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Distribute Newsletters Based on Demographics

Using BannerRoster and BannerMailer to send newsletters based on member demographics involves the following steps:

  1. Create a member level (optional).
  2. Create an opt-in member field (only needs to be done once).
  3. Create member fields to match demographics.
  4. Apply member fields to the member level.
  5. Import your list of members.
  6. Create a member set based on demographics.
  7. Configure BannerMailer to send to BannerRoster members (only needs to be done once).
  8. Send your newsletter to the chosen member set.

1. Create Member Level (optional)

BannerRoster comes pre-installed with a single Membership level. This member level may be good enough for your needs, however if you have multiple sets of members with different sets of demographic fields, you may wish to create additional Member Levels. If all your members have the same set of demographics fields, then you only need one member level and you can skip this step.

To create a new member level:

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerRoster.
  2. From the BannerRoster Dashboard, in the top navigation click the BannerRoster menu and choose Member Levels > Add New.
  3. Enter a Member Level Name for this member level, to distinguish it from other levels.
  4. Assuming you are using BannerRoster only for newsletter sending purposes and your members will not be registering themselves or logging in to your website, locate the field labeled "Display Description on Registration Form?" and set it to "Hide Level". You can leave the remaining fields at their default settings.
  5. Click Continue / Save.

Your new member level has now been created.

2. Create an Opt-In Member Field (only needs to be done once)

When using BannerRoster combined with BannerMailer to send newsletters to members, you must create an Opt-In field. This is a checkbox type field that controls whether or not each member will receive your newsletter. This field is required in order to maintain CAN-SPAM compliancy, allowing recipients to unsubscribe from receiving future newsletters from you. If you already have an Opt-In checkbox field, you can skip this step.

To create an opt-in field:

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerRoster.
  2. From the BannerRoster Dashboard, in the top navigation click the BannerRoster menu and choose Configure Fields. The Configure Fields page lists all of the member form fields that can be applied to any member level.
  3. Click the Add New Form Field button.
  4. Enter a Field Label such as "Opt-In to Email Communications" or something similar.
  5. In the Field Type drop down, choose Checkbox.
  6. Enter a Script ID, such as "OptIn".
  7. The remaining fields can be left at their default settings. Click Verify, then Save.

Your opt-in field is now created. You'll add this opt-in field to your member level(s) in a future step.

3. Create Member Fields to Match Demographics

In this step, you will create the demographics fields needed to import your member data. Member fields only need to be created once, and can be applied to multiple member levels if desired.

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerRoster.
  2. From the BannerRoster Dashboard, in the top navigation click the BannerRoster menu and choose Configure Fields. The Configure Fields page lists all of the member form fields that can be applied to any member level. The system comes pre-installed with fields for First Name, Last Name, Email, Password, and Address.
  3. Click the Add New Form Field button.
  4. Enter a Field Label.
  5. Choose a Field Type. In most cases, you'll choose Text. Refer to the descriptions inside the drop down for an explanation of each field type.
  6. Enter a Script ID. This is a unique value to distinguish this field from other fields. In most cases you can use the Field Label as the Script ID, however no two fields can have the same Script ID.
  7. The remaining fields can be left at their default settings. Click Verify, then Save. (If you get an error saying the Script ID is already in use, go back and modify the Script ID so it is unique.)
  8. Repeat this process for every member demographic field as needed.

4. Apply Member Fields to the Member Level

Once you've created all the necessary member fields, you must apply them to the appropriate member level.

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerRoster.
  2. From the BannerRoster Dashboard, in the top navigation click the BannerRoster menu and choose Member Levels > Manage.
  3. Locate the member level you wish to apply fields to, click the arrow on the far right side, and choose "Manage Registration Form" from the drop down.
  4. This page lists all of the member fields currently attached to this level. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Attach Form Field button.
  5. This page displays a multi-select list of all available member form fields. Scroll through the list and select each field that you wish to apply to this level. To select multiple fields, you must hold the CNTRL or CMD keyboard button while clicking each field name. Remember to also select the Opt-In field that you created in an earlier step. This opt-in field will be required in a future step when importing your members and configuring BannerMailer to send to them.
  6. After all the appropriate fields are selected, click Attach. Your member fields have now been applied to the chosen member level.

5. Import Your List of Members

After you've created all the necessary member fields and applied them to your member level, you can now import your members using a CSV file.

IMPORTANT: Your CSV file must contain a column called "Opt-In" or something similar, with the value "1" for all individuals that should be opted in to your mailing list. (Entering the value "0" in any row is equivalent to that member being opted out.)

To import your list:

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerRoster.
  2. From the BannerRoster Dashboard, in the top navigation click the Members menu and choose Import.
  3. Select the file you wish to import.
  4. Choose the appropriate file format of the file you chose.
  5. Choose your Duplicate Records option. This option compares each email address in your CSV with the email addresses already imported into the system. If you choose "Ignore Duplicates", any row from your CSV file which has an email address already present in BannerRoster will be ignored. If you choose "Upate Duplicates", any row from your CSV file which has an email address already present in the system will be used to update that member's data based on the new data in the CSV file.
  6. Click Continue. The next page shows a list of each column from your CSV on the left side, with a drop down for each row that allows you to choose the equivalent member form field. Choose a member field for each row of data that you wish to import. Also, don't forget to choose the Opt-In field as well, so that each imported member will be opted in to receiving your newsletters.
  7. At the bottom of the page, choose the appropriate member level to import this list to.
  8. Click Import.

Your member list has now been imported.

6. Create a Member Set

A member set is a group of members that share specific demographics as chosen by you. The member set feature is what allows you to send newsletters that target specific individuals.

There are two types of member sets: Dynamic and Static.

A Dynamic member set is automatically updated based on current member demographics, while a Static member set is never updated unless you specifically Edit it yourself after first creating it. For newsletter purposes, you'll typically want to use Dynamic member sets, so that each time you send a newsletter, you are sending to all recipients that currently fit within the chosen demographics.

To create a dynamic member set:

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerRoster.
  2. From the BannerRoster Dashboard, in the top navigation click the Members menu and choose Member Sets > Add New Dynamic.
  3. Enter a Name for this member set, to distinguish it from other sets.
  4. Click the Add Fields button. This brings up a popup with a multi-select list all of your member form fields. Scroll through the list and select each field that you wish to filter this member set by. To select multiple fields, you must hold the CNTRL or CMD keyboard button while clicking each field name.
  5. Click Add Fields. The popup closes, and the chosen fields are listed on the page. Now update each field with the specific data that you'd like to filter the member set by. For example, lets say you have a member field for "Favorite Color" and you wish to create a set of members whose favorite color is Red. Type "Red" into the Favorite Color text field.
  6. After you've entered the relevant data, click Continue. The next page will indicate how many members it has found that match the demographics you chose. If you'd like to choose a new set of fields, click Go Back. Otherwise, click Save.

Your member set has now been created.

7. Configure BannerMailer to Send to BannerRoster Members (only needs to be done once)

Before you can distribute newsletters to BannerRoster members, you must activate that feature in BannerMailer and choose the Opt-In field you created in a previous step.

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerMailer.
  2. From the BannerMailer Dashboard, in the top navigation click the BannerMailer menu and choose Preferences.
  3. Locate the field labeled "Allow Emailing to BannerRoster?" and click the checkbox to activate the feature. In the Opt-in Field drop down, choose the opt-in field you created in an earlier step.
  4. Scroll to the bottom and click Save.

When sending newsletters, you will now be able to choose a member set to distribute to.

8. Send Your Newsletter to the Chosen Member Set.

Now that your members have been imported and member sets have been created, you can distribute to members.

  1. Click the Grips menu in the top navigation and choose BannerMailer.
  2. From the BannerMailer Dashboard, in the top navigation click the Newsletter menu and choose Send Newsletter.
  3. In the To Mailing List field, select the member set you wish to distribute to. NOTE: Dynamic member sets usable by BannerMailer are automatically updated once every hour, so there could be up to an hour delay between the time you import new members and when those new members are available to send newsletters to.
  4. Create your newsletter as desired and send it. For more information on sending newsletters, view the help video at http://www.bannerview.com/support/.