Start an Email Action with Basic Configuration

When you create a new Emailing Action, you’ll be starting out by working with a basic template, so you’ll be taken to a campaign tool page that already includes some information.

Step 1: Let's begin by renaming your campaign tool under the Title field. The name of your Campaign should already be correct, but you can select a different campaign being run by your Organization by clicking on the Campaign dropdown menu.

Step 2: If your organization's Default Country/Region is set as International, you'll be asked to select the Country or Region that you’ll be campaigning in. This is important because your Email Tool will identify important decision-makers (or what we call the Targets of your campaign message) based on the location of your campaign and your supporters.

Step 3: Choose your Primary Targets.

There are a few layers to this step because it’s pretty special. The configurations you select here will determine how your campaign tool automatically targets the decision-makers that are relevant to your supporters.

Under the Target Type(s) field, you’ll have three options:

Location-based Targets will be automatically determined by the address information that your supporter enters into the campaign tool.

Learn more about setting up Location-Based Targets here.

Custom Targets can be any individual or organization with publicly available contact details (a state rep or a union leader, the CEO of a company, definitely not that jerk from Call of Duty...).

Learn more about setting up Custom Targets here.

All Target Types will allow you to use a combination of Location-based and Custom Targets. This is a great option if you would like your supporters to take action beyond their local level, or if you think you might have supporters without local representatives.

Step 4: Set up Fallback Targets

On your Basic Configuration screen, you might see an option to add Fallback Targets. This is an address that emails can be sent to if there's a problem automatically identifying a target based on a supporter's location:

Learn more about adding fallback targets here.

Step 5: Configure Optional Settings:

Target Checkboxes

Under Optional Settings, you’ll see three different boxes that you can click to customize how supporters see the information about the targets they’re emailing:

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Allow multiple targets to be selected: This option is on by default. It allows your supporters to select from a list of targets to email. Once a supporter enters their address information, they’ll see a list that looks something like this:

 

 

When you are allowing multiple targets to be selected, you’ll also want to set a Target Limit, which will limit the number of results that a supporter sees:

Randomize targets: Select this option so that each supporter using your emailing tool gets a different target. This is important when you’ve entered a list of custom targets, and you don’t want just the first person on that list getting all the emails.

Show Targets to supporters: Select this option so that supporters will see a list of targets to choose from on your emailing tool. By default, targets remain hidden to increase conversion rates.

Auto-Approval

Under Optional Settings, you'll see the Auto Approval feature. Auto-approval is ON by default, which means that all supporter actions will be approved and sent out automatically. If you deselect this feature, supporter actions will have to be approved under the tool Submissions tab.

Learn more about using auto-approval here.

Add a goal meter

Another Optional Setting is your tool's Goal Meter. Check the goal meter box if you want to add a goal meter to your tool, then choose the Goal Meter Goal - the number you want to reach - and the Goal Meter Starting Value - the amount that will be added to your meter by default. Edit the color of your Goal Meter via your Tool CSS in the Look and Feel tab, then you're good to go!

Add an activity stream

Similar to the goal meter, another optional setting is the Activity Steam. Check the activity stream box, then customize the title, amount of action takers to show, and what information is displayed. The activity stream will be displayed below the submit button on the tool. 

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Step 6: Click Save & Continue. When you Save, you’ll be taken to the Content screen, where you can design the style and message of your Emailing tool...

From here, you can also:

  • Edit your campaign tool’s content, components, and appearance.
  • Preview your tool as it will appear when it goes live.
  • Manage Submissions.