Introduction

 

Bulk Email Communication Plans

 

Bulk Email Communication is managed through the Communications tile in the Advise menu. Email sends are managed by Sparkpost, a third-party email service provider. Bulk Communication requires three Advise components. You can also copy and existing communication plan.

 

Required Components

 

· Email Service Templates

· Communication Lists

· Communication Plans

 

You may reuse email templates and communication lists in future communication plans. To reuse the communication plan itself, you may copy that communication plan.

 

The remainder of this document contains step-by-step instructions for setting up each of these components.

 

Important: Please use the naming conventions noted in these instructions.

 

This will ensure that email service templates, communication member lists and communication plans are easy to locate in the TEST and PROD environments.

Create Email Service Template

 

Important: Please create and test all email templates in the TEST environment only.

 

To set up an email service template, navigate to the Communications tile and select Email Service Templates from the Email Service tab. Be sure you are under the Email Service heading when you select Email Service Templates.

 

 

Click “New”.

 

 

When you create a new template, you will notice that Provider and Published are locked. This is by design. SparkPost is the only provider we contract with and Published will only change to Yes when you have published your template.

 

Information:

Name

Provide a name for the template. We use 2-4 letter abbreviations at the beginning of the name to indicate team ownership of communications.

 

Example: All academic support communication plans begin with “AS”. This is for ease of finding your templates. Abbreviations can be found at the end of this training document.

 

Description (optional)

Enter a description of your template

 

Subject

This is the subject of the email as seen by recipients

 

From Email

SparkPost uses a subdomain so that they can differentiate our Advise emails from other CRM emails. As such, whatever email you place here must contain @studentsuccess.sunyempire.edu. If you do not use this subdomain, you will not be able to save the template.

 

Important: There are no actual emails within this subdomain. As such, you are free to put anything you want before the @ sign. Some users prefer an actual name while others may use the phrase “donotreply”. Keep in mind that the “reply to” email (below) will be the email used for replies.

 

Example: If a student receives a communication and clicks “reply”, the “reply to” email will populate in the “to” field.

 

From Name

This will be the name attached to the From Email as viewed by recipients.

 

Reply To

Enter the email address where you want replies directed.

 

Configuration:

Click Tracking

Set to Yes to capture metrics.

 

Open Tracking

Set to Yes to capture metrics.

 

Transactional

Set to Yes if you expect that you may get some responses to your communication.

 

Member Type

Set to Person.

 

Scroll down to the Template section. If using simple formatting, enter text of email here. If adding more complex HTML graphic codes to the email template, enter the HTML source code by clicking on the brackets and entering the code.

 

 

 

 

Click Save.

You will need to add an Unsubscribe link to your communication. DO NOT USE THE SNIPPET. Be sure to type in the word "Unsubscribe", highlight it, click on the Insert Link button and type in the following URL:  https://esc.formstack.com/forms/email_communication_preferences.

 

Note: You will need to enter text in the template in order to Save the template. Once you have completed that step, you must select Person for Member Type in order to use the personalization mapping, which will allow you to bring in individual details such as student name, etc. See next step for adding optional step of adding personalization mapping.

Click Save.

Personalize Email Service Template

 

If you selected Person for Member Type in Configuration settings, you will see the Personalization Mapping section appear at the bottom of the page when you save the template. Select the correct mapping from the dropdown menu below.

 

Note: If you provide Ashley/Audra a list of dynamic content you would like to have available, we can create a specialized mapping, which will allow you to select more areas for personalization, for your team.

 

A dynamic value is the specific information, such as student name, you wish to personalize. To select a dynamic value, go to the place in the document where you want to put the dynamic value and use the Personalization Mappings drop down to select what you need. Click Insert Mapping Field to put it into your template.

 

When you have completed your template, Click Save. The option to Publish Draft will appear.

 

Important: You must Click Publish Draft in order to use this template in a Communication Plan.

Click Save and Close. Your email service template is now ready for use in a communication plan.

 

Move Email Template from TEST to PROD

 

Once you have the template the way you would like it, log in to the PROD environment, Navigate to the Communications tile and select Email Service Templates from the Email Service tab.

 

Click Retrieve Templates to bring your TEST templates to the PROD environment. Once it updates, your template is ready for use in the PROD environment.

 

After you move the template, you will need to open the template and add Member Type = Person.

Important: You will need to re-enter any dynamic values that you added to the template. See instructions on pages 5-6.

Create a Communication List

 

Navigate to the Communications tile and from the Plan Setup tab, select Communication Member Lists.

 

 

Click “New”.

 

 

When you create a new communication list, you will notice that “List Type” is set to Dynamic. Most often, this is the list type you will use. The reason is that dynamic lists allow for members to be added or removed based upon selected criteria.

 

 

Name

Provide a name for the communication list. We use the same naming convention as we do with templates. Abbreviations can be found at the end of this training document.

 

List Type

Static: Once you create the list, members must be individually added or removed from the list.

Dynamic: Once you create the list, Advise will refresh and repopulate list on an ongoing basis. Individuals who no longer meet the criteria will drop off and those who meet the criteria will be added.

 

Member Type

Set to Person.

 

Description (optional)

Enter a description of your communication list.

 

Note: If you set List Type to Static, you will see Member Count populate. This is a locked field that will auto-populate with the number of members in your communication list. As noted earlier, most times you will want a dynamic, not static, list.

 

Click Save.

Click Manage Members in the toolbar.

 

 

A popup will appear that asks you how you want to find members for your communication list.

 

Adding Members

There are two options for adding members.

· Add using Lookup allows you to individually populate the member list. It is unlikely that you will use this option unless you are sending a test communication to a specific test user.

· Add using Advanced Find allows you to auto-populate the member list using Advanced Find criteria.

 

If using Add using Lookup, make sure that view is set to Active People in order to see all possible individuals.

 

Type name(s) in the search bar and click enter. Click the checkbox to the left of the name(s) of the person to be included. Click OK. When all members are added, click Close. The members selected will appear on the communication list homepage under Members.

You will also notice that the Member Count will reflect the actual number of members in the list.

Should you need to remove someone from your list, you can do that as well through the Manage Members tab.

Click Save and Close.

Create a Communication Plan

 

Navigate to the Communications tile and select Communication Plans from the Comm Plan Manager tab.

 

 

 

 

Click New.

 

When you create a new communication plan, you will notice that the individual creating the plan is the default owner. There are additional default selections as indicated below.

 

There are four steps to a successful communication plan. The items just below the green header are the items that must be completed as part of each step.

1. Setup Plan and Save.

2. Add Lists Using Grid.

3. Add Activities Using Plan Editor.

4. Set to Ready to Launch.

Setup Plan and Save

Name

Provide a name for your communication plan. We use the same naming convention as we do with templates. Abbreviations can be found at the end of this training document.

 

Owner

The individual creating the plan is the default owner of the plan. The owner can be any user or team in the Advise environment. Unless otherwise directed, leave yourself as the Owner.

 

Status Reason

This is a locked field and will update as needed to reflect the status of the communication plan.

 

Member Type

Set to Person.

 

Plan Type

There are three possible Plan Types.

· Dynamic: The plan will launch on the date a member joins the member list for the plan. Plan can be re-evaluated every x days based upon settings in Re-evaluation Interval field.

· Calendar: The plan will launch on a certain date. Members who join the plan after one or more activities have been distributed will not receive those activities. If Re-evaluate set to Yes, membership will be re-evaluated each time activities are distributed.

· Relative Wait: The plan will launch before, on, or after a date from a related date field. Due to the complexity of Relative Wait Plans, there is a separate training document for these plans.

 

Description (optional)

Enter a description of your communication plan.

 

Planned Start Date

The date you intend to start the communication plan.

 

Actual Start Date

This is a locked field that will populate with the date that the communication actually starts.

 

End Date

This is the date that you want the communication plan to end.

 

Re-evaluate Plan Participation

Select Yes if you want to the communication plan to re-evaluate the members included in the plan.

· Dynamic Plans: Re-evaluation occurs on the interval specified in the Re-evaluation Interval field.

· Calendar Plans: Re-evaluation occurs every time you run the Re-evaluation workflow.

 

Example: You are sending a communication to students who are enrolled in a specific course. You would want this communication plan to re-evaluate membership daily so that it would pick up newly enrolled students.

 

Re-evaluation Interval (for dynamic and relative wait plans only)

Enter a whole number representing the number of days in this field.

* NOTE: Re-evaluation of a member list cannot occur any more frequently than one day.

*NOTE: Re-evaluation of the member list will occur the first time Evaluate Communication Plans workflow runs on a given day. In most cases, this will be between 12-2 am as the workflow runs every two hours. Emails will not distribute until after the time set in the plan editor (see below).

 

Rejoin Action (dynamic plans only)

· Start Plan Over: If members leave and then rejoin the plan, they will receive all communications from the beginning of the plan, even if they have already received some of them.

· Resume plan: If members leave, and then rejoin the plan, they will start receiving communications from the point at which they left the plan.

 

Triggered Plan (less common)

A triggered communication plan allows you to specify the event that Advise uses to add a student to a communication plan in the approximate real-time and send an initial communication. This event can be a record being created, updated, or both.

 

Example: When a student registers for an event, you can use a triggered communication plan to send a registration confirmation when the event participant record is created.

 

Dynamic and Relative Wait Plans can become triggered communication plans using the following settings:

· Re-evaluate Plan Participation: Yes.

· Triggered Plan: Yes.

· Trigger Plan on Create: Yes, if want plan to run when person record created.

· Trigger Plan on Update: Yes, if want plan to run when person record update (must specify field).

 

Note: The triggered communication plans depend on a record being created or updated. Therefore, they must evaluate each list member individually and send that initial communication individually. This individual evaluation and send is much more process-intensive than the bulk evaluation and send of other communication plans.

 

 

Save to create the communication plan.

 

Add Lists Using Grid

Click on Green Bar entitled Add Lists Using Grid

 

 

Scroll down past Information and Schedule until you reach Communication Lists. Click + to add a Communication List.

 

 

Click on the magnifying glass.

 

Scroll until you see Look Up More Records and select that option.

 

Find the Communication Member List you created and put a checkmark to the left of the name of the list. In the box below that, Click Select and you will see the list populate in the Selected records window. Click Add to add that list to the plan.

 

 

When you have completed this step, Save the communication plan.

 

Add Activities Using Plan Editor

Click on Green Bar entitled “Add Activities Using Plan Editor”.

 

 

Click Plan Editor in the top toolbar to create the communication plan. The plan editor allows you to add, edit, and remove activities on a communication plan. It has additional options for branching a plan to allow for different members to receive more targeted communications based on a condition. You can also merge a branched plan so that list members come back together to receive the same communication. The following list is all of the options available in the plan editor. The actual options displayed depend on which node of the plan is selected.

 

Example: You want to send communications to newly accepted matriculated and nonmatriculated students. Though the students will receive some of the same communications, the matriculated students will be sent a few additional communications that nonmatriculated students will not receive. This can be achieved by using two separate communication plans or the same communication plan with separate branches for each population.

 

 

A new window will open up that shows a flowchart of the plan. This is where you will add email service templates, etc. Click + in the Start box to add a new activity.

 

When you click +, you will have several options depending on the Plan Type selected.

Calendar Plans & Dynamic Plans

· Add New Activity: Creates a new activity (ex. email)

· Insert New Child Conditional Set: Creates a parallel communication branch. This branch is a default branch. Any list members who do not qualify for other sibling conditional branches get the communication from this branch. Once you create this, you will be able to create sibling conditional branches, which allow you to send communications to a subset of the initial communication member list.

 

Triggered Plans

· Add New Triggered Activity: Creates a new triggered activity (ex. email).

· Add New Activity: Creates a new activity (ex. email).

· Insert New Child Conditional Set: Creates a parallel communication branch. This branch is a default branch. Any list members who do not qualify for other sibling conditional branches get the communication from this branch.

 

For most communications and for purposes of this set of training documents, you will choose Add New Activity. Click OK. In the left margin, the new Communication Activity will populate with fields you must complete. In the left pane, you will see Information and Communication tabs. Use the pop out feature to fully see the fields.

 

 

 

Pop out of Communication Activity window.

 

Plan

Auto-populated with name of communication plan.

 

Branch

Trunk (meaning that all members of the communication list pass through this activity). This is the only option unless a parallel (child conditional) branch is created that holds a subset of members. Then this can be changed to a sibling conditional branch which holds the rest of the members in the communication list.

 

Subject

Provide a subject for the communication activity. We use the same name as the Plan and add something to the end to indicate what that activity represents.

Example: Plan name: SSD Get Ready Fall 2021. Subject: SSD Get Ready Fall 2021 Email.

 

Description (optional)

Enter a description of your communication activity.

 

Owner

The individual creating the activity is the default owner of the activity. The owner can be any user or team in the Advise environment.

Important: If the activity is an email, the Owner will be the sender of the email.

 

Process Time

The time that you want the communication distributed (sent).

*NOTE: The actual distribution of emails will not occur until the first time the Evaluate Communication Plans workflow runs following the process time.

Example: Process time set for 9 am. Evaluate Communication Plans runs at 8:30 am and 10:30 am. Emails will be distributed at 10:30 am.

 

Expiration

· Use plan end date: After the plan ends, no further activities will be distributed, even if the person joined late.

· Activity expiration date: Allows the activity to be distributed after the plan ends. It could also expire before the plan ends. If you choose this option, you must specify an Expiration Date.

 

Activity Code (optional)

Activity codes may be used to allow for more in-depth reporting.

 

Suppress Duplicates (optional)

Always set to No. If you set to Yes, you will be forced to enter an Activity Code and any students who have received an email with that activity code at any time in the past will not receive your email.

 

Failure Processing

Default is set to Ignore and Continue. If an activity distribution fails for a particular plan member, the communication plan continues, and the member continues on in the plan. Other options are:

· Reprocess and continue: If an activity distribution fails for a particular member, the distribution is attempted until the processing completes, and the member simultaneously continues on in the plan.

· Reprocess until complete: If an activity distribution fails for a particular member, the member is put on hold from continuing in the plan until distribution can be processed.

 

Note: Activities with a Failure Processing value of Reprocess and Continue or Reprocess until Complete do not reprocess if the failure is a result of a suppressed activity code or communication preference. Ellucian has determined that the likelihood of the error status changing is very slim. To save processing time, therefore, Advise does not reprocess these errors. For Reprocess until Complete activities, any participants who receive either of these errors continue to the next step of the plan as if they were successful distributions.

 

Communication Type

Set to Email.

 

Triggered Activity

Locked field set to No if not using a triggered plan.

 

Created On

Locked and populated with date of creation of communication plan.

 

Channel

Set to Email Service for Bulk Communication.

 

Activity Ownership

· Advisor Type: Cannot use with Email Service.

· Record Owner: The user in the Owner field owns the communication activity.

· Current User: You own the communication activity.

· Other User: In the User to Own Activities field, select the applicable user.

· Team: In the Team to Own Activities field, select the applicable team.

 

Attach Activity to Queue

Leave blank.

 

Email Service Template

Field will populate when you select Email Service from the Channel dropdown. Click on the magnifying glass. Scroll until you see Look Up More Records and select that option.

 

 

Find the Email Service Template you want to include and put a check mark to the left of the name of the list. Click Add to add the template to the plan. Remember, you can only select Published templates.

 

 

Click Save. A window containing statistics will appear.

 

Click Save and Close and you will see the activity populated in the Visualization screen. Close the Visualization by clicking the X in the top right hand corner of the screen.

 

Set To Ready to Launch

Click on Green Bar entitled “Add Activities Using Plan Editor”.

 

 

On the left, Select Ready to Launch from the Status Reason drop down menu. A yellow banner will appear letting you know that the communication plan will run the next time the workflow runs.

 

 

When you set to Ready to Launch, one of the two yellow status bars will appear.

 

Click Save and Close.

Copy a Communication Plan

 

Open the Communication Plan you wish to copy. Click Copy Plan.

 

 

When the plan has copied, you will see the following notification.

 

Click Communication Plans in the purple header. Don’t forget to rename your copied plan.

 

 

You should see the new plan and the copied plan in your list of communication plans.

 

 

Notes:

· The Status Reason field is set to Draft, and the Planned Start Date, Actual Start Date, and End Date fields are all blank. There are not any communication plan log records or communication log detail records created for the copied plan.

· For calendar plans, the Process Date retains the date from the original plan.

· For dynamic plans, if the activity expiration was set on the original activity, the default Expiration Date field setting is “1/1/9999” for the copied plan. Make sure you change this date before you set the copied plan to Ready to Launch.