Use Act-On’s marketing automation tools to keep your members engaged and build a loyal customer base. You can build Automated Programs specifically for your existing customers to create dynamic retention and renewal campaigns.

Overview

Scenario

Your customer renewal rates are decent, but you’re interested in solutions for improving them to retain a higher number of existing customers. You’d like to create a campaign that engages customers near their subscription renewal date and encourages customer retention.

Solution

Create a segment of contacts from your All Contacts list (or marketing list) who are existing customers, then build a dynamic Automated Program to send an array of marketing materials to customers near their renewal date.

Instructions

A. Create a Segment for Existing Customers

First, you’ll need to segment current customers based on the amount of time they’ve been a customer. Your All Contacts list (or marketing list) should have a column with a Renewal Date field to keep track of each customer’s subscription renewal date with you (For Act-On Contacts, see Customize List Columns and for Marketing lists, see Managing List Columns in Act-On).

To do this:

1. If you are using Act-On Contacts:
   Go to Contacts > All Contacts, and at the top right, click New Segment.
   
   If you are using Marketing Lists:
   Go to Contacts > Marketing Lists and find your primary marketing list (or the list with your customers’ data). Click the dropdown arrow to the right of your list and select Create a Segment.
   
   
2. Give your segment a Name and select Query for the segment Method.
   
   
3. For your query’s logic fields, enter the following:
   • On the left, select  Profile for your query type
   • Select your Renewal Date column/field from your list
   • Select is between or equals for your operator
   • Enter two relative dates. We recommend using one month ahead and the current date to capture customers whose annual renewal date is one month away.
   • Set the date format to MM/DD/YYYY
     For example:
     
     
     
     
4. At the top right, click Save.

B. Create Marketing Materials for Your Renewal Campaign

Now that you’ve made a list segment of customers who are due for their account renewal, it’s time to create targeted Emails to remind and encourage them to renew their accounts. You should create at least three emails for your renewal initiative, which you’ll schedule later with an Automated Program.

• Design your emails to be engaging as explained in:
  Email Design Best Practices
  How to Design an Act-On Email for Deliverability
• Create your email as explained in:
  Email Composer User Guide
  Creating an Email Message
• Want to start with a pre-built Email template? Use our Content Catalog Email Templates.
• Want to embed Landing Pages or Forms in your retention/renewal emails? Learn more with Act-On’s Landing Page Composer Overview and Forms Composer User Guide.
• With Act-On, it’s easy to keep all of your marketing materials consistent with your firm’s branding. Learn more about controlling your brand with Act-On with these two use cases:
  Use Case: Controlling Your Brand - Beginner's Guide
  Use Case: Controlling Your Brand - Advanced Guide
  
  

C. Build an Automated Program for Your Customer Retention Campaign

Once your segment and targeted marketing materials (retention/renewal emails) are ready, build an Automated Program for your retention and renewal initiative. This will help you schedule emails that encourage your current customers to renew their subscriptions.

1. Go to Automation > Automated Programs and at the top right, click + New Program.
   
   
2. In the Settings tab, under Contact Sources, click Select Sources, select the segment you created in section A above, and click Submit. This applies the Automated Program to the contacts that have their subscription due for renewal:
   
   
   
   
3. In Options, select Suppress entrants on suppression lists. 
   This ensures that contacts on bounce lists or suppression domains are blocked from entering.
   It’s highly recommended that this option is selected.
   
   
4. At the top left, click Build > Program Flow the Automated Journey Builder appears.
   
   
5. Click and select Send Email. 
   
   
6. Select the first email for your retention and renewal initiative (created in section B above) and click Submit.
   
   
7. Now click the  under the Send Email Message step, and select Wait. Set your program to wait a specific amount of time or until a specified date to send the next email.
   
   
8. Repeat the last 3 steps to add each email in your campaign to the program.
   
   
9. At the top right, click Save.
10. If desired, create Branch steps to resend emails to customers that did not open or click on them – learn more here.

Next, you’ll need to update your program’s settings to allow customers to re-enter your program each year when they’re close to their renewal date. To do this:

1. In the Settings tab in Automated Journey Builder, scroll down to Options.
   
   
2. Click the checkbox for Allow contacts to re-enter:
   
   
   
   Don’t see this setting? Contact Act-On Support or your Account Manager to turn on this feature.

Outcome

You’ve created a quick and dynamic Automated Program to help you target existing customers and increase your renewal rates.

Next Steps

If you have found this useful have a look at the Campaign Playbook: Customer Renewal Campaign.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

Why aren’t contact records entering my segment?

If you’re not seeing contacts entering your Renewal Due segment, make sure that your list column’s date formatting matches the date formatting used to set up your segment query. For US customers, we recommend using the MM/DD/YYYY format in your list and segment query. Learn more about how contacts enter your segments here.

Can I test my Automated Program and emails?

Yes! You can test your automated program before officially starting it and sending retention/renewal emails. See Test an Automated Program.

Where can I find reporting for my emails?

You can find reporting and metrics for any email in the Sent Message report:

1. Go to Automation > Automated Programs.
   
   
2. Hover over your automated program and click Show Dashboard.
   
   
3. In the Report tab click Email performance.
   
   
4. Under Individual Emails, click on your email to open the Sent Message report.
   
   
5. View the results for your retention/renewal emails, including engagement and unique counts for sends, bounces, and clicks.

For more information, see How to View Sent Message Reports.