In early September 2023, we traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the Engaging Networks Community Conference – and we had a great time! While there, we met some great people, were inspired to innovate in new ways during year-end (which is fast approaching…), and even presented on our work migrating one of our clients onto Engaging Networks and its new marketing tools platform.
At the conference, there were lots of great presentations talking not only about Engaging Networks’ new features (more on that down below) but also how to increase open and clickthrough rates, utilizing SMS, and tips on Google Analytics 4.
Without further ado, here are our top three takeaways from ENCC DC:
Leverage Engaging Networks’ New Marketing Tools
Engaging Networks’ Email Classic tool will not sunset until at least 2025, but you should consider leveraging their new Marketing Tools sooner rather than later anyway!
ENCC was a great place to see what different nonprofits and agencies have done with the suite of tools that was released earlier this year. While the Email Classic tools will be around for a while to come, we definitely think it’s worth exploring the new tools at your disposal. We have seen firsthand how much more efficient and accessible this new builder can make the email production process.
Marketing Tools allows you to set up the functionality of a visual builder (like Mailchimp for example) but tailored specifically to your brand guidelines and style. Your content block library can consist of your standard elements like a text block, an image block, a button block, etc. But beyond that you can create a library of blocks you know your organization is going to use regularly: a signature block, a repeating call to action, a regular feature in your newsletter, the sky’s the limit. Each block can be set to be as customizable as you’d like: you can lock in your fonts and sizes, define what colors are available for buttons, what options the user has for background colors and more.
While that initial step of template and block set up might require a developer’s support, once complete your production staff can then expand beyond people who are comfortable using code to set up all of your emails. Because you can then use your library of blocks to make beautiful, effective emails without a single bit of code required.
Stay on Top of New Products, Tools, and Offerings – and Share Your Feedback!
One of the best parts of the conference is the opportunity to take a peek at the product roadmap and hear directly from EN’s product team about what they are actively working on. It is pretty rare to have that level of direct access to the software you are using. Based on some of the upcoming innovations and updates, the staff at EN takes our feedback to heart – so many of these updates are coming as a result of feedback from the community. Here is just a sampling of the things coming soon from EN:
- Donor Advised Funds (DAF) Widget: In partnership with Chariot, Engaging Networks is now able to integrate with the leading DAF providers. Your supporters will be able to easily make a gift to your organization from a donation form with three clicks. You can learn more here.
- Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Update (P2P 3): EN has a great P2P component that is already accessible – but the latest and greatest is entering Beta mode this fall and is scheduled for release next year. The updated tool will be further integrated into EN, use a visual builder, incorporate automation, and even allow for the use of incentives.
- Abandoned Cart Feature: While some folks have implemented workarounds to create automated emails to mimic this feature in EN (FED included!), based on community feedback, a mechanism to automate donation abandonment messaging is coming soon!
- Artificial Intelligence and EN: We heard from Graham Covington, CEO of Engaging Networks as well as its sister company, Accessible Intelligence, talk about the work that they are doing on their AI-powered platform that’ll be able to plug right into EN in the near future. With nonprofit content and data, this tool will assist nonprofits in optimizing their content to increase conversions and engagement.
- Salesforce Connector Updates and addition to the Salesforce AppExchange: As of September 26, the Engaging Networks Salesforce Connector is officially on the AppExchange.
We ❤️ the Engaging Networks Conference
We can’t say it enough – we love everybody at this conference! There’s something so special about walking into a room with 200+ other people who work in the same system and industry and in knowing that every person there is available for brainstorming or bouncing around new ideas. We both had such a great time getting to know everybody on the EN staff and in the partner community. Together, attendees asked and answered questions and tackled various challenges – the collaborative spirit was remarkable and on full display at the conference.
Fresh Eyes Digital is an accredited Engaging Networks partner. If you’d like to hear more about Engaging Networks and how we leverage the tool for our clients – or other nonprofit tools – or need help figuring out which toolset is the right combination for your organization, reach out at sayhi@fresheyesdigital.com.
