Overview

The email function in Promote is designed to allow you to send customized messages to fans via email. The tool has a simple rich text editor which allows control over fonts, font size, colors, etc for basic messages. 
If you have already developed a standard HTML mailing template, you may also switch to “HTML Mode” and place your message within the text area.

Creating a Mailing

Creating a mailing has a few steps:

1. Selecting recipients
2. Creating your message
3. Previewing your message
4. Sending the final message

Selecting Recipients

There are three options for types of recipients:

Smart Group

Will allow you to choose recipients based on the data-driven criteria that include or exclude fans, and are the same as the group named in your Network. To add a Smart Group, choose “Smart Group” from the “Select Recipients” selector. In the selector that appears below it, choose a Smart Group from your Network. Finally, press “Add” below the selectors. You will see the Smart Group you’ve chosen appear in the “Send To” area of the page.

Tag

Will allow you to choose recipients based on the tags that you have assigned them in the Network. To add all fans that have been given a particular tag, choose “Tag” from the “Select Recipients” selector. In the selector that appears below it, choose a tag that exists in your Network. Finally, press “Add” below the selectors. You will see the tag appear in the “Send To” area of the page.

Manual Entry

Allows you to type in email addresses freely, separating email addresses by comma. These fans do not necessarily have to exist in your Network - you can type in any address you want. To enter addressess manually, choose “Manual Entry” from the “Select Recipients” selector. In the box that appears below it, simply type in email addresses, separating them with commas. When you have typed in the addresses you want to add, press “Add” below the text area - they will be added to the “Send To” area of the page.

Excluding Fans

You can refine who you send your email to by excluding certain fans via the same options above. Let's say you wanted to send an email to all fans in the Los Angeles Metro Area, but want to exclude fans who have already bought something from you. You can achieve this by excluding fans acquired via the specific purchase buttons from a specific campaign. This way, fans who have already purchased the record don't need to hear you asking them to buy it... again.

NOTE: How to Email All Purchasers of an Offer

Some artists want to email *all* the people who have purchased a particular offer in order to update them on information related to purchase. However, it is possible that fans who have purchased items from you have decided to *NOT* opt into your mailing list. Therefore, these fans will *not* be in your 'fans' database and thus will *not* be included in any smart groups. In order to send an email to *all* purchasers, you can not just select the smart group 'Purchasers Of Offer' and select the Offer. This will only email those who have made the purchase *and* who have opted into your mailing list. To email *all* purchasers, you must follow the directions listed under Emailing all purchasing fans.

Schedule Send

You can set a future date/time for when you want your email to be sent. Check the box next to 'Schedule Send' and enter the date and time you'd like.

Include Redemption Code

If you check the 'Include Redemption Code' box, a unique redmeption code will be included in the email sent for each fan.

For more information on Redemption Codes, go to Product Redemption.

Creating Your Message

Campaign Name

This is the name you will use to track this mailing in your Offer history. Be as descriptive as you need to be for it to make sense.

Subject

This is the subject that will appear in your fans’ mail client as the subject of your message.

Message

This is where you create your message. If you’re simply typing and don’t have an existing HTML mail template, use the default Rich Text Editor. You will be able to control fonts, basic formatting, colors, etc.

If you have an existing email template, use the “HTML Mode” option. You can simply paste your HTML code into this box and you will be ready to go.

NOTE 
Be careful with relying heavily on <script> tags, external stylesheets, or anything that you would put in the <head> section of an HTML document. Mail servers and clients frequently strip these elements out and the presentation of your message may be affected.

NOTE 
Make sure all your images can be accessed via the web. Any <img> tags should have a full path that you can paste in your browser to see the image file - e.g., http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif vs ../intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif

NOTE 
Flash media - contained in <object> or <embed> tags - may behave unpredictably in email clients. If you are using Flash in your email, you should not make your primary message depend on it.

NOTE 
Topspin Purchase buttons will not function in Emails created in the 'promote' tab.

Creating Your Message

Campaign Name

This is the name you will use to track this mailing in your Offer history. Be as descriptive as you need to be for it to make sense.

Subject

This is the subject that will appear in your fans’ mail client as the subject of your message.

Message

This is where you create your message. If you’re simply typing and don’t have an existing HTML mail template, use the default Rich Text Editor. You will be able to control fonts, basic formatting, colors, etc.

If you have an existing email template, use the “HTML Mode” option. You can simply paste your HTML code into this box and you will be ready to go.

NOTE 
Be careful with relying heavily on <script> tags, external stylesheets, or anything that you would put in the <head> section of an HTML document. Mail servers and clients frequently strip these elements out and the presentation of your message may be affected.

NOTE 
Make sure all your images can be accessed via the web. Any <img> tags should have a full path that you can paste in your browser to see the image file - e.g., http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif vs ../intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif

NOTE 
Flash media - contained in <object> or <embed> tags - may behave unpredictably in email clients. If you are using Flash in your email, you should not make your primary message depend on it.

NOTE 
Topspin Purchase buttons will not function in Emails created in the 'promote' tab.

Previewing Your Message

Before you send the final email message, click on the “Send a Preview Email” link. You will be presented with a text area to enter email addresses that you want to send to as a test. This is how you can be sure that your email will appear as expected, and proof for any mistakes. Add email addresses to the box, and separate them with commas (try sending to email addresses like Hotmail, GMail, etc to see how users of those services may see your email). Press “Send Preview” to see what you’ve got.

NOTE 
Use Preview for making sure the email appears as you want and for proofreading. Emails sent through this will not be reflected or tracked in the campaign metrics. Test as many times as you need to get it just right.

Sending the Final Message

After you’ve completed your message, check the box next to 'I promise this email is not spam and all recipients have opted in to my email list'. Then click “Send”. If you have a large recipient list, it may take some time for the email to reach all the recipients - this is completely normal for high-volume mailings.

View Performance Data

Find your Email campaign under the “Summary” view of the “Promote” section. Click on the campaign name and you’ll be able to view data like number of emails sent, viewed, clicked, etc.

Email Widget Best Practices

1. You must use absolute links (http://page.com/image/imagename.jpg), not relative links (.../images/imagename.jpg)
2. CSS styles and stylesheets are not universally supported. All styles must be done in the div in the body of the html. e.g., <div style="font: 14px Geneva; color:#00CC99; "align="left"><br>\
3. Yahoo (and other) browser-based emails do not support any background colors in HTML. So always make sure your email looks good with a white background.
4. Many many email clients do not support flash and JS. Make sure you are offering redirects to your offer on a static HTML page.
5. Most email clients do not automatically show images until you allow them. Make sure you have a prominent, text-based call to action in your email design.
6. Absolute positioning of divs is not consistent in email clients. Use relative positions for best results.