Category Archives: GoldMine Marketing

Scheduling and Completing a Group Activity

So you’ve now completed an activity, such as mailing a trade show invite, to a group of contacts. You may have printed labels using GoldMine, or you may have outsourced the activity, but now you want to record in History that the mailer went out for each of those records.

For this lesson, we will assume that you already know how to create a Group or Filter in GoldMine, which you used to generate the list for the mailing. Otherwise, at least one example:

Creating Filters on the Fly

Once the filter or group is activated, you simply schedule the activity, maybe a Next Action, using the following method.

Scheduling a call to a Filter/Group

You now have an activity scheduled for all those contacts. Possibly a Next Action with a reference such as “Mailed Tradeshow Invitation Card”.

Scheduling_and_Completing_a_Group_Activity_01

Now the new stuff…

  1. Select any one of the occurrences currently scheduled and choose Complete.  Since they were all created together, GoldMine will now prompt you to either complete the single activity or complete them all.
  2. Select the option to Complete the activity for ALL contacts.Scheduling_and_Completing_a_Group_Activity_02
  3. Click OK. You will now get a slightly different version of the Complete window.Scheduling_and_Completing_a_Group_Activity_03
  4. Enter in the Result Code or anything else needed and click OK.

All the activities will be completed “in one fell swoop” and you now have a record of having sent those invites.
Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

 

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 5

This will be our 5th and final installment on our Using Constant Contact Series.

If you missed our 4 previous posts here ya go:

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 1
Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 2
Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 3
Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 4

By now we have setup the Constant Contact integration in GoldMine, compiled and exported our list of contacts, sent our campaign, received the results back into GoldMine, and located a list of contacts who have “clicked-through” our campaign. Now it’s time to schedule a follow-up call to that list.

If you activated the SQL Query from Part 5 or saved the Query, you can now use that Query in the Contact Search Center to display those records.

  1. Copy that Query so it is ready to use below.
  2. Open the Contact Search Center (also available via Go To | Search | Contact Search Center).
  3. If you are not already showing the SQL query editor in the Search Center, which is off by default, click the Options button and turn that option on in the Lookup tab.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_10
  4. Click OK and a new window will appear in the Contact Search Center.
  5. Click the Edit button.
  6. Highlight the existing query, if there is one in there, and replace it with our copied one.
  7. Click the Preview button.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_11
  8. Right-click within the search results list and select Tag All.
  9. Now click the Schedule button and select All Tagged Records | Call…
  10. You can even use the Series tab to spread out the calls and the Users tab to assign the calls to several users, spreading out the workload as needed.

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 4

Continuing with our series, today’s post will show you how to access and leverage the information you get back from Constant Contact.

If you missed our 3 previous posts here ya go:

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 1
Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 2
Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 3
Now that all the Campaign results have arrived in GoldMine, Bounces, Opt-Outs, Open, Clicks, and so on, how do we use this information?Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_02

Let’s say that you now want to make a call to all of those contacts who performed a clicked-through on one of your previous broadcasts. For this we will use the GoldMine Lookup Wizard. For a more in-depth review of the Lookup Wizard, please review that previous post.

Using the GoldMine Lookup Wizard

  1. Click Tools | Lookup Wizard.
  2. Select Contact information.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_06a
  3. Click Next.
  4. Click Specify completed activity match options.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_06b
  5. Click Next.
  6. Place a checkmark next to Result Codes and the Wizard will prompt you to select the Code or Codes you would like to use.  For this example, we will use CLK for Clicks.
  7. Click the Add>> button.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_07
  8. Click OK.
  9. We can now add additional parameters to be more specific. (e.g. adding the Reference line to focus on a specific campaign).Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_08
  10. Once you are done with your entire selections, click Next, and Next again.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_09a

From here you can Activate SQL statement to see the results immediately, save the Query for later use, or copy it to use in Reports or the Search Center.

In our next and final installment, we will show you how to use the Query results to schedule that follow-up call.

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 3

Building on our 2 previous posts on the subject, today’s post will cover what information gets recorded into GoldMine by the Constant Contact integration.

If you missed our 2 previous posts here ya go:

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 1
Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 2

When viewing your list of Constant Contact Campaigns in GoldMine you will see the following columns of information:Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_04

The numbers you see under Sent, Bounces, Opt-Outs, Opens, Clicks, and Forwards are the same statistics you see in Constant Contact. Though it’s a bit more convenient to see that information here instead of having to log into Constant Contact, this chart isn’t the real power of GoldMine’s Constant Contact integration. The real power, which is not easily available from Constant Contact, is access to the specific records behind the data.

For each of the activities listed above, GoldMine creates History records in the appropriate Contact records. These records are recorded as Other Actions, with a Code of CCE (Constant Contact E-Mail). For granularity, each of these activities have a specific 3-letter Result code. Here is a list of those codes:

Code     Action
SNT       Sent: A campaign email was sent.
BNC      Bounce: A campaign email bounced and was not received.
OPN     Open: A campaign email was opened.
CLK       Click: A link within the email was clicked.
OUT      Opt-Out: The recipient unsubscribed from receiving any further e-mails.
FWD      Forward: The recipient used the “Forward to a Friend” functionality.

If the contact opened the e-mail, clicked the link, and then forwarded it to a friend, 4 history records (including the sent) for that contact, will be recorded in GoldMine.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_05

 

Stay tuned for Part 4!!

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 2

If you missed our previous post regarding the GoldMine Constant Contact Integration, just follow this link to catch up.

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 1

However, this post assumes you have completed the following:

  1. Created the Dummy/Marketing Account (optional).
  2. Logged into GoldMine as the appropriate user.
  3. Configured GoldMine with your Constant Contact credentials.
  4. Downloaded your past Campaigns (if applicable)

Now let’s get to know the GoldMine Constant Contact Campaign Module.  Logged into the configuration, your Configure button is now a Logout button, and to the right Logout button are two buttons and a pull-down menu.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_03

The Download Activity button allows you to ‘real-time’ download the campaign detail and update the GoldMine history for the selected campaign.

The Refresh Campaigns List button synchronizes the campaign list in Constant Contact with GoldMine.

The Show pull-down menu allows you to select the last x-number of campaigns to display in order of most recent.

The next step is to Export a list of GoldMine contact records to upload to Constant Contact.  If your list isn’t too large, we recommend using the Contact Search Center and its ability to “Output To” in order to get your contact list into Excel.  If you missed that blog post, here’s the link to that lesson:

Simple Exporting Using Output To

In most cases all you need is Contact name and E-Mail address.  However, if you want to merge other field data, you will want to include those columns too.  Don’t worry about exporting too many columns as you can either remove those in Excel or simply ask Constant Contact to ignore them.

If you want to export only those with E-Mail Addresses, simply use the Filter Grid Controls to reduce your list.

GoldMine Grid Controls

If you want a casual salutation such as “Dear Bill” in your e-mail template, you can either parse the Contact field in Excel or create a First Name field in your GoldMine database.  We don’t have that lesson written yet, but can help you set that up if you’d like.

Once you have your list, log into Constant Contact via your web browser to upload the spreadsheet.  Your specific GoldMine contact list is now ready to use.

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

 

Using Constant Contact with GoldMine – Part 1

Since its introduction in GoldMine Premium Edition 2013.1, we have seen a great deal of interest in the new Constant Contact integration with GoldMine.  [Note: Due to regular security changes required to communicate with Constant Contact, we recommend moving to a current version of GoldMine before implementing this solution.]  We’ve leveraged it internally, conducted demos, and helped many customers implement this new enhancement.

With so much to share however, we will have to break this up into several blog posts.  This is the first, so look for more to follow.  If you can’t wait for the whole series to be released, feel free to contact us directly and we will be happy to help.

The first step is to connect to Constant Contact via GoldMine using your credentials.

  1. Log into GoldMine as the user who is doing the logging activities. See our last post called Using Dummy Accounts.
  2. Click on Go To | Constant Contact Campaigns.  The first time you access this screen it will simply be blank.
  3. Click the Configure button.
  4. If you are already a Constant Contact customer, enter in your Constant Contact login credentials and click the Login button.*Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_01
  5. If you’ve already been using Constant Contact, click Yes to download the Campaign list.  Any campaigns still available on Constant Contact will download and their results will populate throughout your GoldMine database.Using_Constant_Contact_with_GoldMine_02

* If you don’t have an account you can contact us to help set one up for you, or simply click on the Signup button.  If signing up here, be sure to select E-Mail Marketing as the product you want to trial and a valid e-mail address for confirmation.

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

 

Using ‘Dummy’ Accounts in GoldMine

With GoldMine’s concurrent licensing model, the number of names in the user’s table is not limited to the number of licenses a company owns.  As a result, GoldMine gives us the ability to create ‘Dummy’ or ‘Role-Based’ accounts that aren’t used for day-to-day user access.

These user accounts can be used for Vacation Calendars, Trade Show Events, or my favorite, E-Mail Marketing.  For many of our customers, we recommend creating an E-Mail Marketing User for sending out the broadcast blasts.  Something like ZMARKET is a good one to consider.Using_Dummy_Accounts_In_GoldMine_01

Here are a few good reasons to use a role-based account?

  1. History Grouping/Filtering – Now when you are looking at the GoldMine history tab of a contact record, you can easily differentiate transactional e-mails from marketing e-mails.
  2. Reporting – When looking at activity reports, the data isn’t skewed by the occasional high-volume blasts.
  3. SMTP Credentials – You can set up the user to use a service instead of your own standard SMTP server.  Services allow for higher volume and less risk to your reputation.
  4. Multi-tasking – I like launching a separate Remote Desktop session, logging into GoldMine as the dummy user, and starting the merge from there.  While that’s merging and sending, I can get back to work in my own GoldMine.

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

 

Using Social Media Icons in E-Mails

With the rise in Social Media Marketing, many of my customers have been asking about the best way to add those icons to their GoldMine e-mail signature templates.  Having seen a rising use of “attaching” of icons, we figured it was time to show the best way to add icons the right way.  Who wants to keep getting e-mails with a half-dozen attachments per e-mail??

First, let’s start with the basics.  First, how to create GoldMine E-Mail Templates… we already have a blog post on how to do that:
Using E-Mail Templates

Second, how to insert HTML images in E-Mail Templates:
HTML Images in E-Mail Templates

With that foundation, here’s how to take that skill and apply it to Social Media Icons.

  1. Find your icons.  A Google Search for “linkedin icon for email” will give you a whole page of images.  Just find your favorite.  Make sure it’s the right size.Using_Social_Media_Icons_in_Emails_01
  2. Save the image to your PC and e-mail it off to your web team, requesting they e-mail you back a link to that image on your website.  This should be a rather common request and they should know what to do.
  3. Once you get the link back, going back to the HTML Images in E-mail Templates blog post, use that link to insert the icon in your e-mail template.
  4. Now log into your Social Media account and copy the link address to your page so recipients can simply click on the icon and get taken to your page.Using_Social_Media_Icons_in_Emails_02
  5. Go back to your e-mail template in GoldMine, right-click on the icon and click the “Insert Hyperlink” button, and paste in the address.Using_Social_Media_Icons_in_Emails_03
  6. Now repeat for all the other icons as needed.
  7. Last but not least, test, test, and test before going live with the new template.

Lastly, if don’t know how to use it as a default signature file in GoldMine for all your new e-mails? Well, we have that one too:
Setting Up Different E-Mail Templates

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

 

Simple Exporting Using Output To

With the new Constant Contact integration with GoldMine, we seem to be getting more calls about how to export lists out of GoldMine.  Most of the time we find that though users ask us “How do I export out of GoldMine?” we can address the need without the more complicated Import/Export tool.

We can do that by using the ever versatile Contact Search Center (CSC), which has been the focus of 2 out of the last 3 blog posts.  Here’s how to do so.

  • Initiate your search as you normally would.  See one of our previous post’s to show you how:  Using the Contact Search Center.
  • Use the Columns button to add/remove columns as needed, such as adding E-mail address.Simple_Exporting_using_Output_to_01

Once you have your list with all the columns you need, you can use the Output to option in GoldMine to send the data to Excel.

  • Right-click anywhere in the CSC and select Output to | Excel.Simple_Exporting_using_Output_to_02

GoldMine will now take your entire list into Excel, ready to upload to Constant Contact, or wherever you may need it.

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!

 

Using the Contact Search Center

Most searches in GoldMine occur using the Contact Search Center.  Most users, especially those who have used GoldMine for years, are familiar with the simple searches.

The most efficient way to bring up the Contact Search Center is to double-click the label of the field you wish to search by.  To Search by Company, double-click on the label Company.   To search by City, double-click on the label City.  Try it with any field.Using_the_Contact_Search_Center_01

Alternatively, you can use the F4 key on your keyboard to open the Contact Search Center)

In the example above, I double-clicked on the label Record Type.  GoldMine defaults its search to the operator: “Begins with”.  Both entries can be modified to change your search criteria as needed to control your search.

Note: GoldMine’s searches are not case-sensitive.

When you have typed enough information to find the contact record you were looking for, you can hit the down arrow on your keyboard until the appropriate record is highlighted and press the Enter key, or double-click on the record using your mouse.

The record you selected is now on the screen for review or action.  The Contact Search Center window is still open but on one of the open Tabs and you can switch back to it at any time to search again, or once again, double-click on a field label.

But wait, there’s more.  You can also create “Filters on the Fly” in the Contact Search Center. That lesson can be found in a previous blog post:
Creating “Filters on the Fly”

Need to reduce the number of fields to choose from the pull-down:
Reducing the Contact Search Center Lookup List

 

Hope you find this of value!
Enjoy and Happy GoldMining!!