Campaigns are a great way to map out a sequence of email messages for your subscribers. In addition to the benefits you get in the planning process, you also create a more interactive experience for your subscribers.
Campaigns are built using steps, which direct the flow of your email messages to keep your subscribers moving seamlessly through the campaign.
Watch the video
Campaign Designer basics
On the Marketing Automation > Campaigns > Create page, you can begin the campaign-creation process.
- The grid-lined area is called the canvas.
- The left side displays the steps you can add.
To build a campaign, simply drag-and-drop steps onto the canvas.
Leverage the Wait and Decision steps to create a dynamic and responsive campaign that meets your needs, and provides a good experience to your subscribers.
NOTE: See Campaign Steps to learn more about each campaign step.
Sometimes, the design of a campaign requires a large number of steps to create the necessary flow and routing, but this can make it challenging to see the entire campaign on the canvas. The following tools help you to navigate the canvas to view the fullness of your campaign.
Campaign Designer tools
- The Navigator provides a bird’s eye view of the campaign. Click the dark blue Navigator tab on the right side of the screen to expand that panel. You can then slide the selector box around to jump to that view in the main campaign display.
- Zoom - This slider increases and decreases the size of the campaign on the canvas.
- Print - Print the canvas view of your campaign.
- Take a Tour - Provides an on-screen tour of the Campaign Designer interface. This is particularly helpful for new users.
- Align - Reorganizes the steps on the canvas. The steps remain in the same left-to-right order that they were placed on the canvas, but the spacing is adjusted to be as equal as possible and the connecting lines are straightened as mush as possible. Note that any comments on the canvas will be grouped and placed in the lower-right corner of the canvas. See the two images below for an example of Align being used.
Before clicking Align
After clicking Align
How campaigns differ from mailings
There are a few key differences in campaigns:
- There is a little more planning to create a campaign - but that's a good thing!
- Once a campaign is activated, it does not require any direct support by a staff member.
- The need to have a send date is greatly diminished. Recipients in the campaign receive the next mailing based on the flow of the campaign. It's intentionally variable in order to best respond to the subscriber's interaction patterns.
- While opens and clicks are important metrics, the most important metric is the conversion a campaign is aiming for. Whether it's registering, volunteering, purchasing, or participating - THAT'S what you ultimately want to measure and that's what will determine your overall effectiveness.