Smart-Drip Overview
Smart-Drip Plans are a powerful tool combining email templates, text templates and Action Plans to send emails and texts to leads and assign To-Do tasks to users automatically, in order to optimize lead follow-up and communication.
Accessible through the Smart-Drip Plans area of the Marketing tab in your left-hand menu bar, you'll see a list of available plans.
You'll also have the choice to view just those plans you've created (through the Personal checkbox), those that have been shared by Admins with the Company (through the Company checkbox), and/or those that BoomTown has created (through the BoomTown checkbox).
Through this page, you can make edits to your existing Smart-Drip Plans, and create entirely new ones!
Benefits of BoomTown Smart-Drip Plans
Auto-Start & Auto-Move Settings | Options to automatically start leads on a plan when they enter a lead category, and automatically move a lead to a different category once they've completed a plan. |
Auto-Pause Settings | Allows you to automatically pause a plan when you have communication with the lead to ensure no out-of-context emails are sent. |
Template Text | Emails & text messages contains the choice to pull information about the lead into your messages, to make them more personalized. |
Time-Researched Email Deployment | Smart-Drip takes your lead's average time on the site into account when sending emails & texts, to try and deliver them at the most relevant time. |
Authenticity Guards | Plans have parameters in place with a dark window, to prevent email steps from sending to leads before 6AM or after 11PM, based on your time-zone. |
Integration of Email & Text Templates | Plans contain direct access to your Email & Text Templates, so you can utilize existing Templates in your email & text message steps. |
Measurement Tools | Smart-Drip uses an algorithm to provide you with a Plan Score based on open rate, reply rate and spam rate. |
Sharing Library | BoomTown's community-driven Sharing Library allows you to browse and use top-rated Plans created by other BoomTown Users, with the option for customization. |
Smart-Drip Training Videos
Once redirected, simply scroll down the page to access the video module
Create Plans
The first step in creating a new Smart-Drip Plan is to open your navigation menu, click on Marketing and select the Smart-Drip Plans option from the drop-down.
On the Manage Smart-Drip Plans page, select the + Add Plan button in the top, right-hand corner of the page.
To get started with the plan, you'll need to title it, and put in place some settings:
Please Note: Depending on your admin level, you may have different options or permissions.
Plan Name | The plan name is not visible to your leads, but you should still make it something that is meaningful to you and refers to the plan’s intended use.
Admins Only - If you’re choosing to share your plan in the Sharing Library, this plan name is what other BoomTown users will see. |
Personal Plan vs. Company Plan - Admins Only | As an Admin, you'll be able to choose whether you’d like to keep a plan private to you (Personal Plan) or share it with your team (Company Plan). |
Target Plan Type | The Target Lead Type will identify which lead type may be assigned to the plan. The plan type choices are Buyer, Seller, Buyer/Seller, Client Care, After Care and Any. |
Sharing Library - Admins Only | When creating a plan, you can choose from a list of sharing options for the BoomTown Sharing Library. |
Hide My Identity - Admins Only | Would you rather not display your name when you share your plan in the Sharing Library? Just check off Hide my identity to remain anonymous. |
Event Triggers | Event Triggers are settings that will prompt the system to automatically pause the plan when certain actions take place. With event triggers you can choose from the follow options:
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Next, you'll be given a choice about Auto-Start settings for the plan. For more information about the specifics, check out our Auto-Start & Auto-Move Settings article!
Create a Complete Smart-Drip Plan Training Video
Add Steps
Smart-Drip Plans can be created with all email steps, all text message steps, all To-Do steps, or a combination of all three.
Any plan including To-Do steps is considered an Action Plan as it includes tasks to be completed by specific users during the course of the plan.
Add Email Steps
Click the Send Email button to add an email step.
You will always have the option of rearranging the order of your steps. Simply click on the step you wish to move and drag it to the appropriate place in your plan.
Compose your email steps by typing in the composition field, then use the formatting header to edit the content of your email. The formatting header allows you to format the font style and size of your email, as well as add hyperlinks and lists.
You can also elect to use one of your Email Templates when creating email steps! To access them, just select the arrow on the right of the -- Select email message type -- drop-down
When creating your email steps there are a few things to consider:
Please Note: Depending on your admin level, you may have different options or permissions.
Wait Period | The wait period is how much time (minutes, hours, days, weeks or months) you want to wait before sending the email to the lead, or having the system set the To-Do. You will only be able to use minutes or hours in the wait time for an email if it's the first step of the plan. Otherwise, you will only be able to add email steps with wait times according to days, weeks or months. |
Dark Window | Plans have parameters in place to prevent email steps from sending to leads before 6AM or after 11PM and text message steps from sending to leads before 9:30AM or after 9PM, based on your time-zone. |
Ask a Question to set a Smart-Drip Rule | You may want to send a certain email based on the information our system already knows about your leads. Choose from a list of questions and then draft a yes and no message which our system will send out accordingly. |
Template Text | Just as you can utilize Template Text when composing Email Templates, you can also use Template Text when composing Smart-Drip emails. |
Attach Files | Add attachments to Templates and Smart-Drip emails. |
Send a Test Email | To see how the emails will look to your leads and to make sure that the emails you composed will be delivered to your leads in the correct formatting, use the Send a Test Email button to send the emails to yourself. |
Copy Email to My Templates | Love the email you just composed? Save it as a template by clicking on the Copy to My Templates button. |
DO NOT copy and paste the body of your emails from Word, Outlook, or any other outside source. This will add unwanted formatting to the email, which can cause issues saving the plan or sending the email, as well as impact the formatting of the email upon delivery to your lead.
Add Email Step Training Video
Add Text Message Steps
Please review our TCPA Resource Guidelines before setting up Smart-Drip texts!
Click the Send Text button to add a text step.
You will always have the option of rearranging the order of your steps. Simply click on the step you wish to move and drag it to the appropriate place in your plan.
Compose your text steps by typing in the composition field.
You can also elect to use one of your existing Text Templates when creating text steps! To access them, just select the arrow on the right of the -- Select text message type -- drop-down
When creating your text steps there are a few things to consider:
Please Note: Depending on your admin level, you may have different options or permissions.
Wait Period | The wait period is how much time (minutes, hours, days, weeks or months) you want to wait before sending the text to the lead. You will only be able to use minutes or hours in the wait time for an text step if it's the first step of the plan. Otherwise, you will only be able to add text steps with wait times according to days, weeks or months -- since the system only allows one text to be sent per day in the plan. |
Dark Window | There are measures in place to prevent text message steps from sending to leads before 9:30AM or after 9PM, based on your time-zone. |
Ask a Question to set a Smart-Drip Rule | You may want to send a certain text based on the information our system already knows about your leads. Choose from a list of questions and then draft a yes and no message which our system will send out accordingly. |
Template Text | Just as you can utilize Template Text when composing Text Templates, you can also use Template Text when composing Smart-Drip texts. |
Preview Text | To see how a text message will look to your leads, use the Preview Text button to display a pop-up window with a preview of the content of the text message. |
Copy Text to My Templates | Love the text message you just composed? Save it as a template by clicking on the Copy to My Templates button. |
DO NOT copy and paste the body of your texts from Word, Outlook, or any other outside source. This will add unwanted formatting to the text, which can cause issues saving the plan or sending the text, as well as impact the formatting of the text upon delivery to your lead.
Add Text Message Step Training Video
Action Plans - Add To-Do Steps
Along with the option of email & text message steps, Action Plans provide you with a way of adding To-Do steps as well.
These steps will automatically assign To-Dos to the designated user at the time the task should be completed during the course of the plan.
Simply click the + To-Do button to add a To-Do step.
You will always have the option of rearranging the order of your steps. Simply click on the step you wish to move and drag it to the appropriate place in your plan.
When adding a To-Do step, consider the following:
Please Note: Depending on your admin level, you may have different options or permissions.
Wait Period | Specify when you want the To-Do to be created by entering the number of hours, days, weeks or months to wait before the to-do gets set. You can create multiple To-Do steps per day by entering a wait time in hours.
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Ask a Question to set a Smart-Drip Rule | You may want to set a different To-Do for leads based on the information our system already knows about your leads. |
To-Do type | Select from a list of standard To-Dos, or even create your own custom to-do task by clicking the select to-do type drop-down. |
Assign To | Agent or Lender users will have the option of assigning a To-Do to the Assigned Agent or the Assigned Lender. As an Admin user you'll find the additional options of assigning the To-Do to yourself or another Admin user on the team. |
A green raindrop icon will appear beside any To-Dos that were assigned as part of an Action Plan to help distinguish them from those To-Dos that were manually set.
Just like regular To-Dos, Action Plan To-Dos will display in the lead's profile, under your To-Dos page and in your Daily Insights emails.
Your Plan will continue running for leads regardless of whether you've marked an Action Plan to-to as complete or not.
Before reviewing and saving your plan, you'll need to decide whether you'd like to put any Auto-Move settings in place for the plan.
After you've made all the changes you'd like, review the plan and click Save Plan located towards the top of the page to complete the process!
This is a great time for Broker/Admins to change the plan from a Personal plan to a Company plan if you’d like to share it with your team.
Add To-Do Step Training Video
How to Copy a Plan
There are a few reasons you might consider copying a Smart-Drip Plan within your account to create another version of it, including:
If you've accidentally terminated a Smart-Drip Plan for a particular lead, but you'd like that lead to be placed back on that Smart-Drip Plan (you won't be able to resume a Plan after termination, but as a workaround, you can create the Plan again to put the lead on a new version of it).
If you'd like to change the Target Plan Type for a specific Smart-Drip Plan - as this setting isn't able to be edited after the original creation.
If you're an Agent and you'd like to make changes to a Company Plan for your own use.
Copy a Smart-Drip Plan
In order to make a copy of a particular Smart-Drip Plan within your account, first navigate to the Smart-Drip Plans option within the Marketing tab in the left-hand menu bar of your account.
Once on the Manage Smart-Drip Plans page, locate the Plan that you'd like to copy. When you've found the applicable Smart-Drip Plan, scroll over to the last column on the page, and select the Copy button.
When you select the choice to Copy, you'll be redirected to a page where you can make edits to the Plan’s settings, as well as to the individual steps -- and change the Smart-Drip Plan's name. This is required in order to differentiate this copy from the original Plan. Changes to the name can be minimal, but something does need to be altered from the original name to be able to save the copy.
You will want to be sure to review the entire Smart-Drip Plan in detail before saving, to ensure it fits your name and contact information, company, location and needs. Some key items to look out for are service areas, links, attachments and Agent signatures.
If you're copying a Smart-Drip Plan in order to restart a lead on a terminated Plan, ensure that any steps that were already applied to them from when they ran on the Plan previously are removed from your copy -- to prevent sending duplicate emails or text messages to leads.
Add a Plan to a Lead
Once you feel ready to add a plan to your leads, you can do so from Lead Central or the Lead Profile page!
Add from Lead Central
To add a plan for a lead from Lead Central, simply click on the raindrop icon under the Drip column for the lead you wish to run on a plan.
This will pop-up with the Drip Plan module, where you'll want to toggle over to the Add Plan + tab.
From there, you can preview the available plans by selecting the Preview button, and then click the '+' button for the plan you wish to add!
You will only see plans with a Plan Type that corresponds to your lead's Lead Type. So if you're adding a plan to a Seller lead, only plans with the Plan Type Seller, Any, Client Care or After Care (these two function as Any) will be available under the Add Plan + tab.
The Drip column in Lead Central will also allow you to see which leads are currently assigned to a plan, and the status of each of their plans. You can also make edits to a plan's status for a lead through this page!
Each raindrop color indicates a different plan status:
White/Transparent: No Drips
Green: Running
Red: Paused
Blue: Completed
Black: Terminated
Once a plan has been Terminated for a lead, there will not be a way to start that same lead on the same plan again. Due to this, if you'd like to stop a plan from running for a lead, it's best to use the Pause option, instead of terminating it.
Add from Lead Profile
You can also add a plan for a lead from within their profile page.
On the right-hand side under the Smart-Drip Plans box, click the +Add Plan tab to view the available plans for your lead, based on their Lead Type.
If you wish to review the plan before adding it, hover over it to reveal the Preview button.
Once you're ready to add the plan, click the '+' icon.
Just as you can from Lead Central, when viewing the Assigned Plans tab in a lead's profile, you can see any plans that have been or are currently assigned to your lead.
In the lead's profile, the written status of a given plan will be provided along with the raindrop color indication.
In the case where a plan has been manually paused by the Agent or auto-paused by the system due to an event trigger, you can resume the plan where it left off by clicking the Resume button.
Auto-Start on Tags Feature Details & Frequently Asked Questions
The Auto-Start Drip on Tag feature allows you the flexibility of using Company Tags within your team's database to Auto-Start Smart-Drip plans for your leads!
What you need to know:
This feature is enabled by request from the Contract Holder or Website Contact ONLY. If you are a Contract Holder (or Website Contact) and you’d like us to enable it for your platform, click here to submit your opt-in request!
The feature will be available to all CORE, GROW, and ADVANCE BoomTown platforms, and can be used by all users with the ability to create and edit Smart-Drip plans (Broker/Admins, Network Admins, Agents, Lenders, Lender Admins).
Getting Started
To start using the Auto-Start on Tags feature, open your left-hand navigation menu and select Marketing > Smart-Drip Plans.
Within your Manage Smart-Drip Plans section, scroll to the desired plan in the list, and select Edit at the far right. From here, you'll be able to edit your Drip Plan's Auto-Start settings to include the following:
Auto-Start on Category only
Auto-Start on Tag only
Auto-Start on Tag and from Source
Auto-Start on Category and from Source
Auto-Move to Category
Selecting the Company Tag option will prompt you to select your desired Tag from the list of Company tags in your team's database.
Once you've finished making your changes, be sure to click Save Plan at the top.
Please Note: Auto-Start on Tag will be available for Company tags ONLY. Personal tags will not appear in the list of tag options. If you do not have the ability to create Company tags, you'll need to reach out to a Broker/Admin for assistance.
Tags can also be added from within the main Smart-Drip Plans page. To do so, navigate to Marketing > Smart-Drip Plans and choose your desired Plan. Click on the dropdown arrow next to the specific Plan under Auto-Start. The Tag option will be the last selection in the list:
Once you've selected the Tag option, the next screen will allow you to choose your desired Company tag, either by searching directly or selecting from the list available. After choosing a Tag, a notification will appear in the bottom right corner of your screen indicating that the action was successful!
Bulk Tagging Limitations
When bulk tagging leads with a tag that is set to Auto-Start a Smart-Drip Plan, the following limitations will apply:
Only 3000 leads can be tagged at a time if the Tag is set to Auto-Start a Plan WITHOUT text steps.
Only 200 leads can be tagged at a time if the Tag is set to Auto-Start a Plan WITH text steps.
If the selected Tag is NOT set to Auto-Start a Smart-Drip Plan, there are no limits to how many leads can be tagged at one time. Clients concerned about these limitations may find it helpful to have separate variations of their existing Company Tags for use with Smart-Drip Plans only.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Drip Plan be set to Auto-Start on more than one Tag?
A Drip Plan can only be set to auto-start on 1 Company Tag.
Can a Drip Plan be set to Auto-Start on BOTH a Category and a Tag?
A Drip Plan can only be set to auto-start on EITHER a Category OR a Company Tag.
Can more than one Drip Plan be set to Auto-Start on the same Tag?
Multiple Smart-Drip Plans can be set to Auto-Start on the same Tag. With that said, it's important to keep in mind that those multiple Smart-Drip Plans will Auto-Start on a lead when that Tag is applied if the Plans share the same Plan Type and Auto-Start Sources.
If a Buyer Agent and Seller Agent each have a separate Plan set to Auto-Start on a Tag and one of the Agents adds the Tag to a lead they share, will both Plans start?
When a Tag gets added to a lead that is assigned to a different Agent on each side (Buyer Agent and separate Seller Agent), the system will check to see if each Agent has a Plan set to Auto-Start on that Tag. If each Agent has a Plan set to Auto-Start on that Tag, then both Plans will start for the lead.
Is it possible for a lead to be run on the SAME Plan if both the Buyer Agent and Seller Agent have it set to Auto-Start on the same Tag?
In a case where both the Buyer Agent and Seller Agent have the same Drip Plan set to Auto-Start on the same Tag, the Plan will be run on the BUYER side only. This happens regardless of which user is tagging the lead (Buyer Agent, Seller Agent, Broker, etc.).
If a Lender tags a lead and the assigned Agent(s) have a Plan set to Auto-Start on the Tag, will the Plans start?
Regardless of the user applying the Tag to the lead, if any of the Agents or Lenders assigned to a lead have at least one Plan set to Auto-Start on that Tag, the Plans will start for that lead.
Will this auto-start drips for previously tagged leads?
No. Any leads who are tagged prior to the tag being set up with a drip will NOT automatically be placed on the campaign.
What happens if the tag is removed or changed?
If a tag is removed or changed at the lead level, the campaign will continue to run unless stopped or paused. The system will not retroactively go back and pause these campaigns.
If a tag is deleted from the platform altogether, you'll be given a warning that the tag in question is currently associated with a Smart-Drip. You are still able to delete the tag, but it will not stop any currently-running plans.
What happens once the drip is completed?
At this time, there is no functionality for Tags to be removed or replaced with another once the initial plan is complete. However, you are still able to select an Auto-Move category if desired.
Auto-Start & Auto-Move Settings
In order to set up Auto-Start and Auto-Move settings for your Smart-Drip plans, you'll need to start by navigating to the Manage Smart-Drip Plans page.
You can adjust the following Auto-Start and Auto-Move settings for each of your Personal Plans:
Auto-Start on Category only
Auto-Start on Tag only
Auto-Start on Tag and from Source
Auto-Start on Category and from Source
Auto-Move to Category
Please Note: Broker/Admin users will also have the ability to update the Auto-Start and Auto-Move settings for Agents' Company and BoomTown Plans. If you have the Broker/Admin permission, more details about this process can be found here!
Setup Auto-Start
With BoomTown’s Smart-Drip Plans, you do not have to automatically set each individual lead up on a plan. Instead, you can select to Auto-Start leads on plans when they enter a specific category, have a specific Tag applied, or come into the system from a specific source! To adjust a Plan's Auto-Start settings click on the Plan Name or the "Edit" link to the right of the Plan.
Since this setting will impact a large number of your leads, it’s best to not set an Auto-Start for a plan until you’re really confident in the effectiveness of the specific Smart-Drip Plan.
Please keep in mind:
This does not mean that every existing lead in that category and source will be placed on the plan, but it does mean that every lead that ENTERS the category from the source after the Auto-Start setting is enabled will be placed on the plan automatically. Similarly, if a Drip plan is set to Auto-Start on a Tag, adding that Tag to a lead triggers the associated Smart-Drip plan - it will not retroactively run a Drip plan for any leads with that Tag currently applied.
Individually transferred leads will not Auto-Start in the receiving Agent's New category.
Leads that are assigned to Agents through SharkTank will be PAUSED on a plan if there's an Auto-Start in place for them. The only exception to this will be for leads that go to the Fallback Agent through SharkTank.
If you wish to disable Auto-Start or Auto-Move for any of your Plans, simply click on the arrow next to the category and select none. If you had an Auto-Start by category or tag from source(s) setup, removing the Auto-Start category or tag will automatically remove the Auto-Start sources.
If you wish to adjust the sources your Plan is Auto-Starting for rather than remove them entirely, start by clicking on the Plan name or "Edit" link to the right. Above the first step, click on the "x" for any sources you wish to remove and select any new sources to add from the drop-down.
Auto-Move Settings
Similar to the Auto-Start setting, you'll also have the choice when creating a Smart-Drip Plan to include an Auto-Move setting.
This will automatically place the lead into a new category of your choosing once the lead has received all the emails & text messages, and had all the To-Dos set for the given plan, without making contact.
For example, if you set your Auto-Move to Archive, like the setting listed above, if a lead receives all the emails & texts and has all the To-Dos set for a plan, and they don't respond, they will automatically be moved by the system into your Archive category.
We recommend using these options sparingly until you understand the impact they have on your lead categories. If you jump in too quickly with the Auto-Start and Auto-Move options, you may find that you have leads in incorrect categories, receiving Smart-Drip emails & text messages that do not make sense.
Import Plans & Templates from Sharing Library
To preview a specific plan in the Sharing Library-- in order to view the individual emails, text messages, and To-Dos included-- simply select the title of the plan from the main list (or select the plan from the search results when using the keyword search bar), to view the preview pop-up window.
From the preview pop-up modal that displays, you can choose to copy specific emails and/or text messages over to your Email Templates, Text Templates, or import the entire plan.
Modifications to the plan’s settings, emails and text message steps, and To-Do steps can be made after selecting the Copy to my Templates or Import buttons.
Copy a Template
Within a specific plan, for any email or text message steps you'll see a button below each to Copy to my Templates.
Selecting this will then display a pop-up window where you'll need to name the Template.
Once you've done so, there will be a confirmation message, and the email or text message will then display within the Email Templates or Text Templates page of your account, found in the Marketing tab of your left-hand menu bar.
In the future, that Template will be available for use in emails or text messages that you send manually to your leads, and also it can be used in a step of a Smart-Drip Plan of you own!
Import a Plan
If you’d like to import a full plan for your own use, you can do so by selecting the Import button from the Preview pop-up modal, or directly from the Sharing Library view, in the far right column.
Once you select to Import, you'll be re-directed to a page where you can make edits to the plan’s settings as well as to the individual steps.
You will want to be sure to review the entire plan in detail before saving, to ensure it fits your name and contact information, company, location and needs. Some key items to look out for are service areas, links, attachments and Agent signatures.
While generic plans may not need any modifications to the email, text message, or to-do steps, you will still be required to change the plan’s name, as this ensures that duplicates do not display in the Sharing Library.
It's critical that you also review the Auto-Start and Auto-Move settings of the plan you're importing (if applicable).
Auto-Start | Choosing to Auto-Start leads on a plan means that as leads enter that category, they will be automatically started on the plan. This setting could affect a large amount of your leads, so it's best to not select it until there's a full understanding of the impact it will have on your leads and the communication they receive. |
Auto-Move | Choosing to Auto-Move leads will take leads from the category they are currently assigned to and move them to the category of your choosing after the plan is completed. This is best designed for moving leads who do not ever contact you into the Archive category after they’ve received all of the email and To-Do steps in a plan. Like the Auto-Start setting, this option has the potential to re-categorize a large amount of your leads, so it's best to ensure full understanding before making a selection here. |
Sharing Library
The Sharing Library is BoomTown’s community-driven platform where Agents and Lenders can leverage the content of effective plans shared by other BoomTown users.
In addition to taking advantage of what is offered in the Library, Agents and Lenders can also share plans in the Library themselves.
Each plan is ranked by a Score, and can be imported into your account, and then modified to fit your needs!
The Sharing Library can be found within the left-hand navigation menu, by clicking on the Marketing tab and selecting Sharing Library.
Once in the Sharing Library, available plans are defaulted to display in descending order based on their Score, detailing the specifics of the plan title, author, and popularity, among other factors.
In order to pinpoint a specific plan, there are a few different ways you can filter, sort, and search the Sharing Library:
Keyword Search
The search bar located at the top of the left-hand side menu can be used to search the available Smart-Drip Plans based on title, description, company, or author.
Simply start typing the keyword into the field, and once three or more characters have been entered, the results should automatically populate in a list below -- displaying the title, description, company, and author for each of the applicable Smart-Drip Plans.
The option to search is not available when browsing the Top 25 Plans section, and will be grayed out if that page is being viewed.
The results drop-down will display up to 20 matches, but if you'd like to see more or view the results in the main list to the right, select the top option in the drop down, for search all plans with [keyword], or hit enter on your keyboard.
Searches for author names will need to reflect the first letters in the author's first or last name, whereas searches for plan title, description or company will pull results that contain the letters entered, regardless. For example, John Placeholder will only be found through a search starting with "joh" or "pla" and not "ohn" or "hol," etc.
Once you locate the Smart-Drip Plan you're searching for, click on the result to display the Preview pop-up modal for the plan. This window will detail all the steps of the plan, as well as allow you to copy specific steps, or the entire plan to your Smart-Drip Plans within your account.
Browsing Filters
All Plans | This tab will displays every plan that has been submitted to the Sharing Library. |
Action Plans | Here you will find all Action Plans (Smart-Drip Plans with email or text and To-Do steps) that have been shared in the Library. |
Top 25 Plans | This tab displays the highest-scoring Smart-Drip Plans available in the Sharing Library.
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Additional Filter Options
Auto-Start | Allows you to search for plans based on their suggested Auto-Start category. Note that this category will NOT carry over when importing a plan to your account, and will instead reflect the Author's suggestion for the specific plan -- which you can then select in your account once the plan is imported. |
Plan Type | Enables you to search for plans based on their target lead type. For example, if you only want to search for plans that are available and applicable to Buyer leads, you can select the pill accordingly! |
Duration | Allows you to see comparable plans based on how long they run. You can set both a minimum and maximum run time using minutes, hours, days, weeks or months. |
My company's plans | This checkbox filters just those plans that users within your company BoomTown platform have shared. |
Significant scoring data | This checkbox filters plans to only display those where more than 50 leads were sent emails through the specific plan. |
Original Plans | This checkbox hides any plans that were copied or imported from another plan before being shared. |
Any selected filters will be "sticky" in your browser, meaning that if you leave the page after selecting filters, and then come back -- the filters will still be there until they are adjusted or reset (using the Reset Filters button at the bottom of the left-hand filters menu).
Sort By Options
Click on the column headers to sort plans based on specific information about each plan.
Along with the general sorting options -- including Score, Plan Name, Author, and Last Modified-- you'll also have more specific sorting options available for plans:
Plan Type | The plan type choices are Buyer, Seller, Buyer/Seller, Client Care, After Care, or Any. |
Auto-Start | Auto-Start is a good column to refer to when browsing plans. If a plan is set to Auto-Start leads on it, that will be a good indication that the content of the email steps is generic enough to send to numerous leads. It will also give you a quick snapshot of what category of leads the plan was created for by the author. |
| The number of steps refers to the number of emails, text messages and To-Dos included in a plan. Beneath this, the plan's duration is listed, which refers to the amount of time that a plan covers through all the steps. |
Version | This column displays an icon about a given plan's version when it was shared to the Library. Plans can be Original, Import, or Copied: referring to whether a plan was created from scratch before being shared; was imported from the Sharing Library, modified and then shared again; or was copied from another plan, modified, and then shared. |
Popularity | The top number in this column refers to the number of times the plan has been imported by other BoomTown users accessing the Sharing Library. |
Bulk Add, Pause, and Resume Smart-Drip Plans
If you have a group of leads that you'd like to add to a Smart-Drip Plan in bulk, pause Smart-Drip Plans for in bulk, or resume Smart-Drip Plans for in bulk, this can be done through Lead Central!
To perform any of the actions, first access Lead Central, then utilize the filters in the left panel to compile a targeted group of leads (such as all those that have registered today, etc.).
Once you've narrowed down your list of leads, select leads in bulk by clicking on the Select button towards the top of your lead list or check the box next to specific leads to select them individually.
Add Smart-Drip Plans
To add Smart-Drip Plans to the above-selected leads in bulk, click on the Bulk Actions button at the top of your Lead Central, and then select Add Drip from the drop-down list.
A pop-up modal will display with the Smart-Drip Plans available to select.
Only Plans available to all of the Lead Types selected will display in the drop-down (ex. only Any, Client Care and After Care Plans will display if Buyer and Buyer/Seller leads are selected).
Select the Smart-Drip Plan of your choice, and a confirmation window will then display.
Leads that "cannot receive the Smart-Drip Plan" are leads that have already been assigned to the Plan selected
Even leads with invalid email address & phone numbers will be placed on the Plan selected, as there might be valid To-Do steps in the Plan and any inapplicable steps will be skipped accordingly for each lead.
After the Confirm button is selected, a toast notification will pop up in the lower right corner alerting you that the request is being processed
Once the process is complete, an email notification will be sent to your login email address that will include:
Bulk Action Date
How many leads the bulk action was a success for
How many leads the bulk action failed for
Who requested the bulk action
Pause Drip Plans
To pause all or specific Smart-Drip Plans for the above-selected leads in bulk, click on the Bulk Actions button at the top of your Lead Central, and then select Pause Drip from the drop-down list.
A pop-up modal will display, and if there are Smart-Drip Plans running for any of the leads selected, you'll be able to select which specific Smart-Drip Plan(s) you'd like to pause for the leads -- or make the selection to pause all the Smart-Drip Plans for all the selected leads.
Selecting All Drips will pause every single Smart-Drip Plan associated with each lead selected. This means that if a given lead has four Plans on their account, they will ALL be paused when this selection is made!
If there are not any Smart-Drip Plans running for the leads that are selected, there will be an error message that displays, and there won't be a choice to select any Plans to pause. In order to move forward, leads that do have at least one running Smart-Drip Plan will need to be selected.
Once you've selected leads with running Smart-Drip Plans, and selected the applicable Smart-Drip Plan(s) you'd like to pause, you'll be asked to confirm the request to pause the selected Smart-Drip Plans for the selected leads. Select Confirm to make the changes!
Once selected, the below toast notification will pop up in the lower right corner alerting you that the request is being processed.
When the process is complete, an email notification will be sent to your login email address that will include:
Bulk Action Date
How many leads the bulk action was a success for
How many leads the bulk action failed for
Who requested the bulk action
Resume Smart-Drip Plans
To resume all or specific Smart-Drip Plans for the above-selected leads in bulk, click on the Bulk Actions button at the top of your Lead Central, and then select Resume Drip from the drop-down list.
A pop-up modal will display with the Smart-Drip Plans available to select, as well as the time-frame selection for when the plans were paused. You can specific plans, or select All Drips.
Selecting All Drips will resume every single Smart-Drip Plan associated with each lead selected. This means that if a given lead has four Plans on their account, all of which are paused, they will ALL be resumed when this selection is made!
Only Plans available to all of the Lead Types selected will display in the drop-down (ex. only Any, Client Care and After Care Plans will display if Buyer and Buyer/Seller leads are selected).
Select the Smart-Drip Plan and/or time frame of your choice, choose the Resume button, and then a confirmation window will display.
The number of leads that are running on the selected Plans will be listed, along with the number of selected leads not on the given Plan(s), that will not be resumed through the selection.
After the Confirm button is selected, a toast notification will pop up in the lower right corner alerting you that the request is being processed.
Once the process is complete, an email notification will be sent to your login email address that will include:
Bulk Action Date
How many leads the bulk action was a success for
How many leads the bulk action failed for
Who requested the bulk action
Smart-Drip Admin Options
Available Plans
Within the Smart-Drip Plans page of the Marketing tab within your left-hand menu bar, you'll be able to view a list of all your Smart-Drip Plans, and preview the details of each plan!
On the page, you'll find a list of the four plans available, along with the duration and composition of the plans, broken down by emails and To-Dos.
To view the specific messages and prompts for the emails and To-Dos associated with a plan, click on the title of the particular plan (hyperlinked in blue font), and this will open up a modal to view the details to scroll through!
Auto-Move & Auto-Start Admin Settings
As an Admin user on your team's account, you're able to view the Smart-Drip Plans associated with the Agents on your team, and edit the Auto-Start & Auto-Move settings for Company and BoomTown Plans accessible to those Agents!
In order to do so, open your left-hand navigation menu, click on Marketing and select the Smart-Drip Plans option.
While you can change the Auto-Start & Auto-Move settings for Company and BoomTown Plans specifically for Agents, these changes will not be available for Agents' Personal Plans. Additionally, Admins will not be able to copy, edit, or delete information associated with any Plans visible from the Agent perspective -- and instead changes to the content itself will need to take place on the part of the Agent within their account.
Individual Changes to Auto-Start & Auto-Move CATEGORY Settings
If you'd like to change the Auto-Start or Auto-Move Category settings for certain Agents' Company or BoomTown Smart-Drip Plans, on the Manage Smart-Drip Plans page, you'll have a drop-down menu toward the top of the page with a list of your Agent users.
Select an Agent from the drop-down list, and the page will automatically update to reflect all the Personal, Company, and BoomTown Smart-Drip Plans that that specific Agent has within the same page in their account.
Once viewing the Smart-Drip Plans from a selected Agent's perspective, as an Admin you'll be able to edit the Auto-Start & Auto-Move Category settings for any Company Plan or BoomTown Plan visible to the Agent.
If you wish to change the Auto-Start category and source settings for Company Plans or BoomTown Plans, you'll need to do so in the Bulk Changes view (steps below).
Bulk Changes to Auto-Start & Auto-Move CATEGORY AND SOURCE Settings
Scroll to the Smart-Drip Plan that you'd like to change, and select the gear icon within the Bulk Settings column for the Plan.
A pop-up window will display, where you'll be able to view the name of the Plan you selected, along with details about how many leads on your team's overall account are currently Running on the Plan, have been Paused, have had the Plan Completed, or have had it Terminated for their account.
Beneath this, if you'd like the specific Plan to have one Auto-Start and/or Auto-Move category for all of your users, you can select the appropriate category within the drop-down menus to set this.
Only once you've selected an Auto-Start category will you have the ability to set Plans to Auto-Start for specific sources. To do this, click on the source drop-down and begin selecting the sources you want the Plan to Auto-Start for. As you select sources from the list, you'll see the source column adding them for each Agent.
The red warning icon will display anytime an Agent has more than one Plan set to Auto-Start for their leads. If the Plans they have set to Auto-Start on the same category are set to Auto-Start for different sources, leads will not be placed on more than one Plan. However, if Agents have multiple Plans set to Auto-Start on the same category for "All Sources," leads will simultaneously begin on all of those Plans upon entering the system.
If you'd instead like to set the Auto-Start and/or Auto-Move categories and sources for just one or some of your Agents, you can do so in the list of Agents displayed in the pop-up window.
If an Agent already has an Auto-Start or Auto-Move category selected for the Plan, the current selections will display next to their name in the list.
Once you've made the changes you'd like, scroll to the bottom of the pop-up window and select the Save button.
When the changes are saved, this will automatically generate an email to you with a summary of the changes made, as well as generate an email to each Agent that had a change made to their Auto-Start or Auto-Move settings (pictured below).
Broker Email
Agent Email
Setting Auto-Start & Auto-Move Preferences
In order to set-up Auto-Start and Auto-Move settings for your Smart-Drip plans, this can be done directly through the Smart-Drip Plans page of your account, found in the Marketing menu section.
Within the page, you can update the settings by selecting a category from the drop-down menu in the Auto-Start and Auto-Move columns.
Broker/Admin users also have the ability to change the Auto-Start and Auto-Move settings for their Agents, by selecting the applicable Agent's name from the drop-down menu at the top of the Smart-Drip Plans page.
To disable an existing Auto-Start or Auto-Move setting, simply select the none option from the same drop-down menu with the categories.
Suggested Settings
For your Smart-Drip Plans, the following are suggested settings:
NURTURE - Qualified Leads Less Than 6 Months Out: suggested Auto-Start: Nurture
NEW - First Response for Buyers: suggested Auto-Start: New
QUALIFY - Path to Qualified for Buyers: suggested Auto-Start: Qualify & suggested Auto-Move: Archive
CLOSED - Keep in Touch After Closing: suggested Auto-Start: Closed
ARCHIVE - Did Not Respond to Qualification: suggested Auto-Start: Archive
WATCH - Qualified Leads More than 6 Months Out: suggested Auto-Start: Archive or Watch
Frequently Asked Questions
What lead categories should have drip plans?
Drip email marketing is designed to get leads to respond to your communications. When a lead responds to you, their drip campaign should be paused so that you only reply to them with information relevant to their response. Following this logic, here are some Smart-Drip recommendations:
New leads that you have not been able to reach on the phone: move to the Qualify Category and place them on a drip plan that emails every few days.
Leads that are further out on their home buying process: place in the Watch Category. Set these leads up on a long-term drip campaign that checks in about once a month. Leads will often let you know when they are ready to purchase by responding to one of your drip emails.
Your Archive Category is most likely to have several different drip plans in place: some plans will still attempt to elicit a response and other plans focus on lifestyle campaigns.
You can set up drip plans for your leads in the Closed Category: use a Smart-Drip Plan to check in at 6 months and on the anniversary of their home purchase. It’s a great time to mention referrals!
Hot, Nurture, and Pending Categories are categories where you engage in constant back-and-forth communication so these leads should not usually be placed on drip plans.
What is the difference between system pause and Auto-Pause?
When a lead’s email address is invalid or if the lead opted out of email communication from you, the Smart-Drip Plan for that lead is paused by our system. Auto-Pause works when you set event triggers for your plan to automatically pause based on certain lead and user actions, such as a lead emailing or replying to an email, or when a lead's category being changed, among others.
Can I restart a plan that has been Terminated?
There is not any functionality for terminated plans to restart because doing so would start the plan over from the beginning-- thus sending the same email over and over to the lead. Instead of terminating a plan for a lead, if you think you may want to place the lead back on that plan in the future you should pause the plan. Pausing allows you to resume the plan at any time, starting where the plan left off.
As an Admin, can I set the Auto-Start & Auto-Move settings for all my Agents?
As a Broker/Admin user on your team's account, you will have the option to manually update the Auto-Start & Auto-Move settings for Agents' Company or BoomTown Smart-Drip Plans. For any Personal Plans associated with another Agent, changes will need to be made to the settings from within that Agent's account. Similarly, any changes to Lender or Lender Admin users' Smart-Drip Plan Auto-Start & Auto-Move settings will need to take place within that specific user's BoomTown account, under the Smart-Drip Plans page. There is not currently a way to set the Auto-Start & Auto-Move options up across the team.
If I transfer a lead to another Agent, will my drip plan continue?
This will depend on a few different factors:
If you transfer a lead while on a Personal Plan, the Personal Plan will terminate.
If a lead is on a Company Plan and is individually transferred to another Agent, the Company Plan will pause, because the lead's category will change to New once assigned to the new Agent.
If you transfer a lead on a Company Plan in bulk, with the category remaining the same, the Plan will continue to run for all leads through the transfer.
If you transfer a lead on a Company Plan in bulk, but the category changes through the transfer, the Plan will be paused for all leads through the transfer.
Any time a lead is transferred and they maintain their category through the transfer, a drip plan that is set up by the receiving Agent or Lender will NOT Auto-Start for the lead even if an Auto-Start setting is in place. Smart-Drip plans must be turned on manually for a lead by the person who receives the lead if the category has not changed through the transfer. This is true regardless of whether the new Agent or Lender was assigned through a Bulk Lead Transfer, or transferred from one Agent or Lender to another Agent or Lender.
However, if a lead's category is changed through a bulk or individual transfer, any Smart-Drip Plans with Auto-Start settings in place will start automatically for those leads.
This functionality is designed to prevent applying a plan to a lead that may not be relevant.
Where are Smart-Drip emails logged in my lead's profile?
Along with regular emails sent from you, the lead’s profile Summary tab will have Smart-Drip emails logged in the History section. Just like a regular email, you will be able to see when the email was sent out, the subject, and the content. Smart-Drip emails logged in the History section can be differentiated from regular emails by their small raindrop icons.
Can I add steps to a Plan while it's running?
The answer here is yes, however you will want to be cautious when doing so, as adding steps to an already running plan can potentially result in steps repeating. For instance, say you have the following plan running for your lead, Bob Smith:
Step 1 - Email
Step 2 - To-Do
Step 3 - Email
Step 4 - Email
Step 5 - To-Do
Step 6 - To-Do
If Bob just received the email from Step 3 in the above plan, he'll be receiving the email from Step 4 next. However, if you now insert a new step between 2 and 3, what used to be Step 3 will now be pushed down to being Step 4. Since Step 4 is the next step for Bob who is running on this plan, he will receive that same Step 3 email a second time, as that is now Step 4 for this plan.
How do I test sending a Smart-Drip email?
We recommend that you send test emails to yourself for each email in every drip plan step by using the Send Test Email button. In addition, you can assign a test lead you create to the plan, and wait a few days before assigning other leads to the plan. If you see something that needs to change, you can make the necessary edits before assigning the plan to your leads.
Replying to a test Smart-Drip email will result in a failed delivery. This is because the system does not send test Smart-Drip emails from your actual email address.
What are Daily Digest emails?
Anytime there is a status change to Smart-Drip Plans that are running for your leads, BoomTown will send you an email notifying you of those changes. The email will be a log of all of your leads who have completed plans and have had plans pause. It is important to review this email when you receive it so that you can make any necessary revisions to your leads’ drip plans. If a lead's plan has paused, it's most likely because the lead has replied to or sent you an email and you should tend to that lead immediately by contacting them directly.
What makes my emails become jumbled when sent to leads?
When your content is pasted directly into BoomTown from Microsoft Word, Outlook, or other word processing programs, formatting from those programs also gets pasted into BoomTown. This can cause problems in the way that your BoomTown emails will render--making them appear jumbled or only showing parts of your content and it can affect successful delivery.
Let's say you wrote content for a template and originally typed it in Microsoft Word. It's extremely important to paste your text from Microsoft Word into Notepad first. This initial copy/paste will strip the special formatting from Microsoft Word, so that you can copy it again from Notepad and paste it into your Email Template, Smart-Drip step or individual email in BoomTown, and make any changes to font, etc. within the system!
When will the first email step be sent to my lead(s)?
It’s important to remember that when a Smart-Drip Plan is applied to a lead, the first email will not instantly send out. The first email will be sent to your leads based on the set wait period once your leads have been placed on the plan. So if you set 1 hour as the wait period for the first email, it will be sent to your lead 1 hour after the lead is placed on the plan. As soon as it is sent, the History will be updated in the lead’s profile and the email count in Lead Central will also be updated.
The Smart-Drip recognizes what time your lead normally visits your website and sends Smart-Drip emails minutes before your lead usually logs on. To maintain authenticity of your drip emails, Smart-Drip utilizes time parameters and will not send emails before 6:00 am or after 11:00 pm (based on your time zone). This time-researched email deployment will hopefully catch your leads in the best frame of mind to respond to your emails!
If I resume a paused plan, when will the next email step be sent?
Our system sends Smart-Drip emails in the order you have created them for your Smart-Drip plan. If the plan is paused after Step #3 has been sent, when the plan is resumed, the system knows to send the next email step, Step #4.
The wait period that is set for the next email step also comes into play here. If the next email step is paused and then resumed within the wait period that is set, the next step will be sent out as originally planned. For example, the plan is paused after Step #1-- the next email step, Step #2, is set to go out 1 week (7 days) after Step #1. If the plan is resumed on day 5, so within the 1 week period, email Step #2 will be sent out 2 days after resuming the plan.
If the next email step is paused and then resumed AFTER the set wait period has passed, the email will be sent out immediately. For example, the plan is paused after Step #1-- the next email step, Step #2, is set to go out 1 week (7 days) after Step #1. If the plan is resumed on day 10, 3 days after the email should have been sent, the drip email will be sent to your lead immediately after the plan is resumed.
What is the difference between a Company Plan and a Personal Plan?
A Company Plan is a Smart-Drip Plan that is created by an Admin user, and can be used by any other Agents or Lenders in the company. A Personal Smart-Drip plan can be created by an individual Agent or Lender for their own personal use. Only Broker/Admins and Lender/Admins can create a Company Plan and once a plan is set as a Company Plan and leads are assigned to that plan, it cannot be switched back to a Personal Plan.
Why can't my Lender see the drip plans that I've created?
Smart-Drip Plans are separate for Agents and Lenders. Agent Smart-Drip plans, even when set as a Company Plan by an Admin, are only accessible by Agents.
Just as Agent plans aren't accessible by Lenders, Lender plans are not accessible by Agents. Lender/Admins can create Company Plans to share with the other Lenders on the same BoomTown site.
We recommend that Agents and their assigned Lenders meet at least once to discuss a good Smart-Drip plan strategy. This will make sure that their leads are receiving corresponding emails from their assigned Agent and Lender.