Prerequisites
Step 1: Name the milestone series and add details
Milestone Series Name
Add a name for the milestone series. This is for internal reference and will not be visible to milestone series participants.
Milestone Series Description
The milestone series description is visible to advocates within the advocate portal. This is a great opportunity to explain why you want them to participate in a milestone series, how they can earn points (e.g. campaigns and referrals), and any details they need to know to maximize their chances of unlocking all milestones in the series.
Milestone Series Program(s)
Your advocates are eligible to participate in a milestone series based on what program(s) you add to the series. You can add one or more programs to a single series, but keep in mind that a program cannot be added to multiple milestone series with overlapping start and end dates.
When a milestone series launches, all members of the associated program(s) are eligible to participate and will see the milestones when they log into the advocate portal.
Milestone Series Dates
The start date will determine whether or not a milestone series is visible to participants once it has been published. Once published, a milestone series will become active based on the start date.
The end date will determine when advocates are no longer able to unlock milestones. It is also the point in time when they will no longer see their current milestone within the advocate portal.
Step 2: Add milestones and rewards
Milestones and rewards are the heart of a milestone series. You can add as many milestones as you would like. Most brands aim for 3-5 milestones to provide multiple opportunities throughout the year for participants to earn some great rewards for their contributions to the brand.
The following items make up a milestone:
Name
Color
Points
Reward
The milestone name can be anything you would like but typically follows a theme for the milestone series, such as:
A podium theme
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Levels
Level 1
Level 2, etc.
Tiers
Tier 1
Tier 2, etc.
A milestone's color determines how the milestone will appear in the advocate portal. You can select from over 100 colors, grouped into 11 color swatches, including a preset podium theme comprising bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.
A milestone's points establish its position within the milestone series and set the number of total points that participants must reach to unlock the milestone. For example, say Milestone 1 is set to 400 points, and Milestone 2 is set to 800 points. When a participant earns 400 points, they will unlock the first milestone, and when they accrue an additional 400 points (totally 800 points), they will unlock the second milestone. As you add milestones, the list will auto-order the milestones by points and indicate how many net new points (e.g., +400) participants will need to earn each milestone.
milestone's reward determines what a participant will receive upon unlocking the milestone. Plus, it is an excellent opportunity to keep advocates engaged in your program over a longer duration. Milestone rewards–as with campaign incentives–are broken into two categories:
Automated rewards
Manual rewards
Automated rewards will be instantly awarded to advocates upon unlocking a milestone. In contrast, manual rewards will get marked as "Needs Fulfillment" and require somebody on your team to fulfill the reward.
Step 3: Customize the "unlocked milestone" email
When a participant unlocks a milestone, it's time to celebrate! Send them a congratulations email and prompt them to log into the advocate portal to redeem their reward.
Just like with campaign emails, you can customize the email sender, the subject line, the copy, and the theme colors. Be sure to send yourself a test email to ensure it appears just how you would want the advocate to see it.
Step 4: Preview and publish the milestone series
The final step of creating a milestone series is to preview the details of the series before publishing it. Take time to ensure that the details are accurate and the milestone series looks correct in the advocate portal.
When publishing the series, if the start date is in the future, the status will be set to Planned. The series will be queued up to begin at 12:01 am Mountain Time on the start date. If the start date is set to the current date, the milestone series will be published immediately. When a milestone series is published, it will become visible to advocates when they log into the advocate portal.
