Onboarding Action Items

Consider this your high level onboarding to-do list! This is meant to be used to help organizations in onboarding understand the flow of the onboarding process and keep track of what they need to do next. This should be used alongside our trainings, detailed support articles, and one-on-one calls. The list does not contain every possible thing you can do/configure/connect in Pro2. If it did, it would be at least a mile long! We've condensed it down for you into bite sized pieces. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at help@prospect2.com.

Installation of the Tessitura Integration

The steps below need to be done before you schedule your Tech Check and Tessitura Essentials call and can happen while completing the other action items.

After you complete the account details form, we will provide you with the information needed to complete your Tessitura Integration.

Install the Script (required)

Install the Pro2 Install Script in your LIVE Tessitura environment.
Send the requested information to help@prospect2.com.
Schedule your Tech Check.

Install the CPP Plug-in (recommended)

This can be completed even if you are not currently using CPP’s or can be done at a later date.

Tech Check

During the Tech Check we will complete your integration, confirm the connection, and create the initial Owner user. This user creates any other users at your organization that need access to the Tessitura Integrated Dashboard.

Managing Your Sender Reputation

It’s required to manage your own authentication. Not managing your own authentication means that your campaigns are going to be sent “on behalf of” and will not meet certain inbox provider requirements.
Complete the sending domain authentication on any and all domains you will be using as a "from" email address in Pro2. This needs to be completed before you send any campaigns to ensure good deliverability.
It's a good idea to work with your IT team to ensure your sending domain has the correct authentication and that any future changes to your domain consider this. You can also use 3rd party tools such as dmarcian.com to confirm your domains authentication and DNS set up if IT does not have access to your Pro2 account.
Some organizations have strict internal security filters, which may quarantine or even reject "unrecognized" emails. We recommend that your organization safelist our Mail Server IP ranges.
The full list of Mail Server IP Ranges to safelist can be found here.
- Besides the IP Ranges listed in the article, the three below should also be safelisted:
  - 173.236.20.79
  - 173.236.20.80
  - Test Mail Server:acems2.com transmitting via IP:173.236.20.23

Warming Period Planning

We will review your warming period sending plan during our Sending Essentials call, which is required before you import any contacts and start the warming period.

When you send from any new platform, it’s critical that you send slowly and to your most engaged contacts in order to ensure mailbox providers will recognize you as a reputable sender. Each mailbox provider (Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, etc) are individually looking at things like the frequency you are sending, the volume of contacts you are sending, the type of content you are sending, and what actions the recipient takes on your emails.

We will work with you to create a customized plan. This may look like turning on a Scheduled Trigger for your pre/post visit communications, creating highly targeted segments of your marketing emails, and breaking larger sends out over multiple days.

Begin identifying groups of your highly engaged contacts. This will be a combination of criteria from your legacy platform and the data you have in Tessitura.
Consider sending a re-engagement campaign from your existing email marketing platform in order to capture up-to-date consent and contact information.
We recommend using a 3rd party tool such as emailable.com to confirm if the email addresses you have on file are valid email addresses. You want the lowest possible number of bounces during your warming period and a tool like this can make a significant difference.
Begin creating a sending schedule that will allow you to slowly ramp up sending to groups of highly engaged contacts. Your plan should include 2-3 weeks of daily sending. During this time, all of your contacts should receive at least one email from you.

List and Tag Structure

Create your Prospect2 Lists.
- You should have less than 5 Lists in your Pro2 account.
Create your Initial Tag structure.
- Determine internal guidelines for the naming convention your organization will use for Tags.
Identify any Tags that should be present on the Custom Screen or may be integrated with CPPs in Tessitura.

Sign-Up Forms and Preference Management

Discuss your Forms (Sign-up, Unsubscribe Redirects, Manage Preference) and any patron facing options you want to present within each form internally.

Do you want to offer preferences to patrons?
If so, where should each of these preferences live?
How will we use these preferences in our marketing strategy?
Are these preferences going to be integrated with CPPs or CPs in Tessitura?
Are these preferences going to be visible on the Custom Screen in Tessitura?

Once you have determined the experience you want to provide patrons, then you can create the following items to support your plan:

Create a Signup Form for your Website.
Create a Manage Preference Form. Even if you’ve determined that you do not want to offer preferences, we still recommend creating a Manage Preferences form.
Create Unsubscribe Redirect Forms.

Email Campaigns and Templates

Create Templates for commonly used designs or campaigns.
- Create Categories to group Templates to help with organization.
Upload commonly used images to the Content Manager.
- Create folders and add keywords to help with content organization.
Create Saved blocks within the Email Designer for commonly used items such as your footer, social media block, or buttons.
Determine internal guidelines for the naming convention your organization will use for Campaigns and Labels.

Automations

You can add and adjust Automations anytime, so don’t feel you have to do it all on day one. You’re at the crawl stage of crawl, walk, run!

Determine which processes should leverage Automations.
Create any Automations that may need to support your Sign Up, Manage Preference, or Unsubscribe Redirect forms. These types of Automations allow you to add/remove Tags based on options selected within a form, and can even allow the Automation to subscribe or unsubscribe contacts from a List.

The following Automations are not required for sending, but are highly recommended:

Create the Part 1 & Part 2 Engagement Tagging Automations.
Create an automated Re-engagement Automation.

Site Tracking and 3rd Party Integrations

Set up Prospect2 Site Tracking on your Website.
Configure any initial 3rd Party Integrations that you want to connect to Prospect2.

Tessitura Integration Configuration

When you are ready to configure the Tessitura Integration, please schedule your Tessitura Essentials Call. We will review the integration, help you determine which feature you should use for which processes, and help you configure and test a Scheduled Trigger. This can happen before or after your Sending Essentials Call.

Data Sync: Tag

Determine which processes fit this feature. We typically recommend this for things like new to file ticket buyers, active Board Members, current donors, etc.
For each process you identify…
- Create your Dynamic List Manager list in Tessitura.
- Create your Data Sync and connect your LML to it.

Do not turn ON until after you’ve completed your initial contact import.

Scheduled Triggers

Determine which processes fit this feature. We typically recommend this for things like pre/post event communications, membership renewals, etc.
Work with your DBA or Tessitura to build any Custom Views if needed.
Build, preview, and test any Scheduled Triggers and the associated Automations.

Do not turn ON until you’re at this point in your warming period sending plan.

Contact Point Purposes (plug-in required)

Determine which Lists and/or Tags you want to integrate with.
Follow the steps in this article to integrate Contact Point Purposes with Pro2 and Tessitura.

Contact Permissions

Determine which Lists you want to integrate.
Follow the steps in this article to integrate Contact Permissions with Pro2 and Tessitura.

Integrated Phone Type for SMS

If you have valid SMS numbers stored in Pro2 or want to have SMS numbers captured in Pro2 updated back into Tessitura, you will need to integrate a unique Phone Type integration as outlined in this article.

Going Live with Pro2

Once you have watched the core trainings, scheduled one-on-one calls as needed to help in your planning and set up, and completed most of the items above, it’s time to take the next steps needed in order to send from Pro2!

Sending Essentials

When you think you are ready to begin your warming period, please schedule your Sending Essentials Call. We will increase your active contact level, complete your initial import of Hard Bounced and Unsubscribed contacts, as well as review your Lists, Tags, Templates, Forms, Automations, and your warming period sending plan. This call must be complete before you import contacts or send any campaigns. This can happen before or after your Tessitura Essentials call.

Come prepared for this call with...

Your plan for Lists and Tags.
Sign-up Forms and Manage Preferences Forms created.
Unsubscribe Redirects created; Paths associated to the appropriate Lists.
Email templates/campaigns created.
A newly exported CSV file of your existing Hard Bounced Contacts from your legacy platform and/or Tessitura.
A newly exported CSV file of your existing Unsubscribed Contacts from your legacy platform and/or Tessitura.
A rough idea of the number of active contacts you will store in your Pro2 Account.

Begin Warming Period

Using your warming period sending plan...

Prepare your segments of contacts in your legacy email marketing platform or in Tessitura as a List Manager list.
Import contacts either via the Tessitura Integrated Import or CSV import.
Segment and send your email campaign.
Wait 24 hours.
Check campaign reporting metrics. Red flags are low opens/clicks and high bounce, unsubscribe, and spam complaints.
- If your metrics are good, continue with the next step in your sending plan.
- If your metrics are not good, reevaluate your segmentation, adjust your sending plan to reduce the next send by half.

Repeat the above process every day (yes, you should send and check your metrics on the weekends too!) until your warming period is complete. This typically takes two weeks, but may be longer depending on your list size, existing sender reputation, and list hygiene.

Once you have completed the warming period, you should now be able to transition to sending and segmenting your contacts closer to your normal cadence. Remember that your sender reputation and deliverability changes over time based on both your and your patrons’ behaviors and maintaining it should be a constant effort.

Canceling Your Legacy Email Marketing Platform

CAN-SPAM requires you to process unsubscribe requests within 10 business days and to honor unsubscribe requests for 30 days after the campaign was sent. In order to do this, we recommend exporting a file of contacts that have Unsubscribed Contacts from your legacy platform and/or Tessitura weekly from when you begin sending in Pro2 until it’s been 30 days since your last email was sent from your legacy platform.