Campaigns let you create a variety of messages, such as membership-renewal reminders, welcome messages, and birthday and anniversary greetings. These messages can be set up to automatically send on a specified date, and they can even be triggered to send based on a recipient-members actions. You can customize the content of campaigns based on the objective that you want to achieve.
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To manage campaigns:
- Access the Admin interface.
- Click Campaigns > List.
TIP: On list pages, click a column header to sort on that column. Click the columns count below the list to add and remove columns in the current view.
The Campaign Management page lists your organization's campaigns by name, numerically then alphabetically.
NOTE: All campaign names that start with a number will be listed before campaign names that start with a letter. For example, 2019 Renewal and 2020 Welcome would appear earlier in the list than Renewal 2019 and Welcome 2020. Keep this in mind when creating/naming your campaigns.
Learn about the different Campaign Types.
Start Date and End Date columns
These columns might be blank, depending on the campaign's set up and other factors.
- Regardless of whether a start date has been configured, the column gets populated only when the campaign actually starts.
- If a campaign has been configured with an end date, that date will display in the End Date column as soon as the campaign is deployed.
- If you stop a campaign that does not have a scheduled end date, the End Date column will not get updated.
Locate Campaigns
There are a few features that you can use to more quickly locate campaigns.
- Use the column headers (click to sort on) if you know either who created the campaign or one of the date columns if you know that there was recent activity (e.g., created, modified); this will re-order the list and bring to the top those with recent activity.
- Use the Search feature if you know the name of the campaign and to find campaigns with similar names. The search also queries the Status and Created By fields.
NOTE: The search field is not case-sensitive; "M" and "m" will yield the same results.
- Use the Filters option if you know which folder a campaign is in. You can also filter by Initiative if your account uses them.
NOTE: Initiatives are a way to group campaigns that are stored in separate folders. For example, you could name an Initiative 2019 and then group some of that year's campaigns that are stored (and can remain) in separate folders based on their purpose or audience. See Campaigns Dashboard for more information.
Getting in the habit of using these features will simplify locating your campaigns so you can get to the business of managing them and using them to keep your recipients engaged.
Manage Campaigns
There are several action buttons above the list that you can use to manage your campaigns.
To activate the buttons, you have to select a campaign, and then you can:
- Edit various options and conditions. Refer to Set up a Campaign, below, to learn more about editing a campaign.
- Create a copy of it by clicking Save as and giving the copy a unique name.
- Rename the campaign.
- Remove it by clicking Delete.
- Click Track to open the campaign's "overview" page with statistical data (start date, members count, days running count, and status).
- Click Preview to view the Preview Campaign dialog which displays a summary of the campaign details.
NOTE: The information that is presented will be different for each campaign type and unique to each campaign. Some previews might have links that you can click to configure the campaign.
Create a Campaign
The bulk of creating campaigns is done on the Setup Campaign page, which can have two or more configuration sections, depending on the type of campaign.
To create a campaign:
- On the Campaign Management list page, enter a name in the New Campaign Name field at the top and click Create New.
- On the Create Campaign page, select the industry your organization belongs to. The information in the How do I know which campaign to choose? area will update based on the chosen industry.
- Click the right dropdown and select a Campaign Type.
There are many campaign types available from the dropdown. Feel free to select one to learn more about it; you'll remain on this page and can change your selection if it's not suitable. Note that some campaign types have sub-types. For example, the Associations industry and the Fundraising campaign type combination offers two campaign options: Rolling Fundraising Appeal and Fixed Send Date Fundraising Appeal. In this case, click the "What is the difference..." link to review the distinctions before you decide.
TIP: Each campaign has an "information and samples" link that opens a dialog with helpful information.
NOTE: Once a campaign has been saved, you cannot change its type, so carefully review the type options and select the one that best suits your objectives.
- Click Select.
- Continue with Set up a Campaign, below.
NOTE: The industry and campaign type that are selected here will determine the unique combination of configuration options that are presented on the Setup page that follows. Use the configuration options to customize your campaign to select members and messages, define goals, specify send dates, and other options.
TIP: Use the convenient on-page information boxes (accessible from the circled "i" icon) for details on how to configure the various options when creating and editing campaigns.
Set up a Campaign
The campaign Setup page will have sections that are based on the industry-and-campaign type combination for the campaign that you are creating or editing.
NOTE: Due to the number of industry and campaign type options, there are countless configuration possibilities. Therefore, the following example is provided as reference only; your Setup page configuration options could be very different.
Reference the numbering in the above image for the descriptions that follow.
1 - The campaign type will be listed at the top of the page (in this case, Renewal Based on Expiration Date), followed by the campaign title.
2 - Each section has a circled "i" icon next to the title. Click these to access on-page information boxes that have details that are specific to that section.
3 - Some configuration options are blue text, such as Select Field and time period in the example. These are prompts for you to choose something. Click the text to open an on-page dialog to configure the option. NOTE: Some of these dialogs might present additional dialogs.
4 - Some configuration options are dotted-underline text, such as days before in the example. These are prompts for you to choose something. Click the text to open an on-page list of options. Some of these options might change the clickable items that follow them, or even add options that weren't there but which are now required.
5 - The text boxes have different behaviors. For example, click into days and just specify a number. However, click into hh:mm and select from a list of times.
Some of the sections might have a text link with a plus symbol (+), such as + time delay before sending first message. These are optional and enable you to further refine how you want the campaign to perform.
When you've specified all the conditions, click Next.
NOTE: If you click Next and there are unsatisfied conditions, you will be prompted to "fix the errors" before you can proceed to the Review page.
NOTE: The system does not "QA" the logic of your conditions. You should review your selections before proceeding.
TIP: The Select Messages and Send Interval section is where you Set Up Campaign Abandonment and Set Up a Campaign Messages Send Interval.
Review a Campaign
The campaign Review page presents a "consumable" summary of your configuration options.
In the upper portion of the page, click Print Screen to open a "preview" of this page. You can print a copy or choose one of the save options.
Some conditions might appear as links, such as Select Message in the image. When this link is clicked, that message opens in a new tab. This is a useful "check" before deploying the campaign.
After reviewing your configuration options and conditions, click Next.
Deploy a Campaign
The campaign Deploy page is your last opportunity to review your campaign details. If you're satisfied and want to proceed:
- Choose when to start the campaign by either accepting the "immediately" option or selecting the "schedule" option and choosing a date and time.
- Choose when to end the campaign by either accepting the "manually" option or selecting the "schedule" option and choosing a date and time.
- Click Deploy Campaign.
- At the confirmation prompt, click Yes.
The page will refresh and update the Schedule section with your start and end selections. Also, now there's a Campaign Status section in which you can cancel the pending deployment.
TIP: Navigate back to the Campaign Management list page and confirm that your campaign is listed and that its details are correct.