Harvesting is the automated process where Acoustic Campaign identifies eligible contacts from a database or query and pulls them into a Program. If contacts are not entering your program as expected, the cause is usually related to the harvesting cycle, query performance, entrance criteria configuration, or contact eligibility.
How harvesting works
Program harvesting runs on a structured background cycle — it is not instantaneous. A cycle can take up to 4 hours to complete. If a program is deactivated and reactivated, a new harvest cycle is triggered, but it does not bypass this window. Harvesting delays primarily affect programs using All contacts in a database/query or Continuously add contacts as the entrance option. Programs set to Entry followed by an event (such as a form submission) should add contacts almost immediately.
Common causes and how to fix them
Query not yet calculated: If your program is based on a query, the query must calculate before harvesting can occur. If the query is complex or has not been recently recalculated, the program may skip a harvest cycle while waiting for the results to refresh.
Wrong entrance option selected: If you selected Only new contacts as the entrance option, existing contacts in the database or query will never be harvested. You must select Include all contacts in the existing database/query for current records to enter.
Contact has already completed the program: A contact can only enter a specific program once unless the program is configured to Allow contacts to repeat program. If a contact appears eligible but is missing from the program, verify they haven't already completed it in the past.
CRM sync not yet complete: If your database is synced with Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, the Acoustic Campaign Lead/Contact Integration must successfully sync the records to the Campaign database before those contacts can be harvested.
Program toggled too frequently: Deactivating and reactivating a program does not speed up harvesting. Frequent toggling can move your program to the back of the processing queue. Additionally, if you change entrance criteria while the program is inactive, only newly eligible contacts will be harvested upon reactivation — contacts who met the criteria before the change but were never pulled in may be ignored.
How to fix it
Step 1: Manually calculate the query
Go to Data > Queries and manually calculate the query used for the program. If it takes more than 10 minutes to calculate, the program will likely experience harvesting delays until the query refreshes.
Step 2: Verify the entrance option
Open the program settings and confirm the entrance option is set to Include all contacts in the existing database/query if you want current records to enter. If it is set to Only new contacts, existing contacts will not be harvested.
Step 3: Check for prior program completion
Review the program's contact history to confirm whether the missing contact has already completed the program. If so, enable Allow contacts to repeat program if re-entry is required.
Step 4: Confirm CRM sync is complete
If your database is connected to Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, verify that the integration has successfully synced the relevant records to the Campaign database before expecting them to be harvested.
Step 5: Wait up to 24 hours — do not toggle the program
Do not deactivate and reactivate the program while waiting for contacts to enter. System resources are allocated based on priority, and frequent toggling can delay processing further. Allow up to 24 hours for the harvest cycle to complete.
Still no contacts after 24 hours?
If no contacts have entered the program after 24 hours and you have completed all the steps above, contact Acoustic Support. Provide your program name and the time it was activated so the support team can check for a stuck background process on your specific Pod.