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Creating Campaigns

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Forest Myers
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Campaigns are any marketing initiative for which you would like to track results.

When deciding what to track, it is best to be as granular as possible, as you can always tag multiple small campaigns together into a group.

This article will detail how to create a campaign.

 


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Navigating the Attributions Page

The Attributions page houses all of your various campaigns. From there, you can create, modify, and view your campaigns.

To navigate and view your campaigns, do the following:

  1. Click Campaigns > Campaigns in SharpSpring's left toolbar.



  2. Select which campaign activity will be displayed from the Activity drop-down menu - either Active, Inactive, or Active and Inactive.
  3. Select which campaign channels will be displayed from the Channels drop-down menu:

       •   All Channels
       •   Social Media
       •   Email
       •   Paid Search

       •   Referral/Affiliate
       •   Event
       •   Direct Mail
       •   Offline
  4. Enter a word in the  search.png  Search field to display all campaigns with the word in their title.
  5. Choose how to display campaigns:
    • Click  layout5.png  List to display campaigns in a list of 10 per page.
    • Click  layout7.png  Grid to display campaigns in a grid of 16 per page. 


    Click to enlarge.


Creating New Campaigns

You can create different campaigns to suit your needs. 

To get started with creating a new campaign, do the following: 

  1. Click Campaigns > Campaigns in SharpSpring's left toolbar.

    Campaigns_Step1.png

     

  2. Click Create Campaign.

    Click to enlarge.

Return to the main Attribution page at any time by clicking arrow-left3.png Back in the Save Changes bar.


Building Campaigns

When building a campaign, you will need to fill out general information, enter tracking data, set the campaign duration and attribution weight, and choose whether to track social posts.

To access these fields, create or edit a campaign.

Entering General Information

Once you have created a campaign, you will need to enter relevant information. To start, you will need to provide a title and campaign type.

To enter general campaign information, scroll to the General Information section:

  1. Enter a campaign title in the Title text field.
  2. Select one of the following from the Channel drop-down menu:

       •   Social Media
       •   Email
       •   Paid Search
       •   Referral/Affiliate

       •   Event
       •   Direct Mail

       •   Offline
  3. Select the desired campaign tag from the Tags drop-down menu.

    Note: Click Manage Tags to open the Tag Manager. You will be able to create campaign tags there.
  4. Click Save Changes.

    Click to enlarge.


Tracking Campaigns

After you have entered general campaign information, you can assign the campaign with relevant tracking data.

In SharpSpring, campaign tracking options are used to assign a lead to a campaign by clicking a specific link. UTM parameters are a means of assigning a lead to a campaign. This means that when a contact is created in SharpSpring, there is information on file on where that lead came from.

UTM parameters in SharpSpring require one unique identifying parameter. This parameter is whatever you want it to be. Consider the following examples:

  • UTM=PandoraAD1
  • UTM=DecEmail
  • UTM=holidaypromo

To use a UTM parameter, you would need to add the snippet at the end of any link, separated by a ? character:

www.site.com?UTM=PandoraAD1

The entire UTM link would be used as a tracking identifier for things like a call to action in an email, a URL redirect for an ad, or to link to a social media post. When a tracked lead meets any of these campaign tracking criteria, the lead will be associated with the campaign.

Important: Tracking rules can have only one UTM parameter per rule. Tracking rules will not function if more than one parameter is set to them.

To add UTM parameters and tracking data to campaigns, scroll to the Tracking section:

  1. Click + Tracking Rule.

    Click to enlarge.

  2. Select the desired site from the Tracking Rule drop-down menu.
  3. Optionally, enter a UTM parameter in the Tracking Rule text field.

    Note: Do not using spaces when creating UTM parameters. Parameters without spaces promote consistent tracking.
  4. Click Save Changes.

    Click to enlarge.

Repeat the above steps as necessary. Click  12close.png Remove to remove a tracking entry.


Setting Campaign Duration  

Once you have set any relevant tracking data, you can determine how long the campaign will run for.

To set durations for campaigns, scroll to the Duration section:

  1. Select either Perpetual Campaign or Specific Date Range.
  2. If you selected Specific Date Range, select the desired starting and ending date from the  calendar2.png  calendar menu.
  3. Click Save Changes. 

    Click to enlarge.


Weighting Attribution

After setting the campaign's duration, you can configure how impactful you want the campaign to be when compared to other campaigns.

To set attribution weight, scroll to the Attribution Weight section:

  1. Click-and-drag the slider to the desired impact level.
  2. Click Save Changes.

    Click to enlarge.


Tracking Social Posts

Once you have weighted your campaign's impact, you can determine whether the campaign will track social posts. This means that when leads click the a specific link in a social media post, they will be added to the campaign that was attributed to that post.

To set campaigns to track social posts, scroll to the Social Tracking section:

  1. Select or deselect the Allow social posts to be associated with this campaign checkbox.
  2. Click Save Changes.

    Click to enlarge.


Editing Campaigns 

There may come a time when you need to edit how a campaign functions. Campaigns can be edited and saved as necessary.

To edit campaigns, do the following:

  1. Click Campaigns > Campaigns in SharpSpring's left toolbar.



  2. Hover over the desired campaign and click  12pencil.png  Edit.

    Click to enlarge.

  3. Make any necessary edits and then click Save Changes.

    Click to enlarge.


Creating Folders 

You can sort and house campaigns in folders. 

To create campaign folders, do the following:

  1. Click Campaigns > Campaigns in SharpSpring's left toolbar.



  2. Click Create Folder.
  3. Enter a name for the folder and then press Enter on your keyboard or click outside of the text field.

    Click to enlarge.

If you do not have folders available, campaigns will be deposited in the All folder by default.


Editing and Deleting Folders

If you no longer like a folder's name, you can edit it and rename it to something else. If you no longer need a folder, you can delete it. 

To edit folder names or delete a folder, do the following:

  1. Click Campaigns > Campaigns in SharpSpring's left toolbar.



  2. Hover over the desired folder. To:
    • Edit the folder name: Click  12pencil.png  Edit and enter a name for the folder. Press Enter on your keyboard or click outside of the text field.
    • Delete a folder: Click  12close.png  Delete and then click Delete again.

      Click to enlarge.

 

Moving Campaigns into Folders  

You can move campaigns from one folder into another.

To move campaigns into folders, do the following:

  1. Click Campaigns > Campaigns in SharpSpring's left toolbar.



  2. Hover over the desired campaign and click  12more.png  Options.
  3. Hover over Move to folder.
  4. Select the desired folder in the list that appears.

    Click to enlarge.


Deactivating and Reactivating Campaigns 

Campaigns cannot be deleted. They can, however, be deactivated. Deactivated campaigns will not create or store interactions.

After deactivating, campaigns can be reactivated. When activated, the campaign will resume creating and storing interactions. If your campaign has been inactive for some time, consider reviewing and editing any necessary campaign settings.

To deactivate or reactivate campaigns, do the following:

  1. Click Campaigns > Campaigns in SharpSpring's left toolbar.

  2. To:
    • Deactivate: Select Active from the Activity drop-down menu. Hover over the desired campaign, click  12more.png  Options > Deactivate.

      Click to enlarge.

    • Reactivate: Select Inactive from the Activity drop-down menu. Hover over the desired campaign, click  12more.png  Options > Activate.

      Click to enlarge.

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