Each time a contact flows through an object, that contact is counted, so you can see if they went through the object, were removed from the program due to the rules in that object, or if they are still waiting to go through. You can check the number of contacts in a program via program insight panels or check object insights for a more detailed view.
Number of contacts in program insight
Check the number of contacts in the Program insight > Overview panel.
- All contacts is the number of contacts that have entered since the program was first started.
- Contact summary shows the number of active and exited contacts in the program.
Use program insight panels to get information about a configured item in a program or unconfigured steps in a copied program without leaving the canvas.
Number of contacts in object insights
When you click on an object in the programs canvas, the Details and Metrics tabs display. The Metrics tab shows the total and active number of contacts that have arrived at that point since the program began. These counts include contacts that have repeated a path after reaching a redirect step. If contacts were removed due to loss of consent, missing data, deletion or merge, those are included in the removed count at each step.
In an active program, the contact count includes the number of contacts currently waiting (for a relative or fixed time frame) to expire, and the total number of contacts that have completed an activity in each program object: step, decision, percent split, exit, update profile, redirect, or CRM.
- The update profile object level count displays the number of contacts actually updated. Click the count box to see total number that have reached the update profile action and the number updated.
- For steps and paths, the number shown is a cumulative number of contacts that have reached that point in your program flow. It does not guarantee delivery, only that the contact qualified to receive an email and a send was scheduled.
- Wait counts on the flow represent the number of contacts currently waiting to proceed, and remain there until the relative or fixed date time frame is met. The wait below a decision performs a 'keep evaluating' function that checks a contact's qualifying criteria for a rules-based path with each execution cycle, or until a specified time frame is met.
What happens to contacts when you delete program steps
If you delete an object, total counts for that object are still included in the total contacts. Any contacts on a wait before a deleted object remain there until you connect a new object. If there is a wait after the deleted object, those contacts are active on that object and removed from the program.
For decision objects, you can delete the entire decision, which removes all paths, rules, and contacts associated to the decision. Any contacts on a wait before the decision will remain there until a new object is connected.
After you merge or delete contacts from the database, some of them can be removed when consent is lost or an email address is missing.
Purge contacts in a program from a database
Occasionally, during a database purge, some contacts that are part of and moving through an automated running program are deleted.
When a contact is moving through a program, the program looks to the contact's recipient ID to see actions, data field values, sent emails, and other details, to move them around. When you purge contacts from a database, you remove them in all aspects, including a recipient ID.
If you add the contact back into the database, it gets a new recipient ID, which allows them to repeat the program when they meet the entry criteria.