A solicitation is an organizing function that allows you to track responses by targeted groups. The solicitation is a series of source codes that requests a response from contacts and prospects (such as a reply, donation, or purchase). Using source codes, you create solicitations to target a specific marketing appeal for different groups of contacts and prospects. Solicitations can be in the form of letters, phone calls, personal conversations, or other methods of contact.
Solicitation level in campaign hierarchy
Solicitations can be:
■ Message-based – The message is divided into different letter contents or package concepts. For example, if a mailing has an inexpensive package that will be sent to contacts who are least likely to respond, you can set up one solicitation for the less expensive package and a separate one for the more expensive package.
■ External group-based – Different messages are sent to targeted groups of contacts.
■ Internal group-based – Different messages are sent by different groups within your organization.
Organizations with multiple source codes within their organization probably need to measure responses in groups of source codes as well as at the source code level itself. See Setting up complex campaigns.
To create a solicitation
Before you begin
You must define one or more appeals before you define solicitations.
1. Select Marketing > Campaign management.
2. Select a campaign and then select an appeal.
3. Click the Solicitations tab.
4. Click Add a Solicitation.
5. Define the solicitation:
□ Enter a Name.
□ Select a Status (Active or Inactive).
■ If the status is changed from Active to Inactive, the status of all child entities is set to Inactive.
■ If the status is changed from Inactive to Active, the status of child entities is not affected.
■ The status of a child entity cannot be changed to Active if any parent entities have an Inactive status.
6. (optional) Enter a Start Date and an End Date.
7. (optional) Enter a Display Predicted Response Rate (the estimated percentage of contacts that will respond to the appeal), Description, Reminder Date, and Last Response Date.
8. Click Save.
The system displays the status on the Summary tab. Click on the link for more details.
Tips
■ Combine multiple source codes and list sources into a single solicitation.
■ Use consistent naming conventions when creating solicitations.