Associations: 6 effective email automation scenarios

Sending the right email to the right person at the right time takes effort. Nevertheless, we shall see that creating email automation scenarios for your association can prove highly beneficial in the long term for recruiting new members.
To achieve your goal, you will need to identify 3 types of people who have shared their email address with you (in compliance with GDPR, of course).

These three types of people can be categorised as follows:

the new subscriber;
the engaged subscriber;
the disengaged subscriber.
We will take it as given that your email databases are in full compliance with European regulations (GDPR) and that no one will need to

Understand how to create or redesign the ideal responsive website for your association

The information to gather for your association's email database

In order to target your association's email campaigns as effectively as possible — whether to increase your membership numbers, collect donations, or communicate directly with your members — you will need to gather information about each lead.
This information will allow you to personalise your emails and therefore improve their performance.

What are the basic details to collect for your association's email database?

• First and last name;
• Department or town of residence;
• Date of birth;
• The reason for their interest in your association.

This information should be used to personalise your email campaigns. Recipients will respond differently if they see their first name in the email subject line, or if they receive highly targeted content.

The different association email scenarios

There are a number of association email scenarios that can deliver strong results.

The welcome email

The welcome email is part of a loyalty-building process. It is intended solely for new subscribers. This new subscriber is not yet a member of your association. Nevertheless, you are going to put everything in place to encourage them to join. This may take more or less time depending on the profile of the person you are addressing.
Do not hesitate to highlight the benefits of having subscribed to your newsletter and to reassure your new lead about your best practices.

We strongly recommend sending a welcome email within 5 minutes of the new subscriber sharing their address with you.
Also, be mindful of the reputation of your sending email address. It is all too common for poor practices to result in welcome emails landing in recipients' spam folders.

In general, sending a welcome email reduces customer service exchanges by 19%.

The post-visit follow-up

The post-visit follow-up is easier to carry out if you have a member area and the visitor is logged in to it.

The most effective email marketing tools are capable of tracking the behaviour of your visitors. This compiled and analysed data enriches your visitor's profile. The goal is straightforward: to offer them further content that increases loyalty to your association or nudges them towards making a donation (if they were on the verge of doing so).

The aim of this type of email is to send highly relevant content that directly matches what the user was doing on your website.
This type of scenario tends to deliver better results.

The event alert

Is your association organising an event near where an engaged subscriber lives? Invite them to take part and come and meet you!
A face-to-face contact could lead an engaged subscriber to become a new member of your association.

In traditional commerce, this type of "new arrival" alert converts at 8%.

The birthday scenario

Here is a simple yet effective scenario. Why effective? Because your contacts can see that you have thought of them on their birthday. Effective because you show them just how important they are to you.
This type of scenario increases engagement, trust, and loyalty towards the services offered by your association. It strengthens overall confidence in your association.
On this occasion, you can offer the recipient a 100% personalised birthday card that they can potentially print and keep to hand.

The goal is to remain present in their mind so they do not forget you.

The re-engagement scenario

Do you have a database of email addresses from people who have been inactive for a few months or even a few years? You can use it both to ensure GDPR compliance and to remind them of your existence.
Position two very clear links: one offering to stay with you, the other leading them through the final unsubscribe process.
This scenario can work wonders — but be careful! The real objective is to win back your subscribers' trust, re-engage them with your association, and ultimately build lasting loyalty once again.

The "donation appeal" scenario

You are an association that relies on the generosity of many people to fulfil your mission.
A donation appeal by email can be particularly effective. Your email should redirect to a landing page dedicated 100% to donations, with all payment options and all relevant information (including tax information). Since people are visiting for precisely this reason, make every effort to — always — make donating as easy as possible.
If you take this route, you will have verified beforehand that you are entitled to make an online donation appeal. Do not hesitate to visit the "online donation collection" page published by the DGCCRF.

Remember that a mailing (mass email send) must allow the recipient to visit your website in a single click. With that in mind, you may need to create dedicated pages — known as landing pages. All the content on that landing page should be designed to reassure the recipient in line with the scenario they are part of.

To avoid having to repeat these tasks manually, our inbound marketing agency HTTP5000 in Lyon recommends looking into marketing automation: the automation of your email scenarios.