MaxConnect User Guide Last Update 14.08.2014
Table of Contents 1 How to Use This Guide... 3 1.1 Google Chrome... 3 2 What is Maxgaming Connect?... 4 2.1 How to Subscribe to Maxgaming Connect... 4 2.1.1 Subscription Levels... 4 2.2 Allowing User Access New User... 5 2.3 Allowing User Access Existing User... 6 3 MaxConnect Communication Methods... 7 3.1 Communication Types and Definitions... 7 4 Managing Your Subscription... 8 4.1 Understanding the Subscription Matrix... 8 4.2 Campaigns... 9 4.3 Newsletters/SMS Alert/Mailing List... 9 5 Login Screen... 10 5.1 The Home Screen... 10 5.2 Menu Option Buttons Explained... 11 6 Configuring Maxgaming Connect... 14 6.1 Social Network Configuraiton... 16 7 My Details... 17 7.1 How My Details Works... 17 7.2 Setting MyDetails Reminders... 18 8 Selection Criteria Explained... 19 8.1 Barrel Draw Criteria... 20 8.2 Activity Criteria... 20 8.3 Advanced Criteria... 21 8.4 POS Criteria... 22 9 Creating Email Campaigns... 24 9.1 Inserting Pictures into the Email... 24 9.2 Formatting the Email Text... 26 9.2.1 Using the HTML Editor (Font and Formatting)... 26 9.3 Select Recipients... 28 9.3.1 Calculate Recipients... 28 9.3.2 Removing Recipients... 29 9.3.3 Adding Additional Recipients... 30 9.4 Finalising an Email Campaign... 30 9.4.1 Send or Schedule... 31 10 SMS Campaigns... 32 10.1 Creating an SMS Campaign... 33 10.1.1 Send or Schedule... 35 11 Sending an SMS Alert or Newsletter... 36 12 Auto Send Explained... 37 12.1 Creating an Auto Send Campaign... 37 12.1.1 Birthday... 37 12.1.2 Event... 38 12.1.3 Last Visit Date... 38 12.1.4 Membership Renewal... 38 12.1.5 New Member... 39 12.1.6 Rating Grade Change... 39 12.1.7 Inactivity... 39 12.1.8 Gaming Turnover... 39 12.1.9 MyCash Expiry... 40 12.2 Lead Days and End Days.... 40 13 Mailing List... 41 13.1 Exporting a Mailing List... 41 1
14 Manage Colours... 43 14.1 Colour Codes... 43 14.2 Gradient Colours... 44 15 Image (Picture) Management... 45 15.1 Uploading Images via Image Config... 45 15.2 Uploading Images in Email/SMS Screen... 46 16 Managing My Campaigns... 47 16.1 Sort & Filter... 47 16.2 Action Buttons... 48 17 Connect Reports... 49 17.1 Campaign Summary... 49 17.2 Campaign Detail... 50 17.3 Auto Send Campaign... 50 18 Patron Unsubscribe Process... 51 18.1 Unsubscribe from an Email... 51 18.2 Unsubscribe from an SMS... 51 18.3 Issues with Unsubscribe... 51 18.3.1 When You Receive Complaints... 52 19 Tips When Using Connect... 54 19.1 What Works?... 54 19.2 What Doesn t Work?... 55 19.3 Training Videos... 55 19.4 Email Subject Lines... 55 19.5 Create a Connect Test Case... 56 20 Frequently Asked Questions about Connect... 57 21 Appendix... 58 21.1 Creating a Connect Shortcut on the Desktop... 58 21.2 Clearing the Google Chrome Cache... 59 21.2.1 Clear Cache Shortcut... 59 21.3 Key Components of the Spam Act 2003... 60 21.3.1 Rules for sending a commercial electronic message... 60 21.3.2 What is a commercial message?... 60 21.3.3 What messages can be sent without consent?... 60 21.4 MaxConnect Work Flow... 61 21.5 Using the HTML Editor (Font and Formatting)... 61 22 Configure Section (Host Only)... 62 22.1 Setting Reminders... 62 2
1 How to Use This Guide This user guide has been written as a point of reference for using the Connect product. You can skip ahead for guidance in the appropriate area of the guide that will help you with your specific requirements. For some basic coaching to get you started tutorial videos are available in the HELP section once you ve logged into www.maxgamingconnect.com.au. For further questions please contact the Maxgaming Help Desk 1800 700 116. WARNING Before you begin using Connect in your venue, please take the time to perform a few simple test case scenarios as outlined in Section 17.2 (at the end of this document). The test cases should take no longer than 1 hour to perform and will ensure that Connect has been set up for your site correctly. 1.1 Google Chrome Connect is a HTML 5 application and as such the best advice is to make sure you use Google chrome as your browser. Some parts of Connect only display properly when used through Chrome. Best of all Chrome is FREE and you can download it from the Google Home page. 3
2 What is Maxgaming Connect? Maxgaming Connect is a subscription-based marketing solution for Clubs and Hotels that are currently using the Maxgaming membership & loyalty system. It allows venues to send targeted communications to customers. These messages can contain offers which can be an incentive for customers to re-visit the venue and claim a reward. Hash Tags and templates are also available to help users create personalised and colourful communications to target specific customers. 2.1 How to Subscribe to Maxgaming Connect Maxgaming Connect is a subscription based service, charged at a monthly rate, with additional costs added, depending on the subscription level that has been opted into. The Maxgaming Connect website can be accessed either by going to the website: www.maxgamingconnect.com.au or through a link on the Maxgaming.com.au website. Go to www.maxgaming.com.au and logon to your account. Users and Super users will have to log in using their existing Maxgaming username and password. If you do not have a username for the Maxgaming website please contact the Help Desk for an application form. 1 Click on the subscriptions TAB on the left hand side. 2 Choose your level of Subscription and click SUBSCRIBE: 3 Accept the terms and conditions of usage and click OK. 2.1.1 Subscription Levels Users can subscribe themselves on the Maxgaming website this will grant them access to the Connect service. The below table includes the current subscription options. Take note of each level and the associated number of campaigns and emails. All campaigns/emails actioned over and above your subscription level will be charged at the applicable rate. 4
2.2 Allowing User Access New User When a user subscribes to MaxConnect this will automatically give them the website access. If more than one user needs access then the Super User (the user with the highest access) can grant them permission. Log into the Maxgaming website and click on SECURITY. In the drop down menu click on USERS. Click ADD NEW USER (at the right of the screen): Create the user by complete the fields as per below: Click on the ROLES tab and give the selected user CONNECT ACCESS. In the filter type in Connect to show all roles available: Double click on the Maxgaming Connect role and it will appear in the SELECTED ITEMS field. Click OK at the bottom right and the user will recevie an email with a dummy password. Once the password is changed they will have access. 5
2.3 Allowing User Access Existing User Log into the Maxgaming website and click on SECURITY. In the drop down menu click on USERS. From the list of users select user to grant Connect Access and click on the red arrow at the right: Click on the ROLES tab and give the selected user CONNECT ACCESS. In the filter type in Connect to show all roles available: Double click on the Maxgaming Connect role and it will appear in the SELECTED ITEMS field. Click OK at the bottom right and the user will have access once they log on. If the user is already logged on, they must log out and re-log back in to pick up the changes. 6
3 MaxConnect Communication Methods Email: An electronic message that can be sent to specific email addresses in the customer data base that match the criteria determined by the user. SMS: A mobile phone text message consisting of less than 165 characters sent to the mobile telephone numbers of customers who meet the criteria specified by the user. Messages in excess of 180 characters will be sent as multiple messages (which will increase cost). Print: A printed piece of direct mail sent directly to the customers mailing or residential address to customers who meet the criteria specified by the user. 3.1 Communication Types and Definitions Campaign: A campaign contains an incentive and utilises the venue s redemption feature via the Kiosk. For example a message that offers customer 10 points and a free drink at their next visit. A campaign also includes reporting success. Campaigns count towards your monthly campaign quota, with additional campaigns over your quota incurring an additional fee. Newsletter: A newsletter can also be a targeted message to a specific group, but does not contain any redemption or reward properties. There will also be no reports on a newsletter. Newsletters do not count towards your monthly campaign quota, but do count towards email volumes. Alert: An alert is an SMS message or Email (using a newsletter template) that does not contain any redemption properties. An example of an alert might be an upcoming barrel draw, where a patron has tickets, or wishing a patron a happy birthday. Alerts do not count towards your monthly campaign quota, but do count towards email and SMS volumes. This workflow may assist in making the best decision on a communication method and type: 7
4 Managing Your Subscription Managing your subscription is an important part of Connect as any campaigns or excessive SMS communications will be charged at the applicable rate. This guide will help you make smarter choices each month. 4.1 Understanding the Subscription Matrix It is important to keep your marketing spend within budget and thus it is essential to read and understand the price matrix that is shown at the initial subscription process. The price matrix is PER MONTH. In the example shown above the LITE subscription level is selected. This means that a venue subscribed to LITE will be charged $77 for the use of the Connect program, $77 each for any campaigns, 5c for every 100 emails sent and 7c for EVERY SMS sent. A BASIC subscriber would pay $154 for the use of Connect, one campaign for free ($77 for any further campaigns), the first 25 000 emails are free with any further emails costing 5c (for each 100). SMS costs are still 7c. If the venue was a club with 5000 members and they sent THREE CAMPAIGNS, a NEWSLETTER (email) and ONE SMS (per each member) the charge would be as follows: Lite* Basic* Advanced* Connect Subscription $77 Campaign $77 x 3 $231 Newsletter (5000) $2.50 SMS 5000 x 7c $350 Total Cost $660.50 Connect Subscription $154 Campaign (first one free) $154 Newsletter (25000 free) $0 SMS 5000 x 7c $350 Total Cost $658 Connect Subscription $261 Campaign (first 3 free) $0 Newsletter (50 000 free) $0 SMS 5000 x 7c $350 Total Cost $611 *These prices are indicative only - assuming all members have an active mobile number and email address. You can move up and down levels as required. The charges are applicable per month and the best time to move up or down a level is on the first of the new month (to ensure you are not charged for using two levels). 8
4.2 Campaigns Depending on your subscription level, you are permitted a specific number of free campaigns per month. Only use the following options if you intend to offer your customers something like Bonus Points or Voucher rewards. These buttons are shortcuts to basic criteria options as shown: Below you can see how many campaigns are assigned to each subscription level; each additional campaign will cost an extra $77 per month. Ultimate subscribers do not need to worry about this as campaigns are unlimited. 4.3 Newsletters/SMS Alert/Mailing List These options are unlimited for all levels and you only need to take notice of the cost per SMS and any additional emails over the prescribed limits. You can create as many as you like each month. 9
5 Login Screen The logon screen is where the user inputs the user name and password to enter the Maxgaming Connect website. It can be accessed via the Maxgaming website or by creating a shortcut (see appendix for more information) To access Connect enter the same user name and password as the existing Maxgaming website. 5.1 The Home Screen 10
5.2 Menu Option Buttons Explained My Campaigns button takes you directly to the My Campaigns screen where you can view all Past, Present and Future campaigns, alerts and newsletters. Here you can search for previous campaigns, edit and delete existing campaigns, as well as look at the success rates of Email and SMS communications. My Reports button will take you to the reports section where you will be able to run detailed reports on each campaign (only campaigns are shown in reports). The reports will show you response and redemption rates as well as daily comprehensive coverage of campaign progress, you can even see the ROI on each customer. The help button will take you to a comprehensive support section where you will find many helpful tutorials and tips as well as documents such as this user guide. Email Campaign button is for the creation of email campaigns. Email campaigns are for offers to customers, such as bonus 500 points or a complimentary drink. Only send an email campaign if you intend to offer your customers a reward. Depending on your subscription level you may have a limited number of campaigns to use each month. Any additional campaigns will incur additional charges. SMS Campaign button is for the creation of SMS campaigns. SMS campaigns are for offers to customers, such as bonus 500 points. Only send an SMS campaign if you intend to offer your customers a reward. SMS campaigns count towards your monthly campaign limit. SMS alerts are for SMS communications where you do not wish to offer your customers a redeemable reward. An example might be to let them know about an event at your venue or remind them of an upcoming promotion. All SMS messages will be charged at the SMS rate. Newsletter button will take you to the email creation screen for Newsletters. This can also be used as an EMAIL ALERT option. A newsletter is an email communication where you do not offer your customers any kind of reward. An example might be to let them know about an event at your venue or remind them of an upcoming promotion. Newsletter communications count towards any monthly email cap and additional emails will be charged as per the subscription rate. The Mail Out campaign button allows you to enter the same criteria as you would for an email or SMS campaign. The result is an exportable Excel or CSV file that can be used as a mailing list for any print communications your venue wishes to conduct - you can use your own printer or send to a third party publisher. 11
Auto-Send Email campaigns are a complete set-and-forget solution. Auto Send allows you to set up a campaign that will automatically send a reward option (created by you) when a customer fulfils a specific set of criteria. Some examples are Birthday, New member, rating-grade change or visitation lapse. Auto send campaigns count as a campaign per month for each one you set up. All emails count towards your monthly email cap. Auto-Send SMS campaigns are a complete set-and-forget solution. Auto Send allows you to set up a campaign that will automatically send when a customer fulfils a specific set of criteria. Some examples are; Birthday, New member, rating-grade change or visitation lapse. Auto send SMS campaigns count as a campaign per month for each one you set up. All SMS messages are charged at the standard rate. Auto-Send Email Newsletters are a complete set-and-forget solution. Auto Send allows you to set up an email that will automatically send when a customer fulfils a specific set of criteria. Some examples are; Birthday, New member, rating-grade change or visitation lapse. Auto send Newsletters offer no reward based properties. All emails count towards your monthly email cap. Barrel draw email campaign offers you a shortcut to the barrel draw criteria in the email campaign section. The Campaign option allows you to offer a redeemable reward to an alert regarding an upcoming Max e-draw promotion. Barrel draw SMS campaign offers you a shortcut to the barrel draw criteria in the SMS campaign section. The Campaign option allows you to offer a redeemable reward to an alert regarding an upcoming Max e-draw promotion. Barrel draw Alert offers you a shortcut to the barrel draw criteria in the Newsletter section. Use this to alert customers about upcoming draws but with no redeemable reward. POS Email campaign offers you a shortcut to the POS criteria in the Email campaign section. The Campaign option allows you to offer a redeemable reward to an alert regarding a recept POS transaction. 12
POS SMS campaign offers you a shortcut to the POS criteria in the SMS campaign section. The Campaign option allows you to offer a redeemable reward to an alert regarding a recept POS transaction. POS Alert offers you a shortcut to the POS criteria in the Newsletter section. Use this to alert customers about upcoming POS events (new products, discontinued lines) but with no redeemable reward. 13
6 Configuring Maxgaming Connect Before you begin using Connect there are a few small areas that will need attention. These will help you manage your Connect administration. At the bottom of the home screen select the Venue Config icon: Go through the criteria of each section on the page and configure to suit your venue. Scroll down through each of the following sections to configure Connect to suite your Venue. Venue Name: this field will always be set to the default venue and cannot be changed. Use this field to set the default email to send reports emails etc. Set as Connect primary user. Only one email is permitted. Use these fields to set up test recipients for Connect communications. You can set up multiple test email and mobile accounts. Please note that test emails and SMS will account for and be charged at the normal rate. 14
Use this field to set the minimum number of receipts. This will give you a warning if your communication will not reach at least this many customers. Use this field to set the maximum number of receipts. This will give you a warning if your communication will reach more than this many customers. You can offer bonus points when customers supply their contact details at the kiosk. Use this section to set up the number of points awarded for each contact provided. See MY DETAILS section for more information Use this section to set up a time frame you do not want to send an SMS to your customers. By default it is set for between 9pm and 9am The Sender ID is what the patron will see at the top of the screen when they receive a SMS alert or SMS Campaign. Maxgaming MUST do this on your behalf. Please contact the Maxgaming Help Desk (1800 700 116) to have this set. Use this section to set up your points values; you can customise this to reflect faster point accruals for customers with a higher rating grade. In this example the points are set as 1 points equal $1 in real money. 15
6.1 Social Network Configuraiton Use this section to set up any social networks associated to your venue. Click on SOCIAL NETWORKS: At the top right of the section click OPTIONS and choose ADD NEW SOCIAL NETWORK if you need further networks added For existing social networks click on the logo and add the link to your venue: Use this section to set up what social networks your venue has. Popular social networks include Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. Connect has these and many more already available for you to administer. When you select a social network, copy and paste your social network URL into this section. This will ensure that when the button is clicked the customer will be taken to the social network page. 16
7 My Details An exciting new functionality has been added to the Maxgaming Kiosk to help you use the Connect system to it s full potential. Members can provide you with contact details on the kiosk in exchange for rewards points. This is a great way to keep patron details up to date. 7.1 How My Details Works You can configure the My Details messaging and rewards on the kiosk by accessing the Venue Config button on the Connect homepage. Scroll down the page until you get to the section on My Details Capture Points Rewards: In this section of the config you can allocate points to reward your customers for supplying their details. NB: by leaving it blank no message about bonus points will appear on the kiosk screen. Customers will only receive reward points ONCE. This prevents a customer entering repeated wrong details as a method of collecting multiple reward point bonuses. The My Details screen will automatically appear on screen when a customer swipes their card under the following conditions. A customer has not provided an email address A customer has not provided a mobile phone number A customer on their last visit entered an invalid email address A customer on their last visit entered an invalid mobile phone number The designated timeframe has passed since the customer did not wish to participate in promotions (this reminder is set in the venue config section) If a customer hits the cancel button they will not be asked for their details again until the amount of time designated in the config section has transpired. See SETTING REMINDERS for more information. 17
7.2 Setting MyDetails Reminders You can nominate how long before customers are asked for their details again, this is done in intervals from the time they hit cancel on the My Details screen or have opted out of the mailing list. NB: This can only be configured by the HOST so you will have to contact Maxgaming to set up the specifics. By default all fields are set up for 3 months. 18
8 Selection Criteria Explained The following will explain in detail the available criteria for creating email and SMS alerts and campaigns. Note that in each criteria section, without change by the user, the default will be ALL CHOICES. Gender allows you to target either male or female customers. Without change the default is both. Age allows you to select customers by age group. By default Connect will only target customers over the age of 18. This filter is used to target customers by rating grade. You can select multiple rating grades. Without change the default is ALL RATING GRADES. Points balance allows you to select customers based on how many points they currently have. This filter is used to target select specific suburbs and postcodes (this list is fed from Wildcat). It is possible to select multiple suburbs and postcodes. Without change the default is ALL SUBURBS and POSTCODES. This filter is used to target select specific States. It is possible to select multiple States. Without change the default is ALL STATES. This filter is used to target select specific Membership Types (this list is fed from Wildcat). It is possible to select multiple types and without change the default is ALL MEMBERSHIP TYPES. You can also search by a customer s membership ID or filter out membership ids by using the any of the operators in the drop down box. By default ALL MEMBERSHIP IDs is selected. 19
8.1 Barrel Draw Criteria Barrel Draw criteria are used to communicate with customers who have tickets in upcoming Max e-draw promotions. You can target patrons based on the draw itself and how many tickets the customer has in the draw. This is an excellent tool to encourage ticket holders to be present for the promotion. Note this is ONLY available for Max edraw promotions. 8.2 Activity Criteria Filter by the current status of the customer membership. For example this can be used to send offers to customers whose membership has expired. Filter by inactivity period - for instances where a customer has not been in the venue for 6 weeks etc. Points to Age is the amount of points on the card to expire by a certain date. This will alert patrons to use them before expiry. Select the length of time since the customer last played a gaming machine. Select the length of time since the customer last had a POS spend. Select the length of time since the customer last swiped at the kiosk. Select the customers based on when their membership renewal date is. Select the customers based on when their membership was created (also known as JOIN DATE). This is useful for welcoming new members as they join. 20
8.3 Advanced Criteria Filter the selection to include specific dates or months for patron s birthdays. Filter the selection for only patrons who play gaming machines or for patrons who DON T play gaming machines. Reward patrons based on gaming turnover and when they achieved this value. Reward patrons based on gaming spend and when they achieved this value. Reward patrons based on the average gaming turnover per visit. Reward patrons based on the average gaming spend per visit. Reward patrons based on preferences saved or groups to which they belong (this list is fed from Wildcat). Filter by patrons who are winners via Maxedraw Filter by patrons who are winners via Megapoints Filter by patrons who are Jackpot winners. Filter the selection for only patrons who use SIMPLAY or for patrons who DON T use SIMPLAY. This can be used to encourage SIMPLAY signups. Filter by patrons who have received a Cancel Credit over a specified dollar value on a particular date. Filter by patrons who have a MyCash Balance of an amount specified in the criteria. 21
8.4 POS Criteria Please note that you must have POS connected with Maxgaming loyalty for the following criteria to take affect. If unsure, contact your Maxgaming Account Manager. POS SPEND DATE can select patrons based on the last time they used their card during a POS transaction. The following filter criteria will only activate when a POS SPEND DATE is specified. POS LOCATION can select patrons based on WHERE they last used their card during a POS transaction: POS SALE ITEM can select patrons based on WHAT they purchased when they last used their card during a POS transaction: 22
POS SPEND AMOUNT can select patrons based on how much they spent when they last used their card during a POS transaction: All or some of these POS criteria can be used to filter down patrons for the campain or alert but note that the additional POS criteria will only activate when a POS SPEND DATE is specified. 23
9 Creating Email Campaigns Select Email Campaign from the home screen: There are three steps to completing an Email Campaign: 1 Select a Template 2 Personalise the Template (insert pictures and information) 3 Select Recipients and send email. Connect offers you a small range of generic templates for you to use freely. These templates allow you to customise the text, hash tags and images. You can also change the colour of the background to fit the style and branding of your venue. Please refer to the Managing Images or Managing Colours section for more information on this process. You can also have your own custom template created for an additional fee. Please contact your Account Manager for more information. Choose the preferred template from styles shown: Clicking on a preferred template will automatically take the user to the Personalise tab where you can insert pictures and create the email look needed for the communication. 9.1 Inserting Pictures into the Email You can choose how you put an offer together. If you are not very confident or have not used email creation tools before then it is suggested you follow the guide below. You can also find some great step by step video tutorials in the Help section of the connect website. With the images TAB open on the right side of the screen you can begin by adding in some images. Maxgaming has supplied a range of stock images for you to use for free simply scroll up and down looking for a picture or choose a keyword to shortcut to a specific picture type. 24
Once you have chosen a picture just drag and drop it into the image field. The chosen picture will now appear in the email template: If none of the images are suitable you can upload your own via the OPTIONS menu. Alternatively any image you upload to your image library (in Configuration) will be there for you to use. For more information refer to the chapter on Managing Images. Linking Pictures to a Website When the member receives the email you can link any pictures in the email to an external website (venue website or similar). Click on the picture to highlight and then click the CHAIN LINK in the top right of the editor strip: In the pop up screen type in the web address to link the picture. Click OK. 25
9.2 Formatting the Email Text Once you re happy with the picture selection you can begin to edit the text. Type your message as you would like it to appear in the email. 9.2.1 Using the HTML Editor (Font and Formatting) This is the HTML editor as it appears in MaxConnect. Check the corresponding letter below the picture for the button purpose: A. Bold: Highlighted text is made bold. B. Italics: Higlighted text is changed to italics C. Underline: Higlighted text is underlined D. Line through: Text has a line through it E. Change the size of the font F. Change the colour of the font G. Left align text H. Centre text I. Right align text J. Justify text K. Unordered list L. Indent text M. Outdent text N. Create a link to a URL on either a line of text or image. O. Remove current formatting You can format the email for presentation using the HTML editor at the top of the email - change the size, colour, and position etc of the font in the email. This is the email with the new message after using the editor: Using the TAGS options you can personalise the message that appears in the email. Click ONCE on the button to add the tag to the email. 26
If you format the email after adding the TAGS you will lose the tags. If you lose the tags, reposition your cursor and click the tag again to add to the email. You can also open the colour tab and change the background colour of your template to suit your venue s branding. Click on the Social tab and click on each social media icon you wish to add to the email (if these are not setup please refer to the Social Networking Configuration chapter): 27
Once you have entered all the desired content you can select the preview button at the bottom of the screen to see how your campaign will look. If the preview does not appear check that Chrome is not blocking the popup (see the top right corner for a red cross or similar). This is a preview of the email as it looks currently: If you see changes to be done or you wish to add further information, close the preview and return to the email creation screen and make your amendments. Once you are satisfied with the content you can move onto the next step Select Recipients and Send. 9.3 Select Recipients NB: For a more detailed explanation of the criteria, please see the Criteria Explained section. You can now click the SELECT RECIPIENTS & SEND tab at the top of the page as this will take you to the selection criteria section. Almost all criteria are optional; you use these criteria to target a very specific audience, i.e. Female customers over the age of 40 who purchase white wine. Leave all criteria untouched if you want to send the offer to everyone. 9.3.1 Calculate Recipients This is a very useful tool to help with calculating the cost of the email. To ensure that you are within your email quota check this section very carefully. In some cases it may prove more beneficial to send recipients an SMS instead of an email (or vice versa). 28
Click the COUNT button to see around how many customers will receive your message. You can alter the criteria to increase and decrease this number. 9.3.2 Removing Recipients If you are unsure who has been selected you can check the list of members that matched the selected criteria by clicking the VIEW/EXCLUDE button. This will display the following screen: Using the scroll bar at the right of the screen you can move up and down the list. If a member appears on the list and you would like to remove them, highlight their details and click the REMOVE button. Their details will now appear at the bottom of the screen. If you have made a mistake highlight the person who has been removed and click ADD BACK and they will appear back in the active list. Click CLOSE to return to main screen. 29
9.3.3 Adding Additional Recipients If you find that you need to add someone in particular (who doesn t match the criteria) you can click on the INCLUDE button to list the entire database. Find the patron by membership number or click on a column to sort the member list. When you find the member click on their details and click ADD. They will appear in the bottom of the screen. If you made a mistake, click on the member and click REMOVE. This will take them off the email list. With the Bulk Member ID Lookup you can upload a spread sheet for an easy lookup of members. To find and create all your desired recipients quickly from your existing membership database you can upload a spread sheet containing a list of the desired membership numbers in a single Column. Ensure the first row contains a heading or is left blank as this will be disregarded. Click CLOSE to return to main screen. 9.4 Finalising an Email Campaign The next section is very important; here you must complete the fields to create the campaign for both your records and how you communicate to the customer. 30
9.4.1 Send or Schedule Finally you can select when you want to send the campaign. You can select to send it immediately or set a future date for when the offer is sent; this is a good idea if you are planning some marketing offers in advance. You can also select the Test Message button and send yourself a test copy so that you can see what the campaign will look like in an email (Note: this Test Message is part of your subscribed email quota). Click FINISH and this campaign will be saved with all details and send when scheduled. If you re not quite sure on something, you can click SAVE AS DRAFT and come back to the email at any time via MY CAMPAIGNS. RESET will reset all criteria back to default values and CANCEL will discard any changes you ve made to the campaign and return you to MaxConnect Home. When you view the email in MY CAMPAIGNS it will hold a status of PENDING until the full email is sent. It will then hold a status of PAST. You can view but you cannot EDIT any past campaigns. 31
10 SMS Campaigns Much of the process for an SMS campaign is identical to an email campaign, however as an SMS is designed to be a quick and easy alert solution it does not require images or template creation. A standard SMS is 160 characters and by law you are required to provide an opt-out option. This has already been included by default so each standard SMS should be less than 133 characters (this will include punctuation and spaces between words). With the nature of SMS marketing, messages should be kept short and to the point. Some good examples are: Hi #Firstname# get 500 bonus points to redeem! Come to #venue name# on Wednesday. (82 characters) #Firstname# WIN $5,000 tonight @ #Venue name# Come in for a chance to win. (75 Characters) When in doubt, check the character count at the right of the screen: The estimated message per patron is an approximation only. The maximum length of texts can be determined by each mobile phone and/or carrier. 32
10.1 Creating an SMS Campaign Select SMS Campaign from the home screen: Complete the criteria selections as per promotion requirements: This is the criteria section and features the same criteria available in the email campaign section. For more details on how criteria works please see the section on CRITERIA EXPLAINED. Much like the email section you can calculate the number of recipients and how many messages you can expect to send. Keep in mind that each SMS will cost 7c on top of your monthly Connect Subscription. 33
This section is where you give your campaign a name and duration. You can also allocate the number of points awarded, much like an email campaign. The following section is where you create the message to be sent to patrons. Type in the active area of the phone graphic and use the hash tags for personalisation. As a start, ignore the character count and type what you need to say. Then review your message and see where you can shortcut words or symbols to bring it back to minimal characters. In the top right-hand corner is how many characters you have used in your message and how many messages per customer will be sent. The green background lets you know that the alert will be sent in one message. 34
10.1.1 Send or Schedule Finally you can select when you want to send the campaign. You can select to send it immediately or set a future date for when the offer is sent; this is a good idea if you are planning some marketing offers in advance. Click PREVIEW to see how the message reads. If the preview does not appear check that Chrome is not blocking popups (look for a red cross or similar in the top right of the screen). You can also select the Test Message button and send yourself a test copy so that you can see what the campaign will look like as a text message (Note: this Test Message is part of your subscribed email quota). Click FINISH and this campaign will be saved with all details and send when scheduled. If you re not quite sure on something, you can click SAVE AS DRAFT and come back to the email at any time via MY CAMPAIGNS. RESET will reset all criteria back to default values and CANCEL will discard any changes you ve made to the campaign and return you to MaxConnect Home. 35
11 Sending an SMS Alert or Newsletter SMS Alerts and Email Newsletters function in exactly the same way as campaigns, the key difference is that an Alert or Newsletter does not have any reward based function. As an example you would use these forms of communication for instances such as: Monthly membership Newsletter Inform your customers on a great live act that will be playing that night Tell customers about an exciting new promotion Wish a customer a happy birthday Follow the instructions for email or SMS campaigns for more detail. An SMS alert and Email Newsletter will not count in your monthly campaign quota but will contribute to the number of SMS or Email Messages (see below). 36
12 Auto Send Explained With Auto send you can set and forget about many of the tedious marketing administrative tasks, such as wishing VIP patrons a happy birthday or reminding them that they have points about to expire. NB: Setting up a single auto send campaign only counts for 1 campaign per month. For example if you have subscribed to four campaigns a month and decided to set up a birthday auto send campaign you would effectively be using one of those available campaigns per month on birthdays, regardless of how many were sent. However if you set up multiple birthday campaigns, such as one for male patrons and one for female patrons, than this would count as two active campaigns per month. Auto send campaigns count towards your monthly email cap and cost per SMS sent at the normal rate. These same rules apply to SMS Auto Send campaigns. 12.1 Creating an Auto Send Campaign Choose the type of Auto Send Campaign from the list: Once the type has been selected you will be taken to the select recipients tab where the selection criteria can be chosen. 12.1.1 Birthday The Auto send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. For birthday the Connect system will check the database each day and send a birthday message to customers who meet the criteria and has a birthday in the amount of days specified. 37
12.1.2 Event The Auto send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. For Event you can enter an annual date for an auto send event e.g. Christmas card, Annual Race day, Easter etc. 12.1.3 Last Visit Date The Auto send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. For Last Visit Date you can target customers based on a lapse in visitation. For example you can create criteria which would offer any patron who has not been in the venue for 6 weeks a bonus 500 points on their account on their next visit. 12.1.4 Membership Renewal The Auto Send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. For Membership renewal the system will check for membership expiry within the specified number of days. 38
12.1.5 New Member The Auto send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. For New member you can send an offer or message to a new customer e.g. a welcome pack or an offer of bonus points when they next visit - after a specified number of days since joining. 12.1.6 Rating Grade Change Rating grade change does not require criteria. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. Any targeted customers who change to a higher rating grade will receive your message or offer. 12.1.7 Inactivity A member is considered Inactive when they haven t used their card since a particular date (loyalty, kiosk and POS). The Auto send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. For a member who has become inactive you can send an offer or message to encourage a return visit. 12.1.8 Gaming Turnover The Auto send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. This Auto Send could be used to award a patron when they have a daily turnover amount of more than or equal to the dollar amount entered. 39
12.1.9 MyCash Expiry The Auto send criteria will appear at the top of the criteria screen. All other criteria from campaigns will be available. This is an excellent way of alerting patrons to the fact that they have an outstanding balance on the MyCash account (MyCash accounts expire after 12 months of nil activity) 12.2 Lead Days and End Days. Lead days and days is the duration of any campaign capabilities you have added to the auto send event. 40
13 Mailing List Although Connect makes excellent use of new and digital media, sometimes it is the warmness of a physical letter that can make a customer feel connected to your venue. With this in mind Connect still gives you the ability to send good old fashioned snail mail. You can create a target mailing list quickly and easily and use your existing printer to print and dispatch the job or send onto a third party marketing partner. 13.1 Exporting a Mailing List Select the Mailing List option from the main screen. Use the selection criteria as you would an email or SMS. The Criteria will determine which customers will be on the mailing list. You can also test how many recipients will be on the mailing list. You can export the mailing list as a CSV or XML file as required. 41
You can either give this file directly to a printing service for personalised Mail activities or use it with a Mail Merge via Microsoft Word (CSV is recommended for Mail Merge). If the number of patrons in the list is higher than your preferred setting (in Venue Config) you will receive a warning: Click YES to continue the download or NO to return to the Mailing List Screen. The download may display a pop up to save the file or Windows may produce a tab at the bottom left of the page: Click OPEN to open the file or SHOW IN FOLDER to locate the file (if you need to save to a portable memory device). The file will automatically save at C:\Users\username\downloads. This is a snapshot of what the file looks like when opened in Excel: 42
14 Manage Colours These are the colours and shades that can be utilised in your email alerts and campaigns. Click on the OPTIONS tab at the top to add a new colour to your library. You can add and save as many colours as you like. Type the name of the colour in this field. This is how you will recognise the colour. If you know the code of the colour you would like you can enter it here to be exact (Code for White is shown), or you can click in the COLOUR box to show the colour picker and choose your colour. 14.1 Colour Codes HTML colour codes represent the colors red, green, and blue (#RRGGBB). These colour codes can be used to change the colour of the background, text, and tables on a web page. Here is a small sample of colours and associated codes that can be used on your emails: Source: www.computerhope.com/htmcolor.htm 43
14.2 Gradient Colours If you want to blend one colour into another select THIS IS A GRADIENT COLOUR box. With Gradients you can set the two known colour values, or select both colours using the colour picker. The sample section shows you how your selected colour or gradient colour will look on screen. NB: Remember to save your settings at the end of each section you change. You can also come back and edit them at any time. 44
15 Image (Picture) Management Maxgaming has already supplied some basic images that you are free to use in any Maxgaming Connect activity. You can also upload your own images to your personal library. Any images that you upload will NOT appear in the library of any other venue. Ensure your images are in.png format and are no bigger than 600 width in pixels for Headers pictures and 150x150 pixels for Body Pictures (images can be resized in Microsoft Photo Editor or Paint). When uploading your own images please note the following points: Maxgaming is not responsible for any offensive or obscene images uploaded onto your account. Ensure you have permission to use images you upload. Maxgaming is not responsible for any images you may have copied illegally. All images provided freely in Connect are for Connect use only. If you would like to use these images for any other purpose please first seek permission from Maxgaming. 15.1 Uploading Images via Image Config The images short cut can be found at the bottom of the home page. Click to open the Image Manager: To add an image click on the add image option. When the box appears click CHOOSE FILE: 45
You should now be able to select an image to be used from your computer files. Once you select the image and click open, you should now name the file and also add some key words that may help you locate it quickly in the future. The uploaded image will now be saved in the image library of your account for your access only. 15.2 Uploading Images in Email/SMS Screen To insert your own images into the picture library, click on the OPTIONS button at top right to display the following screen. Click ADD NEW IMAGE: The process is identical to adding the image via the Image Configuration. 46
16 Managing My Campaigns The My Campaigns view provides an overview of all past campaigns and communications conducted or are currently in progress. This view will also show the start and end dates for all campaigns. From the HOME screen: 16.1 Sort & Filter The sort function available in the top right gives you a number of options to easily find the campaign you re after. Simplay click SORT to display the sort table: The filter function available in the top right allows for fast finding by showing campaigns by type. 47
16.2 Action Buttons At the far right of the My Campaigns view you will see action buttons related to the campaign: View: Allows you to see the details of the email/sms was from a previous campaign/alert. Edit: Only avalible in draft campaigns - edit is a shortcut to the design of the draft communication. Delete: You can delete old campaigns and draft campaigns if you no longer require them. Recreate: Recreate allows you to re-run a successful campaign; you will have the ability to change the details. This will save time if a newsletter only needs a few changes. 48
17 Connect Reports For any marketing activity, having the ability to analyse a final result is important and as such subscribing to Connect also includes an in-depth reporting facility. These reports can generate data on valuable information such as how many people took up the offer or how much these same people contributed via poker machine revenue. Please note that reports will only generate for CAMPAIGNS ONLY. Alerts are not reported. At the HOME screen, click MY REPORTS: This will display the available reports: Click on required report to display the report filter screen. This is very similar to the MaxReports screen when using the Maxgmaing Website: Choose the Campaign Type and name from the drop down list and click RUN to generate the report. 17.1 Campaign Summary 49
17.2 Campaign Detail 17.3 Auto Send Campaign 50
18 Patron Unsubscribe Process As per the Spam Act 2003 all patrons have the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from a venue. 18.1 Unsubscribe from an Email At the base of every email sent there will be an unsubscribe option: The patron must click on the UNSUBSCRIBE link to be removed from the list. 18.2 Unsubscribe from an SMS At the base of every SMS received the patron is notified of their option to opt-out: The patron must send the word STOP to the number listed. Replying to the SMS WILL NOT unsubscribe them from the list. 18.3 Issues with Unsubscribe If you are having problems with customers opting out of the connect service it might be worthwhile checking over the following circumstances, as to why a customer has been un-able to unsubscribe. Unsubscribing from one service will not unsubscribe from all services. Currently your customers can be signed up for 3 communication services. 1. Email 2. SMS 3. Mail Unsubscribing from SMS for example does not unsubscribe the customer from email. The customer needs to unsubscribe from each individually. The customer does not send the word STOP to the opt-out number. The system checks that the first 4 characters match the word stop. The highlighted messages will NOT opt out of the system. Some incorrect examples are shown below: 51
The Customer re-subscribes themselves at the kiosk If your customers have un-subscribed from Connect they can re-subscribe themselves by entering their details at the kiosk and subsequently giving consent to receive messages from your venue again. The customer replies directly to the message rather than the opt-out number. When the customer receives the message and replies directly, this will not opt them out of SMS. The customer must send the word stop to 0429557971. Note that the example below will NOT unsubscribe the customer. 18.3.1 When You Receive Complaints Make sure you remove the customer receiving messages by using Wildcat. If your customers are having trouble un-subscribing themselves, you are able to do this for them on the following Wildcat screen. Simply un-tick the box for the message type from where the customer is having difficulty unsubscribing. Another option is to use the Ad-remove function to double check continual customers who complain. 52
When sending out a message you can now use the view/exclude button and make sure that you take difficult customers off the sending list. If you have any follow up questions or concerns please contact Maxgaming for further information. 53
19 Tips When Using Connect 19.1 What Works? Simple offers a good strategy with reasonable rewards: It stands to reason that a decent reward is incentive enough to bring people into the venue. See the example below: An effective Auto Send for New Members encourages a return visit: 54
19.2 What Doesn t Work? If you re creating a campaign it is important to tell the patron why they should swipe their card when coming into the venue. In this example the message is quite detailed but does not mention that they can receive 500 points when they swipe! When offering an incentive, make it unique to your venue and something that the target market would like. An example of what may not work would be offering boxing gloves or UFC Tickets to your customer base when a majority are over 65 years of age and female. 19.3 Training Videos There are some very helpful training videos available by clicking the HELP button at the home screen. It is highly recommend that before you start using Connect that you watch and familiarise yourself with the operation of the website. 19.4 Email Subject Lines Writing a good subject line can improve your open rate. Keep the length of your subject line to 50 characters with spaces or fewer Lead with an action word Include your brand name somewhere in there Avoid spam-trigger words, exclamation points and odd punctuation Avoid being cutesy or clever Source: www.copyhackers.com 55
19.5 Create a Connect Test Case The following checklist has been devised to help make sure that your venue has been set up for Connect properly. Before you send out any campaigns you must make sure the following is complete. NB: This test case will use 1 Campaign so if you are on a lower level than ultimate please ensure you factor it in to your monthly usage. 1. Create a dummy member in Wildcat (for example Joe Bloggs) and give him/her the mailing address of your venue, also create a card, make sure you do not give the dummy card an email address or mobile number; 2. Swipe the dummy card at the kiosk. Check that the My Details screen appears and that it asks you to enter an email and mobile number; 3. Provide your own email address and phone number. If you are rewarding patrons with points, check that the points are added to the dummy account; 4. Open up Connect and send a campaign to that account. Make sure the account has some reward points. Target only the dummy user. You can do this by using the equal to member ID criteria in the select recipients section. 5. Calculate the recipients and make sure it says that only 1 patron will be targeted (the Dummy user) 6. Send the campaign to the dummy account and make sure the time frame for redemption is only a few minutes into the future. 7. Now swipe the dummy card at the kiosk and check that points are awarded to the account. If all this goes to plan then your Connect account is ready to use. If you experience any issues with the above please make sure you contact the Maxgaming Help Desk on 1800 700 116. 56
20 Frequently Asked Questions about Connect I don t have a Kiosk. Can I still subscribe to Connect? Absolutely. Many venues take on Connect at the Lite level and enjoy professional and effective email and SMS communications without the use of campaigns. Connect isn t working properly. Some of the buttons are missing/i can t scroll down the page? Check that you have opened Connect in Google Chrome (not Internet Explorer etc). To avoid this create a shortcut on your desktop for further use. How to create a shortcut is shown in the appendix of this manual. What Size Pictures Can I Use in my emails? Ensure your images are in.png format and are no bigger than 600 width in pixels for Headers pictures and 150x150 pixels for Body Pictures (images can be resized in Microsoft Photo Editor or Paint). I just uploaded some pictures. Where are they? It can take a few minutes for some pictures to appear on the Connect webpage. You might have to log out and then log back in again for the images to refresh. If in doubt, check the file extension only.png will load. Also, check the keywords or load the image again. A Patron says they have unsubscribed but are still receiving communications? Please see the section on Unsubscribing from Connect. My Suburb is selected as part of the criteria but I m not in the list of recipients? Connect uses the suburbs and postcodes that are typed into Wildcat. If a postcode or suburb is incorrect it may be missed in the selection criteria (where you have selected particular suburbs/postcodes): For this reason it is essential that care is taken when entering or editing patron details. You can add yourself through the INCLUDE option in the Calculate Recipients section. How soon will my members receive their SMS? Once you ve clicked on FINISH in the Connect screen the communication will sit in PENDING whilst our SMS provider gathers all the details. Providing there are no queues and no issues with mobiles carriers (Telstra, Optus, Vodaphone etc) members should receive their message anywhere from 30 seconds onwards. This is not a guaranteed timeframe and some restrictions are outside our control. In most cases where a patron does not receive a text it will be because they did not match the selection criteria. We are alerted by our SMS carrier if there are any major issues with Mobile carriers. Maxgaming will do its utmost to send on any information on events that may affect your marketing communications. 57
21 Appendix 21.1 Creating a Connect Shortcut on the Desktop Open the Connect page as per normal. This will display the home screen. At the far right of the screen click on the three horizontal lines to display the Chrome menu: Click TOOLS then CREATE APPLICATION SHORTCUTS to display the following screen: At this point you can tick each box depending on your requirements as a minimum click the DESKTOP option. This will place a desktop shortcut for easy access to Connect. 58
21.2 Clearing the Google Chrome Cache Every time you visit a website your computer will save mini-files or pieces of each website. The purpose of this action is to speed up the loading process when you revisit the website in the future. When Maxgaming updates Connect with fixes or new features some of these files may change. Each time you load Connect after an update it might take a while to load, it may freeze at a certain point or not load at all. More importantly, if we change a file that your browser has cached, it s going to keep serving the old, cached version of the file and you won t see our most recent changes. Before calling the Maxgaming Help Desk, try and clear your cache first. To Do This: Click on the Settings button in the top right of Chrome screen (it looks like a spanner): From the drop down menu select TOOLS then CLEAR BROWSING DATA: In the dropdown that reads Obliterate the following items from select the beginning of time. Accept the default ticked boxes by clicking CLEAR BROWSING DATA at the bottom right of the screen. Close and reopen Connect to pick up the new changes. 21.2.1 Clear Cache Shortcut The shortcut to this popup window is to press and hold down in this order > Control+Shift+Delete buttons on your keyboard. 59
21.3 Key Components of the Spam Act 2003 21.3.1 Rules for sending a commercial electronic message When sending commercial electronic messages, the three key steps to follow are: 1 Consent - Only send commercial electronic messages with the addressee s consent either express or inferred consent. 2 Identify - Include clear and accurate information about the person or business that is responsible for sending the commercial electronic message. 3 Unsubscribe - Ensure that a functional unsubscribe facility is included in all your commercial electronic messages. Deal with unsubscribe requests promptly. Tip: More information on consent, identify and unsubscribe is available at www.spam.acma.gov.au The Spam Act 2003 prohibits the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages known as spam with an Australian link. A message has an Australian link if it originates or was commissioned in Australia, or originates overseas but was sent to an address accessed in Australia. 21.3.2 What is a commercial message? The Spam Act 2003 defines a commercial electronic message as: a message that offers, advertises or promotes the supply of goods, services, land or business or investment opportunities, advertises or promotes a supplier of goods, services, land or a provider of business or investment opportunities, helps a person dishonestly obtain property, commercial advantage or other gain from another person. The Act classifies an electronic message as commercial' by considering: the content of the message the way the message is presented any links, phone numbers or contact information in the message that leads to content with a commercial purpose as these may also lead the message to be defined as 'commercial' in nature. 21.3.3 What messages can be sent without consent? Certain messages from the following types of organisations: government bodies charities religious organisations registered political parties educational institutions (for messages sent to current and former students). Source: http://www.acma.gov.au/ 60
21.4 MaxConnect Work Flow For easy of reference this is a copy of the flow chart featured at the start of this user guide: 21.5 Using the HTML Editor (Font and Formatting) This is the HTML editor as it appears in MaxConnect. Check the corresponding letter below the picture for the button purpose: P. Bold: Highlighted text is made bold. Q. Italics: Higlighted text is changed to italics R. Underline: Higlighted text is underlined S. Line through: Text has a line through it T. Change the size of the font U. Change the colour of the font V. Left align text W. Centre text X. Right align text Y. Justify text Z. Unordered list AA. Indent text BB. Outdent text CC. Create a link to a URL on either a line of text or image. DD. Remove current formatting 61
22 Configure Section (Host Only) Go to www.maxgaming.com.au and logon to your account. Users and Super users will have to log in using their existing Maxgaming username and password. Super User access will be granted to a select group within the Maxgaming business, these users will be granted Admin rights over all current subscribers. 22.1 Setting Reminders You can nominate how long before customers are asked for their details again, this is done in intervals from the time they hit cancel on the My Details screen or have opted out of the mailing list. NB: This can only be configured by the HOST so you will have to contact Maxgaming to set up the specifics. By default all fields are set up for 3 months. 62