Sage Accountants Business Cloud Advanced Features Guide VERSION 1.0 September 2013
Contents Adding custom fields to address books 3 Creating dynamic content 5 Using dynamic content in your campaigns 9 Previewing your dynamic content 11 Using split testing 13 Sending your campaign using split testing 14 Segmentation queries 16 Using your segmentation query with a campaign 19 Suppression lists 20 Suppressed contacts 20 Suppressed domains 20 Add suppressions 21 Bounce thresholds 22 Global suppression list 23 Public and private address books and contact data fields 24 Setting an address book as public 24 Setting a contact data field as public 25 Using public address books and contact data fields in your campaigns 26 Site analytics 28 Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 2
1.0 Adding custom fields to address books Custom data fields can be added to address books to capture and/or contain additional information about your contacts. The more useful data you can collect on your contacts, the more you can segment, target and personalise your campaigns and generate better response rates. There is no limit on the number of custom data fields you can create and when you create a custom data field it is added to all the address books in your account. This way, all your address books maintain the same structure. To add a custom field to an address book, select the option Contacts from the left-hand navigation panel. From the sub-menu displayed, select the option Contact Data Fields. A list of the contact data fields already created is displayed. The data fields FIRSTNAME, FULLNAME and LASTNAME are created automatically by Sage ABC. To create a new field, click on the button and the Create Data Label window is displayed. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 3
1.0 Adding custom fields to address books Follow these steps to set-up your new data field: 1 Name. Enter a unique name for this new data field. You cannot use spaces between words when creating a name for a new field. See example below, our data field name is Purchased Before but we have entered this as Purchased-Before. 2 Data Type. This is a drop-down box, you have the choice of Text, Numeric, Date/Time and Yes/No. Make your selection as appropriate. 3 Default Value. You can enter a default value for the data field in the event that it is not populated as a result of the uploading of your data. For example, if this was a Yes/No data type, you might default the value to No. 4 Access. These radio buttons determine who has access to updating this field. (See page 25) a This data label is public this will allow your contacts to view/amend data you hold on them in this field. b This data label is private this will allow only users of your Sage ABC account to view/amend data held in this field. When you have completed the screen, click on: The newly created field now appears on your Contacts: Data fields screen. You can view the details of the field by clicking on the icon: Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 4
2.0 Creating dynamic content Dynamic Content enables you to tailor your campaign so different groups of your audience receive different content, different offers, images, copy or calls to action. This means you can send one campaign with multiple targeted messages for different groups of customers. Which message each group receives is dependent on the rules you set when you create the Dynamic Content. To create Dynamic Content, select Campaigns from the left-hand navigation menu. From the sub-menu displayed, select Advanced Features. The Advanced Features screen is displayed which has a series of tabs. The first tab is Dynamic Content. Click on the and the Triggered content rules screen is displayed. button Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 5
2.0 Creating dynamic content The first step is to give your Dynamic Content a unique name we have called our example Company Type. Dynamic Content is triggered by creating different rules. The first tab displayed is the Default rule whatever you enter in the content area here will be displayed in your campaign, if none of the other rules apply. The Content area features the same editor you use to create your email campaigns. In this area you create the message you wish to appear for your default rule. You can insert Links, Actions and Images just as you would when creating your campaign. Enter the content you wish to apply to your Default rule as shown in our example below. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 6
2.0 Creating dynamic content When you have completed your default rule content, you can now create your other rules and content. Click on the Create New tab at the top of the screen. A new tab appears called New Rule. Type in a Rule Name. In our example, we re going to change the content of our email dependent on whether the company type is Agency or Charity so our first rule is for the Agency element. We now need to add the filter that will select the email addresses that will receive the Agency Content. Click on the Add filter link and all the available data fields within your contact address books are displayed. Select the data field your filter will be based on and it will appear as part of the first condition. In our example, we have selected the data field Company-Type. Click on the [operator] link and a list of possible options are displayed. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 7
2.0 Creating dynamic content Select the required operator and click on the [value] link. An input box is displayed. Enter the value required and click on the button. Your completed filter is displayed. Click on the button before continuing. Now move to the Content part of the screen and enter the text, graphics and links etc. that are going to apply to this rule. In the example below, we have entered the content for the Agency element of our Dynamic Content. Next you would follow the same steps to create your content for Charities. You can create as many pieces of Dynamic Content as you wish. Now we have finished entering the rules and content, we click on before leaving this screen. The Dynamic Content created will appear on the Dynamic Content Advanced Features tab. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 8
2.0 Creating dynamic content Using Dynamic Content in your campaigns Once your Dynamic Content has been created, you can link it to your email campaign. Select Campaigns from the left-hand navigation pane and open your email campaign in the editor window. Move your cursor to the area of the email template where you wish the Dynamic Content to appear. Click on the button and the Insert Actions window is displayed. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 9
2.0 Creating dynamic content Select the Dynamic Content tab and a list of your Dynamic Content is shown. Click on Insert next to the Dynamic Content you wish to insert. A placeholder is inserted into your template where the Dynamic Content will appear. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 10
2.0 Creating dynamic content Previewing your Dynamic Content You can test your Dynamic Content by using the button. If you completed the default rule when setting up your Dynamic Content, you will see this information displayed in your preview screen, as shown below. To view Dynamic Content for the specific rules you created, use the Search function at the top of the preview window. In the example below, we have searched for all Sage ABC email addresses and clicked the Search Contacts button. You can also use Show Recent which will show contacts you recently uploaded/added. SageABC anita.white@sageabc.co.uk kevin.white@sageabc.co.uk steve.black@sageabc.co.uk Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 11
2.0 Creating dynamic content To view Dynamic Content for the Charity rule, you would use the contact Kevin White as his Company-Type is shown as Charity. Click on the button on the right hand side of the window and the content for the Charity rule is displayed. SageABC When you have finished previewing, close the window and don t forget to save your template. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 12
3.0 Using split testing Sage ABC includes a split testing tool which enables you to test more than one subject line in a campaign. Sage ABC will analyse which line is performing the best and send the rest of your email sends using that subject line. This lets you test and maximise your open rates using the best performing subject line. To use split testing, open your campaign in My Campaigns by clicking on the edit pencil. Next, click the edit settings link towards the top right of your screen this will open your campaign settings window, as shown below. SageABC Advanced Features Type in the first subject line you want to test and then click on the A second subject line box will appear as shown below. button. SageABC Advanced Features You can now enter your second subject line. You can continue to add further subject lines by using the button. To delete a subject line, click on the button. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 13
3.0 Using split testing SageABC Advanced Features Complete the remainder of your campaign settings in the normal manner. Sending your campaign using split testing Sending a campaign using split testing is the same process as sending a single subject line campaign. Select the Send option alongside the campaign and specify the address book and/or segmentation query to use for the campaign. The Campaign Send Options screen is displayed. When multiple subject lines have been entered, an additional section is shown on this screen under the heading Split Testing. Specify how many contacts you wish to send the split to, using either the slider bar or by typing in a percentage, i.e. 5%. Specify how many hours delay you require between the split testing and the remainder of your campaign being released. Finally, specify which metric you wish to measure when recording responses. This is a drop-down field and there are two options. Opens or Clicks. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 14
3.0 Using split testing A Summary at the bottom of the screen displays the options you have selected. Click on the Next Step button and continue to process your campaign in the normal manner. Your campaign will appear in the Outbox tab of the Campaigns Screen. SageABC Advanced Features If you wish to cancel your split testing, click on the Split Testing icon: in the Status column. Once your split testing has been completed, the campaign will appear on the Sent tab. You can then review your results in the reporting area in the normal manner. An example is shown below: SageABC SageABC In this particular campaign, three subject lines have been split-tested. The subject line that performed the best is marked with: Sage ABC will send the balance of your campaign after the time gap you entered has elapsed. The campaign will be sent using the subject line with the most success. If both subject lines return exactly the same results, then Sage ABC will choose the first subject line by default. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 15
4.0 Segmentation queries The Segmentation Data Query Builder enables you to query and segment your data by for example key demographic variables, e.g. send a targeted campaign to all your contacts who are male, aged 21-30 and have expressed an interest in sports equipment. If you have the data in your address books then Sage ABC will enable you to segment by it. To create a segmentation query, select Contacts from the left-hand navigation menu. The first tab displays your current address books. Click on the Segmentation queries tab. To create a new segmentation query, click on: screen is displayed. and the Create segmentation query Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 16
4.0 Segmentation queries Give your query a name and a description so it is easily recognisable. You may want to describe the attributes of the contacts you are grouping or describe the mailings you plan to use the list for. The Data sources are your address books and the default selected is All contacts. To select another address book, uncheck All contacts first and then select the address book(s) you wish to use for this query. To build your query using the address books selected, click on the Add Filter link. Filters enable you to easily apply rules, conditions and define the criteria and database attributes you want to build your query with. In our example this will be Males aged 21-30 who have a product interest of Sports Equipment. When the Add filter link is clicked, you are presented with a list of all the Contact Data Fields that exist in your address books. Select your first filter by clicking on the appropriate field. This will appear as part of the first condition. In our example below, we have selected Gender. Click on the [operator] link to display a list of operators. Click the appropriate radio button and your condition is updated. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 17
4.0 Segmentation queries Finally, click on the [value] link. Enter the value in the input box that appears and click on: Typing the first 3 letters into the value box will automatically prefil the box with a matching value if Sage ABC finds one in your contacts list. Your completed filter is displayed. Click on the icon to save this first line of your query. If you are creating a multiple line query (i.e. with more than one set of criteria), you must save each line before adding the next filter. In this instance you can now add the next filter, click on the Add filter link and select the next contact data field to be used for the second set of criteria, in our example below we have selected Age-Group. The condition And has automatically between applied between the two sets of criteria. To change this, e.g. to perhaps Or, click on the And link to display a list of possible options. Make your selection and continue to set the [operator] and the [value] as previously described, making sure you click on the icon when each line of your queries finished. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 18
4.0 Segmentation queries In this instance you can now add your final filter; in the example below we have selected Product-Interest. Select your condition, filter and values as described previously. Once all your criteria have been completed, click on: Your segmentation query is processed and your query now appears under the Segmentation Queries tab. It contains 169 contacts. Using your segmentation query with a campaign To send a campaign to the segmentation query you have created, move back to your Campaigns list and click the send icon alongside the required campaign. SageABC Advanced Features You are prompted to select a data source and the default view will be your Address Books tab. Select the Segmentation Queries tab and any queries created will appear in the list. Check the box next to the segment you want to send to. You may select more than one. SageABC Advanced Features Click on and process your campaign as usual. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 19
5.0 Suppression lists The Suppression Lists functionality within Sage ABC allows you to manage both suppressed contacts and domains, manage your bounce thresholds and even process your contacts against the Sage ABC Global Suppression List. Select Contacts from the left-hand navigation pane and then Suppression Lists from the sub-menu that appears. The Manage suppression lists screen is displayed which consists of five tabs. 2868940@demo.sageabc.co.uk 3046924@demo.sageabc.co.uk 3067208@demo.sageabc.co.uk 308696@demo.sageabc.co.uk 308711@demo.sageabc.co.uk 308715@demo.sageabc.co.uk 4694773@demo.sageabc.co.uk Suppressed contacts The Suppressed Contacts tab displays a list of all your contacts who have unsubscribed from your communications plus those who have been automatically unsubscribed by reaching their bounce threshold or registering as an ISP Spam complainant. You can manually add a contact to this list by clicking on the button. See Add Suppressions section for more detail. Suppressed domains The Suppressed Domains tab displays a list of all domains that have been suppressed. By adding suppression at a domain level, all email addresses in your address books for that domain are automatically suppressed. This saves you a lot of time when a company asks to be removed as a whole from your lists. To add a new domain to this list, click on the button. See Add Suppressions section for more detail. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 20
5.0 Suppression lists Add suppressions The Add Suppressions tab enables you to upload or manually add any email or domain addresses you would NOT like included in your campaign sends. To manually add new addresses simply type the email address into the area provided ensuring you enter only one email address per line as shown in the example. Each of these email addresses will be added to your Suppressed Contacts list and excluded from any future email sends. If you wish to suppress all email addresses at one company then simply add the domain instead as shown here. Again, make sure there is only entry per line. If you have a lot of email addresses and/or domains, you may prefer to upload a.txt or.csv file. Use the Browse button to select the file on your computer. You can enter an email address to be notified once the import has finished this is particularly useful if you are uploading a large list. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 21
5.0 Suppression lists Once you have entered your addresses or selected your file, click on the Your entries are processed and a summary report is displayed. button. Regardless of the method you choose; manually entering, pasting text or uploading a file, email addresses suppressed will appear on the Suppressed Contacts tab. Domains will appear on your Suppressed Domains tab and any email addresses relating to those domains will appear on the Suppressed Contacts tab. Bounce thresholds Selecting the Bounce Thresholds tab displays the following screen: A bounce threshold represents the number of consecutive times an email campaign delivery is allowed to fail due to soft bouncing, before that email address becomes unsubscribed. A hard bounce is an email message that has been returned to you because the recipient s address is invalid. A hard bounce might occur because the domain name doesn t exist, the recipient is unknown, or there s some type of network problem on the recipient s end. The default setting is 1 and we do not recommend this setting being altered as this can affect your deliverability. A soft bounce is an email message that gets as far as the recipient s mail server, but is bounced back before it reaches the recipient. One of the most common causes for a soft bounce is a full mailbox. This may happen with your subscribers who use free e-mail services like Yahoo and HotMail, because they allow for very little email storage. The default setting is 3 and this can be changed by either entering a new number or using the slider control. If you never wish to unsubscribe soft-bouncers then check the box next to Never suppress soft-bouncers. Once you have set your thresholds, click on the button. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 22
5.0 Suppression lists Global Suppression List This function enables you to cleanse your entire contact list against the Global Suppression List. The Sage ABC Global Suppression List is made up of hard bounces, complainants to ISPs (Hotmail and Yahoo, etc) and inbound (ie. telephone) complainants, from across all Sage ABC client accounts. Selecting the Global Suppression List tab displays the following screen. To execute this function, click on: Your contacts are compared and the following report screen is displayed: Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 23
6.0 Public and private address books and contact data fields Within Sage ABC you can specify whether an address book or contact data field is public or private. This status determines whether or not an email recipient can view, add and update information when they are unsubscribing or editing their details. Address Books if you make an address book public, you can avoid mass unsubscribing by enabling your contacts to choose which of your campaigns and communications they wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from. If the address book is private then only the Sage ABC account holder can access or update this information. BE CAREFUL your email recipients will be able to see the names of all public address books displayed in their list so take care when specifying the name of each address book. Contact Data Fields if you make a contact data field public, you can allow the contact to view, add and amend the data you hold on them. If the contact data field is private then only the Sage ABC account holder can access or update this information. When you create a new address book or a new contact data field, the status is always set to private by default. Setting an address book as public Create your address book in the normal manner, giving it a unique name and entering a description. REMEMBER your contacts will see the name of this address book so give it some thought. Click on the Show advanced options checkbox and a series of tabs are displayed. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 24
6.0 Public and private address books and contact data fields To set this address book as public, select the Contact preferences tab. The default setting is private. Click on the radio button next to This address book is public and click: To change the settings for an address book already created, go to your Contacts list and use the icon alongside the address book to edit the advanced options. Setting a contact data field as public Create your data field in the normal manner, giving it a unique name. REMEMBER your contacts will see the name of this data field so give it some thought. The default setting is private. Click on the radio button next to This data label is public and click on: To change a data field already created, go to your Contact data fields list and use the to edit the setting. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 25
6.0 Public and private address books and contact data fields Using public address books and contact data fields in your campaigns Your contacts access public address books and contact data fields by using the Want to unsubscribe or change your details? link that you should put in your email campaigns. To do this, create or edit your campaign in the normal manner, using the button to insert the unsubscribe link into your template. The default text inserted is Want to unsubscribe or change your details? as shown below: 5 SageABC user ps for this month. SageABC This default text lets your contacts know that this link can be used not only for unsubscribing from your campaigns but can also be used to change their details. Proceed with your campaign creation, testing and sending in the normal manner. When your recipients click on the link they are presented with the following screen: Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 26
6.0 Public and private address books and contact data fields The contact enters the email address that the email was sent to and clicks on the Submit button. The following screen is now displayed to the contact: anita.white@sageabc.co.uk If the recipient does not want to receive any more emails from you then they simply click the button. Within the Your details section, the contact can edit not only their email address and preferred email format but also any custom data fields you have set as public. Within the Your address books section, the contact can see the communications they are subscribed to. They can subscribe or unsubscribe by using the checkboxes alongside each address book. anita.white@sageabc.co.uk If they check a box they are not currently subscribed to, i.e. Monthly Newsletter, then Sage ABC will automatically update the relevant address book with the recipient s email address. The contact clicks on the button to save any changes and leave this screen. Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 27
7.0 Site analytics Sage ABC can automatically add Google tracking code to your email link URLs. To access Site Analytics, select Campaigns from the left-hand navigation pane and then Advanced Features from the sub-menu that appears. Select the Site Analytics tab. To enable Google friendly links, click the checkbox. The querystring is generated for you. Now click on: Sage ABC Advanced Features Guide 28