Campaign Monitor Integration Guide

The integration between Rhythm and Campaign Monitor allows you to build lists in Rhythm that can be used for email marketing campaigns. The integration uses the power of the Rhythm query engine to send tailored lists to Campaign Monitor to assist your association in targeting specific groups of members.  

What information is needed before setup?

From Rhythm

Before setting up the integration, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or your Project Manager to enable the integration.

From Campaign Monitor

• Username
• Password

What needs to be configured?

Basic Set Up in Rhythm

Security and Settings

1. Click Integrations 
2. Select Campaign Monitor (under the Marketing Automation section)
   1. If this integration is unavailable in your instance, please contact your Rhythm point of contact to enable it.
3. Click “Create Campaign Monitor Account” located at the top right.
4. You will be redirected to Campaign Monitor, use your Campaign Monitor credentials to complete the integration setup.

List Setup

To send contact lists to Campaign Monitor, you can create new Rhythm queries or integrate existing ones that have contact information. These queries must first be saved under My Organization’s queries. 

Defining Query Criteria

Rhythm recommends using the following fields as query criteria:

• Email Opt Out = No
• Contact status does not equal inactive or deceased.  
  • Note: Rhythm contact status options are active, inactive, suspended and deceased.   This field indicates whether contacts can interact with the Rhythm portal and is distinct from membership status.

Create a New Query

To create a new query, follow these steps below.  

1. Click Queries
2. Click New Query on the right-hand side
3. Add the desired fields
4. Click Run
5. Click Options
6. Select the public “My Organization’s Queries” folder
7. Click Save
8. Once the query is saved click Start Over
9. Click My Organizations Queries
10. Click the chevron on the right-hand side
11. Click Integrate
12. Optionally provide a new name for the list
13. Select the Campaign Monitor checkbox
14. Click Save Changes

Integrate an Existing Query

1. Click Queries
2. Click My Organizations Queries
3. Click the chevron on the right-hand side
4. Click Integrate
5. Optionally provide a new name for the list
6. Select the Campaign Monitor checkbox
7. Click Save Changes

Edit an Existing Integrated Query

1. Select Queries from the left side menu pane.
2. Select Integrated Queries from the query menu.
3. Once loaded, you will see all synced email queries.
4. Click on the name to open the query in the query designer. 
5. Modify this query and update the fields if you choose. Remember to save any changes once completed.
6. Click the green pencil icon to:
   1. Rename the query
   2. Indicate the query is a suppression list
   3. Uncheck the account to stop this list from being synced. 
   4. Save changes.

Removing a List from Campaign Monitor

Removing a list from Campaign Monitor needs to be done in Rhythm and Campaign Monitor

In Rhythm

1. Navigate to the CRM application
2. Click Queries
3. Click My Integrated Queries
4. Click the red trash can on the right hand side

In Campaign Monitor

To remove the list in Campaign Monitor please follow the steps in this Campaign Monitor Knowledge Base article.

Create a Suppression List

A suppression list includes contacts that should not be sent to Campaign Monitor. These contacts elected not to receive marketing emails. To build a suppression list

Suppression lists are lists of people who you do not want to send to Campaign Monitor. These can be labeled with the following steps

1. Navigate to the CRM app
2. Click Queries
3. Click My Organizations Queries
4. Click the Chevron on the right side for your desired query
5. Click Suppression List
6. Select your Campaign Monitor account
7. Click Save Changes

When creating your suppression list we recommend that you use the following criteria:

• Email opt out = Yes

Basic Set Up in Campaign Monitor

For assistance in setting up Campaign Monitor, please start with this knowledge base article. 

How do we test the integration?

Once your query has been integrated with Campaign Monitor it will take one hour for that list to be initially synced. Rhythm will resync every hour to capture changes made to the query.

1. Log in to your Campaign Monitor account
2. Click the “List & Subscribers” menu item at the top to see all integrated lists 
3. Verified your list(s) appears
4. Cross-check the lists to confirm they include the correct contacts
5. Confirm that the contacts on your suppression list(s) are not included in any lists

Suppression Lists 

Suppression lists are for contacts that have opted out of receiving marketing emails. The field to add as criteria for suppression lists is the “Opt Out” field or any custom field you may be using for that purpose. The suppression list is meant to exclude anyone from emails so you will not need to add the Opt Out field to other queries. These lists will appear in Campaign Monitor under Lists & subscribers and then Suppressions in the left menu. 

To test, confirm that no contacts in the Suppression List in Rhythm appear in other Campaign Monitor lists.

Once your lists are confirmed, you are ready to create campaigns!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there any additional fee for the Campaign Monitor integration?

A: Yes, contact your Rhythm point of contact for pricing.

Q: How do I define a list to send to Campaign Monitor?

A: To create a list, define a new Rhythm query with contact information. This might be the “Chapter Roster/Memberships” query, the “Event Registrations” query, the “Organizations and Contacts by Role” query, or just a simple “Contacts” query.

Next, select the fields  you want to appear on the subscriber record in Campaign Monitor. These fields can be used as merge fields (also called personalization tokens) when you create your email.

If you want to filter the list, define criteria to include/exclude some of the contacts.

Finally, save the query. On the save dialog, select the public “My Organization’s Queries” folder, then enable the option to integrate this query with Campaign Monitor.

Q: Can I integrate a private query with Campaign Monitor?

A: No. Only public queries in the “My Organization’s Queries” folder can be integrated with Campaign Monitor.

Q: How can I tell if a query has been integrated with Campaign Monitor?

A: When you are viewing all saved queries, there is an “Integrations” column where you can see if a query is used in any integration.

Q: Can every query be used to define a list?

A: No. A query must include contact information to be eligible to be used as a list in Campaign Monitor. For instance, a query that only returns chapters and related fields is not eligible since it does not contain contact information.

Q: Can I choose which fields are sent to Campaign Monitor as personalization tokens in my emails?

A: Yes. The Rhythm query engine allows you to select fields from several different kinds of objects, such as contacts and memberships, in a single query. When these fields are sent to Campaign Monitor, all fields will be defined as custom fields on the subscriber record.

Q: If a contact has multiple email addresses in Rhythm, will they receive emails at all of their addresses?

A: No. Only the primary “Email Address” field is used.. 

Q: Can I see which lists a contact appears on from their contact record?

A: Yes. The first time any list is pushed to Campaign Monitor, a new communication type is created in Rhythm matching the name of the list. This new communication type is added to the contacts’ communication preferences along with the date and time.

When viewing the contact record, you can see all the communication preferences for that contact including the communication types created during this process. 

Q: Can I define a global suppression list?

A: Yes. When you integrate a query with Campaign Monitor, you can optionally indicate that it will be a suppression list. A contact on any suppression list will not be sent to Campaign Monitor, even if they appear on other lists.

Q: How will I know what contacts have received the emails sent via Campaign Monitor?

A: Campaign Monitor sends the campaign results back to Rhythm.  Sent, Bounce Back, Open, Click Through, and Replied information will be on the Contact 360 page..

Q: How does Rhythm keep track of campaigns a contact is subscribed to?

A: The subscribing and unsubscribing from the contacts side all takes place in Rhythm. On a contacts CRM record they will show the communications preferences they have opted in to. When someone unsubscribes from a list in Rhythm, they are removed from the list in CM the next time the sync runs.

Q: Can an email subscriber unsubscribe from emails from the association?

A: In the Rhythm portal, contacts can opt out of emails globally or from specific campaigns. Regardless of their communication preferences, contacts will receive Rhythm’s transactional emails. 

Q: Can I administratively unsubscribe a contact in the Rhythm console?

A: Yes, you can either enable the contact’s global email opt-out, or define a new query as a suppression list. Either method will ensure the contact is no longer sent as a subscriber to Campaign Monitor.

Q: If a contact has unsubscribed from everything, do they still receive Rhythm’s transactional emails (e.g., order confirmations, event registration, payment receipts, password reset emails, etc.)?

A: Yes. Transactional emails are exempted from the global opt-out.

Q: If a contact has unsubscribed from everything, do they still receive 1-to-1 emails initiated from Rhythm?

A: Yes. Direct emails are exempted from the global opt-out.

Q: Are changes to communication preferences, such as unsubscribes, tracked in Rhythm’s audit logs?

A: Yes. All changes to the contact, including Communication Preferences, are tracked in audit logs. Also, the most recent Communication Preference change for each  list is tracked directly on the contact.

Q: Can I see Campaign Monitor activity on a contact record in Rhythm?

A: Yes. Under the activity tab on the contact, you can see the mailing subject and fields to indicate if the mailing was delivered, opened, or clicked. You can also filter the activities to see only marketing activities.

Q: How quickly do Campaign Monitor activities appear on the contact record in Rhythm?

A: Activities from Campaign Monitor will be reflected on the contact record in Rhythm the following day.

Q: Do transactional or direct emails appear in the same place as marketing emails on the Rhythm contact?

A: No. Transactional and direct emails appear under the emails tab on the contact in Rhythm. Marketing emails are listed only under the activities tab.

Q: Can an integrated query be edited?

A: Yes. Anyone with permission may edit an integrated query. However, before a user saves the query, they will be prompted to confirm that they are changing an integrated query, which may change the behavior of the integration.

Q: How can I delete an integrated query?

A: To delete an integrated query, click on the Queries menu item. Then click on Integrated queries and click the trash can next to the one you want to delete.

If you want this list removed from Campaign Monitor, you will need to manually delete the list from there. 

Q: If I delete an integrated query are the related activities and communication preferences deleted from contacts?

A: No. Deleting a query does not delete any data. All contacts’ activities, communication preferences, and communication types will remain.

Q: What happens if a contact record is deleted in Campaign Monitor? Will the resync recreate the contact in Campaign Monitor again? 

A: Yes, if the contact still appears in an integrated Rhythm query. However, you can exclude a contact from being sent to Campaign Monitor by either enabling the global email opt-out field, or including them in a suppression list.

Q: Can an integrated query be toggled on/off or enabled/disabled to pause or temporarily withhold the sync from within the Rhythm console?

A: Yes. An integrated query can be disabled, which will stop the related interest from being attached to subscribers in Campaign Monitor.