Vodafone Business Product Management Group Hosted Services Announcer Pro V4.6 User Guide Vodafone Group 2010 Other than as permitted by law, no part of this document may be reproduced, adapted, or distributed, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of Vodafone Group Plc.
Contents 1. Introduction... 3 1.1. Getting Started... 3 1.2. Navigation... 3 2. Create a Newsletter... 5 2.1. Confirm Company Details... 5 2.2. Choose Template... 7 2.3. Edit Newsletter... 7 2.4. Preview Newsletter... 9 2.5. Choose Contacts... 11 2.6. Name and Schedule Newsletter... 12 2.7. Newsletter Completed... 14 3. Settings... 15 3.1. Company Settings... 15 3.2. Email Settings... 15 4. Contacts... 17 4.1. Add Contacts... 17 4.2. Search/Edit Contacts... 17 4.3. Lists... 19 4.4. Import/Export Lists... 20 5. Newsletter Management... 23 5.1. Select a newsletter... 23 5.2. Newsletter properties... 24 5.3. Edit Newsletter... 25 5.4. Newsletter Editor Buttons... 25 5.5. Preview Newsletter... 27 5.6. Newsletter Completed... 28 6. Tutorial... 29 7. Reports... 30 7.1. Newsletter List... 30 7.2. Newsletter Details... 30 7.3. Type of reports... 32 8. Social Networking... 34 8.1. Subscription Widget... 34 8.2. Share Newsletter... 34
1. Introduction Announcer Pro is an email marketing tool that allows users to create and send graphically rich and compelling HTML newsletters in just a few simple steps. Combining professionalquality HTML newsletter templates with newsletter management tools, Announcer Pro provides an enhanced option for users to communicate with their subscriber base. 1.1. Getting Started Click Launch Application to start using Announcer Pro, the application will open in a new window: When you click on Start the following page is loaded: 1.2. Navigation The Main Menu remains static throughout all of Announcer Pro and you will be able to navigate to whichever section you wish by clicking on the menu options.
1.2.1. Main Menu Located on the top right corner, the Main Menu consists of the following options: Main Menu Button Overview Create a Newsletter Contacts Manage Newsletters Reports Social Networking Description Displays the main menu page. Use the Newsletter Wizard to guide you through the entire Announcer setup for new or existing newsletters, from start to finish. Using the Contacts section you will be able to manage your contact list. Manage Newsletters, Template Selection, Newsletter Details, Newsletter Scheduler, Edit Newsletter, Test Newsletters. Generate custom reports detailing important newsletter statistics. Using this section you will be able to share your newsletters. 1.2.2. Sub Menu Located at the top right corner, the sub-menu provides the following options: Sub Menu Link Monthly Newsletter Usage Email Settings Company Settings Support Description Lists the number of newsletters which have been sent this month, and your currently monthly limit. This section lets you add new email addresses for the purpose of sending or replying to newsletters sent. The company settings section allows you to view or edit your company information. Opens the online help file system for Announcer Pro. Feedback This section allows you to submit your comments/suggestions. Tutorial View Flash demonstration of how to utilize Announcer Pro.
2. Create a Newsletter 2.1. Confirm Company Details Previously-registered information will be listed: By default the information listed in the company information has been pulled from the customer account corresponding fields: Company Name Address 1 and 2 are merged City, state/province Postal/zip code Country Phone number Contact email address The Sender Email Address field will be pulled from signup system the user registered (this is not necessarily the same as the contact email address). 2.1.1. Edit Company information and Sender Email Address Click Edit to edit company information and sender email address:
This section allows you to edit the details of your business and the Sender Email Address. By default company information is hidden from public view, you must uncheck the box to display Company details in your newsletter footer. Fields noted with an asterisk (*) are mandatory fields in the Company Information section. Under Sender Email Address, if no email address has been previously recorded you will be prompted to enter a sender email address. Check off the box if you do not wish to send an opt-in message to your subscribers. Instead of automatically adding every subscriber to your list, the double opt-in process includes a second step of sending an email to new subscribers to confirm they want to receive the information. Not only does this step confirm that the email address is valid, but it also ensures that your lists are made up of subscribers that are truly interested so they have the highest chance of converting to a regular reader. By default this box will be checked off. 2.1.2. Fill in Company information Enter all mandatory Company Information fields. Click Next once you have entered in all the desired fields.
2.2. Choose Template Templates allow you to select the overall layout and theme of your newsletter: To select a newsletter template: Use the drop-down menu to select a category of Templates that best suit your needs. Select a Template, a check mark will be overlaid on the template, indicating it has been selected. Click Next, to go to the next step. Click Go Back to return to the previous step. 2.3. Edit Newsletter The newsletter wizard allows you to create content for your newsletters. You can modify your newsletter by clicking, dragging and highlighting different aspects of the newsletter. Note that some default layout and images are locked and cannot be deleted.
Any newsletters which you have not finished can be returned to and edited at a later date. Unless you alter the delivery schedule for your newsletters, they will be sent in whatever condition they are in when the delivery time occurs. Please ensure that as newsletters are approaching their transmission date that you have finished working on them. The Create a Newsletter menu provides the following options: Button Description Saving your work is recommended throughout each session Adding text block(s) allows additional customization to your news letter. Many of the text blocks that exist on each of the designs are placeholders that require editing. Editing text blocks: double-click on the text you wish to modify. You will be able to edit text once the outline is visible. Type/Paste text into the text block. Delete text block(s); double-click on the text block. Click on the bottom right corner. The text block should now be removed. Font Name Font Size Modifying Text: double-click on the text block; a boxed grayed area will appear on the Text Block. You will be able
to edit text once the outline is visible. Highlight the text you wish to put in Bold, Italics or Underline. Modifying Font Style, Colors, and Text Size; double-click on the text block you wish to modify. Highlight the text you wish to reformat, click on the font change button. A screen will pop up allowing you to Select Font Style, Font Colors and Font Size. Text Alignment Ordered list: select this while editing text to make a bulleted list. You can also make existing text a bulleted list by selecting the text and then clicking on this tool. Cut, Copy, Paste and Paste without formatting. Undo: click this button to undo the last action you have taken. Redo: click Redo to re-apply the last action that was undone. You can undo/redo as many steps as you wish based on the current section and actions done per session. Insert and Edit Images: you can build your own library of images by uploading the image files; and or utilize the free image library to place additional images into your site. Create/Edit link and Remove link: highlight the text you wish to link from. Click on the hyperlink icon. A screen will pop up. Type in the desired URL, such ashttp://domain.com. Checking Spelling: within a text block, double left click on the text block you wish to check spelling for. Click on the Check spelling tool in the Editor toolbar. Words which appear to be spelled incorrectly are outlined in red. Click on the red outline and select from the option list for the correct word. It will automatically be corrected. Preview: you can preview all the changes made. 2.4. Preview Newsletter The purpose of this page is to let the user know that they are nearly done developing their newsletter. The page provides a preview of the customized template.
Users that have set up reply to and send from email addresses can select to send a test email message to the specific address from the drop-down menu. If there is a verified sender email address registered, the user will see this page. The user will have the ability to send themselves a copy of their newsletter. Note that this test will only work if the user has 1 or more reply to and send from email addresses verified.
2.5. Choose Contacts This page allows you to import pre-developed contact lists and or input contacts individually: 2.5.1. Import from Windows Live, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail or LinkedIn By entering your live.com, hotmail.com, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail or LinkedIn account and password details, Announcer Pro will import all of the contacts from those accounts. Note that Announcer Pro will not store passwords. You are limited to 1500 contacts to be imported; if you have more than 1500 contacts in your live.com or hotmail.com contact list we suggest that you create multiple.csv files (1500 contacts or less) and import them one at a time, or cut and paste the email addresses (1500 emails addresses or less) using the Cut and Paste Email List button. 2.5.2. Import Contacts from Outlook 2.5.2.1. Create CSV file from Outlook/Upload CSV Open Outlook Go to File Click Import and Export Choose Export to File Select Comma Separated Values (Windows) Choose the location where you d like the file saved to Click Do Import Duplicate Items Pick Contacts from the drop down that will appear showing your tree structure of folders
Click Next In Announcer, click Browse and search for your file that you have saved in the previous steps Once you have found the file, click Import Click Next, to go to the next step Click Go Back to return to the previous step 2.5.2.2. Import Contacts from file on your computer Create your own spreadsheet of contacts (i.e. Microsoft Excel) and save it as.csv file. Next find the file on your computer and using the Import feature import the contacts. In Announcer Pro, click Browse and search for your file that you have saved in the previous steps Once you have found the file, click Import Click Next, to go to the next step Click Go back to return to the previous step Note that if you wish to create your own spreadsheet of contacts, the spreadsheet must contain column headings and the minimum info required is the contact s email address. 2.5.3. Copy and Paste Email List You can either type or use the cut and paste method of entering a single or numerous email addresses into a contact list. Please separate each email address with a space, or one email address on each line. You can input a maximum of 1500 email addresses using this method. Any further contact information (name, address, etc.) will need to be updated manually in the contact section. 2.6. Name and Schedule Newsletter In this step you will need to indicate the date and time when the newsletter should be sent. You can also pick the subject line that you want your subscribers to see as well as the filename of your newsletter:
Enter your newsletter filename Enter your subject line text Choose a date (a calendar will open for the user to pick a date) Click on the drop-down menu in order to select a time Click Next to go to the next step Click Go Back to return to the previous step
2.7. Newsletter Completed This page congratulates you for creating a newsletter and reconfirms when the newsletter will be sent (time and date). You have the following options available: Preview you newsletter will show you a preview of the newsletter created Build another newsletter" takes you back to step one of the wizard and allows you to create another newsletter "Go to Newsletter Management" will allow you to edit and refine your newslette
3. Settings The settings interfaces allow you to modify settings which will apply to all newsletters. It consists of two parts: Company Settings and Email Settings. 3.1. Company Settings This section allows you to enter the details of your business. By default company information is hidden from public view, you must uncheck the box to display company details in your newsletter footer. Email is the only mandatory field. 3.1.1. Fill in Company information Enter all mandatory company information fields Click Apply to accept modifications Click Cancel, to cancel the process 3.2. Email Settings The purpose of this section is to allow you to control the email addresses that you want to use for send/reply to messages from Announcer Pro. This section will allow you to send messages from any address and reply to any address.
3.2.1. Send From/Reply To 3.2.1.1. Add a New Email Address Click the icon The Email Address section on the right will be available to input the email address. Enter email address Click Apply to accept contents entered Click Cancel to dismiss. 3.2.1.2. Delete an Email Address Click the button, located to the right of the email address
4. Contacts This page allows you to manage the following: Lists, Add Contacts, Search Contacts, Import/Export Lists and Merge Lists. 4.1. Add Contacts This step allows you to add contacts to the list(s) that you have created. To add a contact, enter all available information into the fields provided. The only required field is the email address. Next, select which list(s) you would like to add this contact to. You can do this by clicking on the checkbox beside each list you want to add it to. Enter email address of a new contact in Add Contact interface (First Name and Last Name are optional) Click Add to accept changes Click Cancel to dismiss. 4.1.1. Opt-In Check off the box if you do not wish to send an opt-in message to your subscribers. If you choose to send an opt-in request to your subscribers, in order for your contacts to begin to receive newsletters they must first respond to the opt-in request. 4.2. Search/Edit Contacts The Search Contacts interface allows you to edit the contacts in your lists. You can search through your contact lists using the search fields or using the "active", "pending" and "blocked" checkboxes.
"Active" contacts are contacts which have responded to the confirmation email and indicated they would like to receive newsletters. "Pending" contacts are ones which have received the confirmation email but have not responded to it. "Blocked" contacts are ones which have responded to the confirmation email and indicated they do not wish to receive newsletters. You can restrict your search in the following ways: by Name, Email address, Address, Company, Phone, City/Town, State/Province, Country, Status or Lists: Use the drop-down menus to restrict your search criteria Click the Search button After searching, you can filter your results to display only active, inactive or pending contacts (or any combination thereof) by using the drop-down menus provided
In order to edit existing contacts on the contact that you wish to modify. A new window will open where you can review and modify contact info: Click Apply to accept changes Click Cancel to dismiss 4.3. Lists 4.3.1. Add a New List Enter a list name in the text box provided (note that you are only setting up list names; you will enter in contacts for each list in the "add contacts" interface) Click Apply to create the new list Click Cancel to dismiss
4.3.2. Delete a List Click the button, located to the right of the list Click Apply button to confirm Click Cancel to discard 4.3.3. Edit an Existing List Double click on the name of the list you want to edit On the same page the user will be displayed with a list of all contact contained in the selected list: In order to edit a certain contact within that list click on a contact; the Edit contact page will open shown on previous page 4.4. Import/Export Lists With the Import/Export Lists interface, you can import contacts from Outlook or a file on your computer and export existing contacts to a downloadable file.
4.4.1. Import from Windows Live, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail or LinkedIn By entering your live.com, hotmail.com, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail or LinkedIn account and password details, Announcer Pro will import all of the contacts from those accounts. Note that Announcer Pro will not store passwords. You are limited to 1500 contacts to be imported; if you have more than 1500 contacts in your live.com or hotmail.com contact list we suggest that you create multiple.csv files (1500 contacts or less) and import them one at a time, or cut and paste the email addresses (1500 emails addresses or less) using the Cut and Paste Email List button. 4.4.2. Import contacts from Outlook: First, you should export your contacts from Outlook into a CSV file, which will allow you to provide your contact information in the correct format. Once your list is complete, click on the Browse button and select the CSV file on your computer that you wish to upload, then click the Import button. 4.4.3. Import contacts from a spreadsheet: Create your own spreadsheet of contacts (i.e. Microsoft Excel) and save it as.csv file. Next find the file on your computer and use the Import feature. Note that if you wish to create your own spreadsheet of contacts, the spreadsheet must contain column headings and the minimum info required is the contacts email address.
4.4.4. Copy and Paste Email List You can either type or use the cut and paste method of entering a single or numerous email addresses into a contact list. Please separate each email address with a space, or one email address on each line. You can input a maximum of 1500 email addresses using this method. Any further contact information (name, address, etc.) will need to be updated manually in the contact section. 4.4.5. Export to CSV or HTML To export a contact list, first select the contact groups that you want to export, by placing checkmarks beside the groups you wish to export. Then click "Export to CSV" or Export to HTML. When exporting to CSV the contacts will then begin to download to your computer as a single CSV file. You can open CSV files in most spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel. 4.4.6. Merge Lists This page allows you to merge one or more lists into another list: Select the list(s) to merge checking respective checkbox beside the list in the left tab Select the list to merge into or enter the name of a new list in the right tab Click Apply to accept the changes Click Cancel to dismiss
5. Newsletter Management Announcer Pro can set up and manage multiple newsletters; you can also select an existing newsletter to work with. 5.1. Select a newsletter From the Existing Newsletters column, click on the newsletter you d like to edit. If the newsletter has been previously sent, you will be unable to edit it. Instead a copy of the newsletter will be made on your behalf. 5.1.1. Edit a newsletter The following options are available: Click on to delete a newsletter from the list of existing newsletters Click on to view a preview of your newsletter Click on to make a copy of the newsletter To determine the status of your newsletter: This icon means the newsletter has been sent This icon means the newsletter is in draft and has not been sent yet This icon means the newsletter is scheduled to be sent
5.1.2. Delete a newsletter Select newsletter you wish to delete from the existing list of newsletters Click on the button alongside the newsletter you would like to delete A pop will prompt you to confirm deletion Click Yes to accept deletion Click No to cancel deletion Click Next to proceed to the next step. 5.2. Newsletter properties You can modify the name of your newsletter, update the email subject line as well as create a new newsletter summary: Click Save to save your changes Click Cancel to discard your changes
5.3. Edit Newsletter The newsletter wizard allows you to compose each newsletter in your campaign. You can modify your newsletter by clicking, dragging and highlighting different aspects of the newsletter. In some cases the default layout and images are locked and cannot be deleted. Any newsletters which you have not finished can be returned to and edited at a later date. Unless you alter the delivery schedule for your newsletters, they will be sent in whatever condition they are in when the delivery date and time is set to occur. Please ensure that as newsletters are approaching their transmission date that you have finished working on them. 5.4. Newsletter Editor Buttons The newsletter edit menu provides the following options: Button Description Saving your work is recommended throughout each session Adding text block(s) allows additional customization to your news letter. Many of the text blocks that exist on each of the designs are placeholders that require editing. Editing: double-click on the text you wish to modify. You will be able to edit text once the outline is visible. Type/Paste text into the text block. Delete: double-click on the text block you wish to delete. Click on the bottom right corner. The text block should
now be removed. Font Name Font Size Modifying Text: double-click on the text block; a boxed grayed area will appear on the Text Block. You will be able to edit text once the outline is visible. Highlight the text you wish to put in Bold, Italics or Underline. Modifying Font Style, Colors, and Text Size: double-click on the text block you wish to modify. Highlight the text you wish to reformat, click on the font change button. A screen will pop up allowing you to Select Font Style, Font Colors and Font Size. Text Alignment Ordered list: select this while editing text to make a bulleted list. You can also make existing text a bulleted list by selecting the text and then clicking on this tool. Cut, Copy, Paste and Paste without formatting Undo: click this button to undo the last action you have taken. Redo: click Redo to re-apply the last action that was undone. You can undo/redo as many steps as you wish based on the current section and actions done per session. Insert and Edit Images: you can build your own library of images by uploading the image files; and or utilize the free image library to place additional images into your site. Create/Edit link and Remove link: highlight the text you wish to link from. Click on the hyperlink icon. A screen will pop up. Type in the desired URL (such as http://domain.com). Checking Spelling: within a text block; double left click on the text block you wish to check spelling for. Click on the Check spelling tool in the Editor toolbar. Words which appear to be spelled incorrectly are outlined in red. Click on the red outline and select from the option list for the correct word and the text will automatically be corrected.
Preview: you can preview all the changes made. 5.5. Preview Newsletter This page provides a preview of the customized template: If you have set up reply-to and send-from email addresses, you can select to send a test email message to the specific addresses from the drop-down menu. If there is a verified sender email address registered, the user will see this page. You can also send yourself a copy of your newsletter. Note that this test will only work if you have 1 or more reply to and send from email addresses verified.
5.6. Newsletter Completed This page confirms that you have successfully created a newsletter. You have the following options available: Newsletter naming takes you to the page where you can rename your newsletter Schedule Newsletter allows you to set the date and time when your newsletter will be sent Return to Manage Newsletters takes you back to Newsletter management where you can edit and refine your newsletter
6. Tutorial Tutorial guides you through a simulated and interactive walkthrough of Announcer Pro:
7. Reports The Reports section allows you to view data and statistics related to your newsletters. You can view these up-to-date reports in PDF, HTML or CSV format. 7.1. Newsletter List To generate reports on one or more newsletters, first you must select which newsletter(s) you would like to use. Once you have selected a campaign, you can then select Newsletter Details by either clicking on the text link to the left (under Sent Newsletters) or by clicking the inspection icon to the right of the newsletter you would like to view details for: 7.2. Newsletter Details Once you have selected a newsletter from Newsletter List, the application will open the Newsletter Details page where you can see the details regarding the selected newsletter:
7.2.1. Newsletter Summary (these details will always be present) Newsletter Details Newsletter Name Date Sent Intended recipients Download full report as Output format Description Identifies the name of the newsletter selected. Date when the newsletter was sent out. The total number of unique recipients that have been emailed across all mailing lists used (excludes unique recipients which are blocked). This option allows you to download the newsletter summary information, and a copy of every report type available (each report is generated as a separate file and then zipped together for download). This is the format in which the reports will be generated. You can select PDF, HTML or CSV format. CSV-formatted reports are downloaded as a file; PDF and HTML formats are displayed in your web browser in a new window. Note that PDF display requires the browser plug-in from Adobe to be installed. In order to download a full report, select a type of report and click OK button. Use the drop-down menu to select output format of report (HTML, PDF or CSV) 7.2.2. Newsletter Statistics: Newsletter Details Description
Recipients Bounces Unsubscribed Clicks This is the number of intended recipients, minus the number of bounces. The number of emails which have been undeliverable. The number of recipients who clicked the "unsubscribe" link when receiving the newsletter email. The number of unique clicks which occurred in the newsletter. A unique click is a single user clicking on a specific URL for the first time. If this user clicks on the same URL a second time or more, the additional clicks are not counted. Clicking on the Recipients, Bounces, Unsubscribed or Clicks rows in the list will display the associated report type below (by default, Recipients is selected). 7.3. Type of reports Select the report type in Campaign Statistics list, clicking the required report. 7.3.1. Recipients By default Recipients is the first report featured. All Recipients are listed within the detached Recipients tab. 7.3.2. Bounces Click on Bounces in Newsletter Statistics and a list of Bounces will appear in the detached tab Bounces. 7.3.3. Unsubscribes Select Unsubscribes in Newsletter Statistics and a list of unsubscribed recipients will appear in the detached tab Unsubscribes. 7.3.4. Unique Clicks Select Unique Clicks in Newsletter Statistics and a list of unique clicks will appear in the detached tab Click throughout Statistics.
Clicking on a link in Click-through Statistics provides you with the email addresses of individuals who selected the link.
8. Social Networking This page lets you share your newsletter. 8.1. Subscription Widget In the box on the screen is code that can be used on your website to subscribe visitors to your website to your newsletter. In order to use this code copy the code as written below and paste it into an appropriate section of your website. If you would like to see how this will appear on your website, click the Preview button: 8.2. Share Newsletter If you would like to share a link to your newsletter on your Facebook or Twitter accounts, select the newsletter and click the appropriate button. You will be forwarded to the appropriate site.