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Introduction to Dotdigital Programs

Rachael Norris
Rachael Norris
  • Updated

You can use Dotdigital Programs to set up automatic marketing workflows that send a series of email campaigns to your customers.

In this article, we’ll explain what Dotdigital Programs are, the benefits of using them and how you can get started. We’ll also share information about how you can use data from Spektrix to power your Programs.

Before starting, you should be familiar with:

 

What are Dotdigital Programs?

Dotdigital Programs are automated workflows which you can set up to deliver one, or a series of, emails based on certain criteria. 

TIP: If you advertise on Meta Ads Manager (Facebook and Instagram) and/or Google Ads (Google, Gmail and YouTube) then you can use Dotdigital Programs to target your ads. Read Using Ads Automation in Dotdigital Programs for more information.

You’ll find Programs under the Automation section in the Dotdigital interface.

A Program is visualised like a flow chart which represents the journey that customers will go on and the emails you want to send them.

For example, let's say you want to send a welcome email to every new customer who signs up for your mailing list. You can choose to enrol new customers and send an automated welcome email every day. To make this even more effective, you can send one email to customers who have already made a purchase and another to those who haven’t yet made a purchase. 

  • You can set up Programs to send one or a number of emails over a certain time period or continuously.
  • You can target a specific group of customers or automatically enrol customers who meet certain criteria. When a customer no longer meets that criteria, they are automatically removed from the Program.
  • You can send customers on different journeys based on their behaviour or response to a call to action. For example, you can send customers on a different journey in the program based on whether they've opened an email or not.

 

Why use Dotdigital Programs?

Dotdigital Programs give you the ability to engage with your customers in a personalised, targeted way which is much less time-consuming than sending multiple integrated email campaigns.

The most powerful features of Dotdigital Programs are:

  • Automation

You can send multiple personalised emails to customers at different stages in their journeys automatically. Automating repetitive tasks frees up time to focus on more creative and strategic work.

  • Personalisation

You use Programs to communicate with your customers in a way that is relevant to the stage they are at in their relationship with your organisation. For example, you can automate emails aimed at new customers with a Welcome Program or first time attendees with an Improving Retention Program. By delivering messages at the optimal time, you can increase their relevance and impact.

  • Segmentation

You can segment customers using your data from Spektrix in the same way as you can using Customer Lists. You can use Behavioural triggers from Spektrix to tailor emails to individual customers and their actions, ensuring communications are both timely and personalised. For example, you can choose to automatically enrol customers into Programs based on their purchase history, Tags or Attributes.

You can also use Tags and Attributes from Spektrix to power Personalisation and Dynamic Content in the emails sent in your Programs.

Using Segmentation increases the likelihood of customers taking the action you want them to. For example, engaging with content, buying a ticket or becoming a member.

 

How Programs work with Spektrix

To use Dotdigital Programs, you will need:

  • A synced address book

A synced address book is a Customer List in your Spektrix system which is synced with Dotdigital daily at 6am (local time). This Customer List will inform which customers can be enrolled in Programs. 

If this is your first time setting up a Dotdigital Program, you’ll first need to create the Customer List and then request a synced address book from our Support Team. 

To find out more about setting up a synced address book, take a look at the article How to set up a synced address book.

  • A synced Tag Group 

A Tag Group contains Tags which are synced with Dotdigital daily at 6am (local time).

If this is your first time setting up a Dotdigital Program, you’ll first need to create the Tag Group and then send a request to our Support Team. When getting in touch with support, don’t forget to give us the exact name of the Tag Group.

WARNING: Synced Tags names must be sixteen characters or fewer in length, and a maximum of 100 Tags can be synced. Furthermore, Tags with more than sixteen characters will stop any data from being synced to and from your Dotdigital account.

Once synced, Tags in your synced Tag Group become Data Fields in Dotdigital.

When data is synced

Your synced address book and Tag Group are updated in Dotdigital each day at 6am (local time).

Data from Programs is only synced one way, from Spektrix to Dotdigital. This means that you can’t see data from your customer’s engagement with Programs in Spektrix but there are ways you can use this data in Dotdigital.

For example, let's say you are using the Welcome Program Template and want to identify customers who did not take up the welcome Offer you sent to customers who haven’t yet made a purchase. 

To do this you would:

  • Add a Decision Node which uses the NEVER_BOOKED Data Field to identify customers who have not made a purchase.
  • Add a Contact Node which creates an address book in Dotdigital. 
  • Export this address book from Dotdigital and import it into Spektrix with a Tag against the customers within it. 

 

Example use cases

To make implementing Dotdigital Programs as easy as possible, we have created a number of Dotdigital Program Templates which can be used to achieve different goals.

Click through the tabs to explore the different types of Program Templates available.

  • The Birthday Program lets you automatically send a personalised email to your customers on, or around, their birthday. 

    You can use a Birthday Program to send personalised incentives such as discounted Tickets, or complimentary drinks to encourage your audience to celebrate their birthday with you.

  • A Welcome Program automatically sends an email to new customers when they join your mailing list (through a sign up form or Contact Preference).

    Sending a welcome email can be an opportunity to start a warm relationship and make a great first impression. 

    You can also take the opportunity to learn more about your new Customers by asking for extra information such as date of birth, interests or access needs. You can then use this information to further tailor your future communications.

  • You can use an Unused Credit Reminder Program to remind your customers of any Account Credit balance they hold with you. 

    This works by identifying customers who hold over a certain amount of Account Credit, and who haven’t visited for a specified amount of time. The Program will automatically email anyone who meets this criteria with a personalised email which can include the value of their Account Credit balance.

    Reminding customers about available Account Credit not only encourages them to visit again but also demonstrates a commitment to providing excellent service.

  • You can use a Mailing List Re-engagement Program to target customers on your mailing list who are no longer interacting (opening or clicking) with your mailings. We recommend targeting these customers with an email to check if they still want to stay on your mailing list.

    Inactive contacts can adversely affect your email engagement rate and it is wasteful to send emails to customers who are no longer interested.

  • Our Lapsed Booker Program template is designed to help you encourage customers who have visited previously, to return again. 

    The Lapsed Booker Program lets you automate a number of emails aiming to encourage lapsed customers to return. If a customer purchases tickets they will automatically be removed from the Program.

  • First-time bookers make up more than half of overall audiences and of all audience members who first bought tickets in 2022, 19.5% returned in 2023. This shows that first time bookers represent a real opportunity to drive retention. 

    The Improving Retention Program Template lets you automate a number of emails aimed at getting first time visitors to return.

 

How to get started with Programs

Before getting started with Programs, make sure you have set up your synced address book and Tag Group.

Then, you can start with one of the following articles:

You might also want to learn about the following key concepts in order to prepare for getting started with Dotdigital Programs: