Communication with candidates and contacts is vital for the recruitment industry and therefore the ability to send e-shots is key functionality.
Adapt integrates with MailChimp which enables users to synchronise Contacts to MailChimp lists, send Campaigns from MailChimp and have the reporting data synchronised back into Adapt.
Adapt also provides a tool for sending batch emails from a saved search result.
This document describes the various processes for recruiters to send mass communication from Adapt, explaining the benefits of each method and things to consider. This should enable the user to decide which option is best for them.
Each Candidate or Contact should have their Eshot permission field set to Yes, to ensure the communication is sent. Users should ensure they have the individual's permission to send Eshots.
Adapt GDPR Eshot Default Setting Changes
With the release of Adapt 2.8, all new Candidate and Contract records have the Eshot and Can SMS? fields set to No by default, thus forcing users to facilitate a physical opt in to marketing communication for Individuals.
If all records selected in a search result have Eshot set to No, the Eshot cannot be sent and a message will display:
“The email could not be sent to any of selected people because they do not have valid email addresses on file or do not wish to be contacted via eshot”.
Enable override on Batch Eshots for Candidates
Release Adapt 2.9 has implemented an over-ride when sending batch Eshots to Candidate. It is set in the Adapt Manager and Administrator profiles and will be set to No by default. If this field is set to Yes, when sending a Batch eshot on the following batch workflows
Acknowledge CV on Candidate search results
Candidates Consent/Permission on Candidate search results
Candidate Eshot on Candidate search results
users will be asked if they wish to override the preferences of any Candidates who have their Eshot preference set to No.
1. Sending Batch Eshots from Adapt
Adapt has a batch e-shot facility for candidates and contacts which is accessed from a search result.
Create a search in Adapt of the records required for the e-shot. In this example, we want to e-shot all Contacts to wish them a Merry Christmas!
Select ‘Contact Search’ and set status to ‘Active’, then select ‘Run Search’:
The search results will return all your active Contacts. Save the search results by clicking on ‘Save Results’ and naming the search. Use the ‘Formatter tool’ to display further information such as Email address.
Using the batch workflow, select the search results required and choose ‘Contact E-shot’.
Select the appropriate template, add a subject and attach any documents required before selecting ‘send’.
Note: The templates used are amended by the Adapt System Administrator or Erecruit Representative. Please contact them to check or change the content of a template.
Erecruit has designed this solution to enable the ‘from’ email address to match the email domain that the mail server controls thus ensuring emails will not be flagged as spam. The consultants email address is set as the ‘reply to’ address to make sure any replies go back to the consultant.
Benefits:
Merge fields are available from Adapt to enable personalisation of emails using greetings such as ‘salutation’ e.g. Dear ‘Robert’.
Users can preview the email to proof check it before it is sent.
A batch record will be created and any documents sent as attachments to the Eshot are stored against this record. The record will show the status of the Eshot and enable the user to view the template and any attachments sent. A ‘Failed Report’ will also be stored here if there are any invalid recipients. It is important the user views this report after submitting the Eshot to check the non-recipients and correct any data anomalies. Direct links to all the records emailed are available under ‘Linked Persons’.
The consultant’s Adapt journal will be updated to show an e-shot has been sent with a link to the batch Eshot record (as described above) displaying all the details.
The entire process is run from within Adapt.
Things to consider:
The formatting of the e-shot templates is limited. The text of the e-shot can be changed and a single image or logo can be added. (Note: This is done by the Adapt System Administrator or your Erecruit representative)
Analytics about the success of the e-shot are not available.
2. Sending Eshots from Outlook using Blind Copy
Users can send an e-shot directly from Outlook using recipient email addresses held in Adapt.
Create a search in Adapt of the records required for the e-shot (as in option 1). Save the search result by clicking on ‘Save Results’ and naming the search. Use the ‘Formatter tool’ to display the candidate email address.
Select ‘Options’ and ‘Export as CSV’.
Once opened, the results are sorted into MS Excel columns. The list can now be filtered or amended as required.
Select and copy all the email addresses from the email column and paste into the ‘bcc’ field of a new email.
Create the communication text in the email body, add a subject and attach any documents required before sending.
Benefits:
The email is sent from the user’s own email address.
The formatting can be designed by the user before sending.
The user can preview the email first, plus check their sent items and receive exceptions / out of office responses.
Things to consider:
The user cannot use merge fields to enable personalisation of emails. A generic greeting has to be used e.g. Hello
Analytics about the success of the e-shot are not available.
There is no automatic journal update within Adapt. The solution for this is to run the batch action ‘Add journal note’ from the search results. This will add a journal entry to each record selected from the search.
3. Sending E-shots using the MailChimp integration with Adapt
The Adapt integration with MailChimp offers users the ability to synchronise contacts (Candidates, Contacts or Leads in Adapt) to their Mailchimp lists, send Campaigns from Mailchimp, and have the reporting data synchronised back into Adapt.
Pre-Requisites
Users of this integration need to set up their own MailChimp account and generate an API key. MailChimp currently offers users a basic free account on sign-up.
Use https://login.mailchimp.com/signup/ to sign up and once done, use Extras to create an API key. Take note of the Mailchimp username and API key as these are needed to integrate with Adapt.
Users can choose to have one MailChimp account per Client, or set up individual accounts for each user on their Employee record in the Administrator profile.
Please contact your Erecruit representative to set up this integration. They will require the username, an API Key and an email address.
How to use Mailchimp within Adapt
In Mailchimp, a user creates ‘Lists’ for any marketing campaigns:
The next step is to assign some contacts/subscribers to that list. A list can be populated by exporting contacts from a search result in Adapt.
In Adapt, run a person search for the marketing list in the normal way. Save the results, select all, then click on the Batch menu and select the new ‘Export to Mailchimp’ option.
When the integration is set up, the user will be able to select their Mailchimp list from the dropdown menu.
To export the search results to the list selected, the user just needs to click the ‘Export Candidates/Contacts to Mailchimp’ button, and Adapt will do the rest in the background.
Note: Users must ensure that they are only exporting contacts that have given their consent to be contacted using this method, or have ‘Subscribed’ to receive this type of marketing information.
When the user checks Mailchimp again, they will see that the contacts in the Adapt search result selected, now appear in the relevant list.
Note. Mailchimp will disregard duplicate entries, so if more than one contact is exported with the same email address, only one will be imported.
Once the contacts have been imported into the selected Mailchimp list, users can create a Mailchimp Campaign using the Campaign tab.
Once the user clicks on Send, the Campaign will be queued up in Mailchimp and subsequently delivered:
Adapt will periodically check in with Mailchimp for updates to campaigns and display the information from the Mailchimp campaign in a new Campaign record within Adapt.
The Campaign record can be found using Searches -> Home -> Mailchimp:
The campaign record shows details such as: Date and Time it was sent, Total Opens, Total Clicks, Bounced emails and Unsubscribed contacts and a list of contacts under Linked Members.
The user can click onto any of the contacts under Linked Members to access those records. Each person record in Adapt now has a new page called Marketing which shows details of which lists they belong to and which campaigns have been sent to them, along with the highlighted Campaign statistics. The Campaign record can also be accessed from here:
Finally, to help Marketeers keep an eye on campaign performance without logging out of Adapt and into Mailchimp, a new MailChimp Campaigns widget has been created in My Studios for users to view all campaigns in one place with an overview of the statistics, such as the sent date and the number opened and unsusbscribed. Obviously users have access to a full graphical suite of reports within Mailchimp itself for comprehensive reporting.
Benefits:
The software allows for complex formatting and design work by the user and enables embedded links within the email body to other documents e.g. CVs.
Users can see a formatted preview of their campaign within MailChimp.
MailChimp offers analytics regarding the success of the e-shot such as the number of readers that clicked to open. Some of this Campaign information is available to view within Adapt.
Things to consider:
The software is separate to Adapt, therefore there may be a cost involved in setting up an account.
4. Sending E-shots using other third-party mail campaign software
Recruiters can use recipient email addresses held in Adapt to send a dedicated mail campaign software e-shot.
Create a search in Adapt of the records required for the e-shot (as above).
Save the search results by clicking on ‘Save Results’ and naming the search.
Use the ‘Formatter tool’ to display the candidate email address and other desired information such as ‘salutation’.
Select the relevant search results, then ‘Options’ and ‘Export as CSV’.
This will create a CSV file in Excel which can be used to upload to a third-party mail campaign software, such as Hub Spot.
Note: Some third-party mail campaign basic software is offered for free or at least a free trial is available.
Benefits:
The software allows for complex formatting and design work by the user and enables embedded links within the email body to other documents e.g. CVs.
The user can preview the e-shot first and select the ‘from’ and ‘reply to’ addresses to be used.
Merge fields can be used if supplied in the CSV. This may enable personalisation of emails using greetings such as ‘salutation’ e.g. Dear ‘Robert’ and the subject line.
Mail campaign software accounts usually offer some level of analytics regarding the success of the e-shot such as the number of readers that clicked to open.
Things to consider:
There is no automatic journal update within Adapt. The solution for this is to run the batch ‘add journal note’ process from the search results. This will add a journal entry to each record selected from the search.
The software is separate to Adapt, therefore there may be a cost involved in setting up an account.