Five new API methods

We've added the following five API/web service methods to improve our transactional email capabilities. All were requested by prospects evaluating JangoMail. Do you have a request for an API method that would make your developer's life easier? Let us know by filling out our Support form.

Click each method name to use its corresponding test form.

GetTransactionalGroupID
Gets a transactional group id. Returns a string.

DeleteTransactionalGroup
Deletes a transactional group from account. Returns a string.

Reports_GetBouncesByTransactionalGroup_DataSet
Retrieves list of bounced addresses for a particular transactional group. Includes SMTP Diagnostic Code and Definitive columns. Returns a .NET DataSet.

Reports_GetBouncesByTransactionalGroup_String
Retrieves list of bounced addresses for a particular transactional group. Includes SMTP Diagnostic Code and Definitive columns. Returns a string.

Reports_GetBouncesByTransactionalGroup_XML
Retrieves list of bounced addresses for a particular transactional group. Includes SMTP Diagnostic Code and Definitive columns. Returns an XML document.

New Report: Complaint Rate Dashboard

JangoMail and JangoSMTP users have always been able to see the complaint rate for an individual broadcast campaign or for an individual transactional email group. However, it was difficult to see complaint rate history over time, and in aggregate across different types of email campaigns (transactional, autoresponders, recurring campaigns, single-shot broadcast campaigns).

With our new Complaint Rate Dashboard, available only in our new no-frames interface, you can see your overall complaint rate based on all emails sent from your account in aggregate.

To access the Complaint Rate Dashboard, make sure your account is using our new no-frames interface, then click Reports, then choose "Complaint Rate History" from the Account dropdown menu:



Here's an example of the Complaint Rate Dashboard from our customer, Popcorn Palace:



The report shows the complaint rate for the last 7 days and the last 30 days, and it also allows you to see how many total emails you've sent per day during this period.

Additionally, you can see what ISP has resulted in the most complaints during a given period.

Time-based complaint rates are more difficult to calculate than the complaint rate on say, an individual broadcast email campaign. There are two ways to calculate time-based complaint rates:

1. Bad way: Number of emails sent within a time period and number of complaints received within that same time period. This method is flawed, since the complaint on an email sent within time period A may not be received until after time period A. So a simple division of the complaints received within a particular 7 day period divided by the number of emails sent within that 7 day period would result in an erroneous complaint rate.

2. Good way: Instead, we tie each complaint back to the original email that resulted in it. The complaint rates shown in this new report are calculated by analyzing how many emails were sent in a given time period, and then analyzing how many complaints were received for only the emails sent within that given time period.

Your Company Logo in your JangoMail Surveys

JangoMail now has support for adding your company logo to surveys that you create through our website using the Surveys tab. Adding your logo to your surveys is a great idea, not only because it makes it clear who is conducting the survey, but it also builds on your branding by putting your image in front of your survey participants once more.

Adding your logo is accomplished in three simple steps:

1. While logged in, click on the Company Logo selection on the Settings tab
2. Input the URL of your company logo from your website (or wherever your logo image is hosted)
3. Click the Update Company Logo button

After your company logo setting has been updated, that logo will automatically appear at the top of any survey pages you create in the Surveys section of JangoMail.

Below is a screenshot with a sample survey put together to demonstrate the new feature.

V-Day Email Tips to Enflame Customer Passions

Nothing inflames the passions like a well-written love letter. That's why for this Valentine's Day I thought I'd offer some tips on how you can take the same basic tenets of love letter writing to create email campaigns that will really get your customer and prospect hearts beating!

1. The sheer appearance of a love letter says so much about the sender and the level of his or her affection. As an email marketer, you need to choose layouts, colors, fonts, and graphics that not only accurately reflect your brand but also draw readers in and show you truly care about how they perceive you.

2. All Romeos and Juliets know how to create the right ambiance. Be sure to consider not only the mood you’re hoping your email will leave readers in, but also the mood they may already be in. Most recipients will be busy, so be considerate of their time and say what needs to be said in order for them to warm up to you.

3. Ever get a love letter and then gush about it with friends? Your friends are probably left wishing their special someones could melt their hearts like that! Know what your competitors are telling customers, and then beat their sweet nothings with sweet somethings that make customers feel special. Segment your outreach and create copy that focuses on your reader's specific needs. Coupons, giveaways, newsletters and funny videos all show you’re interested in a giving, long-term relationship while contributing to the viral effect.

4. "Let us go then you and I…" Just like the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, your email must contain a clear call to action. But don’t just ask would-be customers to click on a link or buy your product. Show them how by doing so you can change their lives in deep and meaningful ways.

5. No matter how eloquently written, sending unsolicited love letters can get you into trouble. As always, be sure your recipients have opted in to receiving your affections!

JangoMail is also showing some love this Valentine's Day by offering free trials of its powerful email marketing platform and waiving its start-up fee through the end of February. JangoMail offers a variety of affordable pricing options, so anyone can send emails in a highly reliable and personalized way. Visit http://www.jangomail.com/ for more.

Two New Reports in our New User Interface

Those users that have switched to our new no-frames interface now have a new report to enjoy -- two new detailed Sending Progress reports. The first shows how many emails are still pending, and which JangoMail sending server they have been assigned to, and the second shows how many emails have been sent per hour since the email campaign was launched.

To access these two new reports, you must be using the new interface. If you are on the old interface, click "Switch to No Frames" in the top blue area.

Go to Reports click the (sending) link next to an in-progress email campaign:

After clicking (sending), a popup will show you how many emails have been sent, how many are remaining, and to which sending server they've been assigned:



Clicking on [Time] will reveal how many emails have been sent per hour since the email campaign was launched.

Two bug fixes in SMTP relay service

We've just deployed two fixes to the JangoSMTP transactional email service:

1. Previously, lines in an email message that begin with a single period would result in two periods when delivered to the recipient. This was a bug related to how SMTP treats the escaping of periods. This is now fixed. To read more about issues involving SMTP and periods, see this article: http://db.ilug-bom.org.in/lug-authors/philip/docs/mail-stuff/smtp-intro.html

2. Previously, if an email message was relayed to relay.jangosmtp.net and included both the Disposition-Notification-To and the Return-Receipt-To headers, then JangoSMTP would throw an error on the email message:

System.ArgumentException: An item with the same key has already been added.

This is now fixed, and email messages containing both headers will be delivered properly.