Email Marketing Automation is a powerful tool, but you may come across issues unless you fully understand how they work. The following guide should explain some important points to consider that will help ensure you get the most out of the platform.
Understanding automation settings
There are account level, automation level and broadcast level settings relevant to marketing automations. These settings allow you to control what automations and broadcast emails your supporters receive.
Account level settings
Found under Hello > Account Settings > Marketing Automations.
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Allow priority to be managed in Marketing Automations (if checked, supporters can only be on one Automation at a time): With this setting enabled, users will be able to drag and drop automations into a priority order in the marketing automation dashboard. If supporters qualify for more than one automation at the same time, they will ONLY be added to the automation with the Higher Priority.
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If it is disabled, supporters can be on multiple automations at the same time.
Include supporters, active in journeys, to all outbound email broadcasts: With this setting enabled, supporters who are on a marketing automation will be included in broadcast emails. If the setting is disabled, supporters will be excluded from all broadcast emails if they are on a marketing automation.
This setting must be enabled in order for the automation level setting to include supporters
Automation level settings
Found under Settings > Availability when creating or editing a marketing automation
If ‘Include supporters on this automation in messaging broadcasts’ is selected, supporters will continue to receive broadcast emails if they are in the select marketing automation.
The account setting ‘include supporters, active in journeys, to all outbound email broadcasts’ must be enabled in order for supporters to be included at the automation level
If 'Exclude supporters on this automation in messaging broadcasts’ supporters will not receive broadcast emails if they are in the select marketing automation.
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Broadcast settings
With the account setting disabled, Users will see this when sending a broadcast email. With the setting toggled on, supporters will be sent the broadcast email even if they are in a marketing automation.
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With the account setting enabled, Users will see something like this when sending a broadcast email.
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Settings chart
Account setting (include supporters active in journeys) | Broadcast setting | Automation setting | Behavior |
|---|---|---|---|
CHECKED | INCLUDE (cannot be changed - locked by account setting) | INCLUDE | Supporters active in this automation will be included in broadcast emails |
CHECKED | INCLUDE (cannot be changed - locked by account setting) | EXCLUDE | Supporters active in this automation will be excluded from broadcast emails |
UNCHECKED | INCLUDE | INCLUDE | Supporters active in this automation will be included in broadcast emails |
UNCHECKED | DON'T INCLUDE | INCLUDE | Supporters active in this automation will be excluded from broadcast emails |
UNCHECKED | INCLUDE | EXCLUDE | Supporters active in this automation will be excluded from broadcast emails |
UNCHECKED | DON'T INCLUDE | EXCLUDE | Supporters active in this automation will be excluded from broadcast emails |
What kind of automation should I make?
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A supporter (identified by their email address) cannot enter a Welcome Series type of automation more than once, even if you stop and re-launch. However, for the Engagement types, such as birthday automations, they can. Additionally, you may leverage the REST API to allow certain supporters to enter a particular automation more than once (but at a maximum once per day), such as to support recurring gift notifications in advance of billing.
A duplicated automation would clear its memory of who had entered.
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What are the differences between the Welcomes Series automations and Engagement Automations?
Supporters can enter Engagement automation types more than once
Supporters can enter Engagement automations types even when they’re active in another automation (regardless of the account preferences)
Supporters will continue to get broadcast emails even if they are active in an Engagement type automation (regardless of the account preferences)
How do supporters leave an automation?
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They get to the Journey End, or end of a branch.
They unsubscribe from a link in an automation.
They are excluded by any of the filters in your exclusions (for this reason, it is strongly recommended that you exclude for your opt-in, with filter (=N), in case they should opt out form outside the automation).
They meet the objective of the automation (for example, they update their credit card for the recurring transaction activity automation).
Under the users option you can manually remove individual supporters by clicking on the unsubscribe icon.
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A new supporter is one that didn’t exist in your entire database the Engaging Networks account before you launched your automation.
If you paused an automation for a day, for example, then those that became new on that day could be missed by the automation since the next day (when you re-launch the automation) they would not be new.
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