On Track With Jack: Reconsider Email Attachments

Hello JangoMail Users!

Jack here reporting from the JangoMail headquarters. Today's tip comes from our support team:

Reconsider Email Attachments

When you have a large file to send, you may want to think twice about sending as an attachment. Ask yourself, "Is there a better way to get my message across?" Size and security are the two main deliverability issues that will prevent your subscribers from receiving your attached message.

There is a better way to incorporate files into your email marketing plan. Upload your assets to JangoMail and embed them within your email. For larger files, post to your website and create links within the body of your email. Encourage readers to click for more information.

Embedded links will not only increase traffic back to your site, but will also provide you with click tracking data throughout your email to see what your audience is interacting with the most.

Emails without attachments are also easier to access since downloading is not required. It sounds silly, but subscribers are usually on the go and this saves them a step. Convenience is key!

To recap:

• Attachments could cause deliverability issues.
• Email links encourage users to visit your website, which will increase traffic.
• You can track clicks throughout your email to see what your audience is interacting with most.
• Messages without attachments are easier for your recipients to access.  Your message is just a click away instead of taking additional steps to download.
• Are there times when attachments are needed? Of course. That's why we support them. Just remember to think twice before you send any attachments to make sure it's the right message for your audience!

If you need help with anything, like installing click tracking, please Contact Support.



Sincerely,

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

Our New "On Track With Jack" Series

By: Melonie Mottice
Marketing Specialist

Introducing…our new series: On Track With Jack.  Each week, look for our new emails and blog posts from our mascot, Jack the Jangolope, on marketing advice, trends, and quick tips. Jack will offer insight on how to improve your email marketing so you can use your JangoMail account to the fullest.  He will cover common support issues we receive from our call center, and the latest news in email marketing, to keep you on track.

What is a jangolope and why does one named Jack have tips for me?
To start, a jackalope is a mythical creature known as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. Over time the jackalope continued to change into what we, at JangoMail, call the jangolope.

Long, long, long ago a curious jackrabbit stumbled upon an old computer.  He grew tired of receiving and sending plain, ineffective emails.  He knew there had to be an easier way.  The jackrabbit thought long and hard.  Finally, he had an idea to evolve email marketing above all the rest.  As his idea grew, so did his antlers.

Through the wild countryside of North America, the jackalope soon became known as the jangolope because of his savvy computer skills.  Jack is a direct descendant of the original jangolope.  Half jackrabbit, half antelope, 100% email marketing professional.

Hop into our blog each week with Jack's helpful tips!

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@us.jangomail.com with the subject line: On Track With Jack. Jack also has his very own Facebook page.  Follow Jack on Facebook.

Don't Miss The School Bell, Email Communicators!

Hey parent group leaders, school administrators and after-school program organizers, this one's for you. Email communications distributed through schools ensure everyone plays nice on the playground. More specifically, keeping parents and teachers in the loop about school-related events is critical to their happiness - and yours.

What? Email's not part of your curriculum? K - have fun with this all year ...

Still here? Awesome - no one wants to face the wrath of an angry parent. So don't! 

Email is the most cost-efficient, time saving distribution channel for school-related communications. The backpack express is anything but reliable, and word-of-mouth is lost on the young (i.e. they forget A LOT). We're sure you have plenty of content to pass along to parents and teachers. 

So the only question that remains: How do you get everyone on the same page - or in this case, on the same school email distribution list?

The answer is simple.  Most parents are plugged in - email, calendar alerts, Facebook & Twitter. And connecting to where your parents are is as easy as offering them a few choices in the places they're most apt to stay in touch with your school. Oh - and using JangoMail. (Duh.)

The choices:

• Add an Email List Signup Form to your school's website. Most parents prefer email, and it's highly effective way to communicate daily updates, weekly newsletters and time-sensitive alerts. You can determine what information you want to collect (name, telephone #s, address, etc.) on JangoMail's customizable, email signup forms to create distribution lists for specific grade levels, neighborhoods, volunteer rosters, etc.

• Share the announcement via Social Media. For parents who are less likely to open emails after work hours, but are plugged into social updates on their mobile devices, Facebook and Twitter are great ways to keep them in the loop last minute. Create a View as Webpage link in your email and share it on your profiles. It's a handy way to guide parents back to your email communication. If you know there's a lot of chatter on your profiles - or that of your PTO/PTA, take a few minutes to share your announcements on those pages.

• Backpack express? Sure, why not, you can try to send your signup forms through and hope they come back to school in one piece for you to then manually enter in your copious free time (exhale). But then again, save your sanity and skip straight to the bullets above. Plus, you'll be 'going green' by holding off on paper. Aren't you eco-clever?

Got questions? We'd like to think we have answers. Hit us up anytime. And to all the kids, parents, teachers and school staff heading back this month ... best of luck to all of you this year. It's going to be a great one!

Collecting Metric Gold Is A Piece Of Cake

Around St. Patrick’s Day, everyone throws around the leprechaun allegories and imagery. While it's tempting to join in, we're going to shy away from that nightmarish green sprite as we look for our email gold amid this festival of green.

Here's how we're mixing it up:
We're reiterating that, with the right tools, it's easy to plan and achieve email marketing success. In fact, you could say it's a piece of cake ... made of metrics and 'rainbows'. (Yeah, we went there.)

So what's the connection between metrics and rainbows?
Consider your rainbow the journey of planning that's involved in any well-thought out, email marketing campaign. You take a considerable amount of time to conceptualize and design your message, build your rock solid list, and finally - with a triumphant 'woot' - you blast it to its intended audience with the highest of hopes.

Then the real work begins.
Here's where that gold at the end of your rainbow comes in. Bottom line, you have to know if you're getting results or need to change course. Quickly. The good news is that JangoMail's email reporting tools are the easy way to find out.

We help you compare email campaigns to see what's working best. In fact, we can show you reports of every open and click, as well as historical and geo tracking down to the level of each and every email newsletter recipient. The best part is that it's all in real-time, so you can react and enhance on the tightest of deadlines.

For even more granular, visual reporting, JangoMail also has a highly advanced integration with Google Analytics. Clicks, specific page views, time on page and points of entry/exit will help you further illuminate your customers' behaviors.

Enter the big payoff
Knowing the results of your past and present email marketing campaigns is worth its weight in gold, in terms of future customization and planning that will lead to higher rates of conversion. The key takeaway here is that it's definitely worth the time to at least explore all the tools available to you.

See? You can have that rainbow cake reward - and the creepy little green man can stay where he belongs. If your guess (like ours) is "under the bed", you can feel free to look first.


Happy St. Patrick's Day, folks! In the spirit of the holiday, here's something from the web:

(Hey, Jennifer Aniston's in this clip (guys), with her 90's hair (ladies) ... so it's worth looking for laughs.)
  

Ditch “The Crawl” & get social with school parents

There’s nothing quite like the anger of a baffled parent who shows up to school with their child – only to find it was actually cancelled, delayed, or there's a special event happening that day.

And we’re not just talking snow or hurricanes. Sometimes it’s those sneaky half-day conferences, holidays and teacher workshops that can wreak havoc on the airtight schedules of busy parents. Or what about those special, last-minute "everyone wear school colors" days? It's not easy for parents - and obviously kids - when they're left out of the loop.

(Don't think you can depend on the "backpack express" to get the word out, especially when the unexpected can happen - a.k.a. Fido or worse.)

There are also events that catch even you, as a school principal or administrator, off-guard. It happens – and you need to act quickly to update the masses.


Many of us at JangoMail are parents, so we feel the pain of miscommunication. (Surprise! It’s bring your kid to work day!) But, we also see the flip side for school officials …

So … the big question: What’s the most efficient way to get the word out to the greatest number of busy parents at the same time, instantly?

The answer: JangoMail’s email integration with Facebook and Twitter will help you do it all effortlessly.

Here’s how: Most parents are plugged in – email, calendar alerts, Facebook & Twitter. And connecting to where your parents are is as easy as offering them a few choices in the places they’re most apt to stay in touch with your school.

The choices:

1. Add an Email List Signup Form to your school’s website.
Most parents prefer email, and it’s a highly effective way to communicate daily updates, weekly newsletters and time-sensitive alerts. You can determine what information you want to collect (name, telephone #s, address, etc.) on JangoMail’s customizable, email signup forms to create distribution lists for specific grade levels, neighborhoods, volunteer rosters, etc.

2. Share the announcement via Social Media.
For parents who are less likely to open emails after work hours, but are plugged into social updates on their mobile devices, Facebook and Twitter are great ways to keep them in the loop last minute. Create a View as Webpage link in your email and share it on your Facebook and Twitter profiles. It's a handy way to guide parents back to your email communications. If you know there’s a lot of chatter on your Facebook and Twitter profiles – or that of your PTO/PTA, take a few minutes to share your announcement on those pages.

Have questions or need some more suggestions? 

We can’t make snow days go away, but we’re pretty good with school announcement emails. Hit us up – we’re here to help!

Here are some memories from around the web that might inspire you to beef up your communications strategies in anticipation of next winter:

• http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/winter-break/factors-for-the-2012-atlantic-hurricane-season/64296
• http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/midatlantic-snowstorm-potentia/7088979
• http://www.boston.com/news/education/2013/01/31/school-damaged-burst-pipe-closed-for-week/6CIm0DzZJbHN1lYv3bnG6K/story.html