If you’re tired of wrestling with clunky email tools or “magic” automation that never quite works, you’re not alone. This guide cuts through the noise and shows you how to actually build and automate targeted email campaigns—using Apteco PeopleStage—from the ground up. Whether you’re in marketing, CRM, or just the person who got stuck with this job, you’ll get practical steps and pro tips that save you time (and maybe some sanity).
1. What You Need Before You Start
Before diving into PeopleStage, take a minute to check you’ve got the basics covered:
- A clean, usable contact database (no, “Sheet1.xlsx” from three years ago doesn’t count).
- A clear goal: Are you trying to nurture leads? Bring back lapsed customers? Push a promo?
- Email content: Drafts, images, and subject lines. Don’t rely on inspiration striking at 11pm.
- Access to Apteco PeopleStage and, if you’re sending emails, a working integration with your ESP (like Mailchimp, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, etc.).
If any of these are missing, fix that first. Automation only works if you start with decent inputs.
2. Map Out Your Campaign Logic
PeopleStage is powerful, but it won’t read your mind. Sketch your campaign on paper or a whiteboard before you touch the software.
- Who gets which email, and when?
- What triggers each step? (e.g., opened last email, clicked a link, didn’t respond in 7 days)
- What happens next? (e.g., send reminder, move to different group, exit campaign)
Pro tip: Keep it simple. Overengineering a campaign is the fastest way to break something and burn hours troubleshooting.
3. Set Up Your Audience in PeopleStage
Now you’re ready to get into PeopleStage. Here’s how to set up your first campaign audience:
- Log in and go to Campaigns > New Campaign.
- Build your audience filter: Use the drag-and-drop interface to select criteria (demographics, behavior, previous activity). You can use saved selections from Apteco FastStats if you have them.
- Test your audience: Always preview the results. Expect surprises—filters can miss people or include way too many.
- Exclude anyone who shouldn’t get this email: Think GDPR, unsubscribes, or people who just bought what you’re selling.
What works: PeopleStage’s filters are powerful and flexible. Once you get the hang of it, you can segment pretty deeply.
What to watch out for: The more complex your audience rules, the easier it is to mess up. Double-check exclusions and logic.
4. Build Your Campaign Workflow
This is where PeopleStage shines—or frustrates, if you’re not careful.
- Drag and drop campaign stages: Each “bubble” represents a step: send email, wait, split audience, etc.
- Set up triggers: Tell PeopleStage what to do after each step. For example:
- If a user opens the email, add them to a nurture track.
- If they ignore it, send a reminder in 5 days.
- Use decision splits: Route people based on behavior (clicked, didn’t click, etc.). Don’t overdo it—simple splits work best.
- Add wait times and delays: Don’t blast emails one after another. Use sensible gaps.
Pro tip: Name every step clearly. “Email #1 – Promo” beats “Email 1 copy copy FINAL.” You’ll thank yourself later.
What works: Visualizing campaigns as a flowchart is intuitive, and it’s easy to make changes.
What’s annoying: If you try to build a campaign with 20 branches, expect headaches. Start small and build up.
5. Connect Your Email Platform
If you haven’t already, connect PeopleStage to your email service provider (ESP):
- Check your credentials: You often need API keys or logins. Ask your ESP admin if you’re not sure.
- Map fields: Make sure PeopleStage fields match your ESP’s. Email address mismatches are a classic “why didn’t this send?” culprit.
- Test the connection: Send a test campaign to yourself or a dummy group.
Pro tip: Always do a test send—even if you’ve done it a hundred times before. Something always changes.
What works: Once connected, PeopleStage handles batch sends and personalization pretty smoothly.
What to ignore: Fancy ESP features you aren’t using yet. Get the basics right first.
6. Create and Personalize Your Email Content
You can build emails directly in PeopleStage, or (more realistically) pull in HTML from your email builder.
- Personalize with merge fields: Use placeholders like {FirstName} or {LastPurchaseDate}. Test these—broken personalization looks amateur.
- Preview on mobile and desktop: Ugly emails kill response rates.
- Watch your links and images: Broken links or missing images are embarrassingly common.
Pro tip: Don’t get cute with fonts or layout. Clean, simple emails work best for most audiences.
7. Set Automation Rules and Scheduling
This is where automation actually happens:
- Schedule sends: Pick send times based on when your audience is most active. (There’s no magic hour, but avoid 3am.)
- Set frequency caps: Don’t email people every day unless you want a spike in unsubscribes.
- Define exit rules: Remove people who opt out, bounce, or complete the journey.
What works: Automation takes care of repetitive grunt work and reduces manual errors.
What doesn’t: Set-and-forget is a myth. You need to check in regularly—data changes, rules break, and weird stuff happens.
8. Test, Test, Test (Then Test Again)
No one gets it right the first time. Here’s what to check:
- Audience checks: Make sure only the right people are included.
- Content checks: Proofread, check links, and verify personalization.
- Workflow checks: Walk through every branch—does each action work as expected?
- Deliverability checks: Use test accounts on Gmail, Outlook, etc., to make sure emails don’t land in spam.
Pro tip: Keep a checklist. Don’t trust memory. The “I’ll remember” approach leads to embarrassing mistakes.
9. Go Live (But Monitor Closely)
Once you’re confident, activate your campaign. But keep an eye on things, especially in the first few hours:
- Watch for errors: Delivery failures, weird audience numbers, or angry replies.
- Monitor engagement: Opens, clicks, and unsubscribes. If something’s off, pause and troubleshoot.
What works: PeopleStage’s reporting is decent and helps you spot issues early.
What’s frustrating: Real-time feedback can lag. Don’t expect instant stats.
10. Iterate and Improve
Don’t set it and forget it. The best campaigns are tweaked over time:
- Review results: What worked? What bombed? Did anyone get stuck in a weird loop?
- Tweak audiences and content: Small changes can make a big difference.
- Retest regularly: Your data changes, so your rules might need to as well.
Pro tip: Save old versions of campaigns. Sometimes “improvements” make things worse, and you’ll want to roll back.
Automating targeted email campaigns with PeopleStage isn’t rocket science, but it’s not magic either. Start simple. Get one campaign working well, then build on it. Don’t waste time chasing every feature—focus on what actually moves the needle for your team. And, as with all things automation, keep an eye on it: nothing stays perfect forever. Happy sending.