Sending Content to Exhausted Leads in Batches

[Moyes]

Hi there, 
I'd like to know if its possible to stagger the number of exhausted leads that are sent new email content. 

I have a program with 9 different streams (A - I). Everyone begins in stream A, and based on their engagement and info we know abut this person, they move into one of the steams B - I once they have come to the end of the content in stream A. 

When we add new content to Stream A, all exhausted leads receive this new content. However, we now have 30k+ exhausted leads and, due to issues with open rates, would like to stop Marketo from sending all 30k emails in one hit when we add new content. But rather stagger the sends over a period of time. Is there a solution to this? 

[Michael_Florin · Accepted solution]

Well, there's no function in Marketo that allows you to stagger. (Which I find odd, by the way, as such a feature is often requested).

But there are a couple of options to work around this scenario. I think the most common one is to split your 30k audience by using "Random Sample". 

First, do the split by adding people to lists:

That gives you three lists with ~10k records each.

Then send your email - over two weeks:

Not the most elegant solution in the world, but it will work.

[Miray · Accepted solution]

Like @Michael_Florin  said there is no function to stagger in Nurture but , 

you will still have several options depending on how you set up your nurture campaign.

1. If Your Nurture Uses Embedded Email Programs:

   • You can easily manage the sends from the flow steps.
   • Randomly pick 10,000 out of the 30,000 exhausted leads and add a wait step before sending the email.
   • it probably easier to divide the 30,000 leads into three lists and use the "Member of List" criteria in your flow steps to send emails in batches.

2. If Your Stream Only Contains Emails and not using email programs

   • You will likely need to pause  1/3 or 1/2 of the leads prior to adding new content and unpase the remaining leads once the email send for the week .
   • However, this means the leads will receive the email according to your cadence time. If you are sending emails every week, it might take up to three weeks for all leads to receive the new content.

In my opinion, 30,000 is not a large number for open rates, and dividing them might not significantly increase your open rate. The leads are exhausted and still in Stream A for a reason. Here are a few other areas you can look into to improve your open rates:

• Subject Lines: Are you using good, catchy subject lines that grab attention?
• Target Audience: Is your target audience truly a fit for your nurture campaign?
• Send Date and Time: Have you tested different send dates and times to see what works best?

These adjustments might be more helpful in increasing your open rates.

[Moyes]

Hi Miray, thanks for your answer. 

So I'm in scenario 2. We only have emails in the stream - and we only send 1 email a month. 

Our open rates within the streams are good (between 40%-60%), it is only when we put additional content into the stream that it triggers a larger number of people to receive the email that the open rates plummet to around 10%. I believe this is due to many of the people we contact are from the same company/University and their spam filters are picking up on it. 

If I were to send a one-off email to all the exhausted leads, using random samples, wait times, etc. Then, after they have all gone through, insert that same email into the Stream. Would it recognise that these exhausted leads have already received the email, or would it send it to them again?

Thanks in advance! 

[Zoe_Forman]

Hi @Moyes 

Hope @Miray  and @Michael_Florin replies help.

As you can see there are always options in Marketo even if not out the box solution.

So you could split your 30k into batches or look at the existing content and optimise content - you could even look at A/B testing a sample on Subject line or whole email.

Thanks, Zoe