Background

In Salesforce, a Flow is an automated sequence that is set in motion by a specific trigger and then includes one or more steps. Flows make it easy to initiate touchpoints with your leads and customers over the course of their lifecycle. You can automate messages that will help grow your business, without losing any of the personalization and relevancy needed to build strong customer loyalty.

Flows help you send timely communications to recipients via email, SMS, and now real pen & ink handwritten notes via IgnitePOST!

Read on for more details on how to leverage this  feature to send highly personalized handwritten note campaigns from any point within a Flow.

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1. Log in to your IgnitePOST Account

If you don't have an IgnitePOST Account yet, click here to create a FREE account. Once logged in, navigate to the 'Letter Templates' area by first clicking on the 'Letter Templates' link at the top of the dashboard and then click the orange 'Create Letter Template' button.

We're going to create a letter template on IgnitePOST using the letter template designer. Once you have created a letter template on your IgnitePOST dashboard, we'll move over to Salesforce and show you how to trigger it.

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2. Use the IgnitePOST Letter Template Designer to design your handwritten card

First start by giving your Letter Template a descriptive name.  This is for your internal use only, but since you can create as many Letter Templates as you want, it's a good idea to give each one a descriptive name.

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3. Fill in Default Values

Fill in the default values you wish to use for your Return Address as well as card message. Since there is a limited space on the cards, we recommend typing out your card message here, where you're able to see a preview of the message and ensure it will fit on the card. Remember, when you trigger the handwritten card from your workflow, you can overwrite every part of the card. However, using the designer here is the easiest way to set the card up first.

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4. Select your Card Image

Select the card image you wish to use on the front of the card. You can choose an image from our card image library, or you can choose to upload your own image! Once you are happy, click the 'Create' or 'Update' button to save your letter template. Once you have saved your template, make a note of the template ID.

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5. Trigger your Letter Template from Salesforce

Now that you have your letter template set up, let's head over to Salesforce and trigger that letter template at the appropriate time. To do so, log in to your Salesforce account and navigate to the Flow where you would like to trigger your handwritten letter (or create a new Flow from scratch).

In this example, we're going to set up a Record-Triggered Flow which will send a handwritten card from IgnitePOST when an Opportunity is marked 'Closed Won' in Salesforce.

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6. Configure the Starting Action

We need to tell Salesforce when to start the Flow. In this example, we want to start the flow when an Opportunity is marked as 'Closed Won'. To do this, we select the Opportunity object as our object. Next, we need to tell Salesforce when to trigger the flow. In this case we're going to select to trigger the flow when the Opportunity object is updated and then specify specific conditions that must be met when the Opportunity is updated.

For entry conditions, we're going to specify that the StageName field must be equal to 'Closed Won' AND we'll select the radio button to specify that the flow should only start when a record is updated to meet the specified condition, NOT every time a record is updated to meet the specified condition.

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Select the option to optimize the flow for Actions and Related Records:

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7. Obtain an API key from your IgnitePOST Dashboard

Visit the IgnitePOST dashboard and hover over your initials in the top right corner. From the dropdown menu, select ‘API Keys’ and then click the ‘Create API Key’ button.

Give your API key a descriptive name and then click ‘Create’. You will see your new API key listed and can click ‘Show’ to view your new API key.

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8. Add an element to your Flow where you'd like your handwritten card to be sent

Select the 'Send Email' action to add an email action where you'd like your handwritten letter to be triggered.

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9. Label the Email and Set up the Email Body

Select the toggle to include the email body:

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Choose the option to Create a New Resource:

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10. Select Text Template as the Type of Resource:

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11. Copy and Paste the email to handwritten card template below into the email body

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The next step is to customize the template to make the handwritten letter say what you want it to say. Be sure to replace the values between the double brackets with the appropriate values. For example, make sure to use the API key you generated in the steps above on the API Key line.

Additionally, make sure to use the appropriate 'letter_template_id' to match the letter template you set up in the steps above. This will let the IgnitePOST platform know what card image to use on your card.

You can customize the message and other fields with any information that is stored in Salesforce. To do this, just place the appropriate merge variable in the body of the email at the correct location:

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Optionally, you can toggle the option to Log the event so that it shows up on the Primary Record as well as the Related Record ID. This is helpful if you'd like to see which contacts have received a handwritten card right from a contact's activity feed:

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12. Add the IgnitePOST Operator Bot as the recipient

Toggle the option for 'Recipient Address List' and add operator(at)ignitepost.com as the recipient. This will send the email in to Suzi, IgnitePOST's Operator Bot, who will parse the message and turn your order into a handwritten card:

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13. Turn on Rich Text and Line Breaks

Toggle the option on for Rich Text and Use Line Breaks. Both of these values should be set to true:

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14. Set the email subject

Set the email subject to 'handwritten'. To do this, set toggle the 'Subject' toggle to true and set the subject to 'handwritten':

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15. Save and Activate the Flow

Once you have completed these steps, make sure to save your Flow and Activate it so that new record updates will actually trigger this flow.

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16. Test your Flow

Now that your Flow has a handwritten note trigger, it's time to test it out. Since your API key is in 'Test Mode' by default, you should trigger a few records to go through your Flow and hit the handwritten letter action. When this happens, the IgnitePOST platform will email you a preview showing what your handwritten note would have looked like if it were triggered. In this way, you can trigger as many handwritten letters as you want while your API key is in 'Test Mode' to make sure your message and card look exactly the way you want it.

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17. Email IgnitePOST to Turn on your API Key

Once you are satisfied with your order previews, email support[at]ignitepost.com and let us know you'd like to turn on your API key. A member of our support team will confirm your API key being turned live.

From here, your automation is live and ready to be used!  Be sure to turn on your Flow in Salesforce.  Any time a contact reaches this point in your Flow, a handwritten card will be written and mailed!

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Happy Mailing!

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