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Marketing & Growth Systems

Marketing automation: one contact, many programs, one set of rules

Promotions, reminders, review requests and renewals all want to message the same customers, and each tool thinks it's the only one. Marketing automation puts them under one set of rules: who enters a program, what makes them leave, which message wins when two collide, and how often anyone hears from you at all.
Discuss your systemSee the rules ↓
C-0412 · J.P. · plan memberPlan renewalrenews Nov 14Review requestjob done Oct 8Fall tune-up promotionseason opensRules1 · priority: renewal,review, promotion2 · at most one messageevery 3 days3 · plan members get planscheduling, not promotionsJ.P.'s weekMonTueTuerenewal reminderWedThuFriFrireview requestFall tune-up promotionnot sent · plan member

Every program thinks it's the only one

Each program has its own reason to send. Without shared rules, the customer gets all of them at once.
Fall tune-up promotionThe season opens and the customer has a furnace on recordThey book, or the season closes
Review requestA job is done, paid and has no open issueThey leave a review, or 10 days pass
Plan renewalThe plan is 30 days from renewalThey renew, or decline
WelcomeA first job is completedThree messages are sent, or they book again

The rules every program follows

  1. 01

    Enrolment

    What puts someone in

    An event or a state: a job completed, a plan nearing renewal, a season opening. Not a list someone uploaded.

    people enrolled twice in the same program.

  2. 02

    Exit

    What takes them out

    The thing the program was for happened: they booked, renewed or reviewed. They leave at once.

    “book now” emails sent after the booking.

  3. 03

    Priority

    Who wins a collision

    When two programs want the same day, the more important one goes first and the other waits or drops.

    promotions outranking service messages.

  4. 04

    Frequency cap

    How often, at most

    One marketing message every three days, across every program. Service messages, like appointment reminders, don't count.

    caps set per tool instead of per person.

  5. 05

    Suppression

    Who never gets it

    No consent, an open complaint, or a plan that already covers the offer.

    suppression lists kept in one tool and not the others.

One week, three contacts

The same rules, three different weeks.

C-0412 · J.P.

  1. plan renewal reminder

    Tue

    sent

  2. review request

    Fri, three days after the renewal

    sent

  3. fall tune-up promotion

    plan members get plan scheduling instead

    not sent

Two messages, three days apart, both relevant. The promotion never had a chance.

What marketing automation hands off

In

Events and states
jobs, renewals, seasons
Programs
entry and exit rules
Consent and suppression
who never gets what
Rules
enrol → rank → cap → suppress

Out

Messages sent
each with its reason
Holds and drops
with why
Contact record
every program, every message

Worth building when programs start colliding

Good fit

  • More than two programs message the same customers.
  • Customers get overlapping or contradictory messages.
  • Bookings and renewals live in systems the programs can read.

Not the right fit

  • One newsletter and nothing else.
  • The programs can't see whether someone already booked.

Where the rules run

Next to marketing automation

Questions about marketing automation

Can't our email tool do this?

Within its own programs, often. The trouble starts when texts, reminders and promotions come from different tools that can't see each other. The rules have to sit above all of them.

Do appointment reminders count toward the cap?

No. Service messages a customer needs are kept separate from marketing, and never held back by it.

What happens to a held message?

It waits until the rule allows it, or drops if its reason has passed, like a promotion after the season.

How is consent handled?

Consent is a rule the system enforces for every program, using the rules you and your advisers set for where you operate.