How to send the first welcome message immediately

Lara Dyan Fornal

System creation doesn't seem to allow for an 'immediate' option -- are others sending their first welcome message right away? If so, how? If it's through the autoresponder center, how do you report on it? Thank you.

Allison King

Hi Lara,


You're right, since Luminate Online works on the priciple of mass communcation, there is no option to send a welcome series email immedately and individually. Is there a business case reason why the message could not wait until the next day, when you can email everyone who joined the previous day?


You could certainly use the autoresponder center, but sometimes autoresponders are not triggered for new constituents, especailly if they are added to through an import or upload. I think you are right, however, that it is not possible to run reports on autoresponders.


-allison

Lara Dyan Fornal

Thanks Allison. Many best practices I've read recommend sending the first welcome immediately. For example:


1. Litmus: https://litmus.com/blog/6-steps-to-creating-a-successful-welcome-email-experience

2. Return Path: https://blog.returnpath.com/best-practices-for-a-successful-onboarding-series/


So if I want to follow recommended best practices from two email experts, you're saying there's really no easy way to do that using LO? I thought I've gotten welcomes immediately from other orgs that use this product. Just wondering how they accomplished it and if they're willing to share!


Lara

Reid Dossinger

Thanks for posting this question, Lara. This is something that's not just easy, but is the default in other programs. And thanks for including those articles on the fact that it's best practice!


Perhaps it would help to clarify that an immediate email to a new subscriber can be considered a confirmation, rather than necessarily a part of a "welcome series". I would be fine if I had an immediate confirmation email, and then set up a welcome series separately.


Any other organizations with advice on how to accomplish this? 

Erik Leaver

Hi Reid,


Yes, this can be done. Luminate can have an autoresponder that will go out immediately for a new subscriber and then you can set up a recurring email welcome series. That recurring email series will need a Query and a Group that is set to rebuild daily.


If you were sending the day after the initial signup, your query would be "System Creation Time equals 1 day or days prior to today". You also might want to create another rebuildable group, "No Welcome Series Suppression Group" that you could use for any needed exclusions (maybe if someone is new to list from donating, or if you are manually importing emails from events etc). 


You can set multiple recurring emails (welcome series #1, #2, #3) this way, just pushing the creation time out further (1 day, 5 days, 10 days).


It is also a best practce to create a final query & group for anyone who is in the welcome series so you can exclude them from your regular messaging stream during the welcome process.


Good luck!

Erik

Reid Dossinger

Great! Thanks very much, Erik.


For anyone else reading this thread, the Autoresponder Center is under Setup in LO.


(edit: there doesn't seem to be a way to create a new type of autoresponder...just a new version of an already existing one)

Erik Leaver

And shoot. I forgot that Blackbaud updated the Responsive Welcome & Donor Series Kit. Has everything you need to get started!

Reid Dossinger

Erik Leaver:

And shoot. I forgot that Blackbaud updated the Responsive Welcome & Donor Series Kit. Has everything you need to get started!

Thank you, Erik! 


The outline in the first document of that kit shows an autoresponder, but I can't see where to create a new one in the Autoresponder Center. There seems to only be the oppotunity to edit the ones that are already there. Where would we create an autoresponder that is sent immediately when a new opted-in subscriber is added?


One other fix for the documentation team: in the Welcome Series Setup Guide, it includes this text: "set the expiration to be year 2015 because we want this to keep going as far in the future as possible".

Erik Leaver

Reid,


You might need some additional permissions to manage messages in the autoresponder center. Once you have the proper acess (either set by your site admin or if needed, support), check out the Managing the Autoresponder Center article. 


I think you want to manage the new registrations: "How can I update the text or create a new Autoresponder for new registrations?"


Best,

Erik