How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

You can likewise see whether the conclusion rate has actually increased or reduced, how long it considers contacts to reach that objective, and you can browse all contacts to see who did and didn’t reach the objective. ActiveCampaign’s Message Variables is my favorite feature. It conserves me a lot of time and effort, and neither MailChimp nor ConvertKit (update: 9/2020 ConvertKit now has ” bits”) has a similar feature.

Let’s state you have the given name of just some of your contacts, which holds true with my list. I normally do not need a first name to sign up to my list, however sometimes I get a given name, such as when someone buys an item. Wouldn’t it be good to greet your contacts by name, in the cases when you have it? You can do this, however it’s troublesome.

I’m also filtering for generic terms included by other systems, such as a dash, or “Guest.” If they have a given name, I state “Hey,” and after that their given name. If they do not, I just state “Hey there,” (How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign). By building a Message Variable in ActiveCampaign, I can easily change my welcoming according to whether I have the contact’s given name.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

I developed a variable that’s merely %greeting-hey%. If I have the contact’s name, it reveals up in the e-mail. If I do not have the contact’s name, it defaults to “Hey,”. Where Message Variables truly conserve me a lot of time is by enabling me use the exact same automation over and over again for my webinars, and I can quickly alter out all of the details.

Here are variables for a webinar I run called “Bust Through Creative Blocks.” You can see I have a lot of various variables here, such as the date and time of the webinar, the rate of the product, offer terms, coupon code, and more. Each time I run a brand-new webinar, I can alter each of these variables to match any schedule changes or offer changes.

And here it remains in an e-mail. This message variable enables me to quickly change out a countdown timer. I did mention earlier that one of the cons of ActiveCampaign is their e-mail modifying experience. I switched from MailChimp, and MailChimp takes place to have the finest e-mail editing experience. I really like to send out simple e-mails.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

I have actually discovered that very hard to do with ActiveCampaign. For awhile, I was modifying emails in ActiveCampaign’s hybrid editor, which is rather cumbersome. For a long period of time, I utilized ActiveCampaign’s hybrid HTML and WYSIWYG editor, which was set off by a basic template I produced. The user interface for the HTML editor looks like it was pulled from some free open-source task. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

Nevertheless, adding images is a little bit of a chore. You need to select them from a file internet browser. There’s no drag and drop alternative. ActiveCampaign’s HTML email editor requires that you make up entirely in HTML. The alternative to this, if you wish to have control over the HTML, is to modify pure HTML, with a sneak peek on the side.

Including images to ActiveCampaign’s abundant full-screen editor is a cumbersome experience. You require different text boxes for above and below the image. Recently I have actually started using ActiveCampaign’s rich text editor. They have some good design templates, but I still want to send out the plainest e-mail possible. They do have some plain-looking e-mails, however they have some degree of very little formatting, which you can’t remove – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

But, with some modifications, I can make my email pretty standard. I can make it automatically use up the entire window, and I can modify the typography to be slightly larger, and have a bit more prominent. The most aggravating part of ActiveCampaign’s rich full-screen editor is adding images. Picture you’ve just typed out a great e-mail. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

You can’t merely add an image to a block of text. Instead, you have to create two blocks of text: one for before the image, and one for after the image. If you’ve made any format modifications, you’ll have to watch on those to remain constant. That’s one thing to deal with when you wish to add one image, however when you desire to add a number of, it ends up being a huge chore.

They even have a standard mage editor where you can crop the image – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. MailChimp’s editor is the very best I’ve seen in all of the e-mail marketing platforms I’ve tried. You have access to the underlying code, so you can develop a genuinely plain e-mail, provided you make a fundamental design template initially.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

MailChimp’s built-in image editor is exceptionally effective. You can resize, crop, and add customized text to your images. I miss out on MailChimp’s email-editing experience (How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign). It would conserve me a little time to have that exact same experience on ActiveCampaign. But the highly-customizable automations I can build on ActiveCampaign more than offset that potential time cost savings.

ConvertKit’s email editing experience is extremely plain, however simple to browse. Their templates are restricted, which is fine with me, however their e-mail modifying experience is slightly easier because you can develop inline images, and you can develop a completely plain e-mail, and even modify the underlying HTML. If you wish to make some quick edits to some e-mails in an automation, with ActiveCampaign, it’s cumbersome.

I’ll click on an email, and it takes me to the editor for that e-mail. Note that I can’t even Command + Click to open it in another tab. Whether they suggested to or not, ActiveCampaign has handicapped Command + Click from the automation editor. If I wanted to switch backward and forward between numerous e-mails, I would intuitively be inclined open the very same automation in numerous tabs, then open the particular emails from each of those tabs.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

In the Automations section, there’s a “Manage Messages” area. From here, you can see all of the messages in each of your automations. You can modify each one, or you can Command + Click to open each in a new tab to more easily modify your whole series. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. Contrast that with ConvertKit’s Sequences.

Again, it would conserve me a lot of time to have ConvertKit’s automation email modifying experience on ActiveCampaign – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. But selecting an e-mail marketing platform is like selecting a spouse. ActiveCampaign offsets it with their Message Variables, more robust automations, and advanced segmentation. Speaking of division, another reason I switched from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign was that MailChimp has actually limited segmentation choices.

You can integrate characteristics with an AND/OR operator, and you can mix and match those groups of traits with another AND/OR operator. With MailChimp, you can just sector by AND/OR, however MailChimp’s Pro strategy enables more advanced segmenting, for an additional $199 a month. In my search for the ideal e-mail marketing platform, I saw numerous others, some of which I’ve already discussed.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

ConvertKit. If I weren’t on ActiveCampaign, I would most likely be utilizing ConvertKit. Their automations are a lot easier to develop, though they aren’t as flexible as ActiveCampaign’s, and their segmentations choices aren’t as advanced either. They likewise don’t have goal tracking, or Message Variables. MailChimp. You already know that I switched from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

To start building an automation in ActiveCampaign, start with a “trigger.” There are a variety of ways you can set off an automation, including: When a tag is included When a contact registers for a list When a contact sends a kind E-commerce and on-site options (offered in the “Pro” strategy) When the contact reaches a particular point in another automation.

From there, you can begin building the actions in your automation. Some actions that are available in ActiveCampaign’s automations are: Send an email Inform a staff member Wait conditions If/then conditionals Split traffic for screening Avoid to other parts of the automation Track goals (The contact can avoid to the goal’s place in the automation.) Start or end another automation, or end the existing automation Post a webhook Subscribe or unsubscribe the contact to/from lists Update contact details Include and get rid of tags Add a note Lead scoring, SMS and website messages, and Facebook Custom Audience management are all “Pro” functions – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

Contrast with ConvertKit‘s Automations, which are more limited. On ConvertKit, you can activate an automation when: The contact sends a kind The contact purchases A tag is included to the contact A custom field is upgraded with a specific worth From there, you can create Conditions, to check whether the contact has a certain tag or custom-made field worth.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

You can likewise produce Events, which are a bit like ActiveCampaign’s Goals, but without the reporting. You can track an Event when: A tag is included or gotten rid of The contact buys A date happens A custom field is upgraded with a certain worth You do not produce e-mails in ConvertKit’s Automations.

For more on how ActiveCampaign compares to ConvertKit, read my ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign comparison. The main method I develop my list is through an email course. ActiveCampaign makes it easy for me to construct my e-mail course exactly how I ‘d like to construct it. Numerous online marketers construct extremely easy e-mail sequences for their “email courses.” A contact signs up, and after that that contact instantly starts getting lessons.

It was simple to construct with ActiveCampaign, however impossible when I was with MailChimp. I do not do that method. My email course is by hand synced with this countdown timer on my website. You have to register by Friday night, and a brand-new course starts each Monday morning. When I first tried this method, I was on MailChimp.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

Here’s the automation I utilize to invite brand-new students to my Style Pitfalls course. There’s a few things going on here: The automation sends out all contacts a “welcome e-mail (How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign).” The automation validates that it’s not Friday. If it’s not Friday, the automation waits till it is Friday. At 11am, it sends out a “pump up” e-mail to get the trainees ready for next week’s course, and motivate them to share it with buddies.

The contact will begin getting lessons the following Monday early morning. If it is Friday and after 7pm, the contact missed out on registration for next week’s class. They’ll get the pump up e-mail the following Friday morning, and lessons the Monday after that. It was impossible for me to automate this with MailChimp.

When I run a webinar, I don’t wish to send out the very same e-mail to everyone on my list. I want to send them the proper email for their level of engagement – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. Here’s the automation I utilize to promote an evergreen webinar: First it validates that they have not already bought the product I pitch in the webinar.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

Then it sends out a series of e-mails to get them thinking about the webinar, and to encourage them to sign up. If they sign up, they immediately hit the “Goal” towards completion of the webinar, and the automation ends. If they do not sign up, they get included to an automation promoting a rebroadcast of the webinar. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

This enables me to tailor my messaging, in other automations, based upon the contact’s engagement with the webinar. Here’s the WebinarJam combination panel: I can include tags based upon whether the contact signed up, went to, missed, or based upon the length of time they remained in the webinar. These tags can then activate automations within ActiveCampaign.

It costs me money, and it makes it more likely that my emails go to spam or Gmail’s promos tab. Individuals who don’t open my e-mails make it harder for other emails to get to individuals who really want them! The “Pro” strategy of ActiveCampaign has actually lead scoring integrated in.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

Here’s an automation I got from ActiveCampaign’s library of automations, which I utilize to tell which contacts aren’t engaging with my e-mails. When a contact subscribes, this automation includes a “0 days” tag. As time passes, it includes brand-new tags for 7 days, 30 days, 60 days, etc Each time they open an e-mail, a different automation eliminates them from this automation, gets rid of all of those tags, and starts this automation over again.

This automation can be overwhelming in the beginning, and this is among those cases where I want ActiveCampaign had a more out-of-the-box service. However, since you can do anything with ActiveCampaign, often you have to build things from scratch. ActiveCampaign has an alternative to delete non-active subscribers, which I don’t recommend.

Some customers do not have tracking turned on, so their opens aren’t recorded. Others still desire to be subscribed however have actually been busy. Here’s my reactivation series: I send one email asking if they still wish to be subscribed, and briefly discussing why I keep my email list clean. In one week, I send them another email (if they already clicked on the verification link in the previous email, they have actually already been removed from the automation using a different automation) – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

The automation then unsubscribes them. My e-mails also have a link to a kind where they can enter their e-mail address to let me know that they don’t have tracking allowed. This type adds a tag that I use to filter those contacts out. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. I utilized to include this tag when they clicked on a link, but when individuals do not have tracking on, it makes those links not work so reliably! I only send out an easy “do you still desire my emails?” verification.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

To begin building an automation in ActiveCampaign, begin with a “trigger.” There are a variety of ways you can trigger an automation, including: When a tag is included When a contact subscribes to a list When a contact sends a kind E-commerce and on-site choices (readily available in the “Pro” strategy) When the contact reaches a specific point in another automation.

From there, you can start developing the actions in your automation. Some actions that are readily available in ActiveCampaign’s automations are: Send out an e-mail Notify a staff member Wait conditions If/then conditionals Split traffic for testing Skip to other parts of the automation Track goals (The contact can skip to the goal’s place in the automation.) Start or end another automation, or end the existing automation Post a webhook Subscribe or unsubscribe the contact to/from lists Update contact details Include and remove tags Add a note Lead scoring, SMS and website messages, and Facebook Custom Audience management are all “Pro” functions – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

Contrast with ConvertKit‘s Automations, which are more minimal. On ConvertKit, you can activate an automation when: The contact submits a kind The contact buys A tag is contributed to the contact A custom field is updated with a specific worth From there, you can develop Conditions, to inspect whether the contact has a certain tag or custom field value.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

You can likewise produce Occasions, which are a bit like ActiveCampaign’s Goals, however without the reporting. You can track an Event when: A tag is added or gotten rid of The contact purchases A date takes place A custom-made field is updated with a particular worth You do not create emails in ConvertKit’s Automations.

For more on how ActiveCampaign compares to ConvertKit, read my ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign contrast. The primary way I develop my list is through an email course. ActiveCampaign makes it easy for me to construct my email course exactly how I ‘d like to build it. Numerous marketers construct extremely easy e-mail sequences for their “email courses.” A contact indications up, and then that contact instantly begins getting lessons.

It was simple to develop with ActiveCampaign, but difficult when I was with MailChimp. I don’t do that approach. My email course is by hand synced with this countdown timer on my site. You have to register by Friday night, and a brand-new course begins each Monday morning. When I first tried this methodology, I was on MailChimp.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

Here’s the automation I utilize to invite new students to my Style Pitfalls course. There’s a couple of things going on here: The automation sends out all contacts a “welcome email (How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign).” The automation verifies that it’s not Friday. If it’s not Friday, the automation waits until it is Friday. At 11am, it sends out a “pump up” email to get the trainees prepared for next week’s course, and encourage them to share it with pals.

The contact will begin getting lessons the following Monday morning. If it is Friday and after 7pm, the contact missed out on registration for next week’s class. They’ll get the pump up e-mail the following Friday early morning, and lessons the Monday after that. It was difficult for me to automate this with MailChimp.

When I run a webinar, I do not want to send the very same email to every individual on my list. I wish to send them the suitable email for their level of engagement – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. Here’s the automation I utilize to promote an evergreen webinar: First it validates that they haven’t currently acquired the item I pitch in the webinar.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

Then it sends out a series of emails to get them thinking about the webinar, and to motivate them to sign up. If they sign up, they right away hit the “Objective” toward the end of the webinar, and the automation ends. If they don’t register, they get included to an automation promoting a rebroadcast of the webinar. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

This allows me to tailor my messaging, in other automations, based upon the contact’s engagement with the webinar. Here’s the WebinarJam integration panel: I can include tags based upon whether the contact signed up, attended, missed, or based upon the length of time they remained in the webinar. These tags can then trigger automations within ActiveCampaign.

It costs me money, and it makes it more most likely that my emails go to spam or Gmail’s promotions tab. People who do not open my emails make it harder for other emails to get to individuals who truly want them! The “Pro” plan of ActiveCampaign has actually lead scoring built in.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

Here’s an automation I obtained from ActiveCampaign’s library of automations, which I utilize to tell which contacts aren’t engaging with my emails. When a contact subscribes, this automation adds a “0 days” tag. As time passes, it adds brand-new tags for 7 days, one month, 60 days, etc Each time they open an e-mail, a separate automation removes them from this automation, eliminates all of those tags, and starts this automation over once again.

This automation can be overwhelming initially, and this is one of those cases where I wish ActiveCampaign had a more out-of-the-box option. However, since you can do anything with ActiveCampaign, in some cases you have to build things from scratch. ActiveCampaign has an option to erase inactive subscribers, which I do not suggest.

Some subscribers don’t have actually tracking turned on, so their opens aren’t taped. Others still wish to be subscribed however have actually been busy. Here’s my reactivation series: I send out one email asking if they still wish to be subscribed, and briefly describing why I keep my email list clean. In one week, I send them another email (if they already clicked the confirmation link in the previous email, they have actually currently been removed from the automation using a different automation) – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

The automation then unsubscribes them. My emails likewise have a link to a type where they can enter their email address to let me know that they don’t have tracking allowed. This type includes a tag that I utilize to filter those contacts out. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. I utilized to include this tag when they clicked a link, but when individuals do not have tracking on, it makes those links not work so dependably! I only send a basic “do you still desire my emails?” verification.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

You can also see whether the conclusion rate has increased or decreased, how long it considers contacts to reach that objective, and you can browse all contacts to see who did and didn’t reach the goal. ActiveCampaign’s Message Variables is my preferred feature. It saves me a lots of time and effort, and neither MailChimp nor ConvertKit (update: 9/2020 ConvertKit now has ” snippets”) has a similar feature.

Let’s say you have the given name of only a few of your contacts, which is the case with my list. I normally don’t need a given name to sign up to my list, but often I get a given name, such as when somebody purchases an item. Would not it be good to welcome your contacts by name, in the cases when you have it? You can do this, but it’s troublesome.

I’m likewise filtering for generic terms added by other systems, such as a dash, or “Guest.” If they have a given name, I state “Hey,” and after that their very first name. If they do not, I just state “Hey there,” (How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign). By constructing a Message Variable in ActiveCampaign, I can easily alter my welcoming according to whether or not I have the contact’s given name.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

I developed a variable that’s merely %greeting-hey%. If I have the contact’s name, it appears in the email. If I do not have the contact’s name, it defaults to “Hey,”. Where Message Variables really save me a great deal of time is by allowing me use the very same automation over and over once again for my webinars, and I can rapidly alter out all of the details.

Here vary for a webinar I run called “Bust Through Creative Blocks.” You can see I have a lot of various variables here, such as the date and time of the webinar, the cost of the item, deal terms, voucher code, and more. Each time I run a brand-new webinar, I can change each of these variables to match any schedule modifications or offer modifications.

And here it is in an email. This message variable allows me to quickly change out a countdown timer. I did point out earlier that a person of the cons of ActiveCampaign is their e-mail modifying experience. I switched from MailChimp, and MailChimp happens to have the very best email modifying experience. I actually like to send basic emails.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

I’ve found that extremely hard to do with ActiveCampaign. For some time, I was modifying e-mails in ActiveCampaign’s hybrid editor, which is rather cumbersome. For a long period of time, I used ActiveCampaign’s hybrid HTML and WYSIWYG editor, which was activated by a standard template I developed. The user interface for the HTML editor appears like it was pulled from some totally free open-source task. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

However, adding images is a little bit of a task. You need to pick them from a file internet browser. There’s no drag and drop choice. ActiveCampaign’s HTML e-mail editor requires that you make up totally in HTML. The alternative to this, if you want to have control over the HTML, is to edit pure HTML, with a sneak peek on the side.

Adding images to ActiveCampaign’s rich text editor is a clunky experience. You require different text boxes for above and below the image. Recently I have started utilizing ActiveCampaign’s abundant text editor. They have some great design templates, however I still wish to send the plainest email possible. They do have some plain-looking e-mails, but they have some degree of very little format, which you can’t get rid of – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

However, with some modifications, I can make my e-mail quite standard. I can make it automatically take up the whole window, and I can fine-tune the typography to be a little larger, and have a little bit more leading. The most frustrating part of ActiveCampaign’s abundant full-screen editor is including images. Envision you have actually just typed out a great e-mail. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign.

You can’t merely include an image to a block of text. Instead, you need to create 2 blocks of text: one for before the image, and one for after the image. If you have actually made any format changes, you’ll need to keep an eye on those to remain consistent. That’s something to handle when you want to include one image, but when you wish to add a number of, it ends up being a big task.

They even have a fundamental mage editor where you can crop the image – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. MailChimp’s editor is the best I’ve seen in all of the e-mail marketing platforms I have actually attempted. You have access to the underlying code, so you can create a truly plain email, provided you make a fundamental design template initially.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

MailChimp’s built-in image editor is incredibly powerful. You can resize, crop, and include custom-made text to your images. I miss out on MailChimp’s email-editing experience (How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign). It would save me a little time to have that same experience on ActiveCampaign. But the highly-customizable automations I can construct on ActiveCampaign more than offset that possible time cost savings.

ConvertKit’s e-mail modifying experience is really plain, but simple to browse. Their templates are restricted, which is great with me, but their email modifying experience is somewhat simpler in that you can develop inline images, and you can produce an absolutely plain e-mail, and even edit the underlying HTML. If you want to make some quick edits to some e-mails in an automation, with ActiveCampaign, it’s troublesome.

I’ll click on an e-mail, and it takes me to the editor for that email. Keep in mind that I can’t even Command + Click to open it in another tab. Whether they implied to or not, ActiveCampaign has disabled Command + Click from the automation editor. If I wanted to switch backward and forward between various e-mails, I would intuitively be inclined open the exact same automation in various tabs, then open the respective e-mails from each of those tabs.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

In the Automations area, there’s a “Handle Messages” area. From here, you can see all of the messages in each of your automations. You can edit each one, or you can Command + Click to open each in a new tab to more quickly edit your entire sequence. How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. Contrast that with ConvertKit’s Series.

Again, it would conserve me a lot of time to have ConvertKit’s automation e-mail modifying experience on ActiveCampaign – How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign. However choosing an email marketing platform is like picking a partner. ActiveCampaign makes up for it with their Message Variables, more robust automations, and advanced segmentation. Mentioning segmentation, another reason I changed from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign was that MailChimp has restricted division alternatives.

You can integrate qualities with an AND/OR operator, and you can mix and match those groups of traits with another AND/OR operator. With MailChimp, you can only section by AND/OR, however MailChimp’s Pro strategy enables more advanced segmenting, for an extra $199 a month. In my search for the best email marketing platform, I saw many others, a few of which I have actually currently discussed.

How Do I Create A Drip Campaign Using Active Campaign

ConvertKit. If I weren’t on ActiveCampaign, I would most likely be utilizing ConvertKit. Their automations are much simpler to construct, though they aren’t as flexible as ActiveCampaign’s, and their segmentations choices aren’t as advanced either. They likewise don’t have objective tracking, or Message Variables. MailChimp. You already know that I changed from MailChimp to ActiveCampaign.