Following our tips about high-converting email content and peer-to-peer stewardship, we wanted to share some quick thoughts on working smarter to get the most from your emails.

Often this means implementing either an email service provider with added planning and campaign management capabilities or using a marketing automation platform. (If you need some advice about the technical aspects of email set-up for your cause – leap to the last part of the series here!)

Automation enables large-scale personalised supporter journeys that will transform your fundraising results. Armed with the tactics and advice from parts 1 and 2, an automation platform will empower you to add layers of sophistication, customisation and effectiveness to your email programme. Here are our thoughts and tips about advanced automation.

Popular options include:

• MailChimp: popular for smaller organisations starting their automation journey
• Ortto (formerly Autopilot): great for medium and larger organisations with an intuitive visual planning space for complex journeys
• Campaign Monitor: good journey builder and analytics for medium-size organisations
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud/Pardot: enterprise-level solutions with a close CRM integration, for large organisations and communities
• Hubspot: popular in the commercial world for SMEs using their CRM tools

Rather than replicating a detailed review of common platforms here, since there are so many, we suggest you start by checking the platforms your peers recommend and looking at online reviews. Ideally pick a platform which really focuses on your own user experience as much as its ability to shape supporter journeys. You will be using it a lot. So you need an intuitive, manageable and scalable admin environment to help you keep on top of campaign structures and planning. A gorgeous, robust visual planning tool, such as the one used in Ortto, is a real blessing. It helps you learn your way into more complex segmented and triggered journeys.

Marketing tools expose the challenges of cross-team operations. Debates about who ‘owns’ supporter records, which campaigns take precedence and how to migrate supporters between different propositions require regular coordination and robust communication between teams. When choosing a platform, consider also access to training and mentoring (not just about how to operate the platform, but also how to implement integrated journeys) to get the best value back from your investment.

As your expertise develops, your needs will evolve. There may also be changing requirements from other teams around you, such as colleagues responsible for data. You’ll be best placed to cope with these dynamic elements by picking a core platform which permits enhancing its capabilities through future integrations.

1. Start with clear objectives and coordinate your specific interaction with any others being planned elsewhere in your organisation, to reduce confusing comms clashes
2. Map all possible touchpoints and consider which channels or content will be most likely to lift and delight the supporter, while delivering on your business objectives
3. Build in response triggers and ways to personalise their journey due to their actions (or inactions)
4. Include re-engagement paths and cross-platform opportunities to nudge or reinforce messaging via other channels (alongside eDM)
5. Test and optimise regularly, along with asking for input from your supporters via online surveys, simple feedback about the content you sent them and focus groups

Our common marketing automation use cases / journeys

2. Individual giving appeals
   We structure appeal journeys to reconnect with supporters, build engagement, convert and engage with the impact of the appeal. This helps to increase retention and repeat donation behaviour. While we have a default journey model, we also customise this interaction for each client based upon mission, recency for each contact and prior interactions with the cause. The usual ingredients for a successful eDM appeal include:
   • Pre-appeal inside information and warm up based upon the case for support
   • Launch email (supported by SMS)
   • Social proof updates or reminders based upon recipient engagement
   • An urgent deadline reminder
   • Thank you + impact reporting
     
     
3. Legacy lead development
   The extremely personal nature of leaving a gift in your Will requires a longer, more nuanced approach where we actively balance automation and 1:1 human communication. There are benefits to operating much of the initial lead acquisition and pre-qualification using carefully constructed journeys involving steps such as initial information provision if a guide or assistance has been requested. This fulfilment could be supplemented by strong, email-delivered, story-based engagement which could be video- or image-led.
   Once the lead has connected to appropriate professional advisors there is a moment where personal connection building takes over. Some of this communication, such as invitations to recognition events or annual updates bringing the impact of legacies to life can be expedited by marketing automation. The all-important core relationship makes use of email – however, it is regularly reinforced with phone, WhatsApp, face-to-face or print outreach.
   
   
4. Peer-to-Peer
   This aspect of our marketing automation world was covered in the second part of this blog post series!

Need help choosing, setting up or integrating a marketing or email platform? Stuck trying to cope with complex journeys or coordinating teams? Say hello… we’re happy to lend a hand!