Management Center: Differences between the branch element and the experiment element

Differences between the branch element and the experiment element
The palette in the Activity Builder contains two elements in the Branching section: the branch element and the experiment element. These two elements are similar in that we can add them to marketing activities to split a single path into multiple paths; however, these two elements have different uses and they offer different features.
For a web activity, both elements display in the palette, as shown in the following illustration. For dialog activities, only the branch element displays in the palette because dialog activities do not support experiments.

1 Branch element
2 experiment element

Here are the intended uses for these two element types:

Use an experiment element in a web activity to perform A/B or multivariate testing on the activity, then compare the test results by observing statistics, and then pick the most successful version of the activity to use going forward.
Use a branch element in a Web or dialog activity to add multiple paths to an activity for the duration of the activity.

The following table explains specific differences between these two element types:

Experiment element Branch element
We can view a detailed Statistics tab that displays statistics for unique customers, views, clicks, orders, and revenue for each path in the experiment. There is no separate Statistics tab and we cannot view detailed order and revenue statistics for each path; however, we can view a count of how many customers experienced each element on a given path within the Activity Builder view.
We can choose a winning path in an experiment and then create a new activity from the winning path. The concept of a winning path does not apply because the multiple paths in the activity are intended to remain for the duration of the activity.
We can add only one experiment element to an activity. We can add multiple branch elements to an activity and nest branch elements within other branch elements.
We can test two different e-Marketing Spots using the experiment element. In other words, we can add an experiment element to the left of an e-Marketing Spot element to create multiple paths, and then associate a different e-Marketing Spot to each path. We cannot use a branch element to create multiple paths that are each associated with a different e-Marketing Spot. In other words, we cannot add a branch element to the left of an e-Marketing Spot element.
We can set the scope of the experiment, that is, the frequency at which test elements change for each customer. Options are:

No change - customer always sees the same content
Session - Customer sees the same content within a session
Request - Customer might see different content on each view

You do not set scope options for the branch element. The branch element uses the request scope behavior so that customers are evaluated for a path each time they reach the branch element in the activity.

Related tasks
Use the branch element in web and dialog activities
Creating a web activity
Creating a dialog activity

Experiment element	Branch element
We can view a detailed Statistics tab that displays statistics for unique customers, views, clicks, orders, and revenue for each path in the experiment.	There is no separate Statistics tab and we cannot view detailed order and revenue statistics for each path; however, we can view a count of how many customers experienced each element on a given path within the Activity Builder view.
We can choose a winning path in an experiment and then create a new activity from the winning path.	The concept of a winning path does not apply because the multiple paths in the activity are intended to remain for the duration of the activity.
We can add only one experiment element to an activity.	We can add multiple branch elements to an activity and nest branch elements within other branch elements.
We can test two different e-Marketing Spots using the experiment element. In other words, we can add an experiment element to the left of an e-Marketing Spot element to create multiple paths, and then associate a different e-Marketing Spot to each path.	We cannot use a branch element to create multiple paths that are each associated with a different e-Marketing Spot. In other words, we cannot add a branch element to the left of an e-Marketing Spot element.
We can set the scope of the experiment, that is, the frequency at which test elements change for each customer. Options are: No change - customer always sees the same content Session - Customer sees the same content within a session Request - Customer might see different content on each view	You do not set scope options for the branch element. The branch element uses the request scope behavior so that customers are evaluated for a path each time they reach the branch element in the activity.