ThankView features an engagement score that makes it easy to know who your most engaged and active recipients are. Each newly uploaded recipient starts with a neutral score of 3 stars attached to their email address or phone number.

Before we dive into using these scores to build smarter lists, let’s take a look at how our algorithm calculates a recipients metric score. This article will also take a look at the different ways to engage your recipients and build smarter saved lists of recipients, all based on their level of engagement.

From start to finish, here is how the engagement score total calculates your user’s interaction:

A recipient does not open your ThankView — The score generally drops 1 star for every ThankView unopened.

A recipient opens the ThankView but does not click play — The score slightly drops. Generally, the score stays at the same star rating unless it happens over several ThankViews.

A recipient clicks play to start watching their ThankView video— The score will not change.

A recipient watches the ThankView video — The score will slightly increase as the recipients watch more of the video.

A recipient finishes the ThankView video — The score will increase a fair amount. They will be marked as a 4-star recipient if it’s their first video. Their score will increase to 5-stars after watching several ThankViews to the end.

A recipient clicks the CTA button or a secondary button such as “Reply”, or “Share” — The score greatly increases. Their score will go to 5 stars even if it’s their first ThankView.

As you can see, our algorithm rewards recipients more than it lowers their score. But can these stars help you build smarter lists? Let’s break it down.

When you download the metrics .csv file, there is a column that shows the engagement score total for each recipient.

The next step is to filter and sort each recipient by their engagement score total. We recommend building three separate campaign lists:

• 1 and 2-star recipients
• 3-star recipients
• 4 and 5-star recipients

Here are some great ideas for how to tailor your campaign for each list.

4 and 5-Star Engagement

We recommend treating these recipients like the all-stars they are! Make them feel special with behind the scenes access to your latest projects and follow up ThankViews created just for them!

These are the recipients that are most likely to click your CTA or share your message. Make sure to reward them for engaging with you and helping you and your organization achieve your mission.

3- Star Engagement

These recipients are consistently watching your ThankView videos (nice job!), but have yet to click that Call to Action button or any of the secondary actions. What are some of the best ways to increase their engagement?

Be sure to call out those secondary action links in the video! Let them know what’s beneath the amazing personalized video you’ve sent them.

Lower Star Engagement (1–2 Stars)

Your recipients with 1-2 star engagement scores have not opened or clicked through the past few ThankViews that you’ve sent. But never fear, you may just need to try a new way of reaching out!

We recommend spacing out the ThankView campaigns so a recipient is not receiving more than 1 every 2–3 months.

To reengage your 1 or 2-star engagement recipients, try resending with a new subject line including their name, their major, their last gift donation amount. The more specific the better!

Consider segmenting these recipients into a smaller list and creating a campaign that features videos specifically created for each individual.

After months of no engagement, if you have no responses or clicks from these recipients, it’s a great idea to implement a sunset policy. A sunset policy is a best practice that removes those from your list that have not engaged with your email outreach in the past 6–12 months. This removes stale emails and over time and will improve your overall engagement metrics.

And there you have it! The magic’s in the stars! For your next campaign, test segmenting your lists with the engagement score. Let us know about your campaigns, your questions, heck, even what you had for lunch. We want to hear from you!