An eduPostal Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaign “listens” for triggers from our natively integrated eduCRM (Active Campaign) platform, Zapier, or API integration to send out postcards, bifold self-mailers, or letters on a piece-by-piece basis. Once these campaigns are set up, they run without needing manual intervention. Just like email-based automation, printed mail is delivered to your audience but instead through the postal system.
Table of contents
- How To Setup Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaigns
- Your Triggered Drip Campaign Is In “Test Mode” By Default
- Allowing Duplicate Records
- Ordering Credits And “Going Live”
- The Campaign Dashboard – Analytics, Settings And Mail Preview
How To Setup Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaigns
It is easy to configure Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaigns. From the Home Page, or main navigation bar, click Campaigns and then New Campaign. Click on Triggered Drip for this type of campaign.
You’ll automatically navigate to the Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaign Wizard, which walks you through the setup process step by step.
Choose Your Integration
For the Triggered Drip Campaign to work, you’ll need to identify the source of the “Trigger”. eduPostal has built custom integrations with eduCRM (ActiveCampaign) and Zapier (with over 2,000 web applications available).
We’ve also built an Incoming Webhook integration that can trigger mail via just about any app with data and a REST API.
Any successful integration you’ve set up, along with Zapier and Incoming Webhook, will be available on the Choose Integration page.
Select the Integration you’ll be using for your Triggered Drip Campaign.
A Walk Through The Campaign Wizard
Basic Information
Enter the Campaign Name and Return Address to be printed on the mail piece. As a default, the Return Address is populated from your profile; however, this is adjustable for the specific campaign you are developing. Each campaign can have a unique return address.
Template
From the proofed templates, you can select the one that you want to utilize for this campaign. If you don’t see the template you want here, then it will need to be proofed.
Only proofed templates are available to use in any campaign. You can save your campaign for later, go back into your templates and use The Proofer so that your template will be available in the Campaign Wizard.
If your template is shown here, simply select it and then click Next to continue.
If the previous template chosen was a letter, then you will now have the option to select a standard double window, or a custom single window outer envelope. Follow the same steps above, including Proofing if you do not see your desired envelope template here. If you previously selected a postcard template, then this step will be skipped in the Campaign Wizard.
Note: Your custom envelope order will need to be finalized before you can select it. Orders take 2-3 weeks to process, and made available to use in a campaign. Any pending orders will be listed in the bottom section of the envelope page.
Sync
When activity happens, we will sync the delivery and response status codes back to your CRM or Marketing Automation. You can then use those statuses in new workflow decisions.
Note: The Sync step does not apply to “Incoming Webhook” Triggered Drip Campaigns.
From the drop down menu, select your integration. Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaigns require an integration, as they will be waiting for a “Trigger” to send the mailpiece out.
When you have finalized your integration sync, click Next to continue.
Audience Tracking
eduPostal Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaigns can use pURLs and/or QR codes on your mailpieces to redirect your recipients to any landing page you specify. If the template you chose has a pURL or QR code in it, you’ll be brought to this step.
Note: If your template does not include a pURL or QR, the Wizard will skip this step.
You need to Choose Your Domain for tracking. You can use eduPostal shared Free Domain (p.ostal.us) or a Vanity Domain. If you want to use your own domain you’ll need to add it to your eduPostal Account. Visit our Domains article for information on how to buy and configure domains to use in your mailings.
You’ll then select a style for the URL string. eduPostal Triggered Drip Direct Mail Campaigns offer two very different pURL formats – Random and Friendly URL strings.
Random strings will generate randomly selected letters, numbers, or both. You choose the length of the character string. Use Random Strings when data privacy or fixed domain length are primary concerns.
Friendly URL strings are selected from the data fields in the contact list you’ve chosen for the campaign. To create uniqueness, you’ll need to choose two data fields. Most clients choose First Name/Last Name to maximize personalization. The length of the URL will vary based on the data in the contact list. The separator between the first and last identifier is optional. If you choose the first name and last name as your identifiers, then your pURLs will have the following format:
FirstNameLastName.yourdomain.com
Finally, enter your desired URL end in the URL end box. Using a URL will prevent you from creating duplicate pURLs if you use the same domain for multiple campaigns. For example, you may choose to use the name of the promotion or the date. Any combination of letters and numbers will work; don’t use special characters or symbols in your URL name. The pURL format is previewed to the right in the blue box.
NOTE: If the domain selected has been used before, and the ending URL is not unique, you’ll receive a system message asking you to change the structure before you’re able to move forward.
Once you’ve finalized the domain type and the URL style, click Next to continue.
URLS
pURL and/or QR code campaigns enable you to redirect or “point” your campaign targets to any landing page, after they briefly visit the eduPostal’s server – where we record the “open” and pass along a cookie.
A Starting URL is where you’d like your audience directed to when they enter their pURL or scan their QR code. This URL can be any site that has the eduPostal tracking code installed.
You may also want to set an optional Goal URL that is referenced in the Campaign Wizard. Once this goal URL is reached it will indicate a conversion. Thank you page URLs are commonly used. Note: the eduPostal tracking code will also need to be installed on this page.
The starting URL and Goal URL must have the complete URL address (e.g. https://eduPostal.org).
After your URL is completed, click Next to continue.
Postage
This step lets you choose between First Class or Standard Class postage for your campaign. The exception is the 4×6 postcard, which can only mail with first class postage.
You’ll see an explanation of the pros & cons of each choice on the page — essentially you trade off speed/reliability of First Class for the per piece savings of Standard Class.
Confirmation
This is your final review of the campaign details. From here you can go back to any of the previous steps to make modifications if needed. Click on the Pen and Pad icon next to the item that you want to adjust, or click on the particular step’s icon in the top header to be taken to that step to modify.
If you’ve included a personalized URL (pURL) or QR code on your mailpiece, we will check the domain you’ve chosen to ensure that it is properly pointed to the eduPostal servers. We’ll also check your starting URL to ensure that the Tracking Code is properly installed. You’ll see “Success!” in the green boxes if everything checks out properly.
If either, or both of these aren’t configured properly, the box will be red, with an “Error” message. The Next button will also be disabled until they are corrected. If this is the case, please refer to the Domains and Tracking Code help articles for more information.
Once you have reviewed and finalized the campaign details, click Next to continue.
Your Triggered Drip Campaign Is In “Test Mode” By Default
eduPostal Triggered Drip Campaigns are automatically set to Test Mode.
This is a feature that enables you to test your Workflow to make sure that it is triggering properly and that the connection to the eduPostal Campaign is working the way you want to – without actually sending mail!
Testing is a very important step in the Triggered Drip Campaign process. Please make sure to complete this step before setting the campaign to live.
It’s important to note that Triggered Drip Campaigns use Direct Mail Credits, which you’ll purchase before your campaign is set to live mode. Testing can now be done without pre-purchasing credits.
Test Mode works the same for all Triggered Drip Campaigns, regardless of the integration type. However, triggering test contacts varies by product. Depending upon which integration you are using (HubSpot, Salesforce or Zapier) there are different steps to integrate the Triggered Drip Campaign into the workflow. Here are links to articles on how to complete the integrations:
eduCRM (ActiveCampaign) Integration
Allowing Duplicate Records
eduPostal automatically checks for and removes duplicate recipients in a Triggered Drip Campaign, but there may be instances where you’d like your recipients to receive multiple pieces. If that’s the case, we’ve got the solution!
Simply click ‘Allow Duplicate Recipients’ in your Campaign Settings, and then Save Settings.
Ordering Credits And “Going Live”
Once you’ve completed the integration and tested your workflow for your Triggered Drip Campaign, you’re ready to go live! Triggered Drip Campaigns require a pre-purchase of a minimum of 100 Direct Mail Credits, which are held on account and used as mail is triggered through the campaign. These never expire and can also be used for Smart Send Campaigns.
Direct Mail Credits can be purchased in either US Dollars or Canadian Dollars in one of two ways. The first option is through the campaign on the Campaign Dashboard. The second option is to select “Direct Mail Credit” from the drop down menu under your user name.
If purchasing through the campaign, you can either click on the Direct Mail Credit Alert box – this will be red when Direct Mail Credits are needed – see below:
Or, when you toggle the Triggered Drip Campaign to Live Mode, the following popup will appear if Direct Mail Credits are needed, click “Purchase Credits Now”:
Either way, you’ll be directed to the Buy/Manage Direct Mail Credits page for that particular mailer format. Here you can review your balance, and purchase credits.
Automatic Or Manual Credit Reloading
You can also choose to have your credits reload automatically once the balance reaches 10%, or manually. If you choose the manual option, you will be notified by email when the balance is at 50%, 20%, 10%, and 5%.
It’s important to know that if your credit balance hits zero, your Triggered Drip Campaign will automatically stop sending your mail. We’ll queue the requests for a few days to give you a chance to respond to your emails and manually reload. If no action is taken, your campaign will automatically be reset to “Test Mode” and your trigger requests will not be accepted.
Many customers choose to automatically reorder credits so that there’s no delay in processing their campaigns.
Select your preferred reload option, enter the number of credits you’d like to purchase (minimum of 100), and click “Update and Buy New Credits Now”.
Or, if you’d like you can purchase through the Direct Mail Credit option under your username.
First select the Country, then scroll down, if needed, to select the correct format and postage option for the campaign you are purchasing credits for, and click “buy / manage credits”.
Once the order page is completed, you’ll be directed to the Checkout page, where you can review the order and billing information. Once confirmed, click Continue.
On the next page, confirm payment with the credit card on file, or enter a different card, and select Submit Order.
Nice Work! Now, back in the Campaign Dashboard, you’ll see that the credits remaining has been updated and is no longer in a red box. You’re now ready to proceed and flip your campaign live!