Email Broadcast sends one message to a selected group of contacts and users in SmartSimple. It is useful for large batches of recipients and works more like a broadcast than a direct reply email. Email Broadcast setup starts with enabling access for roles, followed by creating a message, adding recipients, and sending it. An image can be added to the message, and email metrics are available for review after the message is sent. For field definitions, list view columns, email metrics, and template variables, see Email Broadcast Fields and Variables Reference.
Who: Global administrators and roles permissioned as email broadcast managers
When to Use Email Broadcast
Use email broadcast to:
- Send newsletters and updates to customers, internal staff, and external applicants.
- Share invitations to events.
- Send links to surveys or contests to customers.
Enable Email Broadcast - Menu Access
Menu access determines which roles see Email Broadcast in the Menu icon. It is one of two access settings in Global Settings. To enable Email Broadcast to appear in the Menu icon:
- Click the System Administration gear in the upper navigation bar, select Global Settings from the drop-down menu, and then click the Security tab.
- Locate the Business Security section and click System Feature Permissions.
- Click the Menu tab, locate the Email Broadcast - Menu Access field and select the applicable roles.
Enable Email Broadcast Manager Roles
Email broadcast manager roles are set separately from menu access. It is recommended to permission the email broadcast manager ability carefully to prevent misuse of the feature, such as sending unwanted messages to clients and customers.
To enable email broadcast manager roles:
- Click the System Administration gear in the upper navigation bar, select Global Settings from the drop-down menu, and then click the Communications tab.
- Locate the General Settings section and click Email Options and Security.
- Locate the Email Broadcast Manager Roles field, select the applicable roles from the drop-down menu, and then click Save.
Access and Create an Email Broadcast Message
An email broadcast message is formatted in plain text or HTML and can contain trackable links and template variables that autopopulate contact, lead, sender, or workflow information. HTML messages support extensive formatting, but each recipient needs an email client that can process HTML.
To create an email broadcast message in SmartSimple:
- Click the Menu icon in the upper navigation bar and select Email Broadcast from the Communication drop-down menu.
- Click the New Message [+] button.
- To edit an existing message, click the edit [pencil] icon next to the applicable message.
- Add the applicable information, and then click Save. See the Email Broadcast Message Fields section of Email Broadcast Fields and Variables Reference for field definitions.
Add Recipients to an Email Broadcast Message
The recipient list contains the contacts and users selected to receive an email broadcast message. Recipients are added to a saved message. Add recipients, exclude roles so that people with those roles do not receive the message, or remove recipients from the list.
Add Recipients
To add recipients to an email broadcast message:
- Navigate to the email broadcast message. See the Access and Create an Email Broadcast Message section.
- Click Recipient List in the left navigation.
- Click the Add Recipients [+] button in the Action Bar.
- Check the box next to the applicable users.
- Click the search bar to search for specific users.
- Click the filters to the right of the search bar to refine results.
- Click the New User [+] button to create and add a new user.
- Click OK to add the selected users.
- Click Clear to unselect the users.
Exclude Roles
Excluding roles keeps people with those roles from receiving the message, which is useful for email unsubscribe roles. To exclude roles from an email broadcast message:
- Navigate to the email broadcast message. See the Access and Create an Email Broadcast Message section.
- Click Recipient List in the left navigation.
- Click the Exclude Roles button in the Action Bar.
- Click the User Roles to Exclude field, select the applicable roles from the drop-down menu, and then click Save.
A pop-up will appear at the top of the page with the excluded roles. To include roles again, click the Exclude Roles button. and then click the X next to the role you want to re-include.
Remove Recipients
To remove recipients from an email broadcast message:
- Navigate to the email broadcast message. See the Access and Create an Email Broadcast Message section.
- Click Recipient List in the left navigation.
- Check the box next to the users you want to remove.
- Click the Delete [trash] icon in the Action Bar.
Send an Email Broadcast Message
The Send Broadcast icon sends a saved message to all recipients. The icon is available on the message, including the Main, Recipient List, and Email Metrics pages, and in the Email Broadcast list view, where it can also send many messages at once.
To send an email broadcast message:
- Navigate to the email broadcast message. See the Access and Create an Email Broadcast Message section.
- Click the Send Broadcast icon in the upper Action Bar.
- From the list view page, click the Send Broadcast icon next to multiple messages to send many broadcasts at once. See the Email Broadcast List View Columns and Icons section of Email Broadcast Fields and Variables Reference for more information.
- Click Yes to confirm the email broadcast.
- A confirmation message pop-up will appear once the message sends successfully.
Click the Send Broadcast icon to re-send an email broadcast message anytime.
View Email Metrics
Email Metrics displays Statistics and Click Performance for each email broadcast message. When the Unsubscribe Link toggle is off, a tracking link is embedded in the message, which allows review of each reader’s name and the date and time the email was opened.
To view Email Metrics for an email broadcast message:
- Navigate to the email broadcast message. See the Access and Create an Email Broadcast Message section.
- Click Email Metrics in the left navigation. See the Email Metrics section of Email Broadcast Fields and Variables Reference for more information.
Add an Image to an Email Broadcast Message
Images are added to an email broadcast message from an Internet-enabled SmartFolder. Files stored in a SmartFolder can also be attached to a message. To add an image to an email broadcast message, upload the image to an Internet-enabled SmartFolder and attach the image to the message:
- Create an Internet-enabled SmartFolder. See the Create a SmartFolder section in Set Up and Manage SmartFolders for more information.
- Upload the image into the applicable SmartFolder. See the Upload Files to a Folder section in Set Up and Manage SmartFolders for more information.
- Navigate to the email broadcast message. See the Access and Create an Email Broadcast Message section.
- Locate the Attachment field and click the Lookup [binoculars] icon.
- Click the applicable SmartFolder, and then click the image you want to add.
- Click Save, and then click Preview to see the email broadcast message.