How to Set Up Date-Specific Personalization in Sitecore XM Cloud

Sitecore XM Cloud offers powerful personalization capabilities that allow you to deliver targeted content to your audience. In this article, we'll walk through the process of creating a personalized promotion on your home page that will appear on a specific date.

Step 1: Access the XM Cloud Pages Personalize Mode

1. Log in to your Sitecore XM Cloud instance and navigate to the site and page you would like to personalize.
2. Once you are in Pages on the page you would like to personalize, click on "Personalize" at the top of the page to enter Personalize mode.
   

Step 2: Create a New Page Variant

1. In the Personalize panel on the left, click on "Create Variant" to begin the personalization process.
   
2. Give your variant a descriptive name.
3. Click "Next" to proceed to the audience creation step.
   

Step 3: Create Your Audience

1. In the “Create your audience” step, note that your audience has the title of the page variant you have just created.
2. Click on "Add first condition."
   
3. From the list of pre-defined condition templates, select "Date and Time" by clicking on the plus sign next to it.
   
4. Configure the date condition:
   
1. Set the operators to "is" and "after".
2. Choose the specific date when you want the promotion to start.
5. To make the promotion end on a certain date, add another "Date and Time" condition:
   
   
6. Set the operators to "is" and "before" and choose the end date for your promotion.
7. Combine these conditions using the "AND" operator if you're setting both start and end dates.
   
8. Click “Save”. You will see a message that your audience was saved successfully, and you can now close the “Create new page variant” window.
   

Step 4: Customize the Page Variant

Now that you've set up the audience targeting, it's time to customize the page variant with your promotional content:

1. In the Pages editor, locate the area where you want to personalize (show the promotion in this case).
2. You have a few options:
   1. Assign a different content item to an existing component.
   2. Hide a component.
   3. Replace a component with another compatible component (in some cases).
3. In this scenario, we will perform option 1 and assign a different content item to an existing component.
4. Click on the component in question.
5. In the right-hand side panel, click the pencil icon next to the content item field.
   
6. Choose the desired content item—if you have created it already—and click “Assign”.
   
7. The component that you have personalized will now have its border highlighted in teal, and an icon in the top-right corner of the component will also indicate personalization.
   

Step 5: Preview

1. While in Personalize mode and with the personalized variant selected, click the preview icon to see how your personalized variant will look.
   
   

Step 6: Publish Your Change

Once you're satisfied with your personalized variant:

1. Click the "Publish" button to make your changes live.
2. Confirm that you want to publish the new variant along with any associated content items.
   

Step 7: Monitor and Analyze

After your promotion goes live:

1. Use Sitecore's built-in analytics to track the performance of your personalized variant.
2. Monitor engagement metrics to gauge the success of your promotion.

Best Practices

1. Plan Ahead: Set up your personalized variant in advance of the promotion date.
2. Content Preparation: Have all promotional assets ready before creating the variant.
3. Testing: Thoroughly test your personalization rules across different devices and browsers.
4. Fallback Content: Ensure you have appropriate content for users who don't meet the personalization criteria.

With these steps, you can easily create time-based, personalized promotions using Sitecore XM Cloud. But don’t forget, the platform’s personalization capabilities go beyond simple date-based targeting. You can mix and match different conditions to tailor your content more precisely, ensuring it reaches the ideal audience at the right time.