Outgoing Communication (formerly known as Group Mail) allows you to send either an email or SMS to a group of stakeholders. This can be anything from e-newsletters, project updates, event invitations, marketing ad campaigns, etc.
When using a SendGrid, SMTP2GO or Whispir integrated account, you can use mail-merge functions to personalise your email communications; the email also comes with a built-in 'unsubscribe' option that automatically allows stakeholders to opt-out of communications. At the same time, there is the ability to keep track of your RSVP in the Dashboard companion widgets.
Should you wish to keep things more simple, our Send via Outlook option is a free version which gives you the function of sending the bulk email, however, does not include the results tracking, built-in 'unsubscribe' option or RSVP responses . Note: this will download a file via your web-browser that you open in Outlook and send directly to your stakeholders.
Note: You will need a SendGrid, SMTP2GO or a Whispir account (3rd party customer communication platform for transactional and marketing email software) and API Key in order to use the full Group Mail Functionality.
To create an Outgoing Communication
Click on + Create > Outgoing Communications
Choose 'Email' or 'SMS'
Add the required field details;
Subject
From Name
From Email
Select the Contact Group or Link the Stakeholders
Please note that SendGrid has a recipient limitation of 1000 contacts per mailout. This means you may need to segment your contact groups to include less than 1000 stakeholders.
Choose a template from the Select Template dropdown, or leave as blank to create your own content
Click 'Next'
Create / Edit your content in the content creator
Attachments can be added via the 'Files' section on the left-hand side panel
Review your 'Distribution List', here you have the option to remove any invalid emails, Organisations, unsubscribed stakeholders, inactive stakeholders etc.
Once reviewed, click the 'Send via...' button. The options are:
via SendGrid, which will allow you to use the custom fields and will track on your Group Mail dashboard - it will also add in an unsubscribe link to the bottom of your email;
via SMPT2GO, which will allow you to use the custom fields and will track on your Group Mail dashboard - it will also add in an unsubscribe link to the bottom of your email;
via Whispir, which will allow you to use the custom fields and will track on your Group Mail dashboard - it will also add in an unsubscribe link to the bottom of your email; or
via Outlook, which will export the Group Mail as an Outlook file to your downloads folders, which can be seen below.
Then click on this file, review the email and click send
If a stakeholder wishes to be unsubscribed through this option, you will need to go into their Stakeholder record and manually unsubscribe them.
Once you have sent your Group Mail, you will see a sent date appear in the Sent Date column and the Stakeholder Initials will populate to show who was sent the Group Mail.
Screenshot of the Group Mail interface showing sent Group Mails and with a Group Mail on hover showing the Preview icon, the open record icon and delete icon on the row
Note that If a stakeholder does not have an email address or has unsubscribed, they will not be sent the group mail.
Results
For Group Mail sent via an integrated third party provider, such as SendGrid, SMTP2Go or Whispir, you can view and integrated results interface.
When you open the Group Mail, you will see a tag Delivered appear next to the Title of the Group Mail, along with the time and date of the mailout. If you used an integrated third party provider to send your Group Mail you will see a Results Tab showing key delivery metrics:
Screenshot of a Group Mail message showing the Results Tab Interface, with the location of the Results Tab highlighted and the Sync Group Mail results button highlighted
You can manually Sync the Group Mail results by clicking on the refresh icon in the top right. You can print the Results section by clicking on the print icon in the top right.
The Results Grid (table) in the bottom half of the interface is searchable, able to be ordered, and to be filtered:
Screenshot of the Results Tab grid, with the search and filter options highlighted
Managing Subscriptions / Unsubscribes
You can manually Unsubscribe a Stakeholder by:
Navigating to the Contact Groups section of the left side panel, hovering over the relevant contact group and clicking the bell icon to unsubscribe from that Contact Group:
Screenshot showing left side panel Contact Groups with a contact group on hover showing the Unsubscribe bell icon
Navigate to the top right Stakeholder Action Icons group and click on the bell icon to unsubscribe the Stakeholder from all communications
Screenshot showing Stakeholder Action Icons group with the hover showing the Unsubscribe (all) bell icon
A Stakeholder can choose to unsubscribe via a link attached to the bottom of the Group Mail only if the Group Mail has been sent via SendGrid, SMTP2GO or Whispir:
Screenshot of a Group Mail message showing the Unsubscribe message "If you no longer wish to receive these emails, click on the following link Unsubscribe"
Clicking on the link in the Unsubscribe message will take the Stakeholder to a new browser window asking them to choose to unsubscribe from the Contact Group or from all communications:
Screenshot of the Group Mail Unsubscribe Interface, with the Contact Group name location highlighted and the Unsubscribe options highlighted.