Managing Direct Mail Campaigns

This article describes how to manage a Direct Mail Campaign within the FORTH CRM system. It is organized into the following sections:

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• How to Access
• How to Use
  • Preparing Your Data
  • Mail Leads Workflow
  • Field Mapping and Configuration
  • Searching and Converting Records as Leads
  • Tracking Conversions
• Assistance

Overview

The Direct Mail feature operates as a database that holds mail records. Since direct mail typically involves contacting potential leads with a low return rate, you would not want to create contacts for every mailer you send out. Instead, you can hold records in a separate database and convert records into a contact on demand.

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Prerequisites

Permissions active for "Direct Mail Manager", including "Upload Direct Mail Data". 
If you do not find the Mail Leads link on the Contacts tab of your CRM, contact 
Support@setforth.com to activate the Direct Mail Manager. There is no additional 
fee for this functionality.

How to Access

To begin, click the Contacts tab. From here, click Mail Leads in the navigation bar.

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How to Use

Preparing Your Data

Before uploading anything into the FORTH CRM, ensure your spreadsheet is properly formatted so the FORTH CRM can accurately parse the information. A CSV file is plain text or an "unformatted" spreadsheet from which to pull pull data records.

• File Format: The file must be saved as a CSV (Comma Delimited).
• Header Row: Your file must have a top row containing descriptive headers. This will make the upload mapping easier.
  • No Duplicates: Every header must be unique to prevent data loss.
  • No Special Characters: Avoid symbols like ! @ # $ % ^ & *.
  • Lowercase: If possible, use all lowercase for header titles.

• Consistency: If you run recurring campaigns, ask your marketing provider to use a consistently formatted spreadsheet file. This saves you from re-mapping fields during every upload.

Pro Tip: To remove duplicate records, clean your CSV file in Excel or Google Sheets before uploading to the CRM.

Example CSV file ready to be uploaded:

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Mail Leads Workflow

1. Access File Management: Click the File Management tab.
   
2. Review Options: Here, you can see the upload status of previous CSV files, you may export or purge or both export and then purge existing lists via the Export/Purge dropdown menu on the right side of the page, and you can upload a CSV file. 
   
   By selecting Export & Purge from the dropdown menu, you can purge the entire mail record database and send a CSV file containing all mail records directly to the email address of the User performing the purge.
   
    

To delete duplicate contacts, complete the following steps before proceeding:

Export the mailing list/database,
Delete the mailing list/database from the CRM,
Remove the duplicates from the CSV file and re-save it,
and then import the updated CSV file with the duplicate records removed.

3. Click Upload a CSV highlighted in the image below to find the preferred CSV file stored on your computer.
   

4. Select your file, and click Upload.

   Note: Processing time varies based on the number of records.

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Field Mapping and Configuration

Once the file is uploaded, a CSV Info & Field Mappings configuration popup will appear. This ensures the data in your CSV aligns with the fields in your CRM.

Field Mapping

• Campaign and Description: Select the campaign name from the Campaign Name dropdown menu, and provide a brief description of the campaign or CSV file for internal tracking in the Description field.
  
• Map Fields: Match the columns from your CSV to the corresponding Contact Fields in the CRM. Ensure that the columns in your CSV file are accurately mapped to the correct contact fields. These contact fields can be selected via the Contact Fields dropdown menu at the bottom right of the popup. 
• Click Next.

Recommendation: Map your "Reference ID" or "Mail ID" to the External ID field. 
This allows you to search for converted contacts later using their original mailer ID.

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Conversion Settings

After clicking Next, a Lead Conversion Preferences popup will open. Here you can define how these records should behave when they are converted into contacts by selecting the following from the appropriate dropdown menu.

• File Type: Choose the lead category (e.g.,Debt Settlement, Student Loans, General/Not Defined, Business Loans, Debt Validation).
• Stage/Status: Select the initial workflow status (e.g., Underwriting, Servicing, Inactive, Active Legal, Completed Client, or Test).
• Data Source: Assign the specific marketing source for ROI tracking.(Each option includes the List ID and the Name Assigned to that List

See the example of this popup below.

After clicking Next again, after a minute or two, you will see an Import Report (see sample report below), providing you information on:

• Number of Total Rows in the File
• Number of Duplicate Rows in the File
• Number of Duplicate Rows in the Lead Database
• Number of Rows with Missing Data
• Number of Total Rows Imported

To proceed, click Finish to complete the import. The system will update the table on the File Management tab as shown in the example below.

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Searching and Converting Records as Leads

Once your data is live, you can search and convert records as leads engage with your campaign.

Searching Records

• Go to Contacts > Mail Leads.
• Use the Search field to find a specific lead. If you mapped an "External ID," you can search specifically by that identifier.

Managing and Converting Leads

Click the ellipses (three dots) next to a record to see your options:

• Convert to New Contact: Opens the "Add Contact" page with the mailer data pre-populated.
  
• Link with Existing Contact: Merges the mailer data with a contact already in your CRM.
  
• Delete: Immediately removes the record permanently with NO confirmation prompt - USE WITH CAUTION. 
  

Tracking Conversions

Once a record is converted, the system creates a log in the History subtab of the Client Dashboard, providing a clear audit trail of the lead's origin.

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Assistance

For further assistance, reach out to support@setforth.com.

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