Common Template & Campaign Errors in Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) - Blog: CRM Solutions & Industry News | AspenTech CRM - AMA_Error_Messages

How to Resolve Common Act! Marketing Automation Error Messages

Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) is a powerful drip emarketing program with many great features.  Because of it's complexity, we find that most new AMA users need some initial training.  We offer webinars covering AMA topics and we also offer custom training with your team using your systems. 

Just in case you haven't been in our trainings before or simply need a reminder, here are some common error messages you can get inside AMA and how to correct them.

In this article we cover errors that often happen when you attempt to activate a campaign.

UPDATE - We now have made a video demonstrating the content of this blog!  Please Note - if your video is blurry, we recommend changing your YouTube settings to High Definition.  This setting is normally on the bottom right of your YouTube video window. You can also choose to view in full screen.

Common Template & Campaign Errors in Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) - Blog: CRM Solutions & Industry News | AspenTech CRM - YouTube_HighDef_Settings2

Email Template Missing Required Links

All email templates require 3 merge fields.  These are usually in the footer area of the template.  All pre-made templates Act! provides for you already have these links there.  If you don't delete them, then no worries.  However, we find that many, many of our clients do accidently delete them in the beginning.

The three required fields are:

  • "Click Here to Unsubscribe"
  • "{YOURCOMPANY.NAME}"
  • "{YOURCOMPANY.ADDRESS}"

If you need to manually add them to your template:

  • Open the email step template
  • Go to "Special links" on the template editor to insert the unsubscribe link
  • Go to "Merge fields" on the template editor to insert the Company Name & Address merge fields (scroll to far bottom of list)
  • Want to customize how your address displays? Read this blog.

 

Common Template & Campaign Errors in Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) - Blog: CRM Solutions & Industry News | AspenTech CRM - AMA_Template_Links

Common Template & Campaign Errors in Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) - Blog: CRM Solutions & Industry News | AspenTech CRM - AMA_Template_Links2

Email Template Missing a Subject Line

Another common error is if users forget to add subject lines for emails.  This is especially common when you have multiple emails in a campaign.  If you forget to add a custom subject line in an email step, you will get an error message like in the picture below.

How to add a subject line:

  • Open the email step template
  • Actions > Properties
  • Enter a subject line
  • Update

Common Template & Campaign Errors in Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) - Blog: CRM Solutions & Industry News | AspenTech CRM - AMA_Template_Subject_Line

Other Campaign Design Error Messages

These errors are much less common, but good to mention anyways.  These often apply to more complex campaigns with many email steps or campaigns with decision logic steps.

"Specific Date" - Send date is in the past

  • Technically, this isn't an error.  It is simply a reminder.  At least one of your email steps, you chose a specific date and time for the email to go out.  One of those dates happens to be in the past.
  • If you ignore this warning, it will still let you activate the campaign, but your first campaign step will be bypassed
  • You can either, select a new date in the future
  • Or you can leave it as-is and the first step will not trigger

"Email does not have a branch"

Every path on a campaign must have an "End" step. When you make a decision step in the campaign, it creates a potential new path for recipients to follow depending on the logic you select. Sometimes people forget to put an "End" step on new paths they've created.  This can also happen if you have a decision step, but don't have both a "Yes" and "No" path defined.

How to add an "End" step to a path

  • Click on the step immediately above
  • Select "Insert Action After" from dropdown
  • Select Action Type of "End"
  • Go

Common Template & Campaign Errors in Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) - Blog: CRM Solutions & Industry News | AspenTech CRM - AMA_Campaign_Design_Errors

Need more assistance with your marketing efforts?

At AspenTech CRM, we meet these challenges head-on. We address every issue you might have with your CRM – whether it involves selection, technology, training, or process – and create a manageable plan. We then work with you to implement that plan so you can use your CRM to its fullest potential, giving you a 360° view of your customers – and your business. Call 866-880-4228 to start a conversation with one of our CRM experts.

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