Meticulous auditing and adherence to best practices during email campaign creation are paramount for ensuring a successful outreach strategy. Conducting a thorough audit guarantee that critical elements such as audience segmentation, content relevance, and compliance with deliverability standards are in place, contributing to higher engagement rates and optimal inbox placement. By embracing best practices, hotel marketers not only enhance the overall effectiveness of their campaigns but also uphold the reputation of their sender domain, fostering long-term success in email marketing initiatives.

Ensure that you have built a Template & Segment before reviewing the checklist below.

The below checklist outlines system & campaign best practices that should be reviewed before pressing SEND on your Cendyn CRM campaign. The below sections follow the Campaign editor tabs. 

Basic

• Consider utilizing a structured nomenclature for your Campaign Name. This way all your campaigns have a similar structure, and types of campaigns can easily identify in reporting. 
• Campaign Description is useful to highlight the purpose of the campaign and is for internal stakeholders.
• Optional Folder is used by hotels that want to segment types of campaigns into custom filing system. The folders and subfolders feature will allow you to organize your campaigns, templates, automation, landing pages, workflows, and forms.

Channels

• Be sure to select the distribution channel for your marketing message. By default, the email channel is selected as a default. Other channels like SMS are considered add-ons and incur extra costs. If a channel is unavailable to select, please contact your Client Success Manager to review your plan.
• A blue border around the channel is active; no border is inactive. 

Segment (also known as - Campaign Target Audience)

• A campaign segment should be created in order to assign the segment to a campaign. 
• The target campaign audience should be segmented, tailoring the message to the specific audience. Sending to a large un-segmented and un-engaged audience can cause damage to your domain reputation.
• You can select multiple segments. However, each segment should have contacts. A segment with 0 contacts can cause your campaign to not be sent.
• If your template includes purchase tags, the segment must include purchase filters. Failure to include purchase filters will block the campaign from being sent.
• Ensure that your marketing campaign segment removes applicable exclusions. For example, OTA disposable domains should be removed or perhaps your campaign should not be delivered to future stay reservations.
• Consider validating emails to confirm it's comprised of valid email addresses to ensure your campaign reaches its final destination: the inbox. 
• For a daily campaign/automation, does the audience include filters that ensure that it will only send once to a given guest? The system allows you to enable a flag ("Check to only send this campaign once per users" under the schedule tab) to ensure campaigns are only sent once per user. However, we don't recommend this option for pre/post-stay campaigns, as the system would prevent repeat stays/customers from getting subsequent campaigns.

Message

• Enter the Sender Name. Send a test campaign to ensure that your Sender Name (also known as the Friendly from Name) is not truncated.
• Check the Sender Name for misspellings.
• Enter your Sender Email Address. Cendyn CRM allows for the hotel to type anything to the left of the @ sign (or domain). Make sure that the email address is easily identified by the recipient and is properly typed (check for misspellings). For example, utilize HotelName@domain.com or Hotel_Mktg@domain.com vs hmdept@domain.com.  
• The Sender Email Address should avoid general "info", or "no-reply" addresses so that recipients are less likely to report your email as spam. 
• When selecting the sending domain, ensure that you are using marketing domains for marketing campaigns and transactional domains for transactional campaigns. Marketing & Transactional campaigns should utilize different domains, as a recommended standard best practice.
• Upon selecting the domain, it is also a great reminder to ensure that your domain is properly authenticated. Failure to do this can result in a high percentage of bounces and/or emails landing in spam. Cendyn CRM allows you to create and re-verify all domain DNS configurations under Account Settings.
• Ensure the subject line is relevant to the copy and the audience receiving the email. Create a sense of urgency and personalize copy to make the most impact. We recommend staying under 40 characters.
• The Reply to Email should be a working email that allows your customers to interact with your campaigns. We do not suggest the use of a no-reply email. 
• For hotel marketers, using pre-header text can be particularly effective in highlighting special offers, upcoming events, or personalized messages that encourage guests to engage with your content. Stay under 50 characters so important information remains visible on most devices.
• Be sure to select the correct template. Ensure the copy is concise, typo-free, easy to reach, and personalized to keep your guest's attention.

Schedule

• Schedule delivery for optimal open times.
• Transactional Campaigns: In Cendyn CRM, transactional campaigns (i.e. Confirmation, modification, cancellation campaigns) are triggered automatically and cannot have their frequency adjusted. 
• Automation Campaigns, such as pre-stay emails or newsletter sign-ups campaigns, allow for the frequency adjustments to suit the specific campaign's requirements.
• Review frequency/schedule for repeat campaigns.

Review & Send

• Ensure all fields are correct and there are no mis-typed words.
• Review that the chosen template is correct for the targeted audience.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page to review the total emails that were included in your segments. 
• Please consider to always send several tests or approvals to ensure usability and design elements render correctly across devices.
• Final step is to press Schedule.

In conclusion, diligently completing this comprehensive checklist ensures that your email campaign is not only well-crafted and compelling but also optimized for deliverability and audience engagement. By incorporating these best practices and system configurations, you set the stage for a successful and impactful email marketing endeavor, securing positive outcomes for both your brand and your recipients.