On Track With Jack: Test Personalization With a Test List

The sun is shining out here in Dayton, Ohio and next week is the Fourth of July!  Before the fireworks, picnics, and barbecues kickoff make sure your email marketing has a personal touch.  Customers respond better to messages that are tailored specifically to them.

With JangoMail you can easily personalize your messages beyond a first and last name.  You can send personalized:

• Subject Lines
• Messages
• From Email Address
• From Display Name
• Reply-To Address
• CC Address
• BCC Address
• Attachments

Today, my tip is on testing personalization:

Test Personalization With a Test List

In order for a successful test, you must send to a list.  Personalization will not work by just clicking the “Send a Test” button and sending a preview.  When we test our campaigns, I have a special “Jack” test list I’ve created with a few of my own personal email addresses. 

When I’m ready to preview my campaign I send to my “Jack” test list first.  Again, I’m going through the same steps that I normally would when sending a campaign, but just sending to my test list and no others.  Always double check your lists before you hit Send to make sure you’re only sending to your test list.  Once you've received your message and everything looks good, you’re ready to officially send to your active customer lists or database.

To recap: Customers respond better to messages that are personalized. Make sure you test your personalization with a test list in JangoMail.

If you need a refresher on how to create a new list like a “Jack” test list, take a look at the list section in our Quick Stat Guide.  For a step-by-step guide on how to incorporate personalization in your emails, check out our documentation.

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

Subscribe to On Track With Jack

Are You Making the Most of Your Custom Opt-in Form?

By: Erica Melzer
Account Executive


If you’re using a JangoMail opt-in form on your web page, then you are one smart cookie! This is a great way to grow your lists and collect lots of useful information about your customers.

Are you making the most of your opt-in form by using a variety of custom field types?

If every question on your form is being answered in a text box, then maybe not. The good news is, unlike most email marketing platforms, JangoMail lets you use any combination of large and small text boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, and pull down lists.

Why is this important?

Using a variety of field types allows you control much of the data you get back from your customers.  This is crucial if you plan to use that data to segment your lists and personalize your messages.  It also makes for a more sophisticated and efficient email marketing program.

For example, if you ask for a birth month and offer customers a text box to provide their answer, you could get back almost anything in that field like:

January, Jan, Janruary, 01, 1, Capricorn

Say you wanted to send a message to anyone on your list with “January.” Your message will only go to those that entered “January,” and not to anyone that misspelled or abbreviated their birth month. The most reliable way to segment your lists, according to field data, is to control the data by using pull down lists, radio buttons, and check boxes whenever possible.

If you’d like to know more about using the different field types supported by JangoMail, segmenting your lists, and personalizing your messages, our Support Reps will be happy to help. You can create a ticket or give us a call between 7 A.M. and 7 P.M. (US/EST) at 888-465-2646.

Make The Most Of The 'Madness' this Month

Last year, Twitter users sent over two million Tweets about March college basketball tourneys.

While the 'madness' may not be the highlight of everyone's month, there are times you need to send updates and alerts to large, specialized groups before the buzzer.

Here are some hypotheticals:

• You're a coach, and team parents would love to see a video of that miracle play from the big championship game
• You're a restauranteur, and you need to get the word out that there will be half-priced mudslides during the Padres' home opener
• You're the bracket-master, and lunch is on Glenn in Accounting since he just pulled ahead in points

Forget bulletin boards. JangoMail's email distribution list feature (listserv) is an easy way to get everyone on the same page about brackets, club news, special events and more.

Here's how it works:

• Create a master email list, grouping recipients by interest (eg. college basketball fans, mudslide lovers, the Spanish club)
• Send one email to your group's master email list (one email to one, all-inclusive email address)
• Spark a live, ongoing email discussion. When someone replies, they can reply back to your entire list at once (eg. "This place's mudslides are epic. You should go!")

More good news:

JangoMail lets you track (opens, clicks, responses) to your email campaign in real-time to evaluate the effectiveness of your emails and re-customize, as needed. Bounce-backs and removal-requests are handled automatically. And you can add Facebook and Twitter social share links for even greater reach and viral opportunity.

Don't forget... We do surveys too!

Tie in a quick survey with your regular email campaigns. This is a great way to bring in seasonal events and unite them with your business campaigns.  For this time of year, you could throw in things like:

• Tell us how many hours of the workday you think your organization's employees or volunteers spend creating and tracking March brackets?
• Do you think March bracket office-play increases overall morale?
• What is your favorite basketball-watching appetizer?

A little levity, a little fun, and a reason to do a follow up email campaign to keep your brand in front of the customers with your results ... or perhaps have them return to your web site to get the final tally!

Questions?

Did we spring some ideas loose for you? We're here to help. Reach Support for assistance in getting these (or any) features set up!