[intro]Sequenced Campaigns are email newsletter campaigns where emails are sent as a series to customers with a specific time between each email. [/intro]

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Before you begin, you need to have created each email newsletter that you plan to use in your sequence using the Visual Designer and given each a Spam Check. 

How do Sequenced Campaigns work?

Sequenced Campaigns allow you to create a series of emails to be sent to a specific Contacts Group where you can configure the delay between each email that is sent out, allowing you to offer an automated newsletter solution. Sequenced Campaigns are therefore ideal for a series of newsletters which:

  • Count down to a specific date or the launch of a promotion;
  • Are linked to learning materials or blog posts which need to be read in a specific order;
  • List the benefits or services your EKM online shop can offer, such as discounts for trade customers or the benefits of opening a Customer Account, for example.

The first email sent in a Sequenced Campaign is sent based on the time between a customer being added to the Contacts Group that is assigned to the Campaign. The second email in the Sequence is sent after a configurable delay from when the first email was sent. 

[remember]Currently, only one Contacts Group can be assigned to a Sequenced Campaign, however, different Campaigns can be assigned to a single group - just make sure that you don’t bombard your customers! [/remember]

Delays

A fundamental aspect of Sequenced Campaigns is the function of a delay between each email in the series. As each customer in the Contacts Group for your Sequenced Campaign will be at a different stage of the flow, the system checks each member of the group to see if the delay limit has been reached before the next email that particular contact should receive is sent out.

Creating your Sequenced Campaign

1. From the EKM Email Marketing Dashboard, click the Campaigns tab:

2. On the left-hand side, click Sequenced Campaigns:

3. Click the button to create a Sequenced Campaign:

4. Give your Sequence a Name and a Description, before selecting the Contract Group that will receive the Campaign from the drop-down list on the right-hand side:

5. Click Add Email To Sequence:

6. On this page, you need to give the first email in your Sequence a Name and Description, before selecting one of your previously created emails using the drop-down menu on the right-hand side. You then need to give the email a Subject, Friendly From and if you wish to, a Reply-To Address, before clicking the green Create Email button on the bottom right-hand side:

7. You’ll then be redirected to the email template within the Visual Designer. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the green Set Delay button on the right-hand side:

8. You’ll then see this window. If you’re happy with the content of the first email newsletter in your Sequence, click the green button to continue:

9. You’ll then be redirected to this page:

10. Here you can set up the delay between the contact being added to the Group for this Sequence and them receiving the first email. If you amend the figures in the Weeks, Days, Hours and Minutes boxes, your first email will be sent to your contact when this time has elapsed. It is recommended that you set the time for a single minute as a minimum. However, if you want to send your Sequenced emails on a specific day (after the given time has elapsed), tick the box:

11. You will then be able to select a Day and Time from the drop-downs on the right-hand side of the page:

12. For example, if you typically import newsletter signups from your EKM online shop on a Monday morning, and you wanted to send your Sequence on Wednesday afternoons, you would simply select Wednesday and a specific time from the drop-downs provided, and then click the green Save Delay button in the bottom right-hand corner:

[caution]Whether you decide to send your emails on a specific day or not, it is essential that you amend at least one of the Weeks, Days, Hours or Minutes boxes. Even if it’s just to add a single minute to the time. A single Minute should be added as a minimum. If this is not amended, the Sequence will miss this particular email out and instead revert to sending the next one instead. [/caution]

13. You’ll then be redirected to this page, where you can see the first email of your Sequenced Campaign has been scheduled, and your Campaign is currently paused whilst you add some more emails. Your next step is to click the Edit Sequence button in the top right-hand corner:

14. Now you need to scroll further down the page and click to add a second email to your Sequenced Campaign:

15. This will redirect you to the Email Details page for the second email in your Sequenced Campaign:

16. Follow steps 5-15 of this Guide, until you have added all of the emails to your Sequenced Campaign. When you have added all of your emails to your Sequenced Campaign, it should look similar to this. Click Edit Sequence in the top right-hand corner:

17. This will reveal edit buttons on each of your emails. Click the enable button on each email of your sequenced Campaign. You’ll see the Spam window appear for each email before you’re able to click the next one in the Sequence:

18. When you have enabled each email in your Sequence, click the green Done button in the top right-hand corner:

19. Now you need to click the green Resume Sequence button in the top right-hand corner to launch your Sequenced Campaign:

20. When your Sequence is live, it will look like this:

How to add an email to an existing Sequenced Campaign

1. From the EKM Email Marketing Dashboard, click the Campaigns tab:

2. On the left-hand side of the page, click Sequenced Campaigns:

3. Click the Edit button on the right-hand side of the Sequenced Campaigns you’d like to edit:

4. Click Pause Sequence on the far right-hand side:

5. Click Edit Sequence on the far right-hand side:

6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Add Email To Sequence:

7. Follow steps 5 -20 of this Guide as before to add the new email and activate your Sequenced Campaign. 

How to delete an email from your Sequenced Campaign

1. From the EKM Email Marketing Dashboard, click the Campaigns tab:

2. On the left-hand side of the page, click Sequenced Campaigns:

3. Click the Edit button on the right-hand side of the Sequenced Campaigns you’d like to edit:

4. Click Pause Sequence on the far right-hand side:

5. Click Edit Sequence on the far right-hand side:

6. You’ll notice now that all of the emails in the Sequence display buttons. Click the Delete button on the appropriate email to remove it from your Sequenced Campaign:

7. You will then need to save your changes by clicking Done, and then Resume Sequence in the top right-hand corner:

FAQs

Q:I have set up my Sequenced Campaign, but it seems that the emails are not being sent - why is this?

A: It may be that your EKM Email Marketing account requires approval beforehand. Contact our Customer Support Team and they will be able to resolve this for you. 

Q: I want to add a new email to the end of my existing Sequence, but I can’t see the Add Email To Sequence button?

A: This is because the last email in your Sequence has not had a time delay added to it. If you remove that email from your Sequence and add it again so you can set the time delay, you’ll then be able to see the Add Email To Sequence button to add a completely new email to your existing Sequence. 

Q: I have set up my Sequence Campaign, but my customers did not receive one of the emails in the Sequence and it appears to have sent out the next email instead. Why is this?

A: This will be because there was no time delay (in the form of Weeks, Days, Hours or Minutes) set for this particular email, so the system skipped this email and instead sent the next one in the Sequence. You can avoid this happening if you ensure that each of your delays has at least one minute assigned to it:

If you have a sequence of emails it is possible to remove the delay, but by doing this the next email will be ignored and the one after it will be sent instead (if one exists). The following diagram illustrates this functionality. 

In the diagram, Flow A shows the normal flow for the Sequenced Campaign, with the last email showing the date it should be sent if a contact received the last one on the date before the delay. Flow B shows what would be the expected date for the last email is sent if you removed the delay for the second email. 

[remember]If you need help creating and sending your email marketing campaigns, EKM's Email Marketing Team can help you. Simply click here to book a call.[/remember]

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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Account Manager or Customer Support, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm on the weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions board. If you have a non-account specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in EKM Community. [/contact]