Getting started with complex campaigns
Complex campaigns for the purposes of this document:
- Contain many appeals and related solicitations
- Use many source codes
- Often build on the targeting and analytical data generated by Segmentation and RFM Analytics
To set up a complex campaign, follow this process for best efficiency.
- Write the universe query that defines who receives the marketing effort.
- Create the segmentation job or optionally, attach the universe query to the job.
- Write the segment queries that will separate your universe into smaller target groups, such as by membership category or by transaction types or by event.
- Create the segment(s) by attaching segment queries to each segment.
- Populate the segments.
Note: See Segmentation for more information.
- Create the insert(s).
- Set up the campaign, appeals, solicitations and source codes (one source code per segment).
- Attach the segments and inserts to the source codes.
- Generate output.
- Plan first. Building a spreadsheet of the basic structure early makes it easier to test and train users.
- Think about data criteria. Most marketing efforts use inclusion and exclusion criteria to generate their list within their system. In fundraising organizations, this is particularly so. How are you going to determine what that criteria is and how are you going to manage the information as customers 'opt-in' and 'opt-out' of different marketing activities?
- Think end-to-end marketing. Many marketing efforts are not isolated campaigns but are part of a broader, cyclical plan. Be prepared for that and factor it into your planning.
- You can track budgets at the appeal level or the source code level. This tracking allows you to define overhead costs and the cost of individual inserts. The method you use to track budgets also determines how costs are entered, recorded, and calculated within the Campaign Management module.
- If your organization does not use complex segmentation, set the budget level to Appeal.
- If your organization uses complex segmentation, especially with insert testing, set the budget level to Source Code.
- Decide whether you need a single source code or several:
- Newsletters and similar mailings are rarely personalized beyond the mailing label attached to the piece. For this reason, although a template segmentation job is probably going to be used, a single source code will be assigned for each issue. This may be printed on the newsletter or mailing but it may not be. The issue number or cover article may be enough to be able to track the source code at the customer level. In this case, multiple segments = a single source code.
- Marketing efforts that are less informational and more "call-to-action oriented" (targeted marketing campaigns) require a high level of personalization. For these types of campaigns, each segment should be assigned a unique source code. In this case, individual segments = distinct source codes.
- If you want each RFM score to be a segment, assign a source code to each segment.
- If your campaign has only one source code, you can:
- Add one or more inserts (including more than one of the same insert).
- Generate customized lists of contacts and prospects using any combination of multiple source lists.
- Create all applicable inserts, queries, and segmentation jobs before you create a source code.
- Select Marketing > Campaigns > Track campaigns.
- Click Show / Hide Appeals and open an appeal.
- Go to the Profile tab and open the Overhead Cost panel.
- Add an additional cost and click Save. The overhead cost calculation increases.
- From the Staff site, go to Marketing > Campaigns > Define Inserts.
- Select an Insert.
- Click the browse button next to Total.
- Enter a value in the Cost Code and a cost per piece in the Amount.
- Click + for each cost code you want to add.
- Click OK to save the values. Confirm that the Total on the Insert Edit window now shows the sum of the values entered on the Costs pop-up.
Sum of inserts
- Operational costs should be tracked at the Appeal or Source Code. The choice of tracking overhead costs at the Appeal or Source Code level is made in Campaigns > Settings.
- Package costs include any items that are applied to the actual insert or package: Those are tracked with the insert costs.
- Overhead Costs refer to any cost that is applied to the mailing or marketing effort as a whole. These costs tend to be difficult to break down on an item by item or cost per piece basis. You want to be able to track the costs against the appeal as a whole rather than trying to break out the costs against different source codes. This is especially true when you have multiple source codes within a marketing effort.
- Some costs apply only to a particular Source Code or part of a marketing effort, such as list rental costs or the difference between different packages sent. Even if you choose to track overhead costs at the Appeal level in your Campaigns > Settings options, you still have the option to be able track those additional costs. They are tracked as part of the package attached to the source code.
In this example, the campaign manager for the Research Foundation wants to create a fundraising campaign. The Research Foundation, which researches human diseases and develops vaccines, is preparing for its annual Ride for Research fundraising event.
The Ride for Research event is a weekend-long bicycle ride that has been very successful in generating revenue and awareness for the foundation's research. To attract riders for this year's event, the foundation will conduct a direct-mail marketing campaign that targets past and potential riders.
Define the campaign:
- Name: Ride for Research
- Campaign Code: 05RR
- Description: Our annual series of events that serve as our major outreach and awareness campaign. The series culminates in our annual bicycle ride.
- Campaign Type: Annual
- Status: Active
- Start Date: 03/01/2006
- End Date: 02/27/2007
- Predicted Response Rate: 14.00
Define the direct mail appeal:
- Name: Direct Mail Appeal
- Description: Direct mail appeal to attract riders for the Ride for Research event.
- Status: Active
- Start Date: 04/01/2006
- End Date: 04/30/2006
- Predicted Response Rate: 11.00
When a monitored product (product linked to the campaign at the appeal level) is purchased (or a donation is made), the response management feature of Campaign Management automatically captures the product sale, which then is used for monitoring and measuring the campaign's performance.
In the iMIS Events module, define the event:
- Event Code: 05RR
- Title: 2016 Ride for Research
- Status: A
- Begin Date: 10/01/2015
- End Date: 09/31/2016
- Maximum: 25000
- Entity Code: General Fund
- Campaign: 05RR
Define the Event Registration function:
- Function Code: REG
- Title: Event Registration
- Type: REG
- Status: A
- Begin Date: 10/01/2015
- Time: 7:00 AM
- End Date: 09/31/2016
- Time: 5:00 PM
- Description: Registration for the Ride for Research fundraising event.
- Maximum: 25000
- Fundraising Function: Enabled
- Automatic Option: Enabled
- Fees: 100.00 Regular
- Income Account: General Income
In the iMIS Orders module, create the Product category:
- Category: Product
- Description: Order Products
- Stock Item: Enabled
- Taxable: Enabled
Create the Ride for Research coffee mug product:
- Code: RR-MUG
- Category: Product
- Status: Active
- Title: 2016 Ride for Research Coffee Mug
- Pricing: 8.00 Regular
- Unit of Measure: Each
- Weight: .5
- Stock Item: Enabled
- Taxable: Enabled
Assign the monitored products (05RR and RR-MUG) to the campaign's Direct Mail Appeal.
The marketing plan is to solicit all Research Foundation members to ride in the Ride for Research event.
Define the Solicitation for Riders:
- Name: Solicitation for Riders
- Description: Core solicitation with specific requests for participating in and sponsoring the Ride for Research event.
- Status: Active
- Reminder Date: 04/09/2006
- Start Date: 04/10/2006
- End Date: 04/17/2006
- Predicted Response Rate: 14.00
This source code package will be sent to all potential riders in the Ride for Research event.
Define the Riders source code:
- Code: Riders
- Description: Package to contacts for riding in the Ride for Research event.
- Status: Active
- Predicted Response Rate: 14.00
- Target Revenue: 75000
- Source Code Type: Run Many
- List Member Type: Contact
Create the source list: All Contacts query
Create the following inserts:
- 10" x 15" envelope
- Brochure
- Business return envelope
- Postage
- Registration form
Add the following inserts to the Riders source code:
- ENV10X15
- BRCHR
- RTNENV
- POSTAGE
- RegForm