Difference between revisions of "Email Marketing"
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They are related in that all major email service providers (GMail, HotMail, Yahoo!, Comcast, Verizon, etc) scan email '''content''' on the receiving side with some heuristics to determine a 'spam' score in addition to other more 'technical' measures. | They are related in that all major email service providers (GMail, HotMail, Yahoo!, Comcast, Verizon, etc) scan email '''content''' on the receiving side with some heuristics to determine a 'spam' score in addition to other more 'technical' measures. | ||
| − | + | == Audience == | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | ==Audience== | ||
http://emailclientmarketshare.com/ shows that GMail, which only accounted for 4% of market share in early 2013, accounts for 15% at the end of 2015. Know your market. Know the current devices and technologies in use to read email. | http://emailclientmarketshare.com/ shows that GMail, which only accounted for 4% of market share in early 2013, accounts for 15% at the end of 2015. Know your market. Know the current devices and technologies in use to read email. | ||
| − | ==Content and Tools== | + | == Content and Tools == |
You want to do an email campaign. You need to know what works and what doesn't in email these days. Email is not the web. It's worse. | You want to do an email campaign. You need to know what works and what doesn't in email these days. Email is not the web. It's worse. | ||
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But even with these great tools, you still need help. | But even with these great tools, you still need help. | ||
| − | #The email standards project http://www.email-[http://dev.email-standards.org/clients/ clients]" page that shows which email clients actually fare well in an ACID test, and those that don't (looking at you Gmail and Hotmail) | + | # The email standards project http://www.email-[http://dev.email-standards.org/clients/ clients]" page that shows which email clients actually fare well in an ACID test, and those that don't (looking at you Gmail and Hotmail) |
| − | #Campaign Monitor offers a number of [https://www.campaignmonitor.com/guides/ guides], including [https://www.campaignmonitor.com/css/ a complete breakdown of the CSS support for every popular mobile, web and desktop email client on the planet]. They also offer hundreds of free to use templates and design examples. | + | # Campaign Monitor offers a number of [https://www.campaignmonitor.com/guides/ guides], including [https://www.campaignmonitor.com/css/ a complete breakdown of the CSS support for every popular mobile, web and desktop email client on the planet]. They also offer hundreds of free to use templates and design examples. |
| − | #Premailer (http://premailer.dialect.ca/) is a cool service that will allow you to test your email content before you send it. It will convert CSS styles to inline style attribues. It gives you HTML and CSS warnings (including those from the Email Standards project). It will also generate the text-only version for you. Premailer is written in Ruby, with a lot of help from Nokogiri, Hpricot and the Sinatra framework (goodbye eruby). The [https://github.com/premailer/premailer source is available] on GitHub. As of 2014, there was discussion of making a 2.0 version, but it's 2015 now and there isn't a separate branch, so maybe the "new version" is just being incrementally built into the current. | + | # Premailer (http://premailer.dialect.ca/) is a cool service that will allow you to test your email content before you send it. It will convert CSS styles to inline style attribues. It gives you HTML and CSS warnings (including those from the Email Standards project). It will also generate the text-only version for you. Premailer is written in Ruby, with a lot of help from Nokogiri, Hpricot and the Sinatra framework (goodbye eruby). The [https://github.com/premailer/premailer source is available] on GitHub. As of 2014, there was discussion of making a 2.0 version, but it's 2015 now and there isn't a separate branch, so maybe the "new version" is just being incrementally built into the current. |
| − | #Putsmail (https://putsmail.com/) is another free option to test your email messages. It's owned by 'Litmus' (litmus.com) which is a paid service if you need more. And emailonacid.com is another paid service. | + | # Putsmail (https://putsmail.com/) is another free option to test your email messages. It's owned by 'Litmus' (litmus.com) which is a paid service if you need more. And emailonacid.com is another paid service. |
| − | ==Technical== | + | == Technical == |
This Rackspace article covers the 3 types of DNS records you need to know about for Email delivery: http://www.rackaid.com/blog/email-dns-records/ | This Rackspace article covers the 3 types of DNS records you need to know about for Email delivery: http://www.rackaid.com/blog/email-dns-records/ | ||
Aside from domain SPF records, one option you have for sending is '''SMTP relaying''' your mail off to your service provider such as Google Apps. See | Aside from domain SPF records, one option you have for sending is '''SMTP relaying''' your mail off to your service provider such as Google Apps. See | ||
| − | + | * [https://support.google.com/a/answer/2685650 Mail routing and delivery: Guidelines and best practices] | |
| − | *[https://support.google.com/a/answer/2685650 Mail routing and delivery: Guidelines and best practices] | + | * [https://support.google.com/a/answer/176600 Google Apps SMTP settings to send mail from a printer, scanner, or app] |
| − | *[https://support.google.com/a/answer/176600 Google Apps SMTP settings to send mail from a printer, scanner, or app] | + | * [https://support.google.com/a/answer/2956491 SMTP relay service setting] |
| − | *[https://support.google.com/a/answer/2956491 SMTP relay service setting] | ||
| − | |||
for how to configure your Google Apps domain for '''SMTP relaying'''. Note too that you should set the 'Comprehensive mail storage setting' <ref>https://support.google.com/a/answer/3547347</ref> when using systems (like issue trackers) that deliver mail on behalf of users, via the SMTP relay and you wish copies of those messages to be stored in GMail. | for how to configure your Google Apps domain for '''SMTP relaying'''. Note too that you should set the 'Comprehensive mail storage setting' <ref>https://support.google.com/a/answer/3547347</ref> when using systems (like issue trackers) that deliver mail on behalf of users, via the SMTP relay and you wish copies of those messages to be stored in GMail. | ||
If you are going to send larger volumes of email that surpass the limits of your Google Apps account, you will want to use the services of SendGrid, Dyn, MailChimp (Mandrill<ref>They [http://thenextweb.com/dd/2016/02/25/in-hostile-move-mandrill-gives-all-developers-60-days-to-switch-to-paid-mailchimp-service/ cut off their free developer accounts] giving users 60 days to test and implement a new solution or pay for a MailChimp account</ref>) etc. SendGrid actually has a free service tier for < 17,000 messages per month. These services can not only handle the deliverability aspect, but also handle bounces on transactional email messages too. | If you are going to send larger volumes of email that surpass the limits of your Google Apps account, you will want to use the services of SendGrid, Dyn, MailChimp (Mandrill<ref>They [http://thenextweb.com/dd/2016/02/25/in-hostile-move-mandrill-gives-all-developers-60-days-to-switch-to-paid-mailchimp-service/ cut off their free developer accounts] giving users 60 days to test and implement a new solution or pay for a MailChimp account</ref>) etc. SendGrid actually has a free service tier for < 17,000 messages per month. These services can not only handle the deliverability aspect, but also handle bounces on transactional email messages too. | ||
| − | ===Postmaster=== | + | === Postmaster === |
Comcast and others have their 'Postmaster' websites with tools and info for help | Comcast and others have their 'Postmaster' websites with tools and info for help | ||
| − | + | # http://postmaster.comcast.net/index.html '''Comcast''' | |
| − | #http://postmaster.comcast.net/index.html '''Comcast''' | + | # https://postmaster.aol.com/ '''AOL''' |
| − | #https://postmaster.aol.com/ '''AOL''' | + | # https://mail.live.com/mail/services.aspx '''Microsoft / Outlook.com''' |
| − | #https://mail.live.com/mail/services.aspx '''Microsoft / Outlook.com''' | ||
Unfortunately, your hosting provider may be crippling your email service without even advertising the fact. https://warrenguy.me/blog/ipv6-digital-ocean-crippled | Unfortunately, your hosting provider may be crippling your email service without even advertising the fact. https://warrenguy.me/blog/ipv6-digital-ocean-crippled | ||
| − | ==Email Handling within specific Apps== | + | == Email Handling within specific Apps == |
Many apps not only rely on email, but the built-in mail system is often insufficient for real-world needs. So, you must look to extensions, plugins, or otherwise configure the system to talk to an actual SMTP server. | Many apps not only rely on email, but the built-in mail system is often insufficient for real-world needs. So, you must look to extensions, plugins, or otherwise configure the system to talk to an actual SMTP server. | ||
| − | ===MediaWiki=== | + | === MediaWiki === |
| − | Usually, people install MediaWiki in internal environments where | + | Usually, people install MediaWiki in internal environments where 'mail()' might actually work. But if you've got something public facing, your going to need something beefier. Looking at the [[mw:Manual:Configuration_settings#Email_settings]], you might think you can use [[mw:Manual:$wgSMTP]], however you first need to install PEAR Mail for that (unless you run bleeding edge 1.27 which nobody does yet), and there are a ton of problems with that <ref>listed at [[mw:Extension:SwiftMailer]]</ref>, so use one of the [[mw:Category:AlternateUserMailer_extensions providers where there is an extension]] like |
| − | + | # [[mw:Extension:SwiftMailer]] | |
| − | #[[mw:Extension:SwiftMailer]] | + | # [[mw:Extension:Mailgun]] |
| − | #[[mw:Extension:Mailgun]] | + | # (there is no integration for [https://sendgrid.com/docs/Integrate/Open_Source_Apps/index.html SendGrid] but they might sponsor me to write it {{@todo}} Write an extension for MediaWiki that is based on the [[mw:Extension:SwiftMailer|SwiftMailer extension]] and publish to [[mw:Extension:SendGrid]]) |
| − | # | ||
The actual implementation is a [https://git.wikimedia.org/blob/mediawiki%2Fextensions%2FMailgun/master/MailgunHooks.php straightforward hook implementation] | The actual implementation is a [https://git.wikimedia.org/blob/mediawiki%2Fextensions%2FMailgun/master/MailgunHooks.php straightforward hook implementation] | ||
| − | ===CiviCRM=== | + | === CiviCRM === |
The documentation for CiviCRM has a fairly comprehensive guide to setting up your email. http://book.civicrm.org/user/current/advanced-configuration/email-system-configuration/, but it can be daunting and complicated even for someone experienced with mail delivery (e.g. [https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC42/CiviMail+Installation#CiviMailInstallation-SettingUptheReturnChannel Setting up the Return Channel] depends on your choice of provider, and will degrade your spam reputation if not done properly). | The documentation for CiviCRM has a fairly comprehensive guide to setting up your email. http://book.civicrm.org/user/current/advanced-configuration/email-system-configuration/, but it can be daunting and complicated even for someone experienced with mail delivery (e.g. [https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC42/CiviMail+Installation#CiviMailInstallation-SettingUptheReturnChannel Setting up the Return Channel] depends on your choice of provider, and will degrade your spam reputation if not done properly). | ||
[http://www.civismtp.com/drupal/ CiviSMTP] is a provider that caters exclusively to CiviCRM so it's a good choice for Civi installations. Other service providers are listed and compared [https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/Mailing+providers here] | [http://www.civismtp.com/drupal/ CiviSMTP] is a provider that caters exclusively to CiviCRM so it's a good choice for Civi installations. Other service providers are listed and compared [https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/Mailing+providers here] | ||
| − | ===Drupal=== | + | === Drupal === |
Has integrations for | Has integrations for | ||
| + | # [https://www.drupal.org/project/mailjet mailjet] maintained by Commerce Guys, experts in Drupal and leaders in Drupal Commerce | ||
| − | + | == Email Services == | |
| + | Many organizations turn to service providers like MailChimp for online email marketing. However MailChimp just took away free developer accounts. If you're going to have to pay, then you should probably consider multiple vendors to find the one that fits the bill. | ||
| − | + | # [https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/php/mail/ Google App Engine] | |
| − | + | # Mailgun has a [https://www.mailgun.com/managed Managed] service for higher end needs. [https://documentation.mailgun.com/quickstart-sending.html#send-via-smtp MailGun] | |
| − | + | # [https://www.mailjet.com/integrations MailJet has lots of integrations] | |
| − | #[https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/php/mail/ Google App Engine] | + | # Elastic Email has good walkthrough of [https://elasticemail.com/support/account-setup/your-domain setting up SPF and DKIM] |
| − | #Mailgun has a [https://www.mailgun.com/managed Managed] service for higher end needs. [https://documentation.mailgun.com/quickstart-sending.html#send-via-smtp MailGun] | ||
| − | #[https://www.mailjet.com/integrations MailJet has lots of integrations | ||
| − | |||
| − | #Elastic Email has good walkthrough of [https://elasticemail.com/support/account-setup/your-domain setting up SPF and DKIM] | ||
Be sure to check their network status pages to get an idea of how well they are serving their customers. | Be sure to check their network status pages to get an idea of how well they are serving their customers. | ||
| − | + | # http://status.mandrillapp.com/ | |
| − | #http://status.mandrillapp.com/ | + | # http://status.sendgrid.com/history |
| − | #http://status.sendgrid.com/history | ||
[[Category:Email]] | [[Category:Email]] | ||
[[Category:Marketing]] | [[Category:Marketing]] | ||
[[Category:Standards]] | [[Category:Standards]] | ||
| − | |||
Revision as of 13:22, 4 March 2016
- ↑ https://support.google.com/a/answer/3547347
- ↑ They cut off their free developer accounts giving users 60 days to test and implement a new solution or pay for a MailChimp account
- ↑ listed at mw:Extension:SwiftMailer
