Define an Automated Marketing Plan

Create the Marketing Plan

1. At Home Base, click Utilities.
2. On the Utility Manager screen, open the General folder in the treeview.
3. Open the Activity Defaults folder and select Define Marketing Plans.
4. Click the arrow to continue. The Manage Marketing Plans screen displays the previously defined marketing plans in the list.
   
   The following buttons are available:
   • Add: Add a new marketing plan.
   • Revise: Revise an existing marketing plan.
   • Delete: Delete highlighted marketing plan.
   • View: View the details of the highlighted marketing plan without modifying it. This data is not revisable. To revise, click the Revise button instead.
   • Print: Print the Marketing Plan Report.
   • Exit: Exit the utility.
5. To add a new marketing plan, click Add and enter a three-character code for the marketing plan in the Code field. Make the code descriptive enough that you can remember it later. You may not revise the code of an existing marketing plan.
   
   To revise an existing marketing plan, click Revise. Applied TAM displays the previously installed selections for the marketing plan as default values. Use those default values as displayed or change them as needed.
   
   Note: While you may revise existing marketing plans, use caution because revisions to the plans may cause problems with existing activity file entries.
6. Enter a description for the marketing plan in the Description field.
7. Click OK.
8. Click Yes or No to indicate whether the marketing plan involves automated direct mailings. If you click Yes, Applied TAM automatically queues formletters for a prospect or customer as part of the plan after a specified number of days. Go to step 9.
   
   If you click No to indicate that you do not want automated direct mailings, select the activity category from the list presented to serve as the first step of the marketing plan. The first step in a marketing plan is used to generate statistics to gauge the effectiveness of the plan. If you press [ENTER] without entering an activity category, Applied TAM indicates that no first step has been defined. If you enter a new activity category code, Applied TAM reminds you to install that activity category upon completion of the marketing plan definition. (See Define Activity Categories.) Click OK.
   
   Note: If you chose not to use automated direct mailings as part of the marketing plan, the marketing plan definition process is complete at this point.
9. Indicate whether the campaign is geared toward current agency Customers or Prospects by selecting the appropriate radio button.
10. Indicate the number of different letters, from 1 to 9, to queue automatically for each client for whom the marketing plan is initiated. For example, to automatically queue and send four letters to each client, enter 4.
11. If you entered a number greater than 1 in the previous step, indicate the number of days apart to send each letter. For example, to send each letter 28 days after the previous letter, enter 28.
12. Select Yes or No to indicate whether or not to manually follow up on each letter sent to the client or prospect. If you select the Yes radio button, go to step 13.
    
    If you select No, Applied TAM does not create follow-ups to the letters. Applied TAM takes no action except to queue the next letter in the marketing plan on the appointed day if the Activity file entry related to the first letter has not been closed before that date. Go to step 15.
13. If you chose to manually follow up on each letter, specify the number of days after the letter is printed that a follow-up should be filed regarding that letter. For example, to file a follow-up on each letter one week after the letter is printed, enter 7. TAM files a follow-up and queues the next letter in the chain only if you have not closed the Activity file entry regarding the first letter before the follow-up date.
14. Choose who should typically follow up on each marketing plan letter by selecting one of the following radio buttons: CSR, Producer, Operator, or Other.
15. Click OK.
16. The Letter Batch Code window displays. Select the type of paper on which to print the letters by clicking the appropriate option and then clicking OK.
17. You return to the Manage Marketing Plans window. Return to step 5 to define additional marketing plans, or click Exit to close the window.

Revise the Letters

Applied TAM generates blank marketing letters for each stage of the automated marketing plan. The formletter files are given names that begin with the three-character marketing plan code, the letters LETR, a number to indicate their stage in the marketing plan, and an ".RTF" filename extension. For example, in marketing plan MRK with four automated formletters, the formletters are given filenames as follows:

• MRKLETR1.RTF
• MRKLETR2.RTF
• MRKLETR3.RTF
• MRKLETR4.RTF

To revise a letter, do the following:

1. If you just completed the marketing plan, from the General folder, choose the Document Setup option and click the arrow and skip to step 3. Otherwise, access Utility Manager (from Home Base, click Utilities).
2. Open General > Document Maintenance, click Document Setup, and click the arrow.
3. The Customer Formletters window displays. Choose Customers or Prospects, depending on the option you chose when defining the marketing plan.
4. The letters that correlate with your marketing plan display. There should be the same number of letters on the Customer Formletter screen as you specified on the Define Marketing Plan screen.
5. Find the first letter and click the Revise button. The Name, Description, Marketing Plan, Activity Category, and Print Batch default based on your settings on the Define Marketing Plan screen.
6. If you need a form to associate to this letter, choose it from the Associated Form area.
7. Specify whether Claim, Contact, or Commercial Info Screen information should be included in the letter as well.
8. Choose an Attachment Category so that letters that are attached to the customer or prospect have the appropriate category.
9. Click the Edit button. A blank Microsoft Word document displays.
10. Create the first letter for the marketing plan. To incorporate data variables from Applied TAM, click Add-Ins > Applied > Data.
    
    Note: See TAM Word Interface for help with this.
11. Once you have finished the letter, click Add-Ins > Applied > Save & Exit.
12. You are prompted to save your changes. Click Yes.
13. At the Customer Formletters window, continue steps 3-10 with each letter until you are finished all of the marketing letters.
14. Click Cancel to exit Customer Formletters and return to the Utility Manager.
15. Test adding the letters manually at the client level to verify they are set up as desired.

Revising the Activities

Activity categories, which consist of the three-character marketing plan code and the sequential number of the corresponding formletter, are assigned to each formletter. When the formletter is queued for a client, an entry is filed in the Activity file with the corresponding activity category. No further installation is required for the formletters and activity categories for the marketing plan.

To view these activities and their codes, follow the steps in the Define Activity Categories article.

Running the Marketing Letter Wizard

Once the activities and formletters are set up to your satisfaction, the marketing plan is ready to execute.

Keep the following in mind:

• If there is a criteria option for Record Listings, be sure to select Only One per Customer so that each customer receives only one letter.

• On the right side of the Criteria screen, there is an option to Sort by Customer, CSR, or Zipcode if desired.

See Run the Marketing Letters Wizard for instructions.