effective & flawless imis communications · your marketing team has come up with a way that...

Effective & Flawless iMIS Communications

Wednesday, April 4, 20188:30 am – 12:00 pm

Stephanie Harms, Tech Support Specialist, Association Technology Solutions

Jennifer Case, Senior Director, Business Systems, CompTIA

Creating Communications with iMISSend emails to:• Committee Members• Event Registrants• Individuals• Adhoc Groups• So Much More!

No two organizations/associations have the same branding, so why should your emails look the same!

Your marketing team has come up with a way that makes your association stand out. Let your iMIS emails emulate your identity. Modify out of the box templates by adding your logo and colors to it.

Branding Your iMIS Emails

• Account Statement• Annual Conference Invitation• Content Workflow• Default• Donation Thank You Template• Event Cancellation Notice• Event Invitation• Event Reminder• Event Thank You• Navigation Workflow• New Member Offers• Mew Member Welcome Email• Newsletter Template• Order Confirmation• Renewal Template

Out of the Box iMIS Email Templates

• From– Must be a legitimate email address. If you are planning to use these as a form of

advertisement, this from address must be from your domain.

• To– Out of the box, this field has {#party.Email}. You can change this field to be

whatever you want.

– Party is a default IQA added to the communication that uses ID as a filter to pull in additional information for a recipient into the email.

– Fields included in the party IQA include Address1, Address2, Address3, BirthDate, City, Company, Country, County, Email, FirstName, FullAddress, LastName, MiddleName, MobilePhone, Name, PartyId, Phone, Prefix, State, Suffix, UniformID, Zip

What comprises a Communication Template?

• Cc and Bcc– These fields work the same way as your other email services

– WARNING: If you choose to Bcc or Cc yourself on a communication, you will receive a copy of EVERY email that goes out.

– Yes, if you have 400 people in your recipient list, you will receive 400 emails and clog up your personal inbox

• Subject– Provide a subject that relates to the content of your email but also captivates the

reader

– Let’s look at some best practices


• Keep Your Audience and Goals at the Fore Front– Your subject should relate to what you are offering or providing information about

in the email

• Personalize it– Add their name to the subject line to grab their attention

• Don’t be afraid to test keywords and phrases to see what works best

What makes a good subject line?

• Short and sweet

• Create a sense of urgency

• Offer value– People are more likely to open the email if they believe it will provide a value to

them

• Use Numbers– Numbers set your subject line apart amongst all the other words in their inbox

• Pose a Question

What makes a good subject line?

• Type– The communication type is the communication preference

– To create new Communication Preferences, go to Settings > Contacts > Communication preferences


• Billing and Shipping Communication Types– These will always be Users cannot opt out, and they can’t be edited

• All other communication types– To create a new communication type, you will need to provide the following

• Type = Short name that briefly describes the type of communication

• Description = a longer description for the communication type

• Default = how will users subscribe to these communications

– Subscribe by default (Opt-out)

– User must subscribe (Opt-in)

• Status = you can choose whether or not you want the type to be active or inactive

Communication Preferences

Creating a New Communication Type

• View a log of recent communication preferences changes.– RiSE > IQA or Document System > Samples > Communication Preferences >

Communication Preferences Log

Communication Preferences

• Choose Recipients– To choose an IQA of recipients to send the email to, choose select and find the one

you created.– When you add an IQA, the list of individuals will appear. You can choose to unselect

individuals who you don’t want to receive the communication or let it get sent to all


• Additional Data Sources– You can bring in more merge fields to your communication template by adding

additional data sources

– All communications already have the additional Data Sources of Default/Party

– You can add more by selecting an IQA and providing an Alias

– We will talk more about these shortly


• WYSIWYG Editor– Change the font style, choose alignment, add bullets, add pictures and hyperlinks,

insert fields, etc.


• Add Attachment– You can add a PDF or RDL (SSRS Report Template) to your communication

• Advanced Email PLUS– You will only see this feature if you have Advanced Email PLUS

– It allows you to track the click-throughs of your email as well as more in-depth tracking of your email including Opens


Let’s start Rebranding!

What is the default template?

This template is used whenever you create a new communication. If a default template is not defined in the Templates folder, the standard message designer is used (aka a blank white email).

Changing the Default Template

• Using the tables in the out of the box template does not respond well across e-mail platforms and applications

• People sometimes use the gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo apps on their phone as opposed to the Apple Mail or Samsung Mail apps that come on their phone. The tables used in this template come in together as a picture. Your members may have to pinch and zoom to read the emails

Keep in Mind

Changing the Default TemplateWhere is it?• Marketing > Communication Templates > Templates > Samples

Changing the Default TemplateA few items to remember to change• Logo• Social Media Icons/Links• Address

• When you are finished making your changes, be sure to Save As.

*Keep the name as Default and put in the Templates folder

Changing the Default Template

• The Order Confirmation email goes out after someone has made a purchase using RiSE on your website

Modify the Order Confirmation

• Feel free to change the From address as well as any wording in the body of the email

• Keep the {orderdetailsblock} as this houses all the information from the purchase including what was bought and payment method


• After you have made your changes, be sure to Save As. You can save your order confirmation in a new folder for your association or in the templates folder.

• Now, you can change the settings under commerce, so your new email goes out.

• Go to Settings > Commerce > General, and you will change the first option. After you select your new template, click ‘Save.’


• Live Demo


• Create the IQA for your recipient group

Create a One-Off Email to Send to A Group

• Create a new email template– Start from scratch or make a copy of an existing email


• Preview your new e-mail


• Send your e-mail


• Review communication log to see if your email sent


• If your emails were not sent, select the email name to see the status and details of each one.


• Live Demo

Create a One-Off Email to Send to a Group

• Create IQA for recipients• ID and Email must be a display field

Create Communication with Data Merge

• Create IQA with the data you want to add to the email

• IQA must have ID has a Required filter


• Create the communication– Create a new communication or create a copy of an existing one


• Preview your email


• Review the communication log to make sure your email has sent


• Live Demo


• Out of the box Scheduled Tasks that Send an Email– New member welcome email

– Donation Thank You email

– Event Confirmation email

– Content and Navigation Workflow

• These tasks do not come enabled. You must enable them yourself

Sending an email using process automation

New Member Welcome Email

• You can edit the triggers without Process Automation PLUS


• You can Edit the Actions including changing the Recipient data source and Communication


• You can use the out of the box template; however, if you want to make changes, you will have to Save As.


• After you have made all your changes, be sure to enable your task.– Both the trigger and task must be enabled.

– Save your scheduled task.

• Every Sunday, new members who joined in the past week will receive a welcoming email.


• Live Demo

Sending an Email using Process Automation

• You can use Process Automation PLUS to create a new member onboarding email series

• If you want to send an email out every 2 weeks for the first 2 months about upcoming events or ways to get involved with your organization, you can set these up using process automation, or you can send them out manually every week.– For the trigger, you can keep it as weekly, but in the IQA for the following emails,

you can make the Join Date to be within 14, 28, etc. days

New Member Onboarding

• With Process Automation PLUS, you can create new scheduled tasks that will send emails to your members for various reasons. Some ideas include:– Birthdays

– Membership Anniversary

– Company Admin Welcome Email outlining what rights they have

– Membership Renewal for upcoming expiring memberships

– Additional event information after an event registration including link to reserve hotel room

• Let’s create a birthday email

Process Automation PLUS

Birthday Email

Birthday Email

• ID must be in the display

• Go to Marketing > Communication Templates > New > Communication

• Provide a From address, new Subject and select a communication type

• Create your message and Save

Birthday Email

• Let’s create the task– Go to RiSE > Process Automation > Add New Task

– Provide a name and description

– Keep the default selection of Scheduled Task

Birthday Email

• Add a trigger– Make sure you enable the trigger itself by selecting the check box in the upper left

hand corner

– Choose the frequency and time for your message

– Since we want this task to always run, leave the end date blank

Birthday Email

• For this task, we will not add conditions.

• Let’s move to the Actions tab

• Choose Add Action– Keep Send a Communication

– For recipients, select Add New Data Source

– Give the source a name and find the query that we created in the first step

Birthday Email

• For communication, choose select and find the email we just created– You can create a new one directly from the task

• After you choose the communication, you can click on the template name to preview

Birthday Email

• Make sure to save all your changes and save the task itself

• When ready, go ahead and enable the task

Birthday Email

• Live Demo

Sending an Email usingProcess Automation PLUS

Be sure to keep the following in mind when wanting to use emails as advertisements

• CAN-SPAM Act

• Marketing Goals and Lead Generation

• Brand Building

• Change with your audience

Want to Use iMIS Emails for Promotions?

Main Requirements include:• Don’t use false or misleading header information – The “From”, ”To”, and

routing information as well as origination domain must be accurate and identify the business sending the email

• Don’t use deceptive subject lines• Identify the message as an ad – using communication preferences, you

can specify that the email in question is marketing• Tell recipients where you’re located – You must include your physical

postal address in the body of the email• Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future emails – Include the

Communication Preferences Link in your email• Honor opt-out requests promptly

CAN-SPAM Act

• Create a marketing strategy including goals of why and when you send an email– Members and non-members don’t want to be inundated with emails

– Carefully time your emails and monitor what groups receive your messages

– Acknowledge these strategies and goals may change based on the chaos and unpredictability for how people want to engage with your association

Setting Goals

• Marketing Goal– Call to Action

• Lead Generation– Sign up for a webinar

– Register for an event

– Request a service

• Brand Building– Watch Video

– Click on Links

– Read Content

– Sign up for Newsletter

ExampleEducate the Member/Prospect• Create content that teaches and guides• Don’t sell anything directly

Personalize Your Approach• Webinars or events they may be

interested in based on what they attended previously

• Session with them to share what your association does

Build Your Brand• Newsletter• Member

Benefits• Promo offers

• Let’s modify the out of the box Annual Conference Invitation for the purpose of an advertisement!

Annual Conference Invitation

Annual Conference Invitation• Subject – Consider changing to create a sense of urgency or value of what the conference will

offer• Type – Learning Opportunities (Opt-out option)

• Let’s change the template to match our branding and what we want to offer for our conference.

• At the bottom, you will notice the [Insert Link to Communication Preferences Here].– We need to add this to our email to be in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act


• Adding Communication Preferences Link


Annual Conference InvitationProvide the link text you want to appear in the email then choose the default website you would like the person to be directed to in order to unsubscribe or manage their communication preferences.

Users are able to manage their communication preferences using this link without logging into your site.

• When a user clicks the link, they will be taken to a page where they can manage their communication preferences. You will notice that they can’t unsubscribe from the billing and shipping communication types from this screen.


• Troubleshooting issues with the communication preferences link– Make sure the URL is available outside your corporate network. If the hostname

portion of the URL is localhost, or an internal server name, the link will not work when you recipient clicks on it.

– Testing the link inside your corporate network does not confirm it will work when accessed over the internet. Be sure to test on a device not connected to your internal network.


• Live Demo


• You got prospects and members to come to an event or purchase a product from you; however, they have never come back

• Use your information in iMIS to remarket to those individuals to get them involved!

Retargeting Prospects/Members

• Scenario:– Your annual conference is coming up in a few months, and you want to know if

there was anyone who attended last year and not registered for this years event. You want to send an email to these attendees to come to your this year’s event but you also want to offer them a discounted registration.

– iMIS has all the information for you to send this communication!

Retargeting Previous Attendees

• Create an IQA for Registrants for both Events– Use CsRegistration as the source

– Filter on Event Codes

Retargeting Previous Attendees

• Join the 2 queries together

Retargeting Past Attendees

• Display the past attendees information in the IQA Display


• Create your new communication


• Choose your recipients by selecting the new IQA we just created


• Preview your new email & Send


• Live Demo


• You send out an email and want to see if it was delivered. You can go to Marketing > Communication Logs.

Communication Logs

• Your search results will include Subject, Sent Date, Communication Type, Message Type, Sent By, Sent, Delivered, and Not Delivered

• If you select the subject from the query results, you can find the list of recipients and detailed information about each message.

Communication Logs

• If you select the individual’s name, you will be taken to their profile. On the history tab, you can find recent interactions.

Communication Logs

• From the Recent Interactions, you can select the subject of the email, and it will appear in a pop-up. In GA2017, you are able to select Resend to send the email again if they didn’t receive it originally.

Communication Logs

Questions

STRATEGIC PARTNERS

CORPORATE PARTNERS

Americaneagle.com • Ascension Technology Solutions, LLC • Association Technologies, Inc. • C Systems Global • CadmiumCDComputer System Innovations • Intuitive Business Concepts • ISG Solutions • MemberPrime • RSM US LLP • Visual Antidote

EVENT PARTNERS

Armstrong Enterprise Communications • EventLink • Higher Logic • iFINITY PLC • Lane Services, LLC • Source of Knowledge

Thank You to Our Partners

effective & flawless imis communications · your marketing team has come up with a way that...

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