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How to Target a Program

Learn how to set up program targeting using Extole’s upgraded Flow Builder.

Updated today

Overview

Targeting in Extole helps ensure the right participants enter the right campaign at the right time. Whether you're using domain targeting, audience membership, profile attributes, or custom rules, targeting keeps your campaigns relevant and efficient.

This guide explains how to use Extole's targeting scenarios, how to configure rules, and how to decide when and where to apply targeting in your campaign flows.

What Targeting Does

Targeting in Extole determines:

  • Who can see campaign marketing placements

  • Who qualifies to enter a campaign

  • When they qualify

  • Which campaign takes priority if multiple apply

  • How participant journeys are maintained over time

Targeting Scenarios

Targeting scenarios are pre-configured sets of rules that you can apply within each flow of your campaign. These appear at the top of each flow in the Flow Builder.

You can:

  • Use default or prebuilt scenarios

  • Swap between scenarios

  • Add or modify rules to suit your business goals

Common Targeting Scenarios

Default Targeting

  • Includes: All participants in the US and Canada

  • Excludes: Suspicious traffic (via built-in fraud filters)

  • Use this if your campaign is open to most users by default.

To include a broader audience (e.g., international users), use the Everyone scenario, which removes country restrictions.

Audience Targeting

Use this to include or exclude specific audiences defined in your My Audiences page.

  • Ideal for: Employees, VIP customers, loyalty members, etc.

  • Enforces fraud filters: Yes

  • Where to apply:

    • Marketing flow: Controls visibility of CTAs

    • Participation or Share flows: Controls who can participate or refer

Domain Targeting

Restricts visibility of campaign content to specific domains.

  • Variants:

    • US/Canada only

    • No country restrictions

  • Domains managed in: Tech Center

  • Where to apply:

    • Marketing flow: Only show CTAs on selected domains

Understanding Targeting Rules

Targeting rules are grouped into Entry Rules and Ongoing Rules. Both types must be met for a participant to qualify and remain in the journey.

Entry Rules

These define who can enter a campaign. If any entry rule fails, the participant will not start the journey.

Ongoing Rules

These must continue to be true after entry. If an ongoing rule fails, the participant will be removed from the journey, and their future actions will not qualify.

How to Update Targeting in Flow Builder

To modify targeting for a specific part of your campaign, you’ll use the Flow Builder. Each flow—Marketing, Participation, Share, etc.—can have its own targeting scenario.

Steps to Update Targeting

  1. Open the campaign's Flow Builder. From the Programs page, find to the campaign where you want to update targeting and click Manage Flow.

  2. Select the Flow to Edit. In the Flow Builder, choose the specific flow (e.g., Marketing, Share) that you want to modify.

  3. Remove the existing targeting scenario. If a default or existing scenario is already applied, click the Remove (trash can) icon to delete it.

  4. Click “+ New Targeting Scenario”. This will open a list of available targeting scenarios.

  5. Choose a targeting scenario. Select from prebuilt options like:

    • Audience Targeting

    • Domain Targeting

    • Everyone

  6. Configure scenario details. Depending on the scenario, you may need to define specific inputs:

    • If using Audience: Choose the audience from the drop-down list of available audiences (from My Audiences).

    • If using Domain: Select the domain from your list of verified domains (from Tech Center).

  7. Add or modify rules (optional). You can further customize the targeting scenario by adding Entry or Ongoing Rules. All rules must pass for participants to qualify.

    • Example: For your Audience targeting, you may want to specify that audience members must also be new customers who haven't made a purchase in the last 180 days. In this case, you could add the Is New Customer rule to the scenario's entry rules.

  8. Save Your Changes. Click Save to apply the updated targeting scenario to the flow.

Best Practices

  • Test before going live: Always validate that the right participants qualify after you update targeting.

  • Be specific: The more tailored your rules are, the more relevant your campaign will be to participants.

  • Use naming conventions: Label your scenarios clearly (e.g., "Employees Only", "CA Customers") to stay organized.

Rule Types by Category

1. Audience & Membership Rules

  • Member of Audience – Participant belongs to a defined audience

  • Is Not Part of Audience – Participant is excluded from a specific audience

2. Event-Based Rules

  • Input Event Matches Event Names – Event name matches exactly

  • Event Contains Parameter – Event has a specific data key/value

  • Event Data Contains Program Label – Determines targeting based on a label in the event

  • Event Matches Program Domain – Event originates from a specific domain

  • Event Value Greater Than – Event includes a value above threshold

  • Event Value Less Than – Event includes a value below threshold

  • Transaction Value Greater Than – Participant qualifies if their purchase meets a minimum amount


3. Profile-Based Rules

  • Profile Contains Parameter – A specific attribute exists in the participant’s profile

  • Has Email Address – Participant must have a valid email

  • Valid Email Filter – Both referrer and friend must have valid emails


4. Behavior & History Rules

  • Has Taken Action – Participant completed an event (purchase, signup, etc.)

  • Has Not Taken Action – Participant has not completed a defined event

  • Has Previously Qualified – Participant passed the same rule set in the past

  • Is New Customer – Participant has not made a qualifying action in the last 180 days


5. Fraud Prevention & Traffic Filtering

Built-in rules designed to block spam, fraud, and poor-quality traffic.

Configuration options:

  • Blocked Subnetworks – Prevent traffic from known IP ranges

    • Format: CIDR (e.g., 192.168.0.0/16)

  • Blocked Referrer Sites – Block traffic from unwanted sources

    • Format: Domain and path only (no protocol, e.g., badsite.com/path)

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