Defining and Creating Re-Engagement Campaigns

Defining Re-Engagement Campaigns

An unavoidable truth of email marketing is that not all contacts on your lists will open the emails sent by your organization. This reality may persist despite email template redesigns and content overhauls. Over time, sending to contacts that take no action with your emails can negatively impact your organization’s sender reputation, inevitably leading to email clients labeling your sends as spam.

Re-engagement campaigns allow you to manage your marketing lists, ensuring you always get the right emails to engaged contacts. These campaigns take segments of unengaged contacts, i.e., those that do not open your emails, and send a brief series of emails attempting to convert them to engaged contacts. The recipients of your re-engagement campaign emails may leave them unopened or open and then opt out. While these are not the preferred actions, they help to organically reduce unengaged contacts, improving overall email metrics and inbox deliverability.

Creating Re-Engagement Campaigns

Creating re-engagement campaigns is a three-step process. First, you must develop segments that identify unengaged contacts. Next, you will compose email templates that provide messaging that aligns with your campaign goals. The final step is to build an automated program to manage the campaign.

Re-Engagement Campaign Segments

You will need to segment your marketing lists to create a re-engagement campaign. Segmenting unengaged contacts allows you to identify those recipients who have not taken action with your emails. Examples of actions include recipients opening, clicking or receiving your email.

Additionally, you will want to define the timeframe within which the contact should have taken action. You can allow more time if your organization sends one e-newsletter a month. However, you will need to be more aggressive if you send multiple e-newsletters per month.

If you have questions about developing segments for re-engagement campaigns, please contact your Marketing Automation Team.

Unengaged Segment

Once you have identified a marketing list (e.g., Consumer Master List) for your re-engagement campaign, follow the example below to create a segment of unengaged contacts. You will include this segment in your re-engagement campaign Automated Program.

In this example, the first expression is querying contacts that received at least one message from your organization within 180 days.

The second expression is querying contacts that meet the first expression’s criteria and have not opened a single message in 180 days.

These expressions combined will provide you with a segmented list of unengaged contacts.

Your organization’s requirements for the segment criteria will depend on the volume and frequency of your sends. If you have questions about developing your segment criteria, please contact your Marketing Automation Team.

Recently Engaged Segment

The Recently Engaged Segment will identify contacts that have opened a message within the last thirty days. This segment is a final validation step within your re-engagement campaign Automated Program. Contacts in this segment are considered engaged and will exit your Automated Program.

The example below shows how to create a Recently Engaged Segment. You will include this segment in your re-engagement campaign Automated Program.

Re-Engagement Campaign Emails

After creating the segments for your re-engagement campaign, you should build email templates. A re-engagement campaign typically uses two to three messages. The Automated Program running your re-engagement campaign uses these email templates as those messages.

The purpose of a campaign’s first message is to grab the contact's attention and entice them to engage and take action.

A second campaign message is the last chance for the contact to engage and take action.

Your organization can prolong the re-engagement campaign by adding another message to the program. Doing so will provide more time for a contact to engage. Adding another message is not mandatory; two-message campaigns are adequate and will produce successful results.

Creating a Re-Engagement Campaign Automated Program

Follow the guidelines below to set up a basic Automated Program for your re-engagement campaign.

1. Select the Automation icon in your navigation sidebar and click Automated Programs.
   
   
2. You will see a new screen titled ‘Automation Program,’ click the plus icon.
   
   
3. The next screen will be the ‘General Settings’ tab of the Automated Program. Use the guidelines below to set up each section.
   
   Basic Information: This section allows you to create a Program Name and enter a brief program Description.
   
   
   
   Sources: Use this option to identify which source list to use with your program. For example, your Unengaged Segment may be sourced from your Consumer Master List.
   
   
   
   Next, select an option for how contacts enter your program. Simpleview recommends that you choose ‘Immediately.’ This option ensures that unengaged contacts will automatically enter your program.
   
   
   
   Timezone: This section defaults to your organization’s settings. This value interprets your program's scheduled option times and scheduled delay times.
   
   
   
   Options: This section allows you to select from the program options provided. Simpleview recommends selecting your program's ‘Suppress entrants on suppression lists’ option.
   
   
4. Select the ‘Program Messages’ tab.
   
   
   
   
5. Select the ‘+ Add Message’ option. A pop-up will appear titled ‘Add Message To Program.’ Choose the ‘Message Template’ option to add your re-engagement campaign email templates to your program.
   
   
   
   Once you have selected your email templates, they appear in your program.
   
   
   
   
6. Select the ‘Lists & Segments’ tab. This tab displays the source list or segment you have added to your program.
7. Click ‘Add Lists or Segments,’ and select your Unengaged Segment and Recently Engaged Segments
   
   
   
   
8. Select the ‘Program Flow’ tab.
   
   This tab is where you will use the visual workflow tool to build your program steps. All programs begin with Start and Exit steps. Click the ‘Plus’ icon to add steps to your program.
   
   Follow the guidelines below to build a basic Re-Engagement Campaign Program Flow.
   
   
   
   
9. Click the ‘Plus’ icon to add the first program step. A ‘Add New Step’ appears next. Select the ‘Wait’ option.
   
   
   
   
10. In the ‘Wait’ pop-up, fill in the Step Name field with “Wait Until Contacts Enter Unengaged Segment.” Then select the ‘Wait until a contact meets a condition’ option.
    
    
    
    
11. Select ‘If Prospect Is In’ from the first dropdown menu. Choose your Unengaged Segment from the ‘Select List of Segment’ dropdown.
    
    
    
    
12. Click ‘Submit.’ Your A-1 step will now appear in your Program Flow.
    
    
    
    
13. Click the ‘Plus’ icon below the A-1 step. Then select ‘Send Email.’
14. A pop-up titled ‘Send Message’ will appear. Fill in the Step Name field with “Send Email Message #1,” then choose your first email template from the Select Message dropdown.
    
    
    
    
15. Click ‘Submit.’ Your A-2 step will now appear in your Program Flow.
16. Click the ‘Plus’ icon below the A-2 step. Then select ‘Wait.’
17. Select the ‘Wait for a set period of time’ option in the next ‘Wait’ pop-up. Choose the desired ‘Wait For’ values.
    
    The ‘Wait For’ values depend on your organization’s campaign goals. A typical wait value at this step is two weeks.
    
    
    
    
18. Click ‘Submit.’ Your A-3 step will now appear in your Program Flow.
19. Click the ‘Plus’ icon below the A-3 step. Then select ‘Send Email.’
    
20. A pop-up titled ‘Send Message’ will appear. Fill in the Step Name field with “Send Email Message #2,” then choose your second email template from the Select Message dropdown.
21. Click ‘Submit.’ Your A-4 step now appears in your Program Flow.
22. Click the ‘Plus’ icon below the A-4 step. Then select ‘Wait.’
23. Select the ‘Wait for a set period of time’ option  in the ‘Wait’ pop-up. Choose your Wait For values. The ‘Wait For’ values depend on your organization’s campaign goals. A typical wait value at this step is two weeks.
    
24. Click ‘Submit.’ Your A-5 step now appears in your Program Flow.
25. Click the ‘Plus’ icon below the A-5 step. Then select ‘Branch.’
    
    
    
    
26. A ‘Branch’ pop-up appears next. Fill in the Step Name field with “If Contact Did Not Open or Click Emails 1 or 2,” then select the ‘If Prospect Was Sent, But Did Not Open Or Click On Message’ option. Select your program messages from the dropdown.
    
    
    
    
27. Click ‘Submit.’ Your A-6 step will now appear in your Program Flow.
    

    Step A-6 creates two branches of your Program Flow visual workflow tool. One is titled ‘Yes,’ and the other ‘No.’

    ‘Yes’ represents the contacts that meet the criteria defined in the A-6 step. ‘No’ are the contacts who do not meet the requirements in the A-6 step.
    
    
    
    

28. Click the ‘Plus’ icon on the ‘Yes’ branch. Then select ‘Opt-Out.’
    
    
    
    
29. Click ‘Submit’ in the ‘Opt-Out’ pop-up. Your Program Flow is now complete.
    
    
    
    
30. Select the ‘Early Exits’ tab.
    
    
    
    
31. Click the ‘Plus’  icon to Add Condition.
32. A pop-up titled ‘Early Exit Condition’ will appear. Select ‘If Prospect Is In’ from the first dropdown.
33. Select your Recently Engaged Segment from the second dropdown.
34. Leave the default ‘Exit contact from program’ option selected.
    
    
    
    
35. Click ‘Submit.’ Your Early Exit Condition now displays.
36. To complete your Automated Program, click ‘Save.’ To disregard changes, select ‘Cancel.’

Starting An Automated Program

After building your Automated Program, you need to start it.

Return to the main Automated Program screen, hover over the program you want to start and select the Start icon. Click ‘Confirm,’ and your program will begin running automatically.