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Create a New Email Campaign

Author: Mark Rickard Updated

The article offers a comprehensive guide on setting up and managing email campaigns using the Fuel Cycle platform. It breaks down the process into four key steps: Email Setup, Email Builder, Recipients, and Review & Schedule.

You can configure campaign parameters, select from various email templates, and customize the content to fit your needs. Additionally, you can target specific audience segments or groups and include moderators in the distribution list.

Email Campaigns use the Community's name as the name associated with the email address that sends the campaigns. If your community is blinded, make sure that your Fuel Cycle representative uses the blinded name for your community during your initial set-up.

Campaign Navigation

During your campaign configuration, you can easily track your progress using the Campaign Step icons located at the top of the screen. There are four steps to the process. Use these icons to quickly navigate to the step in the process by clicking on it.

RE Campaign Stepper.jpg

When you see a purple target icon within a purple circle, that's the step you are currently on. If the step has not yet started, the icon will be a grey unfilled circle. Once the step is completed, the icon will change to a purple checkmark inside the purple circle. 

Step 1: Email Setup

  1. Click the Communications email_16dp_5449CE.png icon in the navigation menu on the left to start a new campaign.
  2. Click on the New Campaign button.
  3. Add basic campaign details in the Parameters tab.

    • Name [Required]—This is only for internal reasons to help you distinguish the different campaigns.

      Use up to 100 characters for your name.

    • Subject [Required]—This is the actual subject line of the email. Unicode emojis are supported; paste them into your Subject.

      While you may use a maximum of 150 characters for your subject, it's preferable to have the shortest subject line that conveys exactly what you need.

    • Preheader [Required]—This preview text displays to recipients in their inboxes. Unicode emojis are supported; paste them into your preheader.

      You may enter up to 150 characters but it's preferable to use 90 characters.

    • Automatic Login Links—When enabled, members automatically log in to the community and navigate to the activity detail page linked in the email. For security reasons, we restrict you to 1-5 automatic clicks, depending on the settings enabled for your community. Once members have used their autologin links, they will be prompted to log in before continuing to the activity page.
  4. Click Next to move to the next step. Click Cancel to abort any changes.

Step 2: Email Builder

Fuel Cycle offers a set of standard templates that are great starting points for creating a campaign. These represent basic layouts designed to produce effective campaigns. Select a template or upload a saved template (if you have one):

  • Blank—If you want to start with a clean slate, choose this option. You can build the campaign layout from scratch with this option.
  • Basic Templates—Choose a layout you prefer for your campaign and then click the "Continue" button to load the template. This will pre-populate the next step with the basic building blocks that you can customize with images and text.
  • Load Saved Template—Once you have worked with the email composer, Save a Template to your computer. If you have a saved template you want to use, click the Load Saved Template button at the bottom of the page, and you'll be taken to the step to upload it.

Once you have selected your template, you will be in the Email Composer, where you can customize the email's elements.

Click Save Draft to save your progress and continue working.

Click Change Template to switch the template used for your campaign email.

Click Next to save your work and move to the next step.

Click Cancel to abort any changes.

Send a Test Email

Click Send Test to send a test email. Enter up to 20 recipient email addresses to review your email. Separate those email addresses with commas, or hit Enter in between each one.

If the email recipient is a moderator or client, any merge tags in the email will be replaced with the corresponding data values. Otherwise, the email will contain the merge tag code.

Step 3: Recipients

Choose an Audience

Distribute your campaign to all community members, specific static groups, custom distribution lists, or participants (or non-participants).

  • Users: When this option is selected, choose from the following options:
    • Roles
      • Member
      • Moderator
      • Client
    • Status
      • Active
      • Inactive
      • Dormant
  • Group
    1. Type the name of the group, and matching groups will display.
    2. Select the group you want to target. You can add more than 1 group.
  • User Distribution List—Choose to upload a custom email recipient list in CSV format.
    • The file must contain the column header USER_ID.
    • Custom parameters can be useful when you need to insert a unique URL or code per user into the email, such as when you are sending a Gift Card to a member. Click the Download a Sample link to download a sample CSV file.
      • You need to find the User IDs of the members you want to email. The best way to do this is to run a Member Export (Members > New Member Export). The member export includes a column for the User ID. Enter just the User ID for each member you want to include in this email distribution, and make sure the first row of the column is titled "USER_ID".
      • If you have any custom parameters, enter those as additional columns. The format for the column header must be all uppercase and no spaces, such as GIFT_CODE. To insert the custom parameter into the email text, use the format ${GIFT_CODE}—using your custom text between the curly brackets.
      • When done creating the file, save it as a CSV file and then upload it.
  • Activity—This option allows you to target members based on their participation in an Activity. This is a great option should you need to send reminder emails to members to complete a given survey or activity.
    • Enter the Activity Title. As you type, matching activities will appear. Select the one you want to use.
    • Next, choose to send to members who Have or Have Not.
    • Then, select Commented, Uploaded a File, or Completed Survey. If you choose to select the survey option, you will be prompted to enter the survey name. Please note that you can only select from the surveys attached to the selected project in the first step. Once you have selected the survey, the campaign will be sent only to the members who meet the specified criteria.

Select Moderators to Copy

Choose from the list of moderators you would like to receive a copy of your email blast. Leave it blank if you don't want any moderators to receive a copy.

Click Save to save your progress and continue working.

Click Next to save your work and move to the next step.

Step 4: Review & Schedule

Review

Before you schedule and send your email, check your campaign settings. 

Schedule Email

Enter the date and time you want the email to be sent.

Schedule Reminder

Create a reminder email as you generate your initial email. This automatically sent email is for members who have signed up but have not yet activated their accounts. The emails will be sent 1, 3, and 7 days after account creation.

Distribute this campaign to specific static groups or custom distribution lists based on activity. If you need to address something in your configuration, click the Edit button to the right of that section, or click on the appropriate Step icon at the top.

  • Group
    1. Type the name of the group, and matching groups will display.
    2. Select the group you want to target. You can add more than 1 group.
  • Project: This option allows you to target members based on their participation in a Project. This is a great option should you need to send reminder emails to members to complete a given survey or activity. 
    1. Enter the Project Title. As you type, matching activities will appear. Select the one you want to use.
    2. Next, choose to send to members who Have or Have Not.
    3. Then, select Commented, Uploaded a File, or Completed Survey. If you choose to select the survey option, you will be prompted to enter the survey name. Please note that you can only select from the surveys attached to the selected project in the first step. Once you have selected the survey, the campaign will be sent only to the members who meet the specified criteria.

Enter the date and time you want the reminder email to be sent.

Click Schedule & Exit to save your changes and add your email(s) to the send queue.

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