A Welcome Series Journey can introduce a new subscriber to your brand after they sign up in a given channel. Journey Hub allows you to send a single message or multi-message series and change a subscriber's path through the Welcome Series based on their action. Journey Hub enables you to provide a multi-channel or single channel experience using email, SMS, and app push, depending on what is provisioned for your account. The NextGen Platform unlocks additional capabilities to power the cross-channel experience.
Jump in below and see all of the elements you are able to customize in your Subscription journey to create a Welcome Series.
Initial Setup
The initial set up sets the groundwork for the beginning of the Welcome Series and unlocks the subscription-specific capabilities of Journey Hub.
Accessing Journey Hub
Navigate to Automation > Journey Hub Journeys.
Click the New Journey button.
Click Start from Scratch.
Select the the Subscription event.
Give your journey a name.
How a Contact Enters a Journey
The entry criteria controls how a contact identifier is entered into a journey after subscribing to a specific list or channel. Subscriptions can be collected via a subscription point or a list import.
💡 Don't know how a contact identifier works? Learn more here.
In the NextGen Platform, the following types of contact identifiers are able to enter a Subscription Journey, unless restricted based on settings in the next section.
New Subscriber: Any contact identifier that has never been subscribed to the marketing program in any given channel. These are considered new contacts.
Resubscriber: Any contact identifier that was previously unsubscribed and now resubscribes to the marketing program in the given channel.
Existing Subscriber: Any email contact identifier that is currently subscribed and adds the same email address to another subscription form to complete the subscription process a second time.
Adjusting the Entry Criteria of the Subscription Event
Entry criteria restricts what contact IDs are able to enter a journey. Criteria includes channel identifier, email address, and frequency.
Click on the subscription event in the builder and select the channel(s) that a contact may subscribe to in order to enter a journey.
📌 Selecting multiple channels allows you to visualize all subscription inputs in a single view.
Select a list for each of the channels selected. This will typically be a Master or Marketing List.
Set the re-entry frequency to control how often an identifier is eligible to enter the journey.
💡 The frequency is determined at an individual channel level. For example, a re-entry frequency of 7 days would prevent an email address from entering the flow if the same email addresses entered within the last 7 days, but not prevent a phone number associated with the same contact from entering.If desired, set entry prevention rules to stop contacts from entering the journey if they are in another journey, or their email address or phone number contains certain information.
💡 Use the email option to stop internal contacts in your organization from receiving an email.
Configuring the Subscription Split
The Subscription Split is automatically added to the canvas as part of the journey creation process, however, can be deleted, if desired. The split will automatically populate all channels provisioned in the account.
The Subscription Split utilizes the Event Type criteria, which is only available in the Subscription journey. The Entry Type criteria identifies which channel a contact is subscribing to at the time they enter a journey. The Entry Type criteria is a unique split type that allows contacts to enter more than one path at a time. For example, if a contact uses a form that collects both email address and mobile phone number to subscribe, a contact could enter both the email and SMS paths.
Configuring Exit Events
An exit event determines what must happen in order for a contact to exit a journey. If no exit events are configured or contacts do not take the specified action, they will naturally exit the journey at the end of their path.
Do you need an exit event? Exit events are not commonly used in Welcome Series, but ask yourself the following questions to help determine if you should add an exit event:
Do I want new subscribers to continue receiving messages if they purchase? If no, add a purchase exit event.
Do I want to prioritize other journeys, such as cart abandonment? If yes, add the journey entered or specific event trigger exit type.
Customizing Your Journey
Configure the Flow
Now that you have determined how a contact identifier becomes eligible to enter or exit the journey, you can determine the experience they will have by customizing paths based on past purchase history, messaging channel, and more.
Below are a few of the strategic considerations you may make when configuring your journey.
📌 Want to discuss your strategic options? Work with your Account Manager or implementation team to ensure all your goals are met.
Actions
Coupons: Make sure to use a coupon step if your subscription sources mention an offer, such as percentage off or free gift. Different offers can be given based on subscription channel, if a contact is a first-time subscriber, or is a resubscriber. Placing a coupon at the beginning of the flow will ensure a contact receives the same offer via multiple channels, if they subscribe to more than one channel at a time.
Exit: Use the exit action to stop contacts in a specific path from continuing through the journey.
Webhook: A webhook can be configured to send information to a third-party system, such as sending information to a system that manages your catalogs. Learn more about setting up a webhook.
Data Management: Use a data management step to write data into a contact's profile or subscribe a contact to an email or SMS list. Profile field data can be useful for future segmentation. Learn more about setting a profile field.
Wait Step
Use wait steps to pause a contact before they receive additional messages. Progress can be paused for a set number of days, hours, or minutes, or can be paused until a specific day (or days) of the week.
Messages
Add messages from the following channels:
Email
SMS
Web Push
App Push
A contact must have opted-in to the specific channel with at least one identifier to receive messages in the channel. If a contact is not subscribed to a channel they will not receive the message and will show as skipped in reporting.
Message Delivery Settings
When configuring an email or SMS message, you can turn on the message delivery settings in the Properties Panel. Enabling this setting allows you to limit the time frame for when a message is sent. You can also enable Time Zone Optimization to adjust the time to a contact's location based on their IP address, if sending an email message, or the area code, for an SMS message.
💡 It is not recommended to apply message delivery settings to the first message so that a contact can immediately receive any offers mentioned during sign up.
Decision Splits
Most decision splits can be placed anywhere in the journey to customize a contact's experience as they progress through the journey. Below are a few of the strategic ways decision splits can be used in a Subscription Journey. Once you have determined the strategy you would like to customize, learn more about configuring your decision splits.
💡 Use the multi-path option to create a fully customized experience for different groups of purchasers.
📦 Purchase History Split: This split can customize a contact's path based on their past order history.
Message contacts who have purchased prior to opting into your marketing program differently than those who are still prospects.
Customize the messages for re-subscribers based on if they have previously purchased.
✉️ Engagement Split: This split can change a contact's path if they have engaged with a previous email or SMS message.
Use this type of split to send additional messages to those who have shown interest by clicking through a message.
Try a different subject line for non-engaged email contacts to increase urgency.
📱 Channel Affinity Split: This split can be used to prioritize the messaging channel used to communicate with a contact.
🔀 Random Split: The random split can be used to test different components of a campaign by sending a percentage of contacts one experience and the rest another experience.
Use the random split to test how many messages to include in the series.
Test which subject lines have impact on open rates.
Test to determine if purchase rates change based on the wait times between messages.
☑️ Subscription Split: This split can be used to customize a contact's path based on how, when, or if they are subscribed to a specific list or channel. This can be used to tailor a contact's path based on their membership to other programs that may have lists in your Listrak account, such as a loyalty program.
One of the most common subscription splits is contact is a previous subscriber. This split allows you to message contacts who have unsubscribed and are re-subscribing differently than brand new subscribers.
You can also use the split to target existing subscribers, contacts who are already opted in to your marketing program and have added their information into a form and opted-in again, who you may want to acknowledge, but not send an offer because they have previously received it.
Activating the Journey
Click the Activate button to allow contacts to start receiving the Welcome Series.
💡 Contacts will immediately become eligible to receive the Welcome Series. Test all messages prior to activating the campaign for accuracy.
Adding New Messaging Channels to the Journey
Additional messaging channels can be added to your account as Listrak's offerings expand and your marketing program continues to grow. When you add new channels to your program, you will want to add them to the subscription journeys to welcome subscribers in the new channel.
You will need to take three major steps:
Add the channel to the entry event.
Update the subscription decision split.
Add channel-specific logic to the journey.
Adjusting the Entry Event
Click on the event on the canvas.
In the properties panel, select the new channel in the Channel Subscription drop-down.
If necessary, select a list to associate with the channel.
Adding a Channel to the Decision Split
Click on the Subscription Split on the canvas.
Click Add Path.
Click Edit on the card representing the new path.
Scroll to the bottom of the conditions and select the new channel from the Event Type grouping.
If desired, name the path.
Add Messages to the Path
After the new path has been added, use the channel, wait, actions, and decision splits in the elements panel to create the specific logic for the new channel.
Activating the Journey
Lastly, click the Activate button to allow subscribers to begin entering the subscription journey with the new channel path and logic.
Example Build
📸 Click on the image to enlarge
The example above displays a multi-channel Welcome Subscription journey via the Email, SMS, and App Push channels. You can adjust the number of messages, type of offer, or add decision splits to meet the goals of your specific campaign.
When considering the layout of your journey, you will want to consider who will enter the journey. In this example, all messaging channels are included in the entry event, ensuring all subscribers to marketing messages, regardless of channel, will enter the flow. In addition, no entry prevention rules are added, meaning all contacts: new, existing, and resubscribing, will be entered into the journey.
The Subscription Split allows the journey to route a contact down the path based on the channel they are subscribing to: email, SMS, or app push. Within each of these channels consider asking yourself what contacts will be eligible to receive messages within each channel?
In the email path, contacts can fall into one of three categories: resubscribers (contacts who previously unsubscribed), existing subscribers (contacts currently subscribed to the marketing program) or new subscribers (contacts who have never subscribed). A subscription split can differentiate between these groups using the subscription status criteria. Contacts identified as resubscribers receive a welcome back message in the first path while contacts identified as existing subscribers receive a message in the second path. The third path, the default, will be received by anyone who is not a resubscriber or existing subscriber, and therefore is a new subscriber. This path contains a coupon code that is referenced in the series of three (3) messages. The content of the last message is differentiated using a NextGen-specific decision split based on a value stored in a custom profile field. In this example, a checkbox field indicates if a contact is a member of the company's loyalty program. For existing members the message can contain information about their current status whereas non-members receive a message promoting joining the program.
In the SMS path, contacts can fall into one of two categories: resubscribers and new subscribers. Like the email path, an subscription split using the subscription status criteria can differentiate between these groups. The split asks a yes or no question: is a contact a resubscriber? Resubscribers receive a welcome back message while new subscribers receive two messages including a contact card attachment and a coupon.
In the app push path only new contacts are identified, so no additional splits to create separate messaging experiences is necessary. New contacts receive a single message in the app push channel.