During this roundtable, the Novi AMS team and customers shared tips and tricks for Email Automation using Novi Groups.
Platforms Used
The email platforms used by our customers on the roundtable were an even 50/50 split between MailChimp and Constant Contact.
Novi Groups are used to segment your membership in a variety of ways, such as:
locking down access to content
locking down certain pricing
syncing to MailChimp or Constant Contact for email marketing
The groups you choose to sync into your email platform allow you to send targeted email messages to that group.
What's Worked Well?
RHAWA uses Novi Groups in drip campaigns with Constant Contact
Jaci Willoughby, Membership Specialist for the Rental Housing Association of Washington shared how they're using Novi Groups with Constant Contact for drip campaigns and email marketing.
The best drip campaigns are a combination of phone calls, emails, direct mail, and (pre-Covid) in-person.
RHAWA is currently running 2 drip campaigns in addition to regular email marketing. The drip campaigns include a New Member Campaign and one for their Screening Department.
Campaign: New Member Companion
Anytime someone signs up for a membership, they are automatically added to this Novi Group and receives the emails with different instances of timing. After a new member joins, 15 days later they receive the first email, 30 days after that email they receive the next, and so forth. The campaign runs for 12 months.
Initially, she had this set up using different groups with variables based on "Member for 30 days/60 days/90 days" but then that created a lot of groups to manage.
Note, you can't remove someone from a drip campaign once it has started in Constant Contact, so be very sure you want that person included in the campaign.
Jaci recommends creating the email template and adding it to a series. Once you start the campaign in the series, you can edit the series directly - you don't have to edit the template itself.
Campaign: Screening Department
In Novi, they look for members with certain factors and add them to the Novi Group individually. This campaign is to prospect/encourage these members to start using their screening program. It starts within 4 days of being added to the group.
Getting Started
Tips & Tricks
Create a Novi group of your Association's staff and use it to test.
Look at the conditions list in the dropdown to really figure out what is possible.
The possibilities are really endless, especially with the use of custom fields!
Put "CC" or "MC" in front of group names to make them easy to find in Novi groups and within the email platform.
Event attendee lists sync directly into the platform, other groups are created in Novi Groups.
Set a calendar reminder to periodically go into your email platform and review the groups and remove any that you don't need to track anymore.
Want to create a group for inheriting members? Use the condition in your Novi Group Membership Status = Inheriting!
Email Automation Ideas
Community service projects (recruiting volunteers)
Informational campaigns (new member signup, features)
After registering for an event, trigger a follow-up email with a coupon for a future event
Based on custom fields (Areas of Expertise)
Win back expired members - "Sorry to See You Go!"
Legislative updates
Event follow-up surveys
Create User Account
A Comparison: MailChimp vs Constant Contact
They have similar functionality, just different names for their features.
MailChimp has a group limit of 60, but you can use tags to get around this.
Constant Contact doesn't have a group limit, but a big emphasis on permissions.
Consider your pricing plan with the platforms - each has varying levels that determine the amount of automation offered.
Open/Click Rate Tips for Deliverability
When considering a new automation or campaign, consider:
Changing up the subject line.
Days of the Week - What day are your members most likely to pay attention to you?
Time of Day - If available, use time optimization features from MailChimp or Constant Contact.
A/B Testing - test the subject, from name, content, and send time!
Change up the "reply to" email depending on the purpose of the email. Consider using a personalized name instead of an organization name. For example, use your membership director's name.
Get to the point! Keep the emails short and sweet. If you put all the details in your email, why would they click to learn more?
Event marketing: Using the "Include" and "Exclude" functionality in the email platforms, re-send the email to everyone who clicked on the link in the email, but didn't register for the event.