On Track With Jack: The Importance of Plain Text

While sum-sum-summertime is here, don’t take a vacation from your email marketing!  There are a ton of great business opportunities to take advantage of - market them all with JangoMail.  Most recently, we’ve spent a lot of time focusing on deliverability, and I have something else to add into the mix this week:

Always generate a plain text version of your email.

Each time you send out a new email, you should include a plain text version.  While most email clients support HTML messages nowadays, there are still some platforms and devices that cannot display HTML.  Additionally, there are a few folks out there that prefer to block HTML emails.  When you send plain text with HTML, you ensure that your recipient can see your email, no matter what.

Need another reason?  Spam filters check for plain text because spammers do not include it.  A lot of messages without it go straight into the junk folder.  Please note that the spam filter also checks for a balance of HTML to plain text so you want to make sure you have an even amount of both.

At JangoMail, we make it easy.  Once you have the HTML portion of your email finalized click on the second tab in the editor labeled “Plain Text”.  You have two options here: you can “Generate now based on HTML message” or “Generate automatically at send time”.

If you want to edit any portion of the plain text, click the first link.  I prefer this option, especially for newsletters because I like to remove any duplicate links, for example.

Choose the second option if you want your plain text to be identical to your HTML message and it will be created when your message sends.  The system will generate the latest version right before your message is processed.

To recap: Make sure that you always include a plain text version.  With JangoMail, you can easily create plain text to ensure your message delivers.

Have questions? Ask. Dial 1-888-465-2646 or drop us a line here.

Jack the Jangolope
Department of Awesome
JangoMail

About Jack

Jack the Jangolope is our JangoMail mascot.  Each week, look for Jack's emails for marketing advice, trends, and quick tips on how to grow your email marketing plan to the fullest!  Hop into email marketing each week with Jack's helpful tips!

What is a Jangolope? Find out HERE

We want to hear from you. Remember, at JangoMail it's your email, your way.  Have a topic you would like Jack to cover?  Email us at marketing@jangomemail.com with the subject line: On Track With Jack.  Follow Jack on Facebook

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Command Center: Autoresponders With Bob

By: Dave Walker
Technical Support Engineer

Bob's car dealership has been growing. Bob has decided to start a new email campaign to provide service tips to his new car buyers. Bob's idea is to send emails to new car buyers every few days at first, and then at regular intervals thereafter. The first will focus on the newest car buyer, while later emails will remind the buyer about regular service, aftermarket accessories, and other useful tips.


Bob knows that his customers do not buy all at once, so his campaign shouldn't run all at once either. He needs each buyer to enter the campaign at the beginning, not start in the middle.

Bob uses JangoMail's Autoresponders feature to get it done.

Bob creates all of his messages ahead of time so they automatically send out each week, month, and even year. He then uses these messages to create “autoresponders” for his new buyers list. The first email goes out on the day of the purchase, while other messages are set to delay for a period of time before sending.

When a customer buys a new car, Bob adds them to his new purchasers list. Automatically, the autoresponders will begin. On the first day, they'll receive a tip email with warranty information and the phone number for the service department. As the days and weeks pass, they'll continue to receive emails tailored to the amount of time they own the car.

Bob's customers always start on day 1, no matter what day that is. Luke bought his car on a Monday, but Leia bought hers on Thursday three months later. It doesn't matter. On the day each bought their car, they received the same message.

That's why Bob likes JangoMail's autoresponder feature. With autoresponders, he has yet another great way to tailor his email communications directly to his customers needs. Bob's Mom would be proud.

Full Service Announcement and Interest Form

Spring is here at JangoMail, and we're sprouting some new service ideas. In particular, we are expanding our full-service and want to hear from you!

We have just a few questions to see how we may better serve you.

Complete our Full-Service Interest Form:



If you would like to offer your expertise in any of these areas as a partner of JangoMail, make sure to check Item #4 so we can talk about working together!


Thanks for helping!

Jack and the JangoMail Team

Meet the Team - Erick Pece

What do salt and vinegar chips, mountain biking, and 'refresh your screen' all have in common?  They are synonymous with Erick Pece, JangoMail's Director of Technical Support!

1.  What is your position at JangoMail?

Meet Erick Pece, JangoMail's
Director of Technical Support

Director of Technical Support

2.  How long have you worked for JangoMail?

Close to three years

3.  How do you use JangoMail personally?

I use JangoMail both for internal support team use to send notifications, scheduling reminders, etc...I also use JangoMail for a few non-profit projects I'm involved in.

4.  What do you like best about working for JangoMail?

The team environment and flexibility to provide customers with the best support options - we're not reading from scripts! 

5.  What feature do you like most?

I have a background in software development, so my first choice would be our API, since it allows people to integrate with our system directly inside their own.  After that, the ability to connect directly to a web database is my next choice!

6.  What is your educational background or what experience led you here?

I have a Bachelor's in Computer Science and Information Management, and have had experience as a systems and network administrator at several other companies.  The team-oriented environment led me to JangoMail.

7.  What is your favorite hobby / pastime?

Mountain biking.

8.  What is your guilty pleasure?

Baked Salt and Vinegar chips. I can't stop myself when they're around!

9.  What is one random fact people don't know about you?

After graduating college in 2008, I haven't lived anywhere for more than 1.5 years until now.  I've been living in the same city for just over 2 years - we're on a roll!

10. Do you have a catchphrase, funny saying, or personal quote?

I often develop internal tools for our support team to provide them with the best information, which in turn allows them to provide customers with that information. Depending on my workload, I'll sometimes get requests to add features to these tools.  In some cases, I'm able to turn around that request in 5-10 minutes, at which point I'll say, "Refresh your screen."  I guess I'd say that's a phrase I've become known for by the support team.

Customer Spotlight: iwerk

By: Melonie Mottice
Senior Marketing Strategist

Welcome to our first Customer Spotlight!  Each post you’ll have the chance to read about one of our customers that are making huge email marketing strides using JangoMail.  Learn what features they use most and what you can do to improve your own campaigns.  This week, I’ll introduce you to iwerk, a software development and technical services company.

I had the pleasure of interviewing April Young, iwerk’s Delivery and New Business Manager.

Company: iwerk Industry: software development and                 technical services Website: www.iwerk.com Contact: www.iwerk.com/connect Favorite Features: custom reporting,                sub-accounts, and automation

Here’s a little background about the company: iwerk, is a software development company specializing in customer software development since 1991.  From websites to large database applications, the company operates as a digital arm, offering their clients full technical services.

A lot of iwerk’s clients are marketing agencies that need help with online promotions.

“Clients come to us because they’ve filled in a large project and they don’t have the resources to build it, so they make it pretty, and we make it work,” said April.

That’s where JangoMail comes in.

“Email marketing is a very integral part of our projects and JangoMail has been amazingly dependable,” she states.  “These are not small clients, these are big brands and everything has to function.”

April and her team use JangoMail’s transactional and broadcast service.

They work with a lot of clients that have specific needs that many other email service providers will not accommodate.

Here at JangoMail, however, we were willing to work with them.

When shopping for an ESP, April explains that finding one that could accommodate the needs of her clients was a challenge, until she started working with JangoMail.  In addition to our sub-accounts feature, custom reporting and automation were necessities.

“Usually one dev. (developer) is working on one project, and one is working on the other, so it’s very nice to be able to give them separate logins,” she said.

April’s clients do a lot of reporting.  She grants them access to the JangoMail dashboard so they can pull whatever numbers and stats needed each week without interfering with another account.

In order for any email campaign to be successful, JangoMail users must use quality lists that people register or opt-in for, not cold marketing emails.  JangoMail has a strict anti-spam policy to maintain the sending reputation of our clients, which is key to any successful email campaign.

In April’s case, the proof is in the pudding, well, campaign reporting.  She has some of the highest open rates we’ve tracked to date.

“We’ve had promotions where the email really is the next step in the registrant’s journey,” she adds.

Once a person registers for a contest or promotion, they receive an email with a confirmation code and they are redirected back to a website to enter the code in.  Without that automation, the promotion will not work.

To learn more about April and the iwerk team, check out their website at www.iwerk.com.  You can also contact them directly here.  They have offices in Detroit, Dallas, and Fort Worth.