July 2024 Roundtable on Ongoing and Automated Campaigns
The presentation slides are available as an attachment at the end of this article.
The session focused on evergreen membership campaigns—automated sequences that run continuously in the background and trigger from AMS/CRM events. The emphasis was on “set and monitor” rather than “set and forget,” using alerts to surface members who need human follow-up. These campaigns reduce manual work, sustain consistent engagement during busy periods, and provide long-term value while complementing one-off efforts with nurturing flows.
Evergreen campaigns can be applied across the entire member lifecycle. Common use cases include acquisition of non-member event or webinar leads and certification interest; onboarding via multi-touch welcome journeys; ongoing engagement after renewal based on interests; dues and certification renewals and win-backs; feedback collection like NPS, satisfaction, and post-purchase surveys; data hygiene through profile updates and SMS opt-ins; abandoned cart recovery for dues or event registrations (often via Salesforce reports); and operational programs like mentor reconfirmation. Implementation typically relies on AMS fields (e.g., marketing start date, member type) for auto-enrollment, nurture branches for positive intent with suppressions for those who complete, and periodic reviews to keep content accurate. Hybrid approaches that mix PropFuel with other email platforms are feasible.
Results highlighted strong impact. An acquisition/onboarding setup using auto-segmentation and intent-based nurturing saw higher engagement than traditional email. A large organization’s onboarding program sent roughly 700,000 emails to 37,000 contacts with about a 29% engagement rate; personalized senders and open-text replies enabled meaningful 1:1 follow-ups and internal recognition. A renewal series running for 75 days with five touchpoints (email and optional SMS) increased retention by about five percentage points year over year; roughly 75–80% of “plan to renew” responses converted, aided by alerts that triggered fast invoicing and support. Lapsed-member nurturing auto-enrolled thousands based on expiry windows and sustained engagement with minimal manual effort. Certification nurturing triggered from onboarding interest and branched by whether individuals had started the process. Non-email feedback embeds placed in order confirmations have run since 2019, generating tens of thousands of responses, including thousands of valuable open-text insights.
Tools, blueprints, and features support rapid setup and optimization. Ready-made blueprints exist for acquisition, onboarding, renewals, certification, and feedback, with more being added. AI helpers can generate subject lines and copy, while an account-level AI assistant can reference provided links and sources. Reporting now includes engagement rate (the share who answer at least one question), response rates, multiple-choice breakdowns, one-level-deep embed data, and improved visualizations. Practical guidance emphasized starting with one or two high-impact automations such as onboarding and renewals, using suppressions and alerts to keep flows clean and actionable, leveraging open-ended answers for service recovery and testimonials, tailoring content by segment, and reviewing quarterly to keep messaging timeless and accurate.