If you’ve integrated the CakeMail API with your application, or are using the CakeMail API to add subscribers to your contact list, you can now sync a list on your server with real-time data.
Access data from CakeMail through the Webhooks in two easy steps:
The script can be in any language. CakeMail will post a JSON to this script whenever there is an action to your CakeMail list such as a subscription, an unsubscribe request, a spam complaint, an update to the user record, etc.
Here is the format of the posted JSON:
message => array(action, list_id, client_id, record => array(record_id, email, [fields]))
List.Setinfo with the parameter ‘webhook’ => ‘[URL to your script]‘.
And you’re done! Now your list will be dynamically updated every time something changes. To learn more about this kind of functionality, or about integrating the CakeMail API with your own application, visit the CakeMail Developer Community.
If you are managing a list of prospects and clients for your business, chances are, you’re relying on some sort of CRM system to keep it all straight. And it may be even more likely that you’re using Salesforce to do so. As one of the leading CRM solutions for companies all over the world, Salesforce allows you to manage your customer base “in the cloud”, keeping track of customers (and all of your interactions with them) for big name brands like Motorola, Starbucks, and The Wall Street Journal, to name a few.
One of our most-requested features is the ability to import your Salesforce.com contacts directly into CakeMail, so part of those interactions you’re having with your customers can include well-designed and easy-to-execute campaigns and mailings that you create, on our platform. And today is the day that we make that request a reality!
Now you can easily import your Salesforce.com contacts directly into CakeMail, managing emails and tracking results like opens, click rates and conversions. To set up this new add-on, your account admin will need to activate it and you will need to have your Salesforce.com credentials and Salesforce Token ready to enter when prompted. To import your contacts, select the “Salesforce” button displayed as part of the Import/Upload a List page when you are creating or modifying a new contact list.
It’s important to note that in order for this to work, you must be an Enterprise level or higher Salesforce.com customer. Pro accounts do not have this kind of functionality enabled.
We’ve just released a new add-on module that integrates with Google Docs – letting you import list data directly into CakeMail from your Google Docs spreadsheets. If you’re already using Google Docs to store data in spreadsheets, or capturing data through their easy forms capability, you can skip creating .csv files of contact lists and just import them directly to CakeMail online.
This new feature is available to all CakeMail users and just needs to be activated by your account admin before it’s available as a contact list import option. When you’re creating a new list or adding to an existing one, simply click the Google Docs button displayed as part of the Import/Upload A List page. Grant permission for CakeMail and your Google Docs account to connect and you’re ready to go. As an added bonus, you can also opt to send an automatic (and customizable) “Welcome” email to your newly-imported list.
Many of our customers are already using the Litmus Add-On that’s available in CakeMail – giving them an easy way to test their email campaigns across different tools like Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, Mail.app and many, many more – and we’re excited to share the news that Litmus expanded their testing platform this week to include the ability to test campaigns for mobile devices!
This new functionality from Litmus includes support for four devices – iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices – with even more devices set to be added in future updates.
As the Litmus team mentions in their post on the Litmus blog:
You’re able to scroll down your email, exactly as you would on the device if it was in your hands. This is incredibly important—the experience of reading on a mobile device is of course significantly different from a desktop computer screen. By offering these scrolling views we’re able to give you the most accurate experience—the exact same experience your recipients will have when they receive your email.
Take a look at the sample test they’ve posted using their own newsletter to get a sense of the new functionality. Now you’ll be able to see how your mobile users will actually see your email in their mobile inbox without having to test it manually with your collection of smartphones (or not testing it at all!).
If you already have the Litmus add-on activated for your account, this new testing functionality is available as of today – the mobile results will be automatically included when you run a Litmus test.
If you haven’t yet started using Litmus to test your emails before sending, now is the time (and really, what have you been waiting for?)! Just have your account administrator or reseller activate the Litmus Add-On for your account and you’ll be able to use it as part of the testing process for existing or new mailings that haven’t yet been sent. You should know that there is an additional fee for using the Litmus Add-On (most other Add-Ons are free), but it’s well worth it!
We know that not everyone keeps their contacts neatly organized in a spreadsheet – but importing contacts to a CakeMail contact list should be easy no matter how you keep track of them. With new support for importing Yahoo! Contacts, all of your contacts can be imported in a snap.
To use the Yahoo! Contacts add-on, your account administrator just needs to enable the Yahoo! Contacts add-on for your account with a few technical details – including your API (Consumer) Key, API (Consumer) Secret, and a URL for a redirection file (where applicable). Once that’s done, you’ll see Yahoo! Contacts as an import option when you create a new contact list or add members to an existing list. Click on the Yahoo! Contacts logo and you’ll be able to import your contacts into one easy-to-manage mailing list.
It goes without saying that the contacts you’re importing should have (or will need to) give you permission to email them this way and should be expecting your emails. Email marketing best practices include always making sure that your contacts, even if they are colleagues or have a prior business relationship with you, have always opted-in to any of your mailing lists. If you haven’t obtained their ok yet, you can set this new contact list up as a double opt-in list. When you import your Yahoo! Contacts, this means that they will automatically be notified (with an email you can customize) and have the chance to say “Yes – include me!”
