I recently noticed an advertisement for an email marketing solution… The ad copy went something like this:

“Flash improves your email marketing campaigns effectiveness”

I am not sure who on earth came up with that – OR – if it was automatically generated, but it most definitely does not.  On that topic, here are a couple of things you should avoid when creating your email campaigns.

• Flash
  You will experience compatibility issues along with security warning issues.  If you want to include a movie you can include a screen capture of the movie and then have the movie launch in their browser once they click on the image.
• Javascript
  You will experience compatibility issues along with security warning issues.
• Forms
  I realize some people may disagree with this – but forms are not fully compatible and they can trigger some security warnings.
• Background Images
  Background images are very tricky if you wish to get maximum compatibility.  Outside of placing a background image in the body tag you will experience a number of issues.
• Setting a background color without using a wrapping div
  Many web based email clients will not show your body background color.  Thus if you are requiring a background color we suggest to also include a wrapping div around your content that is also set to have the same background color that your body tag has.

These are just a couple of the things you should keep in mind when creating your next email campaign.

This is part of a series of email design articles.  Subscribe to our blog to be notified as we release additional email design tips.

A while back we released a feature that allows certain ActiveCampaign products to authenticate users with an external login source. This feature is currently supported in KnowledgeBuilder 3.x and SupportTrio 2.x, and will soon be included in every ActiveCampaign product.

I wanted to share how dead simple it is to get started creating a new login source using your own authentication system. We’ve included some of the more popular applications like Joomla, PHPBB3, and vBulletin, as default external login sources, which can be enabled at any time.

But you may have your own custom authentication system that you’d like to use. In order to do this, you’ll need familiarity with editing PHP files, as well as a programmatic understanding of how to use PHP to speak to your authentication system.

To get started, open up the ac_global/loginsource/ directory contained within your KnowledgeBuilder 3.x or SupportTrio 2.x installation:

You’ll see a number of individual .php files, each corresponding to a separate login source configuration. For this example, I’ve added the last file, zencart.php, as we will be creating an external login source for Zen Cart.

Set up .php file

Once you create the new .php file in this directory, edit the contents of the file with this:

<?php

$loginident = "zencart";
$loginvars = "host,dbname,user,pass";

?>

Here we specify the name of our new external login source (the $loginident variable), as well as the settings you’d like to specify when setting up this login source (the $loginvars variable).

The $loginident variable will correspond with the name you see listed under the available login sources within the application:

The $loginvars variable will correspond with the available fields that allow you to input specific information pertaining to this login source:

Once you have included those two variables in the new .php file, you should be able to access the login source directly within the application:

Enable and further configure .php file

Once you’ve saved your new login source settings, using the above application pages, you are ready to configure the .php file to speak to your authentication system.

The easiest way to set up the rest of the .php file is to copy an existing source. For example, if you open vbulletin.php, you’ll see the necessary functions that need to reside within the class:

class vBulletinLoginSource extends AC_LoginSource {
....
}

Modify names to match your new login source. For example, vBulletinLoginSource would become zencartLoginSource.

Keep the five core functions in place:

Modify these functions to extract and authenticate a given username/password combination. For more information on what each of these functions should return, please view our detailed help documentation article.

We can also set this up for you, if you provide us the database structure that houses your external user credentials, as well as any specific PHP authentication/validation functions.

Testing out your new login source

If you feel confident that you’ve modified the .php file correctly, the only thing left is to test it out!

Make sure you’ve enabled your new login source, set User Type to Public or Admin, and promote it to be the first login source the system tries to use for authentication:

Then, log out of the application, and try logging in as a user from your external system. If everything is working, you should be able to log straight in to the application as normal!

Anyone who has done a lot of work with email templates/email design will tell you that there are a number of “gotchas” and inconsistencies between email clients.  Email design is certainly not the easiest or the most logical type of work you can do…  One area where I find people commonly making mistakes is in regards to table cell padding.

Test Example: Applying padding to a single cell in a row

It is easy to get used to the idea that tables work across clients and would be a logical thing to use in our HTML emails.  The unfortunate truth is that it really is not that simple.  Cell padding works fine across most clients except in Outlook where it can produce some non-logical results.

Most email clients:

Outlook:

As you can see – Outlook (or rather the word rendering engine in outlook 2007) will take the padding from any cell in a row and apply it to all of the cells in the row.  This could result in some visual changes that you do not want.  You should try to either apply the same padding for all cells in a row OR place an inner div or table (that has padding) within the cell that you would like to have padding.

You should also watch your set width on cells when using padding on any cell in your tables row.  As always I would definitely suggest to test your templates in multiple clients before sending.  Your template can make or break your campaign.

I often encounter situations where someone is dedicating their time to server specs yet overlooking some of the most basic optimization options available.  One of these basic optimization options include looking into your MySQL configuration and actually setting it to properly use the resources available on your server.

All ActiveCampaign products utilize a MySQL database.  The database is a critical part of the application and your MySQL configuration can result in your software being lightning fast or can force limited speed upon your applications.

Types of tables

Before you start to optimize MySQL you will need to know the basics.  There are two types of tables we use for our applications.  MyISAM and InnoDB.  While the differences are important – we will focus on configuration for this article.  There are different configuration options for both types of tables.  Thus the configuration you set your MySQL to may depend on the product(s) you are using.  For example, if you are only using 1-2-All you would want to optimize MySQL for InnoDB and you do not need to use as many resources for MyISAM.

Here is a list of table types for a couple of our products:

Email Marketing – Mostly InnoDB – Some MyISAM

Survey Software -  MyISAM

Knowledge Management – Mostly MyISAM – Some InnoDB

Live Chat – Mostly InnoDB – Some MyISAM

Help Desk – Mostly MyISAM – Some InnoDB

What to edit

For the basic MySQL configuration options you will want to edit the MySQL configuration file.  This file is called my.cnf or my.ini.

On a linux box you will usually find the file at: /etc/my.cnf

On a windows box you will usually find the file in your MySQL folder and the file name will be my.ini

Specific Optimization Tips

For MyISAM tables:

bulk_insert_buffer_size=32M
join_buffer_size=4M
key_buffer_size=128M
max_allowed_packet=32M
query_cache_limit=4M
read_buffer_size=1M
read_rnd_buffer_size=2M
sort_buffer_size=8M
table_cache=128
tmp_table_size=32M

These are modest values. They can be doubled or more based on the amount of RAM on your server.

For InnoDB tables:

innodb_buffer_pool_size=1G
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit=0

The buffer size should be 25-50% of your server’s RAM, if not more. Intensive programs benefit a lot from extra RAM.

Dig deeper

The information provided here is only scratching the surface of what you can do with MySQL configuration options.  If you have a host or system administrator they should be able to assist with such configuration changes.  For additional reading you may want to view the MySQL Performance Blog

A sender’s reputation can follow not only an IP address but a brand and a sending domain.   A holistic approach is necessary when considering a sender’s reputation as no one factor alone determines what that reputation is.  Reputation can be broadly defined as the opinion of a community toward an object.  Knowing what the community looks for when determining a reputation will allow you to maximize your delivery rates.

Spamtraps

We first eluded to spamtraps when we discussed Paid Subscriber Lists. A spamtrap is an email address that appears to be valid but is in fact used by ISPs to catch spammers. You will sometimes hear these referred to as “honey pots.”  Spammers use harvesting programs which scan millions of web pages looking for email addresses.  These email addresses may come from old email addresses which are recycled by ISPs in order to catch commercial emailers that use old, rented, or paid subscriber lists.  Some sites bury email addresses in their source code so that they are picked up by harvesting programs.  The company where the email originated is then alerted to any incoming emails that go to that address at which time they contact your web host and file a spam complaint.  Spam traps are bad news.   Its been reported that your delivery rate can drop as many as 20 points drop with one spam trap hit.   Spamtraps are one of many factors that ISPs look at when calculating your sender reputation.   Not only is your delirability affected but they can result in temporary or long term blocks.

Good list maintenance is necessary for avoiding spam traps.   Here are some things you will need to avoid:

• Poor List Sources -  This includes avoiding paid subscriber lists as mentioned previously
• List Poisoning – Using confirmation Opt-In mailings will reduce the chances that you will receive invalid email addresses
• List Aging -  Because spam traps are often used by recycling old email addresses use bounce management to remove any old email addresses and also remove any inactive addresses from your list.

Sender Authentication

This is used to prevent domain forgery and spoofing and provides a framework for helping ISPs to distinguish between legitimate email senders and spammers.  ISPs Identifying and verifying a claimed domain name has been authenticated or authorized for sending from a MTA makes it possible to treat suspected forgeries with suspician,  reject known forgeries, and block email addresses from known spamming domains.

• Sender Policy Framework (SPF) – a record that allows you to determine which computers can send emails on behalf of your domain.  Adding an SPF record to your domain name’s TXT entry, while not required, can help improve email delivery rates by reducing the chance that the emails you send will be seen as spam.  It can also help prevent others from sending spam and using your domain name.  This is used by Bellsouth, AOL, Gmail, and MSN/Hotmail.
• Sender ID – is very similar to SPF record except this extends the verification process to include the purported responsible address included in the header.  Used by MSN/Hotmail
• Domain Keys – an authentication standard that is designed to verify the DNS domain of email sender and the message integrity.  All outgoing emails are digitally signed with a private encryption key to match a public key that is published in the sender’s DNS record.   Used by Gmail, Yahoo, SBCGlobal, British Telecom, Rogers Cable, Rocket Mail, etc.
• DKIM – an enhanced authentication standard that allows a person to verify that a message comes from the domain that it claims that it came from.

Getting Technical

Your system admin should be able to assist you with ensuring that the following technical configurations are in line as they can improve or harm your sender reputation.

• IP Address – because email originates from this address you need to establish a low history of spam complaints, spamtrap hits, and low bounce rates in order to have a positive reputation that will affect your long term deliverability.   If you wish to qualify for whitelists, feedback loops, and reputation services, your IP address must have low spam complaints, unsubscription management, and proper setup for the domain associated with it.
• Sending Domain or Subdomain – Domain registration and domain age are two factors for establishing a positive reputation.  Newly registered domains are regarded with suspicion as spammers often hop from domain to domain.  If a sending domain has a bad online reputation it will result in low deliverability rates.
• RFC Compliance – these are information documents used as governing standards for internet traffic.   RFC 2821: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and RFC 282: Internet Message Formatare relate to email reputation.
• Reverse DNS – used to identify the domain name associated with an IP address.  The IP address is the only data that can not be forged and not having this enabled is in violation of RFC standards and a requirement for many ISPs.  If this is not enabled or is configured improperly you must immediately contact your server admin.
• Bounce Management – An email address is considered dead and should be removed from your list if it bounces 3 consecutive times or if the time between the most recent consecutive delivery rejection is in excess of 15 days.

Where to Go From Here

The final way to improve your deliverability is to get certified or accredited by a reputable organization.   There are three different types of ways to get yourself certified!  The first gets your emails automatically whitelisted or delivered to ISPs and companies that are working with the relevent program.  Another audits your email practices so that you can display a seal of approval next to your sign up form.   Another allows you to display an icon next to your email in your inbox that indicates that your email passed a quality test.  We will focus on whitelisting programs here:

• Goodmail Systems -  ISPs supporting this program ensure delivery with a “certified” icon attached.  This accreditation is supported by Yahoo and AOL.
• Sender Score Certified – Acceptance in this program puts you on the whitelist that includes 240 email address as well as MSN/Hotmail and Roadrunner.
• Habeas – requires business processes and email practices.   Their safelist is support by many email receivers including AOL, Earthlink, Google, and MSN
• SuretyMail – While not technically a whitelist a large number of ISPs, spam filters, and mail servers take this accreditation into account when making delivery decisions.  Senders with this accreditation will see improved delivery.

If you are concerned about whether you have already been blacklisted you can go here.

While all ISPs score a sender’s reputation by giving different weight to various factors you can be assured that all major ISPs are using some type of equation to determine your reputation.   How they calculate your sender reputation score determines whether your mailing is received in the inbox, the junk mail folder, or even delivered at all.

Email Filters

Its important to familiarize yourself with the following individual filtering methods.  In the past ISPs would block emails based solely on one of these filters but as weaknesses in this approach became inherent they can no longer rely on any one method.  Each of the following filtering methods play a role in your ISPs’ delivery decision:

• Content Filtering – Uses the email subject line and the body content to come up with a spam count score.  One of the most popular spam filtering packages is SpamAssassin which is used in EmailCheck.
• List Quality Filtering – A lot of spam lists particularly paid subscriber lists contain a lot of bogus email which results in high bounce rates.   ISPs use this to detect which lists contain bounces that exceed a certain quantity and then disallow all emails from this IP address or sending domain.
• Volume Filtering – Because spammers send bulk emails without regard to accuracy or volume this checks the number of simultaneous connections that are opened (known as threads) at any one time with your ISP.  The server may then reject all messages based on the number of open connections.  1-2-All Email Marketing uses a single thread sending method.
• IP Address Filtering – When an IP address is added to this filtering list the process is known as “blacklisting.”   Once blacklisted all emails from a particular IP address are disallowed.
• Domain and URL Filtering – Checks the email domain used to send a mailing as well as any URLs included in the message.

Legal Compliance

You need to be aware of regional laws aimed at curbing spam.   In order to ensure that your mailings are permission based it is good policy to ensure that an opt-in mechanism is in place before you begin email marketing.

Can Spam Act

• ensure that all mailings contain a functional unsubscribe mechanism
• all unsubscribe requests must be honored within 10 days
• commercial mailings must include the physical location of the sender
• criminal charges for fraudulent sender or deceptive subject lines

European Union E-Privacy Directive

Canada PIPEDA

Australia Spam Act of 2003

Whitelisting and Feedback Loops

Some ISPs provide whitelisting and compaint feedback loops as methods for improving deliverability.  Those that do typically require senders to have explicit opt in permissions for subscribers.

• Whitelists -The opposite of a blacklist where the ISP receives requests from legitimate companies to be added to a list of pre-authorized e-mail addresses from which mailings can be delivered regardless of spam filters
• Feedback Loops – A reporting mechanism whereby an ISP provides the sender with data including unsubscribes and spam complaints.

Spam Complaints

Most people have seen a “Report Spam” button on their email client.   When this is clicked on a spam complaint is logged at the ISP level or it is also relayed back to the sender if they are a part of a feedback loop.  If you receive too many spam complaints then you will damage your sender reputation.   A good way to reduce your spam complaints is to ensure that all of your subscribers are opt-in.

Spam complaints do not track the reason why recipients make a spam complaint.   It is possible that even if subscribers opt-in to your list they may forget they are subscribed or no longer find your mailing relevant.  If you receive a high number of spam complaints on a list where your subscribers have opt-in to then this is usually a good indicator that your mailings are either irrelevant or sent to frequently.

Help Desk 3.0 development has begun….

We recently started work on Help Desk 3.0.  Version 3.0 will be a major update to the ActiveCampaign Help Desk Software package.

We will be incorporating hundreds of changes and additions including such things as:

• Rewriting the majority of the backend code
• Improving the speed and responsiveness of the entire application
• Leaving 99% of the source code unencoded
• CSS Based admin/public interfaces
• Escalation system
• SLA Management
• External Login Sources
• Much more….

While we have our development plans – we still want to know what you want to see in Help Desk 3.0.

Let us know what you want changed, what you wish was added, general feedback & comments, etc… Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will be taken into consideration for Help Desk 3.0.

Tell us what you want in the next version of SupportTrio!

Today we introduced our new pricing options for Hosted Live Chat. In the past our pricing has been a monthly per user cost. While this did work for many clients, we noticed that it was causing a great amount of confusion for many users as well. After analyzing the situation for quite some time we are adjusting our pricing to be plan based pricing rather than per user pricing. Here are the available plans:

• $19.95/mth (2 Operators)
• $49.95/mth (5 Operators)
• $139.95/mth (15 Operators)
• Contact us for more than 15 operators.

Current clients will not be affected by this change. We have adjusted all current clients to the 15 Operators plan or above when needed. Thus all current clients will have at the minimum, 15 operators available at the same price they were paying last month.

We hope this change will help clear some of the confusion with our old pricing options. If you have any questions or feedback please contact us.

Another year is upon us and its imperative that as an affiliate marketer we stay abreast of the most current trends in the ever changing world of affiliate marketing. A key online trend to look for would be the evolution of the world wide web from structured web pages to desktop applications such as Google Desktop. Adobe Air allows you to create software applications on your desktop without using a browser. Increasingly we are seeing less of a reliance on web browsers for accessing web content. Along the same lines content is being interspersed in multiple places whereas in the past you were restricted to trying to get users to land on a page for accessing content. You can now distribute content in the form of RSS feeds, widgets, etc. Feedburner, a news feed management provider, is getting attention. What this does is provide custom RSS Feed and management tools to bloggers, podcasters, and other web-content publishers. Affiliates looking to get ahead of the curve should focus on building up their brand.

Todays interactive web community needs more than affiliate links or ads simply stuck on a page to hold their attention. Looking for new ways to draw attention to your affiliate program is a good way of captivating your audience. You could for instance start your own blog. Also, actively research your the products you are marketing in order to come up with new ideas for drawing attention to your affiliate program. Don’t discount social networking sites either. Success may lie in embracing a community oriented approach to the web that goes beyond the one dimensional approach to affiliate marketing that has been used in the past. Just some ideas. Here’s to looking forward and embracing the future. Its a new year and its wise to embrace innovative and exciting new approaches to distributing content for your affiliate marketing program.

Click Here To Join Our Affiliate Program 

We have been working on a large structural and design change to the Email Marketing message archive page. We plan to eliminate a lot of the common annoyances with this page and introduce a number of time saving features. It has been a while since the archive page has seen any design update. We have added features throughout the years, however these new features have lost some value by being hard to find/utilize.

Below you will see how the basic structure of the page will appear. There is still work to be done (both code and design) however the end result will be an extensive update in terms of usability and general work-flow. Viewing, analyzing, and exporting any and all relevant statistics should be quick and easy.

OLD

NEW

Do you have any feedback regarding the message archive page? Features missing, email design problems, etc..? Let us know!