Sending Emails

This article is part of a series. At the bottom is a link to the next article. If you want to start with an overview, Click Here to go to the beginning of the series.

Introduction

The Send Email tool creates a message, builds a list of recipients, and sends the message either now or later. On the left side, there are three tabs: Message, Profiles, and Send.

• The Message tab leads to a window to create a message or choose a template.
• The Profiles tab is used to build a list of recipients.
• The Send tab is for sending the message immediately or setting a scheduled time for it to send.

Sending an Email

1. Select the Communication menu > Send Email.

Message Tab

2. Enter a Subject.

4. In the text box, enter a message, or choose a template.
   • The only templates available will be assigned to you or assigned to all users.
   • When selecting template, it will populate immediately if there is nothing in the text box, but if any content has been added before choosing the template, it will prompt to append or overwrite (overwrite will replace everything and append will add it to the end).
   • Any changes to the message after selecting a template is saved only to that email and does not change the template itself.
     Click Here for more information on changing a template.
5. Select the Profiles tab.

Profiles Tab

5. Enter the From Email and From Name.

At any point, to save the message and return to it later, click Save in the upper right corner. Loading the saved draft is a function of the Message Admin.

6. Click on the To drop down list to choose the recipient(s).

• • Create New List in Profile Selector: This option is used to build a custom list of recipients based on profile information. It leads to the Profile Selector. Once the desired search field(s) have been selected, click Email List to return to the Send Email screen.
    Click Here for more information on the Profile Selector tabs.
  • Select Saved Data View: This option is used to build a custom list of recipients based on pre-existing data views that have been provided. After selecting this, another drop down list will appear below the To drop down list to choose a data view.
  • Create New List in Invoice Selector: This option is used to build a custom list of recipients based on invoice information. It leads to the Invoice Selector. Once the desired search field(s) have been selected, click Email List to return to the Send Email screen.
  • Add Manual Email: This option is used to add one or more email addresses manually. Up to two can be added. Click Add at the top to add more. Once the names and email addresses have been entered, click Save to return to the Send Email screen.

Manual Email cannot be added when special fields are used in the email message or the email will not send. This feature is often used in lieu of CC'ing those who do not have a Profile in the database.

After a list of recipients is built, more options will appear to email this to each profile's main contact or billing contact. If these are left unchecked, the email will be sent to the email address of the recipient. 

Select Show Summary to review what has already been added, or to see the criteria to create more. 

After selecting Show Summary to see a breakdown, an option to Clear All Search Criteria will also appear to remove all criteria and start fresh.

7. Click on the Send tab.

Send Tab

8. If you want to send a test email to the email address defined earlier, click Send Test Email. It will populate with a random profile if there are any special fields. Recipient profiles must be added to the Profiles tab (based on a selector or saved data view) for this to work. 

There are options such as adding an attachment or adding a contact record of this email to the profile. You can read more about these additional options here.

9. Choose when the email should be sent:

• • Send Immediately: If selected, it will send the email to a queue and go out as soon as possible.

The queue is a shared email service. Like all mass email tools, the message will be delivered over a period of time that may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, depending on the volume currently on the service and the number of trackable links in the message of your email. 

• • Delay Send: If selected, it will schedule the email to be sent at a future date and time (the default time will be your computer's local time zone). On the scheduled date, the search built in the "Profiles" tab will be re-run to update the recipient list to the latest results to match that search. Any manual recipients added will also be included. 
  • Set As Recurring: If selected, it will turn this into a recurring email.
    Click Here for steps that are specific to scheduling a recurring email.
    • Choose Daily, Weekly, Monthly (By Date), or Monthly (By Day of the Week).
      • For Weekly, select the time of day, and day of the week.
      • For Monthly (By Date), choose which date (1st, 2nd, etc.) and time.
        The "Last Day" option will vary according to the month.
      • For Monthly (By Date of the Week), choose which day of the month (first Sunday, second Monday, etc.) and time.
      • The email will be held in the mass communicator queue until its scheduled send time.
    • Override all Do Not Email flags each time this email is sent: If enabled, the recurring email will still be sent to profiles even if profile option Do Not Email has been enabled.

• • • Stop sending recurring email after date: If enabled, specify a date after which this recurring email will no longer be sent.

10. Click Send Email Now. If Delay Send or Recurring were selected, then the button will be labeled Send Delayed Email or Send Recurring Email.

There should be a green success message stating the email was put in a queue for delivery and that a confirmation email will be sent to you once this email is actually sent.

If you do not see a success message after clicking Send then go back and look at each tab (Message, Profiles, and Send). Something may be missing.

Another way to know that the message was queued is to look for an Analytics tab underneath the Send tab. This tab will appear if the message has been queued.

Managing Scheduled/Recurring Messages

Scheduled messages, or Delayed Emails, are sent once at a future date and time. Recurring messages are sent repeatedly on an interval (daily, weekly, monthly).

Scheduled Messages

When sending a scheduled message to the queue:

• It will appear in Message Admin (Communication > Message Admin).
• If the email has not yet been sent to the recipients, the subject, message, and send options can be edited. The email can also be deleted by going to the Scheduled tab of Message Admin and clicking on that email's subject or Edit button.
  • Note that the Profiles tab will display the search criteria, and any profiles that currently meet that criteria. This will be updated on the date the email is scheduled to send with the latest profile list meeting that criteria. 
• Once sent, it will no longer appear under the Scheduled tab, but it is possible to view the sent message and analytics.

Recurring Messages

When sending a recurring email:

• It will appear in the Message Admin (Communication > Message Admin).
• Future occurrences can be edited by going to Message Admin > Recurring, and clicking on the subject of that message.

A message under the Recurring tab is the template from which MC Trade will create a copy and email at the defined time.

• Once sent, it will continue to appear under the Recurring tab (serving as a template for future occurrences), and the sent message and analytics can be reviewed.

Training Video

Next in series: Viewing Message History and Analytics