In this lesson, you will learn and implement the second part of the workflow that contains the acquisition strategy for your newsletter with a double opt-in subscription.
Double opt-in is the optimal subscription model for your email lists, helping you build a solid and clean database. With Connectif, it is possible to create a contact acquisition workflow with double confirmation of subscription to increase and improve your email lists using the same strategy.
Objective: Acquisition.
Elements used: Popup, email.
Implementation time: 1 hour.
We recommend that you follow all the steps and implement this strategy from scratch in your account, but if you need a quick way, the Workflow Template Directory has the Newsletter Subscription with Double Opt-in template available for you to work with.
Before You Start: Recap
In the previous lesson, we established the first part of this strategy, which displays a popup on your website inviting visitors to subscribe to your newsletter.
Lesson Summary
In this lesson, you will learn:
- The "On form submit" node to react when a contact signs up on your website.
- The "Set field" node to modify your contacts' fields via a workflow.
- The "Send email" node to send a transactional email.
- How to create an email in Connectif with the email editor.
- How to create and add variables to your content.
- How to use predefined links in an email.
By the end of the lesson, you will have created in your account:
The second part of the acquisition strategy, through which you will update the contacts' profiles and react to the submission of the subscription form from your popup (created in the previous lesson) in two ways:
- With a reminder popup informing the contact to confirm their subscription via email.
- With the email itself, which will contain the subscription confirmation link.
Strategy Setup
Access the workflow where you created the first part of this strategy. Click on Workflows and search for the workflow you created named "Double Opt-in Subscription" (or the name you chose).
STEP 6. "On form submit" Node
How the "On form submit" Node Works
This node is used to react at the moment a contact submits a completed form.
In the node interface, you configure whether it triggers on the submission of any form or a specific form. Additionally, it is possible to filter by the URL from which the form is submitted.
How to Configure the "On form submit" Node for This Strategy
(This node will detect exactly when a contact submits the subscription popup form to proceed to the next action, which will be the "Set field" node).
37. In the node selection menu, go to "Triggers > Web" and drag the "On form submit" node into the editor, connecting it to the "Start" node.
38. Click on (Edit node configuration) of the "On form submit" node.
39. Click on A specific form.
40. Then, select the form displayed in the newsletter subscription popup created in the previous lesson.
41. In the Limitations tab, uncheck the box "Disable after triggering".
42. Click on Update.
In this step, we configured the node that will react to the submission of the form we created in the first part of the strategy to acquire contacts for our database.
STEP 7. "Set field" Node
How the "Set field" Node Works
This node is used to save or modify information in the contact's profile.
In the node interface, the new information obtained during the workflow (left column) is linked with the existing contact fields (right column). Additionally, this node allows assigning literal values to add or update the field with a fixed value defined by the user (for example, assigning a specific score to all contacts in a workflow).
How to Configure the "Set field" Node for This Strategy
(This node will record the information obtained from the popup form).
43. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Contact" and drag the "Set field" node into the editor, connecting it to the "On form submit" node.
44. Click on (Edit node configuration) of the "Set field" node.
45. Drag the "Name" field, with data source the "On form submit" node, from the left column to the central block, matching it with the "Name" field in the right column. You can find it through the field list or enter it in the search box to locate it, as shown in the example. In Operator, select "Assign".
46. Click on Update.
In this step, Connectif will update the names of contacts who submit the form. We will not change the newsletter subscription attribute yet, as the contact must confirm the subscription via the email we will create in the next step.
STEP 8. "Send email" Node
How the "Send email" Node Works
This node is used to send an email to contacts who reach this part of the workflow. The node interface configures, step by step, all aspects about the email to be sent and the recipients:
Email template configuration. To select a previously created email or configure a new one in the email editor.
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Node configuration. To set how the sending will be:
Send to. To choose between Contacts, sending the email to users with "Email status" as "Active", or Specific email, manually indicating which addresses will receive all emails to be sent.
Email type selection. To choose if the email will be Transactional, sent to all contacts, or Newsletter, sent to users with "Newsletter status" as "Subscribed".
Parameters. To set the Email Subject, From name, From email, and Reply-to email.
Fields and values configuration. To assign or modify the values of the email variables.
Google Analytics. To set Google Analytics tracking parameters in the email.
How the Email Editor Works
The Email Editor is the Connectif feature that allows you to customize, responsively, the content of emails sent to your customers via workflows.
The email editor is based on a drag-and-drop design method, enabling you to quickly, easily, and visually layout your emails.
How to Configure the Email for This Strategy
(In this step, you will create the email so contacts can confirm their newsletter subscription).
47. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Email" and drag the "Send email" node into the editor, connecting it to the "Set field" node.
48. Click on (Edit node configuration). Then click on Create new content to create a new email.
49. When creating a new email, in the Tools panel, click the General tab to edit the general appearance parameters of your email.
- In Name, specify the name of your email.
- In Colors, define the background color of the content and the overall background color.
- In Text, define the default font for the email text.
- In Summary, indicate what will appear to the customer in the email preview after the subject line.
- In HTML Options, configure the general style based on CSS and HTML styles.
50. Click on the Components tab to access the options for creating and designing your email.
- In Structure, choose the layout that best suits your needs. If none is included, a one-column structure will be used by default.
- In Elements, add functional content pieces to build your email design. Available elements include: "Text", "Image", "Button", "Social", "Divider", "Spacer", "Product", "HTML", "View in browser", and "Footer". In this example, we will add an introductory text field for our form.
51. Once the elements are added, edit them to configure your email:
- In "Text", write your content applying rich formatting (bold, italics, links…), inserting dynamic variables, or modifying its layout within the inserted block.
- In "Image", paste the image URL to include it in your email if it is an image already published on the Internet. To upload from your device, click Upload image and select the file in the popup window. Once uploaded, the image URL will be set automatically.
- In "Button", define the text that will appear on your button, the ‘title’ attribute, select text and background colors, and adjust the layout within the block. To add the newsletter subscription confirmation link, click (Predefined link) and select the option "Confirm newsletter subscription", so it includes the predefined link that will update the subscription status in both Connectif and the eCommerce.
- (Optional). In "Social", choose the social networks you want to include and modify the link URL, as well as the layout within the block.
- In "View in browser", insert predefined text to add a link that allows viewing the email content in a browser window. The link is always “#__cn_view_in_browser” and is set by default. You can access its configuration through the Insert/Edit link option in the editor.
- In "Footer", insert a footer in your email where you can specify your company details and provide the customer with the option to unsubscribe or forward the email. The “Unsubscribe” link must always be present in newsletter-type emails and must always be “#__cn_unsubscribe”.
52. (Optional). If you have added variables, review and edit them to ensure how the content will appear to your contacts:
- Add or select in your design the component where you want to create a new variable and click (Edit element). In this example, we will add the variable to the text field to personalize the email with the contact’s name.
- In the editor, click on Variables.
- Assign an identifier to the variable to distinguish it. In this example, we will assign the identifier "Name".
- In Default value, add the value you want the variable to take when there is no data stored in the corresponding field. In this example, we will assign the default value "Hello".
- Click Accept to save the changes to the variable.
53. Click (Preview) to review and save the final result of your email, in desktop and/or mobile versions.
54. (Optional). Click (Send preview email) to receive a test email at the address you select and check how the customer will receive it.
55. Click Save to keep the changes in the design and then to finish configuring the node.
How to Configure the "Send email" Node for This Strategy
(This node will send the email you just created to the contact so they can confirm their newsletter subscription).
56. Once you have selected the email you just created, click Next .
57. In the Send to section, select "Contact".
58. Specify the email type as "Transactional".
59. Configure the Send to contact parameters with the sender email and reply-to email information.
60. In Google Analytics, click "Enable Google Analytics" and then click Next .
61. (Optional). If you created variables for your content, link them with Connectif fields by selecting the corresponding field from the left column and assigning it to the variable. In this example, the "Name" field will provide the value for the "Name" variable, used in both the subject and body of the email.
62. In Limitations, uncheck the box "Limit per contact".
63. Click Finish .
In this step, we sent an email to contacts to confirm their subscription through the link we added to the button. This link, besides activating the next node, will change the newsletter subscription status in the contact’s profile to "Subscribed".
STEP 9. Second "Send web content" Node
How to Create the Popup for This Strategy
(In this step, you will create the popup that will confirm the submission of the form you created in the previous lesson).
64. In the node selection menu, go to "Actions > Web" and drag the "Send web content" node into the editor, connecting it to the "On form submit" node.
65. Click (Edit node configuration) of the "Send web content" node and Create new content to generate new content.
66. When creating new web content, select Popup as the type, assign it a name, and click Create web content.
67. In the General tab, edit the general appearance parameters of your popup.
68. In the Components tab, configure the composition and add elements you want to your popup by clicking on them and dragging them into the editor.
If needed, all the steps to create a popup are available in this lesson.
69. Once created, click Save and then Return to selector to finish configuring the node.
How to Configure the "Send web content" Node for This Strategy
(This node will display the popup you just created to contacts who have submitted the form).
70. Once you have selected the popup you just created, click Next twice.
71. Click Finish .
In this step, we showed a popup to contacts who submitted the form to notify them that they should check their inbox and confirm their newsletter subscription through the email we sent.
Result
After completing these steps, you will have established the second part of this strategy. A confirmation popup will appear on your website for contacts who filled out the form, and they will receive the email to validate their subscription. Remember, this is only part of the strategy, so you will need to continue to complete it in the next lesson.
Continue Your Journey
Now that you have completed this lesson, finish configuring this strategy in your account by following the steps in the next article.
Congratulations!
You have reached the end of the lesson.
Return to the course
Access the full course index and explanation of each lesson at this link.
Related Readings
If you want to deepen your understanding of any of the topics covered in this lesson, you can access the documentation guide:
- Email Editor, to learn more about how to create your emails in Connectif.
- Links in emails, to review all the predefined links you can and should use in your emails.
- What variables are and how to use them, to make the most of them when creating your content.