This article will guide you through creating a simple email campaign.
Prerequisites
Before creating a campaign, make sure you have all the prerequisites:
- Target(s) -- make sure you have created filters or uploaded temporary files for use with your campaign.
- Design(s) -- you need to use the Designer module to create designs for use in your campaigns.
New Campaign
To begin, click the "New" button on the top bar and select "Campaign" from the drop-down menu. This menu can be accessed anywhere in Splio.
About
Start by filling in your campaign's information.
The "About" section is your campaign's basic information.
- Campaign name: the name of your campaign that will be displayed in all lists (mandatory).
- Operation code: the code of your marketing operation. Use the same code for all campaigns within your operation.
- Campaign category: specify a category for your campaign if you wish to do precise re-targeting.
Channel and target selection
Click "Campaign scenario" to go to the scenario builder.
In this guide, we are going to select a manual campaign over the email channel (as the mouse pointer suggests). This choice determines the type of targets for the campaign as well as the options you will have in the scenario tree.
The difference between manual and automatic/trigger campaigns is explored in detail in The three types of campaigns guide.
In the next panel, select your target population.
You can mix and match filters, groups, lists, and temporary files according to the needs of your campaign. In this example, we have selected two filters to include in the campaign and two to exclude from it.
Click "validate" to confirm. Splio will then calculate the target.
Target calculation
After you validate the population, Splio performs a series of important operations.
Blacklisted addresses are removed;
All filters, lists, and groups are deduplicated (if more than one was included);
All excluded addresses are removed from the population.
Your campaign is now saved. You may leave this page now and come back to it later. You can find your campaign in the Unfinished campaigns section.
Action configuration
When you open your campaign again (or wait until the calculation is done), the Campaign scenario tab will show the total recipients number:
When sending an ad-hoc campaign, only the first action is required.
Campaigns may consist from many actions. However, it is the first action which is required to make the campaign valid.
Add sequence
First, add a sequence.
The sequence defines the type and schedule of the next action. Follow the links to learn more about campaigns with multiple branches and A/B tests.
Proceed to the "schedule" tab.
The schedule is filled based on the current date and time. Leave them as is to launch the campaign immediately.
Validate and proceed to add an action to the campaign.
Select a design
Splio will list as thumbnails all available designs in your library for the selected channel.
Click a design in the list to display a preview.
In the case of emails, you can use the "responsive" menu to preview the message on a smaller display. The "select another design" button will take you back to the list.
Note: designs that have been selected and are in use for a campaign can no longer be edited in Designer.
Access to statistics
Here you can choose users who will be able to access the statistics of this campaign. Only users with stats profiles are listed.
The users who have access will see this action listed in their available campaign statistics.
Population
These settings can modify your population.
You can define a control group, chosen randomly, based on either a percentage of your population or a fixed number. You can also select a group or filter for this role. The controls will be excluded from the recipients.
The seed list contains additional recipients, usually colleagues or control teams, who will receive the message at the same time your recipients do.
If you check "remember this list", Splio will suggest these addresses by default for the next campaign.
Submission speed
If you wish you can restrain the number of messages sent each hour to spread your marketing pressure more evenly.
Population refresh
The first sequence of each scenario offers you an option to "refresh population count" applicable only on filters and lists. Activating it will force Splio to recalculate the population before the campaign is sent.
This option allows you to create and launch campaign scenarios a long time in advance.
Normally, a campaign population is calculated once, at the time of the launch. This population is then used throughout the campaign.
The refresh population count option changes the behavior of Splio so that the target is calculated again before the scheduled time. Splio actually begins the recalculation about 10 minutes in advance.
Warning: Never use this option with campaigns which will be sent immediately after creation. If you do so, you will actually force Splio to calculate your population twice, which may cause delays, (especially if you have used complex filters), or even cancellations.
Behavior of the platform with the activation of this option
It's important to point out here that enabling the recalculation option will actually duplicate a new campaign and cancel the original campaign when sending. You will therefore be able to see later in the preview of the list of campaigns, that your campaign has been duplicated.
This is normal behavior of the platform.
Advanced options
Your Splio universe may present you with some advanced options. If it is so, ask your Project Manager from Splio for more details.
Launching your campaign
Once you validate the action, you will return to the Scenario, which now looks like this:
To launch your campaign, click "Save" in the lower right corner of the screen. You will be taken to an overview of your campaign's settings, population, design, etc.
Review your campaign, then click the "Launch campaign" button in the lower right corner.
Once launched, the campaign will be sent according to your schedule settings and will be available in the list of campaigns.