customers to be excluded from a campaign, often for compliance or business rules.

41. What happens during flowchart validation?

Answer: Checks for errors, missing configurations, or inconsistencies before execution.

42. What is Offer Attribute?

Answer: Fields used to personalize or categorize offers such as channel, value, or expiration date.

43. How do you manage permissions in Unica?

Answer: Through user roles, group access, and ACLs (Access Control Lists).

44. How do you track campaign ROI?

Answer: Using response tracking, control groups, and performance reports comparing cost and outcome.

45. How do you optimize campaign performance?

Answer: Use indexing, strategic segmentation, deduplication, offer testing, and A/B tests.

46. How do you export data from Unica?

Answer: Using Extract or Snapshot process boxes, or via SQL queries on output tables.

47. What is the difference between Test and Production environment?

Answer: Test is for development and QA; Production is the live environment for real campaigns.

48. What is Interact in IBM Unica Suite?

Answer: Interact is the real-time interaction engine for personalized customer engagement.

49. How does Unica Campaign support multichannel marketing?

Answer: By enabling email, SMS, direct mail, web, and call center channels via integrated output.

50. What are common challenges in IBM Unica Campaign?

Answer: Data integration issues, performance bottlenecks, complex logic design, and user training.