This article explains how to schedule a Newsletters campaign in SMARTFENSE, detailing each available configuration field and the indicators the campaign collects.
What are Newsletters?
Newsletters are emails used to raise awareness in a friendly and direct way. They aim to drive a behavior change by presenting information persuasively and include a final reading validation question, with its corresponding feedback.
The final validation question and feedback have components editable from Settings > Awareness > Newsletters.
Create the campaign
- From the main menu, go to Campaigns > Calendar.
- Click the New campaign button.
- Select Newsletter.
Campaign configuration
Essentially, Newsletter campaigns require the following data to be scheduled:
- Groups
- Topic
- Start date
- Expiration date
SMARTFENSE automatically detects the time zone of the administrator's device when scheduling. The dates and times you configure will be defined in the time zone of the device from which you are creating the campaign.
Groups
By default, SMARTFENSE allows you to select Groups as recipients of a campaign. The other options can be displayed by clicking the More options button at the bottom of the screen.
The platform requires you to select at least one recipient to schedule a campaign.
Topic
Defines the campaign's theme. Only one topic per campaign can be chosen.
Start date
Date on which the campaign begins sending notifications and collecting statistics.
Starting from the Start date, you will only be able to modify the Expiration date of the campaign while it is in progress. This action can be performed from the Calendar or Campaigns list. To do so, locate the campaign you want to edit and go to View campaign details > Information and actions.
Expiration date
Date on which the campaign stops collecting statistics.
More options
The following fields are displayed by clicking the More options button at the bottom of the screen.
Mode
Defines how users are assigned to the campaign. There are two options:
- One-time initial assignment with specific expiration date: all recipient users are assigned when the Start date arrives. Changes made to the groupings after that date are not considered.
- Recurring assignment with relative duration: the campaign periodically checks which users meet the recipient conditions and assigns them automatically. Each user's expiration date is calculated based on the defined Duration in days, starting from the moment they are assigned.
When you select Recurring assignment with relative duration, you can define what will happen with users who do not finish the activity. This allows you to make the following configurations in the Scheduling section:
- Reassign the campaign.
- Indicate the number of times you want to reassign it.
- Assign it indefinitely until the user finishes it.
User management in Recurring assignment with relative duration campaigns:
- Users added to a recipient grouping after the start date are assigned automatically, but on the day after the edit and at the same time as the start date (it is not immediate).
- Users removed from the grouping after being assigned remain assigned to the campaign.
Combine Recurring assignment with relative duration campaigns with Smart groups for onboarding campaigns.
Recipients
In this section different types of groupings can be selected as campaign recipients: Groups, Functional areas, Hierarchical levels, Smart groups, and Individual users.
You can combine the selected groupings in two ways:
- Assign users who belong to at least one grouping of each type.
- Assign users who belong to any of the selected groupings.
Users must belong to at least one grouping of each type
Users who meet each of the following points will be assigned to the campaign:
- Belong to at least one of the selected Groups.
- Also belong to at least one of the selected Functional areas.
- Additionally belong to at least one of the selected Hierarchical levels.
- And finally belong to at least one of the selected Smart groups.
Users must belong to any of the selected groupings
Users who meet any of the following points will be assigned to the campaign:
- Belong to at least one of the selected Groups.
- Or belong to at least one of the selected Functional areas.
- Or belong to at least one of the selected Hierarchical levels.
- Or belong to at least one of the selected Smart groups.
Campaign details
- Name: identifies the campaign within the platform.
- Description: displayed on the calendar when hovering over the campaign.
- Test campaign: if you enable this option, the campaign runs without affecting reports or generating records in the user or campaign audit.
Preview
Before saving the campaign, you can review the content users will receive:
- Preview: shows the selected Newsletter topic, without considering the other configured parameters.
Indicators collected by the campaign
Once started, the campaign records the following indicators:
- Sent: The Newsletter was sent to the user.
- Opened: The user opened the sent Newsletter.
- Answered correctly: The user correctly answered the reading validation question.
- Answered incorrectly: The user incorrectly answered the reading validation question.
💡 Best practices
- Define Groups and groupings before scheduling to avoid incorrect assignments.
- Use Recurring assignment with relative duration mode if frequent additions or removals of users are expected during the campaign.
- Use Preview to validate the selected topic before saving.
- Configure the campaign as Test campaign to perform internal validations without affecting reports or audit.
- Combine Newsletter campaigns with Interactive Module or Video campaigns to reinforce the topics covered.