BYPASSING FORMS ALTOGETHER TO INCREASE SUPPORTER CONVERSIONS

Chris Vaughn,

Director of Client Services

• Use Merge Fields to auto-fill Salsa forms

• Use Salsa’s QuickDonate service to provide one-click donation links in email blasts

• Isolate and target supporters in the database that can utilize formless, QuickDonate links

• Create a Custom URL from a Salsa petition that existing supporters can click to sign petitions without ever seeing a form

Learning objectives

By the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Forms introduce user error when entering data

• Data being requested from your existing supporter base is often already known

• Filling out a form on a mobile device can be really cumbersome

• Long forms inevitably increase the time it takes to engage

• Necessary for new information, but not always asking for new information, just for action

What’s wrong with a form?

Form optimization helps

• Big, easy to find form fields• Easy to read and concise labels • Styled subsection headings that

make it easy to understand each section

• Mobile-friendly, responsive template design that adjusts to different screen sizes

• Include only what’s necessary for a supporter to convert

• Easy to understand and find error messages

Pre-populating forms is even better

Blank Form Completed Form

Using merge fields

Merge fields in Salsa allow you to take the personal data you know about a supporter and use it in your messaging as well as pass it to a form.

Data in Salsa Email Blast

Form

The syntax for a merge field in Salsa is two opening brackets, then the name of the field, then two closing brackets:

Using merge fields

[[field_name]]For example…

[[First_Name]]

Using merge fields

There are two ways to use merge fields, one is in your email message itself.

Using merge fields

The second is to add it to a Salsa URL as a parameter which will populate the corresponding form field with the value you merge.

The syntax for passing a field to a form in a URL is:

Using merge fields

Here’s a URL you might use as a link in an email blast:

http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7001/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6225656&First_Name=[[First_Name]]&Last_Name=[[Last_Name]]

“&Field_Name=[[Field_Name]]”

When it sends from Salsa, the URL will merge in the unique data you have for each supporter:

Using merge fields

http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7001/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6225656&First_Name=Chris&Last_Name=Vaughn

http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7001/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6225656&First_Name=[[First_Name]]&Last_Name=[[Last_Name]]

While merge fields allow you to pre-populate data on a form, there’s still a form.. So it requires at least two clicks and an additional page to look at.

Using OneID’s QuickDonate option, donors can bypass the donation form altogether--Creating essentially a “one-click” process.

Great… but there’s still a form

What is QuickDonate?

QuickDonate is a special package that can be added to your Salsa account that will allow your donors to create a OneID account the next time they donate. OneID stores their credit card information using super-secure encryption technology. Salsa then records that they are a OneID subscriber.

Donor Donates on Salsa form

Opts-in to OneID Recorded as OneID userin Salsa

What is QuickDonate?

Now that a supporter is a OneID user, Salsa allows you to send special URLs to these donors that will allow them to donate without seeing a form. Salsa instead synchs their OneID account with their donation request, processes the donation and sends them to directly to a confirmation page.

Donor Email sent withinstant donate URL

Click instant donate URL

Donation processed

immediately

Confirmation page

Donation record stored

in Salsa

How to use QuickDonate

1) Check the QuickDonate features option on your donation pages. It can be found in the "Amounts" tab of each donation page:

How to use QuickDonate

2) This adds the QuickDonate from OneID opt-in checkbox to the donation pages.

How to use QuickDonate

3) Donors donate and then opt-in to the OneID account. They’re shown the terms in an interstitial page just before the confirmation page

How to use QuickDonate

4) Now, supporters that are OneID users can be queried in Salsa and targeted in an email blast.

How to use QuickDonate

5) When you create an email blast, you can add special QuickDonate links from the “add dynamic content” dropdown.

How to use QuickDonate

6) A pop-up window will open up and allow you to add instant donation amounts. In the process you’ll decide which donation page the donations should be associated with and how much you want donors to QuickDonate.

How to use QuickDonate

7) You can insert as many QuickDonate links as you’d like. Generally 3 links should provide enough range without overwhelming the user.

How to use QuickDonate

8) If the supporter clicks on the link, has a OneID account, and a cookie is in their browser, they’re taken right to a page to release their credit card info. If they don't have a OneID account on the device (say they click from a different computer/browser), they go to the page to donate like normal.

How to use QuickDonate

9) Once they accept the release, the donation is processed and they’re taken right to a confirmation page. Presto, donation made!

Similar to QuickDonate, Salsa also allows you to insert a special URL that will allow your existing supporters to click a link and instantly add their name to a petition.

One-click Petitions

Existing Supporter

Email sent withOne-click petition

URL

Click URL Name is added to petition in Salsa Confirmation

page

One-click Petitions

One-click petitions take advantage of the fact that every supporter in the Salsa database has a unique identifier. We can merge that identifier into a special URL. When a supporter clicks it, Salsa knows that supporter ID 17197873 took action without having to use a form at all.

One-click Petitions

The key is to take the following URL (which can be found on Salsa Commons) and modify it to fit your specific petition and organization credentials. Here’s a breakdown of the URL:

URL code Description

http://salsa3.salsalabs.comThis will change based on the node you’re on. Open up an existing Salsa page to find yours.

/salsa/api/action/processAction2.jsp?This line tells Salsa what data and actions to prepare. You don't need to make any edits here.

action_KEY=YYYYYYYY should be replaced with the petition’s actual action key (open up the petition page from Salsa to find the action key).

&organization_KEY=XXXX Change XXXX to your organization’s key.

&table=supporterThis line tells Salsa which table to draw data from. You don't need to make any edits here.

&key=[[supporter_KEY]]Lastly, Salsa brings in the supporter's KEY number. You don't need to make any edits here.

&email_trigger_KEYS=If you'd like to add email triggers / autoresponses, enter their key numbers here separated by commas.

&link=actionThis tells Salsa to move on to another data field. You don't need to make any edits here.

&linkKey=YYYY Replace YYYY with the same action_KEY as Step #4.

&redirect=http://www.salsalabs.com Set your redirect link to your liking, making sure to include http://.

One-click Petitions

Here’s an example for the following action page:

http://org2.salsalabs.com/salsa/api/action/processAction2.jsp?action_KEY=18176&organization_KEY=7001&table=supporter&key=17197873&link=action&linkKey=18176&redirect=http://www.salsalabs.com

http://org2.salsalabs.com/salsa/api/action/processAction2.jsp?action_KEY=18176&organization_KEY=7001&table=supporter&key=[[supporter_KEY]]&link=action&linkKey=18176&redirect=http://www.salsalabs.com

http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7001/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=18176

Here’s the special URL, with the merge field for [[supporter_KEY]]:

Here’s the URL, as it would come to me, supporter 17197873:

After clicking…

I get redirected right to the redirect URL and my name is added to the petition.

One-click Petitions

One-click Petitions

But, what about when someone clicks multiple times or when my supporters forward the email? Salsa has a built-in comment deduplication option that allows you to remove them. It’s found in the “Signatures” tab of the petition workflow.

One-click Petitions

Also, you can provide a share-able link for your supporters in the content of your email message for sharing and forwarding. One excellent strategy is to provide instructions for sharing on the confirmation page or make it a Tell a Friend page.

• Check out Salsa Commons at help.salsalabs.com• Merge Fields:

https://help.salsalabs.com/entries/23008516-Common-Merge-Fields

• QuickDonate: https://help.salsalabs.com/entries/49943810-QuickDonate-with-oneID-Original-version-

• One-click petitions: https://help.salsalabs.com/entries/22120300-One-click-petition-signatures

• Or, send us a an email at support@salsalabs.com

Questions?

CONTACT INFO

Phone: 866.796.8345

Web: www.salsalabs.com

Email: info@salsalabs.com

Twitter: @salsalabs

THANK YOU!