12 Replies Latest reply on May 3, 2017 8:23 AM by Dan Stevens.

Engagement Program with specific timing for email send

Anna Haire Apr 11, 2017 7:19 AM

Hello all,

I'm setting up engagement programs that are meant to move a person sequentially through various steps if they get stuck. Once they've completed a step, I label them as engaged for that program and then add them to the next program. The problem is, I need a way to add a wait step before the email sends to give the person the time to organically take the next step without our encouragement, i.e. email. I'm using Salesforce activity as the trigger to tell me when someone has completed a step and is therefore ready for the next engagement program, but I need to wait 24 to 48 hours before the cadence can start. Because I'm using triggers to add someone to a campaign, they could be added everyday of the week, I can't figure out a way to wait two days from the time of being added to an engagement program before the first email sends. This is critical because if they organically take the next step, I don't want to send them an email encouraging them to do what they just did. Some people will get from step A to step D in a matter of days, but lots of people get stuck along the way. I only want to nurture those who get stuck.

This is only my 2nd time using engagement programs so hopefully I'm just missing something really simple here. Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Anna

Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send

Grégoire Michel Apr 11, 2017 9:27 AM (in response to Anna Haire)

Hi Anna,

This question belongs to the Products section, so please move it here, so that more people would see it and be likely to answer. About Community is for assistance about the community itself.

I am not sure I understand what you are trying to do.

Generally speaking, engagement programs are not well suited for scenarios where you need to wait some specific events, add some wait steps, etc... Default programs with smart campaigns will do better job.

Also, in your case, I would probably use separate smart campaigns, the second one using a trigger to detect what you call "The Step".

But if you were a little more explicit about what you are trying to do, my answer might be also some relevant and more accurate

-Greg
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- Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
  
  Anna Haire Apr 11, 2017 9:32 AM (in response to Grégoire Michel)
  
  Thanks for the heads up on posting to the correct section! Ok, let me try to be more explicit.
  
  There are 4 stages in the lifecycle.
  1. Registration
  2. Upload
  3. Create
  4. Initiate
  
  A user can move through these on their own all in a day, but some people get stuck in the various stages. We have email content created to encourage them to take the next step if they stall. With an engagement program, as soon as I add someone as a member, they will fall into the cadence. My smart campaign to add them to the engagement program triggers based on Salesforce activity and can happen on any day of the week. How can I make sure they have a full 48 hours before they get the first email in the stream?
  
  I also needed a way to change their status to engaged to move them to the next engagement program based on their activity. That's why I thought engagement programs would work best.
  
  Open to suggestions!
  
  Anna
  
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  - Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
    
    Grégoire Michel Apr 11, 2017 9:41 AM (in response to Anna Haire)
    
    Hi again Anna,
    
    OK, that's clearer
    
    In the flow that adds people to the engagement program, if you add a "wait 2 days" prior to adding people to the EP, then you can make sure that they will always have AT LEAST 48 hours before getting the first email. But this is a minimum, not a maximum. the max will depends on when in the next cast after the 48 hours delay expires.
    
    I would rather use a regular flow to do this:
    Smart list:
    Trigger: change data value, attribute is stage, new value : Registration
    Flow:
    wait 48 hours.
    send email - choices
    If stage is registration - email X
    else do nothing
    wait X hours
    send email - choices
    If stage is registration - email X
    else do nothing
    wait X hours
    send email - choices
    If stage is registration - email X
    else do nothing
    
    then you do the same for the other stages
    
    -Greg
    1 of 1 people found this helpful
    
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    - Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
      
      Anna Haire Apr 11, 2017 11:26 AM (in response to Grégoire Michel)
      
      Thanks for your thoughts on this Greg. Let me take a run at it using your idea and see how it works.
      
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    - Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
      
      Anna Haire May 1, 2017 9:27 AM (in response to Grégoire Michel)
      
      This is how I set it up. We tested it and it's been up and running a few days and seems to be working great. Thank you for your help!
      
      Anna
      
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      - Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
        
        Grégoire Michel May 1, 2017 11:41 AM (in response to Anna Haire)
        
        Hi Anna,
        
        Great
        
        Pls mark it as answered.
        
        -Greg
        
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Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send

Veronica Holmes Apr 11, 2017 4:40 PM (in response to Anna Haire)

Hey Anna, while I'm inclined towards Gregoire's idea myself, make sure you do some reading up on using Programs in Engagement Streams. This can sometimes allow you the "wait, then check if they meet the criteria" flexibility you are looking for.
Veronica
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- Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
  
  Anna Haire Apr 13, 2017 9:21 AM (in response to Veronica Holmes)
  
  Thanks Veronica, I'll take a look!
  
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Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send

Dave Cunningham May 1, 2017 12:36 PM (in response to Anna Haire)

Not sure if this is relevant, but at Summit last week they showed how there would eventually be wait steps available in Engagement Programs. This was a part of their product announcement.
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- Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
  
  Grégoire Michel May 1, 2017 12:51 PM (in response to Dave Cunningham)
  
  Hi Dave,
  
  This will be, once it's available
  
  -Greg
  
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- Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
  
  Anna Haire May 3, 2017 8:01 AM (in response to Dave Cunningham)
  
  That would be awesome. I'll be watching for it!
  
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- Re: Engagement Program with specific timing for email send
  
  Dan Stevens. May 3, 2017 8:23 AM (in response to Dave Cunningham)
  
  Not necessarily "wait steps" - which can be done today using child programs - but "dynamic send times" based on the time zone associated to each lead/person record. Can't wait for this!
  
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