Parking Lot Post: Email Marketing 101 in Online Express 05/10/18

Rachel Nigro

Hi All, 


Thank you to everyone who attended our Email Marketing 101 webinar today! We had a great group with some amazing questions, so I wanted to post some the questions and some additional resources here: 

Can you create a custom merge field?

No, the only merge fields currently available are the ones that appear in the Merge Fields drop down. We do have an idea to Add custom fields for email merge if you'd like to add your vote! Also, if there's something specific you're looking for such as Gift merge fields, be sure to add your votes for those in the Idea Bank as well!

What if they have don't have a nickname and we want to use a first name instead?

While there isn't a way currently in Online Express to say "use Nickname, but if there's no Nickname, use First Name," there are a few ways you could accomplish this. The best way to accomplish this would be to use the Salutation field on constituent records to indicate how they should be greeted (using their Nickname or First Name or even a more formal greeting). You can then choose which salutations to use in Online Express Emails: How to add Addressee/Salutation to an Online Express email. Another idea is to segment your list based on how you'd like to customize your salutation. So for example, you might have a version of your email you send to organizations and another to individuals since they might be greeted differently.

Is there a limit to how many messages you can send at once?​

We recommend sending no more than 100,000 emails per send for optimal email performance. Remember, targeted email messages to smaller segments tend to perform better and can boost your sender reputation (which in turn increases your email deliverability), so if you have a large email send, it may be best to think about ways you can segment the communication into smaller groups with a more personal message. Also keep in mind that your Online Express subscription includes a specific number of email sends per year, so you'll want to be mindful of that as well. To check your sends, click Account > Subscription Information.

Are we able to send videos at all?

Online Express does not allow you to embed videos into your email content currently. However, you can link to an online video in your emails. We have some additional information on how to create a hyperlink to link the video here: How to link to a video in Online Express Email. Another suggestion might be to add an image of a still shot from the video and add the link to the image--that way, when someone clicks on the image, they'll be brought to your video. 


I hope this information is helpful! Thank you all again for the very thoughtful questions! I look forward to chatting with you again at a future webinar!

Shaun Grace

Rachel Nigro:

Hi All, 


Thank you to everyone who attended our Email Marketing 101 webinar today! We had a great group with some amazing questions, so I wanted to post some the questions and some additional resources here: 

Can you create a custom merge field?

No, the only merge fields currently available are the ones that appear in the Merge Fields drop down. We do have an idea to Add custom fields for email merge if you'd like to add your vote! Also, if there's something specific you're looking for such as Gift merge fields, be sure to add your votes for those in the Idea Bank as well!

What if they have don't have a nickname and we want to use a first name instead?

While there isn't a way currently in Online Express to say "use Nickname, but if there's no Nickname, use First Name," there are a few ways you could accomplish this. The best way to accomplish this would be to use the Salutation field on constituent records to indicate how they should be greeted (using their Nickname or First Name or even a more formal greeting). You can then choose which salutations to use in Online Express Emails: How to add Addressee/Salutation to an Online Express email. Another idea is to segment your list based on how you'd like to customize your salutation. So for example, you might have a version of your email you send to organizations and another to individuals since they might be greeted differently.

Is there a limit to how many messages you can send at once?​

We recommend sending no more than 100,000 emails per send for optimal email performance. Remember, targeted email messages to smaller segments tend to perform better and can boost your sender reputation (which in turn increases your email deliverability), so if you have a large email send, it may be best to think about ways you can segment the communication into smaller groups with a more personal message. Also keep in mind that your Online Express subscription includes a specific number of email sends per year, so you'll want to be mindful of that as well. To check your sends, click Account > Subscription Information.

Are we able to send videos at all?

Online Express does not allow you to embed videos into your email content currently. However, you can link to an online video in your emails. We have some additional information on how to create a hyperlink to link the video here: How to link to a video in Online Express Email. Another suggestion might be to add an image of a still shot from the video and add the link to the image--that way, when someone clicks on the image, they'll be brought to your video. 


I hope this information is helpful! Thank you all again for the very thoughtful questions! I look forward to chatting with you again at a future webinar!

What if they have don't have a nickname and we want to use a first name instead?


Whenever we create new records we always duplicate the first name in the nickname field (unless that person does have a preferred name they use). That way we can always use Nickname and not worry about if they have a nickname or not.


Shaun

Rachel Nigro

Shaun Grace:

What if they have don't have a nickname and we want to use a first name instead?


Whenever we create new records we always duplicate the first name in the nickname field (unless that person does have a preferred name they use). That way we can always use Nickname and not worry about if they have a nickname or not.


Shaun

 

That's a good tip Shaun! It's definitely something you could add quickly when adding a new constituent that would make using the Nickname merge field a little easier! Thanks for sharing!