VERTICAL RESPONSE A GUIDE TO MANAGE YOUR EMAIL PLATFORM
TABLE OF CONTENTS I. WHAT IS VERTICAL RESPONSE? II. USING VERTICAL RESPONSE III. LISTS i. CREATING EMAIL LISTS ii. SEGMENTING EMAIL LISTS IV. EMAILS i. BUILDING AN EMAIL ii. TESTING iii. SENDING AN EMAIL iv. UPLOADING IMAGES V. REPORTING VI. SUPPORT
CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS
VERTICAL RESPONSE?
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WHAT IS VERTICAL RESPONSE?
VERTICAL RESPONSE Developing a dialogue and extending your relationships with your donors, patrons, alumni and organization members is key to your organization’s success. In an effort to help non-profits succeed, the email platform VerticalResponse allows qualified 501c3 Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) to send 10,000 emails a month for free, a service we strongly encourage you to take advantage of. Once enrolled in the VerticalResponse for NPOs program, you are given 10,000 email credits at the start of each month. Although the program is designed to be “use-it-orlose-it” so that any unused email credits expire at the end of the month, each month you start fresh with 10,000 more email credits. If you find that you need to send more than 10,000 emails a month, VerticalResponse discounts additional email credits at 15% for NPOs in the program.
CHAPTER TWO
USING
VERTICAL RESPONSE
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USING VERTICAL RESPONSE
USING VERTICAL RESPONSE Once you are accepted into the VerticalResponse for Non-Profits program, you will log in to your account with a username or email and password that you specify at signup. In your account, you will first arrive at your home page, which is customizable to your needs. You navigation will help you easily access your emails, lists, and reports.
CHAPTER THREE
CREATING & SEGMENTING
EMAIL LISTS
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LISTS: CREATING EMAIL LISTS
CREATING EMAIL LISTS 1. 2.
Open “Lists” in the main navigation Select “New List” and read and review the VerticalResponse Terms of Service. (For more on best email practices that may relate to the topics discussed in the Terms of Service, see “Email Marketing Guide”)
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Name your list Add a description of the list Choose your method of adding members a. Individually: fill in each email one-at-a-time b. Using an external file: upload an Excel, Outlook, or ACT! File c. Import from your web-based email client: i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo Mail
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LISTS: SEGMENTING EMAIL LISTS
SEGMENTING EMAIL LISTS Once your email lists are uploaded and organized, you can drill down into your lists for more specific audience targeting. You can use filters to create new mailing lists, target your responders (who clicks, who opens, and who is a non-responder). 1. 2. 3.
Open “Lists” in the main navigation Select “Segments” Choose “New Segment”
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Name your segment Add a description of the segment Choose which data you would like to use in making your new email segment Click “Save and Build Segment” Choose which lists you would like to use and click “Done” Segment the list(s) as desired Save the segment Click “Save & Get Results” to start using your new segment
CHAPTER FOUR
BUILDING & TESTING
EMAILS
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BUILDING EMAIL
BUILDING AN EMAIL 1. 2. 3. 4.
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Open “Emails” in the main navigation Select “New” Name your email (only you will see this, not your recipients) Fill in your email settings (very important!) a. From label: what CAN SPAM Act sees and what filters into a recipient’s Inbox to prompt them to read or delete you email – always keep this standard b. Subject line: best practice suggests keeping this field between 4-50 characters and as catchy as possible to prompt a recipient to open your email (see “Email Marketing Guide” for more information) Fill in your organization’s information, then click “Next”
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EMAIL: BUILDING AN EMAIL
BUILDING AN EMAIL 6. 7. 8. 9.
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Choose one of the email creation editors (we will continue as if using the Wizard) On the right side of the page, turn on “Autosave” to avoid losing any work Choose the appropriate template To edit an email: a. Overall changes: To change the look and feel of your email template, click the “Overall Style” button which will allow you to change the font, font colors, and sizes of the text used in the email. b. Images: Double click the image button to upload, choose from your “Library,” or copy an image from a link. Once the image is in your email, you can edit the size, placement, and name of the image. (Learn more about images below in the “Uploading (or Finding) Images” section.) c. Links: Turn any piece of text in your email into a link by highlighting the text desired, clicking the link button, and entering in the appropriate URL address. d. Copy from MS Word: You can copy and paste text from word easily when you use this button to avoid formatting issues (but always double-check your work just in case). e. Content Blocks: You can drag-and-drop pre-formatted blocks of content into your email and them customize them as you want. f. Insertions: You can personalize your emails by inserting information into fields in your email; for example you can insert your recipient’s first name into the header text (see “Email Marketing Guide” for more on this practice). When finished editing the email, click “Next”
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EMAIL: TESTING & SENDING AN EMAIL, UPLOADING IMAGES
TESTING Once you have edited your message and formatted the template, you should always ensure that the email is functioning before sending it out in bulk. 11. 12.
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Preview your email’s HTML and Text Send a test email (highly recommended to ensure that all links are active, go to the correct URL, and that all images work; create a test list so you can send to this email every time to test a message - see “Creating Email Lists”) Send a pre-launch test email to yourself or a coworker using either the “Simple List” (to a list of just email addresses) or “Mailing List” (to an existing mailing list) option Send the test email Click “Next”
SENDING AN EMAIL 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
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Choose your “Recipient List” Click “Next” Specify your “Send Date” Specify your “Social Sharing Options” (link the email to a Twitter and/or a Facebook account) Expand the reach of your email by sharing it on Facebook and Twitter so that your fans who are not on your email list can see your email and share it with their networks. This action increases the reach of your email and is easy to do. Once your email has been sent, you can still share it by clicking on the email under “Sent Emails” in the “Emails” tab in the main navigation. On the left hand side will be a box titled “Email Actions;” click on the link that says “Share Email” and follow the directions. Click “Send Email”
UPLOADING (OR FINDING) IMAGES In the library section of your account you can upload the images you want to use in any of your emails. Any uploaded images need to be in JPEG or GIF format. If you don’t have any images, you can search through the 75,000 free stock images VerticalResponse has in its “Gallery” (simply click “Search Gallery Images” in the “Folders” box). You can resize and crop any images in Picknik.
CHAPTER FIVE
REPORTING &
SUPPORT
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EMAIL: REPORTING & SUPPORT
REPORTING Once your email is sent, you’ll immediately begin seeing reporting that tells you who opened your email, clicked on links, what links were clicked, which emails bounced and who unsubscribed. To do so, view your sent emails and click on the email you want to see reporting details about. You can turn on advanced reporting features (that are free!) such as Google Analytics Integration and Click-to-Conversion Tracking by going to the “Analytics Settings” found in the “Account” section.
SENDING AN EMAIL
SUPPORT VerticalResponse has support staff available for your questions 7 days a week, via phone, chat, email, and Twitter. As well, on their “Resources” page, VerticalResponse has free webinars, free marketing guides, articles, case studies, podcasts, videos, and a glossary. Whether you want to research a new strategy to fine-tune your email marketing or you want to read about companies who have done great things with their campaigns, you can find it all at http://www.verticalresponse.com/resources.
OTHER FEATURES At a 15% discount, NPOs in the program can use surveys to receive active feedbackfrom your participants or send postcards to help you grow your email list.