Email automation streamlines communication by sending targeted messages based on user behavior and preferences. Building automation involves setting goals, segmenting your audience, creating personalized content, and choosing the right triggers and timing. Our guide simplifies these steps, helping you enhance engagement, boost conversions, and save time, making your email marketing efforts more efficient and impactful.

Understanding the importance of email automation

First of all, why put in all this work? Email automations are designed to save time and streamline communication during campaigns. 49% of marketers save time with automation and 45% see improved ROI and overall efficiency. However, while building automations demands consideration and planning before launch, once you have your automations built,t they do the work for you.

Email automations do the heavy lifting for email marketers by sending the right message at the right time based on user behavior and preferences. This reduces manual effort and increases efficiency. For instance, automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated emails.

Email automations enhance customer engagement, drive conversions, and foster lasting relationships. Yet, to achieve these benefits, marketers must understand the complexities involved and avoid common pitfalls.

Start with a specific goal

Before diving into the technical aspects of building an automation, it’s crucial to define a clear goal. Ask yourself:

What is the primary objective of this automation? Is it to drive purchases, encourage event sign-ups, or nurture relationships?

Will this automation be a one-time campaign or an ongoing process?

By keeping an intentional goal in mind, you can ensure that every step in the automation leads toward achieving your specific objectives. The more specific the goal the better, if you build too many objectives into one automation, you risk distracting or overwhelming your subscribers. You can always split extra ideas into a new automation series.



Create an MVP automation

One of the most effective ways to avoid getting overwhelmed is to start with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) version of your email automation. An MVP allows you to launch a basic version of your automation and gradually build complexity into it. This makes starting the whole process more approachable and streamlines your work. This iterative approach helps you:

Test and validate your initial ideas.

Fix bugs before they are tied into the whole design.

Gather feedback and make data-driven improvements.

Avoid the risks associated with overly complex setups from the outset.

By setting up a simple workflow of triggers, evaluations, and actions and then building it out over time, you can ensure emails go to the right segments and everything is working as it should.

Plan ahead to save time later

Building an automation is an upfront investment of your time—don’t worry, you’ll earn back that time, plus more once it’s up and running. But it’s still worth planning ahead to be as efficient as possible when you’re actually building the automation.

Look over your existing customer journey and pinpoint potential triggers, touchpoints, and opportunities to reach out to your subscribers. Then, decide what content would be relevant and helpful to your audience at those points—and what action you want them to take next. When you start plotting out your automation, visualization tools can be incredibly helpful. They allow you to map out your workflows, visualize different paths, and identify potential bottlenecks or crossovers.

The key is to have a clear visual representation of your automation’s structure. Delivra uses a visual workflow builder that allows you to easily map out and visualize complex email sequences. Even when your automations become sophisticated, this visual map of your workflow makes it simple to double-check that each step in the customer journey is optimized for engagement and conversion. Easily drag and drop actions into the builder to set up triggers based on subscriber behavior, such as email opens, clicks, or website visits, to send personalized messages at the perfect moment.




Key considerations for effective email automations

It’s easy to overlook several critical details when building automations, which is exactly why we created this guide! To help you avoid these common, but time-wasting mistakes, consider the following:

Keep tabs on frequency and timing

Single-use vs ongoing: Determine whether your automation will be a one-time campaign or a long-term nurture cycle.

Data updates are essential: Ensure data and analytics on the performance of your automations is readily available through your platform, this will help you adjust send times and triggers for optimal performance.

Establish your optimal timing: Decide whether contacts should be added to the automation immediately when they match the criteria or at specific intervals.


Plan message coordination

Contact management: Consider if you will send other messages to contacts while they are in this automation or if they should be excluded from other campaigns.

Date considerations: Account for holidays, weekends, and other significant dates to avoid sending emails at inopportune times.

Optimize your content strategy

Dynamic content: Identify opportunities to use conditional or dynamic content blocks in your emails, it’s an easy and effective way to personalize all your automated emails. Goal alignment: Ensure that each action within the automation leads toward your ultimate goal, whether it’s a purchase, event registration, or relationship building.


To get more tips and tricks to keep in mind, check out this edition our newsletter, The Inbox that explores the ABCs of building and optimizing these flows.



Quality assurance for email automations

Testing is a critical component of building effective email automations. A robust QA process can prevent issues and ensure a smooth user experience. Here are some tips for QA:

Test your contacts: Create test contacts for every decision point in your automation.

Evaluate your data: Start your automation with an event and continuously evaluate criteria as your subscriber progresses through the automation. Implement split paths based on this data to customize user journeys.

Return to testing: Continuously test and refine your automation. Remember, the phrase “set it and forget it” does not apply here. Regular iterations with changes help fine-tune your strategy and address any unexpected issues.

Leverage pre-existing workflows and advanced features

When you have a few automations prepared, reuse pre-existing individual email templates or workflows to streamline the process. These templates can provide a solid foundation and help you get started quickly.

Once you’re feeling confident with single-channel automations, get SMS and email working together in the same campaign. Switch between SMS and email within an automation to increase touchpoints and vary your outreach.

If your marketing automation tool supports both communication channels, then adding SMS actions to your existing automations will be simple. For example, in Delivra, you just drag and drop to add SMS events to your automations.

Make sure your platform helps instead of hindering

Delivra streamlines building automations with features that minimize workload, including a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and visual workflow builder, making campaign creation easy even if you don’t have technical expertise.

Delivra offers robust personalization options like dynamic content and conditional web forms so you can automate tailored messages without extensive manual input. Seamless integrations with CRM systems and e-commerce platforms facilitate smooth data flow, automated updates, and refined segmentation.

Building automations won’t be complicated if you have the right tools. Look for an email automation platform with a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop editors and visual workflow builders, robust personalization options, seamless CRM and e-commerce integrations, and comprehensive analytics to track key metrics and gain insights into subscriber behavior.

Follow your playbook for success

Clearly, building email automations is a nuanced process that demands careful planning and strategic execution. But, by starting with a clear goal, creating an MVP, and leveraging visualization tools, you can lay a solid foundation for your automations—and just keep building from there!

Pay close attention to timing, message coordination, and content strategy to ensure a seamless user experience. Finally, invest time in thorough QA and utilize all the features of your platform to maximize the effectiveness of your automation.

With these tips, you can navigate the complexities of email automation with ease and create impactful, efficient campaigns that drive results.






The ultimate guide to building email automations

Automation

Creating an effective email and SMS preference center is crucial for maintaining a positive relationship with your audience while ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. A well-designed preference center can significantly reduce unsubscribe rates by giving subscribers control over what they receive and how often they receive it—this is the basis of permission-based marketing: only send subscribers the content they want.

Let’s explore what a preference center is, why it matters, best practices for setting one up, and examples to guide you in creating your own.

The ABCs of preference centers and how they retain subscribers

A preference center allows subscribers to manage their communication preferences with your brand. This includes opting in or out of specific types of content, frequency of messages, and selecting preferred communication channels like email, SMS, etc.

Choosing how frequently they want to receive messages gives them control over what appears in their inbox and helps you avoid accidentally overwhelming them. But beyond those basics, an effective email preference center is a powerful personalization strategy. You can give your subscribers a way to communicate with you about what they find interesting and relevant.


Why does a preference center matter?


Improve subscriber satisfaction: Giving subscribers control over their preferences leads to higher satisfaction. Subscribers receive content that is relevant to them, which increases their brand loyalty.


Better engagement rates: When subscribers are happy with the content they receive, they are more likely to engage with your emails. Higher engagement rates can improve your email deliverability, ensuring that your messages reach more inboxes.

Comply with regulations: Compliance with regulations like GDPR and CCPA is critical. A preference center helps you stay compliant by allowing subscribers to manage their data and communication preferences easily.

Some marketers have a hard time letting go of the "I want everyone to see everything I publish!" mindset and that offering options in a preference center will limit their reach. However, the reality is that irrelevant content leads to higher unsubscribe rates. By respecting your audience's preferences, you build a more loyal and engaged subscriber base.



How to build an effective email marketing preference center

Start by understanding your audience. To provide relevant options within your new preference center, you have to understand your audience’s needs. What kinds of content will best serve your audience? What problems are they trying to solve? What would be helpful or interesting?

Conduct surveys or (better yet) analyze existing engagement data to identify what types of content your subscribers prefer and how they want to receive it. This insight will help you offer relevant options in your preference center.

Email preference center best practices

A preference center is meant to help your subscribers, so if you make the opt-in/opt-out process complicated or frustrating, you risk damaging your subscriber relationships. Here are some things to consider while you build your preference center (and to avoid popular pitfalls:

1. User-friendly design: Ensure your preference center is easy to navigate. Use a clean, simple layout and clear labels for each preference option.

2. Mobile optimization: Many users will access your preference center from mobile devices. Engage in testing and responsive design practices to ensure it is easy to use on all screen sizes.

3. Clear instructions: Provide clear instructions on how to use the preference center. This includes how to update preferences and what each option means.



How to structure your preference center options

The best preference centers combine clear instructions with user-friendly design, but there are a few different ways you can go about this. The most intuitive set up really depends on how you plan to structure your content preferences—whether that’s by topic, cadence, or channel. Here are examples of how you could communicate these personalization options to subscribers:

Content types: Allow subscribers to choose from different types of content (e.g., newsletters, promotional offers, product updates)

Frequency options: Give subscribers the option to choose how often they receive communications (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly).

Channel choices: Offer choices for different communication channels (e.g., email, SMS, push notifications).



Find more preference center examples and ideas on how to incorporate personalization messaging.

How to collect email subscribers' preferences

Permission-based marketing means it’s essential to collect permission and preferences straight from your subscribers. Include links to your preference center in key places:


Email footers: A link in the footer of your emails ensures subscribers can easily update their preferences.

Website: Place links in your website's footer and account settings pages.

Welcome emails: Include a link in your welcome emails to encourage new subscribers to set their preferences from the start.



Monitoring and optimizing your preference center

Regularly review your preference center data to gain insights into subscriber behavior and preferences. This will help you identify trends and make necessary adjustments to improve engagement.

If you’re using a platform like Delivra, creating and managing preference centers is straightforward. Delivra’s preference center is designed to be user-friendly and offers a variety of options for subscribers to tailor their communication preferences. It includes options for different content types, communication channels, and frequency settings.

Beginner-friendly forms: Use Delivra's forms to allow subscribers to opt in or out of different accounts. This is particularly useful for organizations with multiple accounts, such as universities.

Effortless segmentation: Apply tags to create segments based on preferences. This allows for more personalized and relevant communication.

There is also a lot of 1:1 support ready to assist you with crafting your unique center in Delivra. Helping you get the most out of building and maintaining your platform. It’s as easy as 123 with the resources, how-tos, and step-by-step advice along the way.



Preference center examples

Depending on your specific business type and brand identity there are a number of different preference center setups that could work best for you. A few common examples are below.

Retail and streaming companies: Many retail brands offer preference centers where subscribers can choose to receive updates on sales, new products, and special events. This way you avoid spamming them with offers from departments that they wouldn’t shop in at your store.

Educational institutions: Universities with multiple departments and communication needs often use preference centers to allow subscribers to choose updates from specific departments or areas of interest. Sending an arts student science course updates is a quick route straight to the dreaded unsubscribe. Harvard takes this to the next level by creating tailored preference centers for current vs potential students.

Professional development content: A preference center is crucial for a platform that sends out professional development content because it empowers subscribers to customize their experience, ensuring they receive relevant information. This not only increases the likelihood of content being read and valued but also fosters a stronger connection between the website and its audience, ultimately driving higher retention and participation rates. Take Delivra’s preference center as an example.


Bringing it all together for an effective email preference center

A well-designed preference center is a powerful tool for improving subscriber satisfaction, engagement rates, and compliance with data protection regulations. By understanding your audience and offering relevant options, you can create a preference center that benefits both your subscribers and your brand.

Regular monitoring and optimization will ensure it continues to meet the needs of your audience and supports your marketing goals. Really, it’s that simple, if your subscribers enjoy your content and its relevance, they stay. Think of a preference center as the frontrunner in your preference management strategies. It keeps everyone happy…and connected.


For more information on setting up a preference center or more demos for completing it in Delivra, check out our knowledge base articles.

Building an Engaging Email Preference Center: Best Practices and Examples

Membership is the lifeblood of professional associations. Fees are a key source of revenue to sustain operations and facilitate member benefits like networking opportunities, professional development, and communicating changing standards within that industry.


While reaching new members is a crucial part of marketing initiatives for professional associations, the key to long-term success is membership retention. These non-profit organizations serve the interests of professionals in a specific industry often, their pool of potential leads is more limited than a broader-scale non-profit organization. This is why membership retention plays a crucial role in professional associations.


Email and SMS are indispensable tools for enhancing renewal rates and fostering member engagement. This article explores strategies tailored to the unique needs of professional associations, aimed at driving increased member retention through targeted communication efforts.





Understanding the member renewal journey

Let’s take a look at a journey timeline:


1. Initial membership acquisition

Prospective members join, often attracted by networking opportunities, professional development resources, industry standards, and other membership benefits.

2. Early member engagement

New members explore your offerings, attend more events, participate in webinars, and engage with your online community to gain value from their membership.


3. Mid-term engagement and evaluation

Members continue to participate in association activities, accessing resources, and networking opportunities. As they reach a mid-point in their membership, your members are evaluating whether the benefits measure up to the membership fees.

4. Renewal decision phase

Members approach the end of their membership term, prompting the decision on whether to renew. Factors that may influence renewal decisions include:

Perceived value of membership benefits

Satisfaction with your association's resources

Personal and professional development

Community interaction and networking opportunities

Comparison with alternative membership options or industry affiliations

5. Renewal action

Members who decide to renew take action to extend their membership. They may renew online through a membership portal, respond to renewal reminders, or reach out to your team for assistance.

6. Non-renewal or lapsed membership

Some members choose not to renew, but understanding why can help you efficiently address the lapse. Here’s a few potential causes:

Dissatisfaction with membership benefits or services

Financial constraints

Lack of engagement or perceived value

Career or industry changes leading to disassociation from the profession or industry represented by the association

7. Post-renewal engagement

Renewed members continue their engagement, accessing resources, attending events, and participating in community activities.

Mapping your members’ journey from acquisition to renewal helps you identify critical touchpoints, anticipate member needs, and adapt your communication to create an effective membership retention strategy. Depending on the industry tied to your professional association, your members’ journey might look different.

Tailor the customer journey we outlined above to reflect how members interact with your organization. To get started, define your member personas and identify key touchpoints like we’ve done in the example above. From there, you can build out a full customer journey map.

Segment your audience to create targeted membership retention campaigns

Segmentation lies at the heart of successful membership retention strategies, allowing you to tailor your messaging based on members' engagement levels, renewal history, and preferences.

By segmenting your audience effectively, you can deliver highly relevant and timely content that resonates with members, increasing the likelihood of renewal.

Here are some segmentation strategies:

Event engagement: Segment your email and SMS subscribers based on their event attendance, volunteer participation, or campaign clicks. Send more frequent communication to highly engaged members while taking a slower, and more value-driven approach to re-engage less active subscribers.

Demographics: Divide members into demographic segments like career stage, location, or income level. Analyzing this data will help you plan more specific opportunities and resources for the members that make up your association, and send more relevant peer-to-peer content.

Interests: Interests and preferences can be a huge connection point in marketing for professional associations—your members’ career interests are what make up your organization! Explore interests that affect their career like environmental, industry, and education issues, and start tailoring your long-term strategy based on their interaction with that initial content.

Loyalty status: Separate first-time donors, major supporters, lapsed donors, and never-before donors. Tailor messaging to appeal to each group's giving behavior and capacity, in doing so, you’ll maximize donor retention and lifetime value and potentially recruit or re-engage donors.

Communication preferences: Link a preference center at the bottom of every email so members can easily update how they want to hear from you. Respect subscriber preferences and deliver content through their preferred channels to enhance engagement and satisfaction.

Member journey stage: Send targeted opportunities, special discounts, and surveys, and set up niche online communities to offer something new to subscribers the longer they remain members.

By leveraging these segmentation strategies, professional associations can deliver personalized and targeted communication that strengthens donor relationships, maximizes engagement, and drives meaningful impact for their mission—not to mention retaining more members, year over year.



Tactics for membership retention excecution


So, once you have your subscribers segmented, what are your options for addressing those at different stages of the customer journey? Here are our suggestions for reinforcing your membership retention.

Reminder emails and SMS Timely reminders before the renewal deadline serve as gentle nudges to prompt action. Crafting concise and compelling reminder messages is crucial for maximizing their effectiveness. Personalizing the renewal experience through dynamic content based on member data and past behavior enhances engagement and reinforces the value of membership.


Personalized thank yous and membership benefits Sending personalized thank-you messages post-renewal acknowledges members' support and cultivates a sense of appreciation, fostering long-term loyalty. Regular communication highlighting the benefits of membership serves as a constant reminder of the value proposition, reinforcing members' decision to renew.


Early renewal incentives Offer discounts or additional benefits for early renewals to incentivize early action and demonstrate appreciation for members' proactive engagement.


Feedback surveys Gathering feedback through surveys provides valuable insight into members' experiences and preferences, informing future renewal campaigns and your overall membership retention strategy. Use member incentives like discounts or special status to encourage engagement with surveys.


Engagement scoring Implementing an engagement scoring system helps identify members at risk of non-renewal, enabling targeted intervention strategies at the early signs of losing interest.

Automated drip campaigns Setting up automated sequences guides members through the renewal process with personalized messages tailored to their individual journeys, areas of interest, and interactions.

Best practices for your membership retention strategy

Effective renewal and retention campaigns require attention to a few key considerations. Communication around membership renewal should be clear and persuasive, but provide an obvious course of action for subscribers. Make your call-to-actions and overarching message clear so members know how to take action.

It may seem obvious, but make sure your campaign complies with legal requirements like those outlined in the CAN-SPAM Act or the TCPA.

Good timing is also crucial to make sure you reach members when they’re most likely to open your messages, donate, engage, or offer feedback. The frequency of your communications will complement your timing strategy—send too often to a disengaging subscriber and you’ll frustrate or overwhelm them, but send too little to a highly-engaged member and their loyalty may decline.

Data is your best resource for understanding the best timing and cadence for your members. Consult your analytics to understand open rates, engagement, and content preferences. Leverage these analytics and implement tools like send-time optimization to find the right balance on timing and frequency for each member.

Learning from data will empower your association to refine and optimize continuously. Utilizing data effectively is crucial for nonprofits to enhance donor relationships and improve donor retention rates. Here are strategies to leverage data for member retention campaigns:

Maximize your CRM: Integrate donor data into your CRM to track donor activity, personalize outreach, and demonstrate appreciation for past support.

Identify trends: Analyze giving trends to pinpoint lapsed donors, re-engage them, and optimize donation revenue.

Analyze email metrics: Monitor email metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates to refine email content and segment your email list for targeted communication.

Learning from data is critical to staying connected, providing relevant content, and maintaining member engagement. Professional associations can make regularly leveraging data a smoother and easier process with a platform like Delivra. Delivra can ingest complicated data and put it in the hands of marketers for powerful personalization. Seamless, data-driven personalization will help you build an effective membership retention strategy.

Personalized email & SMS is the key to successful membership retention

Email and SMS marketing play a pivotal role in maximizing membership renewals for professional associations. By understanding your members’ journey, you can start leveraging segmentation strategies and deploying targeted tactics. Through these tactics, your association can enhance member engagement, drive increased renewals, and ensure long-term sustainability.

Embracing best practices and harnessing the power of data-driven insights will position your association for success and foster a thriving community of members.

Boost member renewals: email & SMS strategies for member retention in professional associations

Personalization has become the essential ingredient in every email marketer’s most successful campaigns. Email marketing personalization has proven so effective that it’s become industry standard, and now, even your consumers will notice a difference—71% of subscribers expect personalized messaging.

Maybe you’ve used a recipient’s first name in the subject line, but this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to personalization. If you want to capture the full scope of benefits from personalization, there’s so much more to dive into. Email marketers have a well-stocked toolkit for maximizing the impact of personalized campaigns that enables this process to be easier and more approachable than ever before. From conditional content to send-time optimization, we’ll outline the most effective, data-driven personalization strategies that any email marketer can deploy.

What is email marketing personalization?

At its most basic, personalization is the use of subscriber data to produce more relevant messages and interactions. This data can translate into personalization as simple as using someone’s first name in a subject line. But the world of personalization goes way beyond this. You can use demographic data (what I know about you) or behavioral data (email engagement, website visits, purchase history) to craft relevant content. Use this data to communicate with large groups in a way that feels one-on-one.

When built into sophisticated automation workflows, personalization can turn a standard campaign into a well-oiled conversion machine. You can deliver a highly-targeted, hyper-personalized experience to every customer.

Is personalized email marketing worth it?

We’ve got good news and bad news. Good news: personalization is absolutely worth it. Bad news: if you’re not currently using personalization, you’re missing out on massive gains in your email marketing. Back to the good news: it’s not as difficult as past experiences have led many marketers to believe.

Is it worth the work? Marketers who adopt personalization have a huge opportunity to get ahead of the competition. The data couldn’t be more clear:

Higher open rate: Personalized email subject lines increase email open rates by 26%

Stronger click-through rate: Personalized emails have a CTR that’s 41% higher than non-personalized emails.

Increased revenue: Marketers see a 20% increase in sales when using personalized experiences.

Infinite time saved: Instead of building email variations for each contact segment, you can build one email and it will personalize on autopilot.

Boosted ROIs: Better open rates, clicks, and conversions culminate in a greater return on investment for every email you build and send.

Although those stats speak for themselves, but there are even more benefits to personalizing your campaigns.

It’s not all warm fuzzy feelings, this halo effect and the other positive powers of personalization can be backed up by cold, hard data. Personalization in email marketing can:

Increase customer loyalty and retention: 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that recognizes them by name, recommends options based on past purchases, or knows their purchase history.

Make your offers more attractive: 91% of consumers say they are more willing to do business with a company that provides offers directly relevant to them.

Set yourself apart from competitors: Personalized emails can help you stand out, it’s like the difference between giving a speech to a crowd and walking up to someone to make a 1:1 sales pitch.

Effective personalization starts with good data

Email personalization is crucial for effective marketing, but marketers come up against one common obstacle: a lack of accurate, organized customer data. Without sufficient data on your audience’s demographics, interests, or behavior, crafting truly personalized email campaigns becomes impossible.

How do you collect this kind of data? The most accurate way to gather data on your customers is to just ask them. First-party data is the most reliable way to learn more about your subscribers and turn it into personalized experiences. Here are some ideas on how to collect first-party and other types of data for personalization:

Start progressive profiling: Ask for new information progressively over time rather than simply adding more fields to your web forms.

Send check-in quizzes: Quizzes are an entertaining way to learn more about the changing interests of your subscribers.

Lean on behavioral data: Turn to tools like web page view tracking or your CRM software that keeps track of purchase history, clicks, or website visits.


You may run into instances where you have incomplete data for some subscribers. Make sure you have default messaging (or a full customer experience) for when data is missing. Default fallbacks are lifesavers for incomplete data, but there’s no cure for inaccurate or outdated data. The more manual your data process is, the more prone you are to inaccuracies. Choose an ESP that can connect to your critical databases and send data bilaterally so core systems stay in sync.

Don’t get bogged down by irrelevant data. More data isn’t always better, it can actually be worse. Bring in the data you need to create personalized experiences in a meaningful way. Just leave the rest behind.

The real culprits in all of this are email marketing platforms that make it harder to handle your data. With the right platform, personalization is a walk in the park—so your best bet for easy, effective personalization is to choose a data-driven platform.

Platforms like Delivra make personalization easy for data-driven teams. Delivra takes the stress out of your data collection, making it easier to gather, organize, and put it straight into action.  Delivra’s suite of advanced tools for personalization  is specifically designed to empower every marketer.

From advanced automation to dynamic content capabilities, every tool will help you deliver highly targeted email and SMS campaigns.

The most effective email personalization strategies

(Hint: It’s easier than you think. Personalization is anything that uses data to make messaging more relatable and relevant which makes it a mutually beneficial connection point between you and your audience. Personalization also becomes more fun when you realize it comes in lots of shapes and sizes, especially when it’s not just, “Hello, NAME)

Improve your send strategy with send time optimization

Send time optimization (STO) is your best friend for improving open rates—and personalizing your send strategy beyond its content. Send time optimization is an intelligent system that does all the heavy lifting for you when it comes to delivering your email at the best possible time. There are two parts to send time optimization: predictive sending and time zone sending.

Predictive sending sends your emails when they are most likely to be read. In this form of send time optimization, machine learning will calculate the best time to send your campaign to each recipient based on their past click and open behavior.

If you haven't sent to a recipient yet or they don’t have a click history, their email will be sent at the “best” time based on an average of all the clicks from your recipients.

Time zone sending will deliver your emails at a scheduled time in each subscriber's local time zone. For example, if you schedule your email to send at 10 am, all subscribers under time zone sending will receive that email at 10 am in their local time.

If you don’t have their location data, Delivra will evaluate an optimal send time based on when the recipient has interacted with your emails. And if this data doesn’t exist, the campaign will be sent at the time scheduled in your time zone.

Maximizing personalization tags in email content

Use personalization tags to tailor your email content and structure. These tags are a great way to include dynamic content and customize emails using 1:1 data from the contact record. There are a few places you can do this:

Subject lines: Show unique or personal information in your email subject lines to grab subscribers’ attention as they scroll through their inboxes.

Email content: Make your email content more relevant to subscribers by merging in purchased product information, membership renewal dates, ticketing information, and more.

Mastering conditional content

Conditional content is where email personalization starts to heat up. Use conditional content to customize blocks of email content for segments of subscribers. Dynamically display email headers, footers, and body content based on subscriber attributes such as membership status, email preferences, and purchase history.

This could look like showing or hiding exclusive subscriptions and offers based on member vs. non-member status. It could also include VIP access, advanced discount ticket sales announcements, or members-only email footers. For example, check out how AVMA used conditional content to create variations of their newsletter footer and subscription centre.

Additionally, consider conditional content tailored to subscriber interests. For example, your outdoor gear store sends a newsletter to all its customers. Separate your audience into two segments based on their interests: hiking and kayaking. In the section of your newsletter where you offer outdoor tips, show one segment of subscribers three articles on the best trails in the area and show your other segment gear reviews on kayaking equipment. With one small change, you have created tailored email content that will generate more clicks.

Another way you can use conditional content is based on past subscriber behavior. Here are some ways to collect and leverage this kind of data:

1. Analyze web browsing behavior

Example 1: Your subscribers are browsing your website for vacation packages. Create conditional content in your upcoming email newsletter to personalize email images and text for vacation destinations viewed.

2. Historical purchase behavior

Example 1: Insert product recommendations into follow-up emails based on a subscriber’s most recent purchase.

Example 2: Send product replenishment reminders after an elapsed period of time to encourage customers to re-order, “Ready to reorder ___?”

3. Lead scoring

Example 1: Tailor call-to-action (CTA) buttons based on a contact’s current lead score. For hot leads, display “Schedule a demo” text on your buttons, for cold leads, display “Download guide” for an introductory e-book or other lead magnet.

By employing conditional content and leveraging subscriber data effectively, you can create highly personalized email experiences that resonate with your audience. Implementing these strategies not only boosts engagement but also enhances conversion rates, ultimately driving the success of your campaigns.

Apply personalization to sender/reply addresses

Personalized marketing automation isn’t only for sending, you can leverage personalization to tailor how you route email replies as well. Don’t leave subscribers wondering if they’re reaching the right person or anyone at all. And avoid the pain of all replies funneling into one inbox and having to manually forward them to the right person. Yikes.

Enter personalization tags. Use tags on “From” lines that your readers recognize at your organization. For example, enter a tag for a subscriber’s customer success manager to direct replies to the most appropriate place.

Other common routing options could include your:

Customer support manager

Sales representative

Account manager

Regional representative 

That way, when they’re replying to your emails, customers can feel assured their message is going to a human (not an anonymous “reply-to” address) and someone who is best equipped to help them. Using personalization tags in your internal email automations allows you to personalize the communication process and increase customer satisfaction.

Master contact segmentation

Integrate or import data from your CRM to dynamically populate segments, manage your audience lists, and keep them up-to-date. Here are two ways you can get creative (beyond classic demographic data) with the customer info stored in your CRM:

Example 1: Update a customer status field to indicate that a prospect has become a customer.

Example 2: Evaluate each customer’s last purchase to identify dormant buyers to send through a win-back automation.

Manage your preference center

Finally, give your subscribers a voice in how you personalize their content experience. Manage subscriber preferences with tags to ensure that you’re sending the content they want. Always offer an external-facing form at the bottom of your marketing emails to give subscribers a way to self-manage their preferences—this is another way to collect that golden first-party data.

Stay clear of these email personalization pitfalls

Prevent bad or improperly formatted data: Ensure your data is accurate, up-to-date, and properly formatted to avoid sending emails to the wrong recipients or with outdated information.

Leave behind inadequate testing: Test your personalized emails thoroughly to catch any errors or inconsistencies before sending them to your audience. This ensures a seamless and professional experience for your subscribers.

Avoid disconnected systems: Ensure that your email marketing platform (ESP) is integrated with your other systems to maintain consistency in data and messaging across all channels.

Lose missing default values: Always have default values saved to tag fields to avoid sending emails with blank or incomplete personalization elements.

Skip over-segmentation or exclusion: Avoid over-segmenting your audience to the point where you exclude contacts unnecessarily.

Prioritize connection: Remember that the goal is to establish a meaningful connection with your audience, not simply to fulfill data requirements. Focus on creating authentic and engaging interactions.

Follow good opt-in practices: Respect your subscribers' preferences and privacy by obtaining clear consent before sending them personalized emails. This builds trust and ensures compliance with regulations.

Remember your “who, what, why”: Before implementing personalization strategies, have a clear understanding of your audience, your objectives, and the reasons behind your personalization efforts. Intentionality is crucial for effective personalization that drives meaningful results.

Look at that! You’re off to a strong start with your data and email personalization! Implement these pointers, avoid the pitfalls, and watch your data organization and email personalization go into hyperdrive.




Unlock the power of meaningful personalization: advanced tools and strategies for email marketing success

Email Marketing

Fundraising and donor retention are mission-crucial for non-profits, driving your marketing calendar and ensuring the sustainability of your mission. Growing your donor base and encouraging repeat donations ensures a stable financial foundation, allowing non-profits to plan long-term and make a sustained impact. Without effective fundraising and retention strategies, non-profit marketers & communication teams struggle to meet their targets and support their causes effectively. But tight budgets, limited staff, and an ever-evolving non-profit marketing landscape make it hard to choose winning strategies and deliver real impact.

While direct mailers like letters, postcards, and flyers remain effective for engaging existing donors and raising awareness, nothing compares to the efficiency and personalization of email and SMS outreach. These digital channels, especially when automated, offer unparalleled opportunities to extend your reach and attain the support you need.

Email and SMS marketing automation is the most cost-effective and efficient way for non-profit teams to maintain timely, personalized communication. Automation enables small marketing teams to personalize each message, reuse templates, and automate follow-ups, making it an indispensable tool for non-profits.

Let's explore a few proven strategies for successful fundraising campaigns that non-profit marketers can use today.

Why automation and personalization are critical to fundraising success

To succeed in the competitive non-profit landscape, two key elements stand out: automation and personalization. Leveraging these can significantly enhance your fundraising campaigns.

The Efficiency of Automation

Streamline Your Outreach

Automation in email and SMS marketing allows non-profits to maintain timely and consistent communication with donors. Automated systems can handle repetitive tasks such as sending thank-you emails, donation reminders, and event invitations. This efficiency frees up your team to focus on strategic planning and creative initiatives, ensuring that no donor is overlooked due to manual processing delays.

Enhance Donor Engagement

Automated workflows can trigger personalized messages based on specific donor actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a donation. This ensures that each interaction feels relevant and timely, boosting engagement and the likelihood of repeat donations. For instance, an automated thank-you email immediately following a donation shows appreciation and sets the stage for future interactions.

The Power of Personalization

Create Meaningful Connections

Personalized email and SMS communication makes donors feel valued and connected to your cause. By addressing donors by name and tailoring messages to their past contributions and interests, non-profits can build stronger emotional connections. This approach not only increases the chances of initial donations but also fosters long-term loyalty and recurring support.

Targeted Messaging for Better Results

Segmentation is a powerful personalization tool. By dividing your donor base into segments based on behavior, donation history, and interests, you can send targeted messages that resonate more deeply with each group. For example, donors who have previously supported education initiatives can receive updates and appeals related to your educational programs, increasing the relevance and impact of your communications.

Strategies for successful fundraising campaigns and donor engagement

By curating your strategies for email and SMS campaigns it becomes far easier to reach your goals, educate subscribers on your movement’s importance, and showcase what their donations are actually doing.

Build your strategy on segmentation and personalization: Divide your donors into segments based on their past actions and areas of interest. Tailor messages based on past donations, interests, and engagement levels to appeal to donors personally and improve your chances of engagement. The more connection you have with your donors over shared values and priorities, the more likely they will be to offer long-term support.

Use first-party data to shape your unique donor strategy. Use a quiz or survey to gather up-to-date, relevant data that can inform segmentation, content preferences, and cadence.

Tap into seasonality to drive repeat donations. While marketing and communications teams often have their own calendars and priorities, it’s important to be aware of the yearly trends your audience exhibit all on their own. Schedule a campaign to send 11-12 months after a donation is received, reminding your audience of their historical giving and the good it did in the world.

Automate messages triggered by specific actions, like recent donations or event attendance, to sustain engagement and ongoing involvement. It’s clear that recognizing your donors is an important part of retaining them and emails are the perfect personal connection to do this. This will also save you time as your community grows because, once constructed, emails and presets can be used on repeat as you acquire new members.

Nurture leads through drip campaigns, a series of scheduled emails that gradually educate and inspire. This is particularly suited to your non-profit goals because it draws first-time engagers further into your cause and how they can help. Begin to build relationships through a series of emails that explain more about your cause and provide opportunities to engage.

Highlight past successes because it can encourage repeat donations. In addition to an immediate thank you message, schedule an email to send 60-90 days after a donation is made and show the impact and contribution. These are effective donor retention strategies because they create a movement people can participate in, not just an occasional financial request.

Boost event promotion via SMS, utilize SMS to remind supporters of upcoming events or deadlines, harnessing its immediate reach to boost attendance and participation. SMS is the ideal place to double-down on personalization because messages go straight to their phone where they’re quick and easy to engage with and remind them of upcoming events in an organic way—like a friend reminding them about plans.

Stay consistent with A/B testing to experiment with different messages and call-to-actions to optimize campaign performance, refining your strategies with every send. Your campaigns will only get better as you learn and adjust to what works, and eliminate what doesn’t.

Utilize and learn from your data to craft fundraising campaigns

For nonprofits, there’s intense pressure to prove impact and ROI for every dollar spent. You want to contribute as much as possible to your cause, so budgets are tight, pressure is high, and fundraising goals need to be met to maximize your impact. Making the most of your resources in a non-profit setting means leveraging donor and customer data effectively.

Utilize smart CRM software that enables you to track donor activity and personalize outreach. You can use this CRM data to demonstrate your awareness and gratitude for a donor’s past contributions.

Identify fundraising trends to send targeted follow-ups with lapsed donors. If you know when donors are most likely to be receptive, you can time your outreach perfectly to re-engage them.

Monitor email metrics like click-through rates, open rates, and unsubscribes. You’ll pinpoint where to improve your content and segmentation. Learning from data is crucial for donor engagement, enabling nonprofits to stay connected with supporters and share meaningful content.

While retaining every donor may not be feasible, regular engagement efforts are vital to making donors feel valued and involved in your organization's mission. Let donors know they’re making a difference and back this up with information about how that difference is being made and where their support goes.

Let data-centric email and SMS drive your fundraising

With a platform like Delivra, your data organization for donor engagement plans and fundraising campaigns has never been so straightforward. Delivra streamlines your data collection, making it easier to gather, organize, and put it straight into action. Delivra’s suite of advanced tools for personalization is specifically designed for marketers like you, who want to drive engagement with data-backed strategies. Delivra also offers SMS and email marketing under one roof, so you can build and automate your entire marketing sequence from lead nurture to re-engagement. From advanced automation to dynamic content capabilities, every tool will help you deliver highly targeted email and SMS campaigns.

As a non-profit marketer, these personalization tools are paramount. Your audience wants to know they’re making a difference and looks to you for updates on the issues they care about. Email and SMS marketing, with their unparalleled reach and customization options, offer invaluable tools for forging meaningful connections with your audience. By implementing email and SMS automation, segmentation, and data-driven strategies, your non-profit can maximize its impact, nurture long-term relationships, and propel your mission forward.

Embrace the personalization opportunities of email and SMS marketing, it’ll give your audience what they want and make your difficult job just a little easier.

Mastering donor engagement: The power of email and SMS marketing for non-profits

Automated email drip campaigns are so versatile, so powerful, and so awesomely effective at saving email marketers time. They can do pretty much anything: launch a new product, drum up Q4 sales, recover abandoned carts, and even help you maintain a healthy email list by de-activating disengaged subscribers.

Whether it's a simple drip campaign or a mind-bogglingly complex logical workflow, the possibilities are nearly endless. Which means, it can be hard to know where to begin.  

Email marketers often ask us:

What are the most important campaigns (for my business)?

Which one should I build first?

How can I get the best possible results (and avoid common mistakes)

In this article, we'll address those questions by reviewing seven of the most common automated use cases for drip campaigns and provide step-by-step workflow templates for each one. 

So whether you're already making automated email magic, or are just setting up your very first workflow, this article's for you. 



What, exactly, is an automated drip campaign?

Automated drip campaigns are automated workflows that send emails to subscribers based on logical arguments and user actions. For example, everyone who signs up for a webinar might get the same introduction email, but someone who has also visited your pricing page would receive a different email than someone who hasn’t. The content within the emails can also be highly customized based on demographics, actions, or engagement levels. 

Automated campaigns, on the other hand, often refer to any trigger-based one-off email. These send the same message to every subscriber regardless of their actions.

Drip campaigns can be super simple (send email 1, pause, send email 2, pause) or highly complex with multiple branches and logical arguments.

There are three main components of an automated drip campaign:

Triggers: Sometimes referred to as entry points, these events pull subscribers into a workflow to initiate the drip campaign. They may be based on a subscriber's action, an update to a data field or tag, or a date-based calculation. Common triggers include subscribing to a newsletter, abandoning a cart, making a purchase, registering for an event, or an upcoming renewal date/birthday, etc.

Evaluations: After the initial trigger, drip campaigns use evaluations to segment recipients, branch the workflow pathways, and personalize the campaign accordingly. Evaluations are logical clauses that might consider a subscriber’s tags, data fields, and events.

Actions: Actions refer to steps taken by the automation itself. For example, sending an email after a purchase, sending an SMS to a conference attendee, or sending out a lead alert when a user reaches a specific action threshold.

Automated drip campaigns are dynamic, personal — and highly effective at moving subscribers through the funnel. While most drip campaigns send emails, you can also update contact data, send SMS, or connect different workflows. For example, a user who abandons their cart can be nurtured, then re-engaged, then sent to your pruning workflow if they don't respond.

7 types of automated email drip campaigns to drive conversions and build relationships

Because these automations are so versatile, it can be hard to know where to start and what to prioritize. We recommend thinking about your customer journey and identifying where you’re most likely to have the greatest impact on revenue—start there.

For an association or organization, it may be an automated campaign to drive early membership renewals. An ecommerce business might prioritize an abandoned cart campaign, while a SaaS company focuses in on that all-important free-trial onboarding sequence.

To help you make that assessment and save you some time, let's look at seven of the most-used types of drip campaigns and some pre-built workflow templates you can use in your business.

The nurturer

The goal: Build a relationship and move towards purchase decision

Common examples: New list subscribers, onboarding series

Most subscribers don't become customers right away. (It would make our jobs as marketers much easier if they did!) Instead, most prospects need at least 8 touches before they convert. They need time to get to know your brand and understand why they should care about your offer.

Triggers/entry points

The trigger for a nurturing campaign might be subscribing to your email list, signing up for a free trial, or registering for a webinar. Here's an example of a welcome series workflow:

Pro tips to make your nurturing campaign more successful:

Set trigger rules that respond to specific actions, such as opening the email, purchasing, or viewing a demo. Be clear about the ‘next best action’ you’re driving to and exclude subscribers who have already completed that action. For example, you don't need to tell someone who has already purchased why they should buy!

Don't overwhelm users with rapid-fire emails. The best cadence will depend on your product and audience, but usually a few days between emails is best.

Provide valuable content before pushing for a sale, such as educational resources, tips, or videos that help the user decide to purchase, use your software, or take whatever action you're nurturing them towards.

Abandoned journey

The goal: Encourage hesitant prospects to convert

Common examples: Abandoned cart email series, sign up for a webinar but don't attend

Marketers are constantly pushing prospects to convert. Buy this thing! Sign up for this trial! Subscribe to our shiny new email list! Along the way, a lot of folks drop off, representing a huge revenue loss. Bummer, right? That's where abandoned journey campaigns shine.

Triggers/entry point:

Generally, this email series triggers when a customer leaves the funnel, maybe they add items to their shopping cart but leave without completing a purchase or fill out a form but don't download the ebook offered. 

Here's an example of how the flow might look in practice:


Pro tips to make the most of an abandoned journey drip campaign:

Send the first email in the series shortly after the abandonment occurs. The exact time will vary by audience and industry, but think hours, not days.

Tell them why they should complete the purchase. This might include product recommendations if the product wasn't quite what they were looking for or incentives like a discount (use these carefully!), or a free trial.

Use triggers to send dynamic emails based on actions. For example, if a subscriber opens your emails and clicks on the products you recommended, then pricing might be a pain point for them. Use this information to create a more personalized experience.

Sales/promo campaign

The goal: Drive sales

Common examples: Black Friday deals, cross-selling promotions, or new product launches

Sales/Promo campaigns are all about creating a sense of urgency and driving quick sales or boosting conversions by offering exclusive deals, discounts, or incentives.

Triggers/entry point

Sales campaigns are one of the more flexible types of automated drip campaigns and can be triggered by several events, like:

Seasonal sales events (e.g., holiday promotions, Black Friday, Cyber Monday).

Cross-sell or upsell after a purchase

Purchase history, preferences, or engagement level

New product launches or inventory clearance sales

This workflow template outlines the different triggers and branches your automated drip campaign might take:

Consumers are inundated with sales emails, so how do you make your message stand out? 

Here are a few pro tips:

Craft compelling email subject lines that encourage users to open the message (Just make sure to avoid words like Free or Limited time, which can impact email deliverability!)

Create a sense of urgency by offering limited-time promotions and consider including a count-down timer to encourage immediate actions.

Use segmentation to target subscribers based on their preferences and behavior, such as loyal customers, first-time purchasers, or those who show interest in a specific product or category of products.

When used strategically, sales and promo campaigns can create a win-win situation for both your business and your customers.

The important date

The goal: Remind subscribers about an upcoming event

Common examples: Subscription renewals, maintenance reminders, or celebratory dates

The primary goal of important date campaigns is to celebrate or acknowledge important milestones in your customers' lives or interactions with your brand. These campaigns drive customer loyalty and increase sales.

Triggers/entry point

Anniversaries of their first purchase or subscription sign-up.

Subscription renewal reminders for services or products with a subscription model.

Refill reminders for consumable products.

Milestone achievements, such as reaching a certain number of loyalty points.

Maintenance reminders

For example, a renewal drip campaign might look like this:

Pro tips to improve drip campaign success:

Send reminders a few weeks (or days, depending on the campaign) ahead of the date so subscribers have time to take action. A refill reminder, for example, should be sent a week or two before they'll run out.

Make sure to abide by auto-renewal regulations. In the US, these can vary by state. Aim to remind customers 60 days before an annual renewal and 7 days before a monthly renewal.

Consider offering exclusive discounts or incentives. Special offers help customers feel special and give them a reason to buy.

Allow customers to specify their preferences for receiving some promo emails. For example, some customers may prefer to avoid receiving offers on Mother's and Father's Days. Allow users to opt out of specific promos, rather than automatically removing them from all marketing emails.

Event registration

The goal: Encourage event sign-ups and provide all the info they need to attend

Common examples: Webinar sign-up series, conference sign-up series

Whether it's a virtual webinar or an in-person workshop, automated drip campaigns generate interest, boost attendance, and get attendees excited about your event.

Triggers/entry point

The announcement of an upcoming event typically triggers event registration campaigns. The trigger can also be based on user behavior, such as clicking on an ad, visiting the event landing page, or registering to attend, like in this workflow:

Pro tips for your event registration drip campaign:

Add an engaging event description to your emails, highlighting the benefits of attending, the agenda, and any special guests or speakers. Get recipients excited about what they'll learn or experience.

Create a reminder email series after registration that provides important details like links to attend, parking details, and schedule updates. Consider including SMS in your sequence to ensure attendees see the most important details.

After the event, don't forget to send follow-up emails to thank attendees, provide access to recordings or presentation slides, and gather feedback for future improvements.

The follow-up

The goal: Continue the relationship

Common examples: Post event check-in, request a referral

The email journey doesn't end after that first contact; it evolves. Follow-up email drip campaigns cover a range of scenarios, but the main goal is to continue the relationship. Here are a few ways to use automated drip campaigns during the follow-up:

Post-purchase/post-renewal follow-up: Thank customers for their recent purchase or renewal, provide order details, and potentially upsell or cross-sell complementary products or services.

Post-event follow-up: Gather feedback, share event recordings or materials, express gratitude to attendees, and promote future events.

Request for review/referral: Encourage customers to leave reviews, testimonials, or refer friends and family to your products or services.

Celebrate loyal customers: To celebrate customers who have been with your company for several years or have made 2+ purchases in a specific time frame.

Triggers/entry point

The entry point for a follow-up series varies, but it generally occurs after the completion of a conversion, such as a sale, event, or subscription renewal.

So, how does this work in practice? This template for an event follow-up outlines the different triggers and branches an event follow-up email might take:

Another great time to use follow up email is after a purchase to provide more product information:

Then, after two or more purchase, you might implement a campaign asking for reviews:

Pro tips for follow up campaigns:

Use personalization carefully and often. Don't just include the recipient's name; reference a specific interaction, purchase, or topic they've expressed interest in to increase relevance.

Send follow-ups at the right time. Send an order confirmation immediately for post-purchase or post-renewal campaigns and follow up with a thank-you email a day or two later. For post-event, send follow-ups within a day or two while the experience is fresh in attendees' minds.

Respect unsubscribe requests and use the opportunity to gather feedback to improve your email marketing strategy. Make it easy for recipients to resubscribe if they change their minds.

By implementing these tips and tailoring your follow-up emails to the specific scenario, you can effectively nurture relationships, gather feedback, and maintain engagement with your audience throughout their customer journey.

The re-engagement

The goal: Rekindle interest from dormant subscribers

Common examples: Pruning campaigns, win-back series

Re-engagement campaigns, including pruning campaigns and win-back series, are essential strategies to rekindle the interest of dormant or inactive subscribers. Pruning campaigns aim to whittle your list down by removing unengaged subscribers and improving the health of your email list. 

In contrast, the win-back series aims to encourage subscribers to interact with your emails and (hopefully) convert them back into active customers.

Triggers/entry point

Re-engagement drip campaigns are typically triggered by customized criteria based on your goals and audience behavior, such as subscribers who haven't opened or clicked on your emails for an extended period (e.g., six months or more.) Here's an example of a re-engagement campaign workflow:

A win-back campaign might include more actions, such as a special offer asking them to update their email preferences:

To improve the performance of your re-engagement campaign, follow these pro tips:

Consider implementing a grace period before removing subscribers to give them one last chance to re-engage. Send a re-engagement email during this period to remind them of your brand and encourage interaction.

In your pruning email, clearly state the reason for reaching out and inform subscribers that they will be unsubscribed if they don't take action to stay on your list.

Provide an easy opt-out option for subscribers who no longer wish to receive your emails. Respect their choice and remove them from your list if they don't respond.



Drive real results with automated drip campaigns

Automated email drip campaigns are a versatile way to nurture, engage, and convert your audience effectively. While the examples and best practices here are useful, remember that your audience is unique. Success comes from testing different campaigns, emails, and actions to understand your subscribers' preferences better.

Keep in mind that successful email campaigns are not just about the emails themselves; they're about nurturing relationships and delivering value. By experimenting and continuously optimizing your campaigns, you'll boost metrics and gain a deeper understanding of your customers.



Automated Email Drip Campaigns: A Complete Guide to Building Better Campaigns 

Whether you're switching to a new email service provider (ESP) or selecting one for the first time—it's one of the most challenging purchases a marketer can make. High-stakes, time-intensive, and hard to undo if you get it wrong. 

So when the time comes, we naturally lean on our network to help us navigate. That's exactly why we reached out to email pros across the US to ask: when it comes to choosing an ESP—what worked, what didn't, and what would you do differently the second time around?

The result? 100+ seasoned marketers responded to our survey.

Their top insights are summarized below and helped us craft an interactive Google Sheet template that you can use to more effectively compare and choose your next ESP.  



Vetting software is a task that usually falls to one unlucky individual (you) that’s left juggling stakeholders' requests and navigating products that sound the same—but just use different jargon. Don’t forget the hours spent in demo calls that don’t answer your questions.


And, after all that, it’s still ridiculously hard to narrow down your choices.

We wanted to create a tool that actually makes this task manageable. Too often, solutions for this problem are just checklists you have to print or articles that promise “the 56 best email marketing platforms” or “347 questions to ask on your next product demo”—which are not helpful.

So, we built a practical tool as a solution to everything you hate about choosing new email marketing software. Meet the Project Hub for Comparing Email Software. This template will house and track all the key information from the selection process. And, at the end, you have every part of your decision documented and ready for review.

We walk you through every step of the process: defining your needs, conducting internal research, creating a budget & timeline, finding your top contenders, comparing apples to apples, and finally, making sure everyone has signed off.




Yes, we know—we’re an email marketing platform telling you how to buy an email marketing service.

Here’s why we made this: no single ESP will meet the needs of every team. We know it’s better for everyone, ourselves included (trust us, we’ve been doing this for 20 years) when a customer gets paired with the ESP that has everything they need, whether that’s us or another platform.

We both win when we get it right and we both lose when it’s not the right fit.

But this isn’t about us, this is about you. And you shouldn’t just take our word for it.

We tapped into our network of marketing VPs, directors, managers, CTOs, and sales leadership—both Delivra customers and non-customers—to find out what goes well in the ESP buying process and what doesn’t. Our survey received more than 100 responses from individuals who recently switched their email marketing platforms.

We analyzed every response so we could build a solution that addresses real problems that real teams run into.

Here are the themes that showed up the most in survey responses.

Here’s what we learned: the 3 biggest challenges in shopping for a new ESP

Everyone who responded to our survey has been directly or indirectly involved in the buying process within the last five years. Whether they were in sales, marketing, IT, operations, or management, there were regular themes in what frustrated them and what made the process difficult (as well as some serious golden nuggets of knowledge for how to approach a problem).

Here’s what they had to say:

1) People slow down the process

While you spend so much time and effort scrutinizing the software and figuring out if Feature A beats Feature B... the greatest complexity is usually elsewhere: the people.

What made it difficult?

Sales fatigue is real. Even if a demo is only 30 minutes long, don’t forget about all the time you invest in communicating with sales reps, gathering questions from stakeholders, and scheduling an appointment. Jumping on a demo call for every platform that seems like a good fit will lead to burnout.

How can we solve this?

The real question is, how do you meaningfully demo a platform? The answer: figure out your requirements for an ESP in advance, so you don’t wait until after a demo to decide if a platform will meet your needs.

You need to know what your teams want from a new ESP, what didn’t work in the past, and all the nitty-gritty requirements for volume and software functionality. You should also get answers from upper management on budget and timeline before you start speaking with any sales reps.

Armed with a list of your needs, wants, and absolutely-must-haves, you can skip the sales calls with the platforms that are lacking. Asking sales reps direct questions before you demo means you’ll only be investing your time in actual, viable options.

In this “discovery” phase, get as much input as possible from the teams that will be using the email service. Once you have all your requirements for an ESP laid out, gather feedback from upper management and relay your findings to your stakeholders for final confirmation.

This will save you from stakeholders weighing in at the eleventh hour by it confining requirements gathering to one stage in the process.

2) Making the most of a free trial

A demo never tells the full story. Take it as a caution from the marketers that came before you: test an ESP in every way possible before signing.

After a demo is complete, and you’re convinced a platform could be a contender, your next step should be to secure a trial. While an option could look great on paper, there’s no way to know if it will really work for you until you try it yourself.

What made it difficult?

A demonstration is very different from a behind-the-wheel test drive. Does it actually run? Is it easy for you and your team to use daily?

How can we solve this?

This is where some gold nuggets of wisdom appear. Our survey respondents had some tried and true creative ways of testing email software in a limited time.

First, input the same dummy data into each of the systems you’re trialing. This will help you compare apples to apples when it comes to data handling and the platform’s capabilities for analytics, reporting, and contact organization.

Next, create an email, a template, or even a full campaign within each ESP. Use similar content and graphics on each site so you can understand the limitations of each platform.

Designers, junior marketers, copywriters, or anyone who will be working within the ESP can provide you with real, use-case feedback that will help you understand how that platform will impact day-to-day business.

Finally, try chatting with their customer support team or submitting a support ticket. How easy was it to reach them and have your problems resolved? Put them through their paces so you know what it’s actually like to be their customer.

3) Apples to elephants: comparing your final options

You have all the groundwork laid for your decision, the next tough part is actually making that decision. Depending on how specific your email marketing needs are, you may be left with a few valid options after all the testing, trialing, and feedback phases are complete.

What made it difficult?

How can we solve this?

ESP feature indexes are becoming overcrowded with jargon. This can make it really difficult to find the subtle differences between each platform—subtle differences that could end up being deal-breakers.

The best way to deal with this is through rigorous testing. Like we’ve mentioned, putting your ESP options through all your daily motions and creating direct comparables will help you see past whatever language each platform is using.

Here’s where it gets tricky (but it doesn’t have to!). Once you’re through testing, narrow your contenders down to three final choices. This is where the Platform Comparison sheet becomes your best friend.

These two tips will make your cost/benefit analysis more efficient (and we’ve built them into the template layout):

Doing the work to standardize pricing pays off. Look beyond the initial pricing quote and think in terms of first-year, second-year, and third-year costs. Will options get more expensive as you grow your audience?

Ignore the bells and whistles—stay focused on the core features.

Removing all the unnecessary information that’s crowding your decision will help you to focus on what matters to your team, and not that ESP’s marketing. When you’re done, it should be easy to spot where a provider falls short.

If you’ve completed all the other steps leading up to this moment, most of the work will already be done for you. You just have to find that information and plug it into this worksheet.

After all of this, if you’re still unsure about making a decision, try requesting another demo of each platform to test some more specific features or explore how much room there is to grow within your options.

It’s time to get started

We recommend looking through the Project Hub template before you start searching for software options. There’s a lot of groundwork and crucial recommendations to cover before you start getting lots in the countless providers on the market.

Remember, there could be a long road ahead. We’ve tried to keep things as simple as possible, but you can really make this template your own: delete what doesn’t matter to your team, add more space for comparison, or take a deeper dive into your budget.

If you don’t want to go it alone, share with a collaborator and work through the process together. This template can be your HQ so you can share information without becoming scattered or overwhelmed.

Our platform and team have been in the email industry for 20+ years, we’ve seen how quickly features change and platforms trend, but one thing stays the same: comparing email software is stressful. We’re striving to make this process easier because, as email marketers ourselves, we’ve been in your shoes. So we truly hope this helps.

That’s how we do things at Delivra. If you think we might be a good fit for your team, you can get to know us a little better by clicking below.

Get to Know Delivra

We asked 100 marketing & sales leaders: How did you choose your email software?

Click-through rate (CTR) and click-to-open rate (CTOR) were once considered must-have metrics for email marketers—but is that still the case, and what's the difference between the two? 

This article is designed to give you a crisp understanding of each metric, how Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (released in 2021) has impacted their reliability, and a short list of what to look into if you start to see either one of these two numbers looking a bit low.

It’s no big deal really—it’s just your audience engagement that hangs in the balance. So, shall we begin?



What’s a good click-through rate or click-to-open rate?

Every marketer loves a benchmark (Campaign Monitor’s report is a good one) but none is more valuable than a strong grasp of your own historic performance. We recommend tracking by campaign groups so that you can establish baseline performance metrics for your unique brand by email type (sales promo vs. newsletter, etc.). Then, evaluate how any individual email send compares relative to your own unique baseline.

Now, that’s an insight you can take action on.

Click-through rate vs. click-to-open rate



Why it matters



What it measures

How it's calculated



*Total delivered refers to the total number of times your email successfully made it to the inbox of a subscriber (excluding hard and soft bounces). Keep in mind this is almost always a smaller number than the total ‘sent’ emails.


Why use only unique clicks and opens?

Because total clicks and opens will count the same user opening and clicking on an email multiple times and tends to skew your data. Instead, you want to measure how many unique individuals take these actions.

Neither is a “bad” or “better” metric—it all depends on what question you most want to answer.

How well did your subject line work? — Open Rate

How many clicks did your emails generate? — CTR

How well did your email perform? — CTOR


Tracking both and understanding what they represent is essential for growing an email list that consistently contributes to your company’s bottom line.



What to do if you have a low CTR or CTOR?

It’s great when you can measure something, sure—but as an email marketer, you’re always looking for signals from your data about what you should do differently.

How is this data going to change your decision-making?

If you make a different choice, will you have a small or large impact?


Perhaps you sent to a large list of 10,000 with a low open rate of 10%. But your email content was extremely compelling and drove the majority (75%) of readers back to your website.

Your CTR won’t reflect that reality, because 1000/10000 = 10% 😕. Therefore, it only tells (a small) part of the story: perhaps you had a bum subject line or an under-optimized send time that causes few people to open the email, masking the true effectiveness of your email content.

What to do if you have a low CTR:





What to do if you have a low CTOR:



How do you calculate CTOR and CTR?

Let’s run through a few quick examples so that you’re fully comfortable with the math.

Let’s imagine your monthly company newsletter was sent to a segment of 5,000 people, but only 4,850 people actually receive your email—the rest are hard or soft bounces due to bad email addresses. That gives you a delivery rate of 97% (4850÷5000)—not bad.

Your email open rate (or CTOR) is 20%, which means 970 people will actually see the (phenomenal) content in your email (0.2 ✕ 4850).

Of those 970 people, you get 68 unique clicks which is a 7% CTR (68÷970).



Which metric is more useful - CTR or CTOR?

By now, you know it’s not a matter of one inherently being more useful than the other—CTR and CTOR give you two key indicators for how your email marketing is performing—neither one is complete on its own and CTOR has certainly been impacted by Apple's Mail Privacy Protection.

As the savvy email marketer that you are, you should be tracking both: establishing a baseline specific to your brand (and broken down by email type) then comparing every new send to this metric.



CTR vs. CTOR: What’s the difference and why do they matter?

Best Practices

We can agree that quality trumps quantity when it comes to leads. But do you have a system designed to score and qualify leads for your organization? MarketingSherpa reports that lead scoring can increase conversions by a whopping 79%!

It’s important to do it right, and Delivra is here to help! Continue reading to learn about the top practices that will help you create the best email marketing lead scoring strategy for your brand.

What is Lead Scoring?

Let’s begin with what lead scoring is and how it works. Lead scoring is a methodology used to rank sales leads according to a scale. Typically a score system is devised to range from 1 - 100, the higher the score, the more likely that lead is to convert. The system you build will determine and categorize lead priority based on prospect data, actions, or inactions.

Having a defined lead scoring system will allow you to more effectively manage your leads. With Delivra, you can score leads based on:

Demographic data

Time-based actions

Category subscription status

Form submissions

Engagement with campaigns (opens / clicks)

Responses in automations

Your dynamic point system will allow you to easily identify, prioritize, and sort leads so that you can target them with the most relevant content, move them through your sales funnel, and increase your close rates through email.

How do you devise a point system that works?

There are several criteria to consider that may elevate - or even reduce - the number of points a lead can be assigned. Chosen criteria should reflect your brand and email marketing goals.

Also, it’s just as important to identify your high value actions and attribute higher point values to them as it is to identify your low value actions and attribute lower point values, or even subtract points, for those actions. Keep in mind that the more interest a lead shows in the brand, the higher the score and the more qualified the lead becomes.

Pro Tip

Your Sales team can add extremely valuable input from their experience with your brand and determining top lead qualifiers. They know what sells - and to whom - and what does not. Don’t leave your Sales team out of the lead scoring strategy and set-up process.

Example Lead Scoring Criteria

Industry/Job title (B2B)

Demographics

Purchase History

More purchases = more points

Email Opens (5 point per, as an example)

Browse website pages

Score pages based on the content; one score does not fit all.

Open Welcome emails

Download a white paper (B2B)

View product tutorial

View videos

Click-through to site







https://databox.com/lead-scoring-tips

At this point, you may be thinking this sounds really cool, but why do I need lead scoring? The three biggest reasons for any email marketing team are:

Reducing acquisition costs

Increasing conversion rates

Higher revenue

Best Practices

Now that we know what it is and how it works, let’s review some best practices so that you’re ready to dive in and create a lead scoring system for your email marketing strategy.

Make sure your data is tidy and clean. Poor data is going to skew scoring and not achieve the goals intended.

Incorporate lead scoring as a foundation strategy in your email marketing plan. Setting a solid foundation allows for a clear pathway to success.

Make sure you’re properly accounting for engagement metrics like:

Email opens and click-throughs

High-value web page views

High-value form submissions

Consider a system to re-score cold leads too.

Create targeted content within automated journeys. Ensure that you’re considering lead point values or status within the acquisition funnel to meet leads where they are:

Awareness: In the beginning, it’s important to share content with leads that will inform and educate them on why they need your brand. Using blogs, videos, infographics are all great pieces for this group.

Engagement: Get more detailed. When a lead is engaged, they have questions and are getting more deeply interested in your brand - provide content to encourage this behavior.

Decision: Content at this stage should be based on getting the lead across the finish line. Making sure they’re set to get approvals, overcome any outstanding objections, etc. is key.

Continue to review and refine your lead scoring system. You should review results regularly to continue to optimize the program.

Include criteria that will permanently disqualify poor leads. It sounds scary using the word “permanent”; however, there are some leads that will never convert. As you refine and optimize your program, this criteria will continue to evolve as well. Don’t be afraid to say it wasn’t meant to be and move on.

Wrap-Up

The bottom line is that lead scoring will help you increase your impact on the financial goals of your team and your company. Anything that can bring in more coin will get noticed, and anything that continually improves through optimization will keep getting you noticed!

Lead Scoring Best Practices for Email Marketers

Connect Delivra with Salesforce to advance your business with flexible, powerful, and time-saving automations. It’s important to keep your CRM and automation platform in sync so your marketing and sales teams can take advantage of all the information you have. Never again fail to nurture a prospect or miss out on a qualified lead.

Experience marketing and sales synergy

Choose which Salesforce leads and contacts to sync to Delivra, and add new Delivra contacts to Salesforce. Sync leads and contacts bi-directionally so changes made in one system are reflected in the other. Score and qualify leads using the scoring criteria that’s important to you. Send engagement activity and lead scores to Salesforce to help your sales team prioritize their follow-up and close more deals.

Use your Salesforce data to automate any process

Use your Salesforce account, owner, and custom object data in Delivra for even more flexibility when targeting your contacts, personalizing your messages, nurturing and scoring your leads, and designing automated flows. Add your Salesforce leads and contacts to an automation based on an event or data change. Automate prospect nurturing and customer onboarding activities. Send lead alerts to your sales team based on lead activity or score. Update lead and contact data in Delivra and sync the changes to Salesforce. Transition from one automation to another based on action, inaction, or data change.

Flexible setup options to support your business

Your Salesforce setup is unique to your business and requires an integration that is flexible enough to not cause disruption to your operations. That’s why we give you control over how to sync data between the two platforms. Use our simple UI to set it up - no technical skills required.

Delivra Salesforce Integration

Integrations

Include text messaging in your automation strategy to grow your business.

Your SMS subscribers tend to be more loyal and engaged because they selectively choose which brands to receive text messages from. This makes text messaging a great way to communicate with your customers – and it doesn’t hurt that text messages are typically read within 5 minutes of being sent!

You are more likely to receive immediate action when sending a text message, so add it to your automation strategy and combine it with other channels to reach your customers.

How can I use text messaging?

Increase sales with a special promotion.

Send reminders for appointments, events, or promotions that are ending.

Send information to your customers.

Nurture leads.

Ask for a donation.

Ask for a review.

Recognize your customer’s important dates or milestones – a birthday, first purchase date or rewards level.

Ways to grow your subscriber list

Use Delivra forms to easily add new subscribers.

Create ads that encourage mobile users to text a keyword to your number. 

Ask during your commerce checkout process.

Ask during your event registration process.

Include a SMS CTA in your email newsletter.

Capture consent when your customer signs an application or agreement.

Reach your customers with SMS

At Delivra, you know we’re all about building relationships through email marketing, but we can also get really nerdy about the data behind email, too. And because we know data can really power campaigns and connections, we wanted to share some metrics for one of our favorite industries to work with—Higher education. Allow us to introduce you to The 2020 Higher Ed Email Benchmark Report. Inside, you’ll find:

A breakdown of the most important email metrics for your email programs

Average performance benchmarks based on hundreds of millions of emails

Actionable tips to build or maintain momentum for increased engagement

What we can learn from engagement rates during the pandemic

Download here

Introducing: The 2020 Higher Ed Email Benchmark Report