By Francois Lane on December 9th, 2009
Hello,
CakeMail just released version 2.2 of the CakeMail User Interface. Here are
the great new features included in this release.
Advanced Segmentation
You can now create advanced segments based on actions reported in prior
emails! Segments are no longer limited to simple field values. Now you can
segment your list based on actions - If a mailing has been opened or a link
has been clicked - Making subsequent mailings and follow-ups a lot more
effective.
.png "Advanced Segmentation")
Locked Templates
You can now lock areas within your System Templates. End-users can
only edit what they are allowed to, giving the administrator absolute
control over messaging and branding.
Social Sharing
Allow your recipients an easy way to share your mailing content with their
social networks. Now you can add social networking icons to your email
content, making it easy for recipients to share your newsletter with their
favorite social networks like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn… with a click
of a button.
New Interface Language: Finnish
The CakeMail User Interface is_ now available in Finnish_. CakeMail is now
offered in 11 easy-to-configure languages: German, Greek, Spanish, Estonian,
French, Dutch, Romanian, Russian, Thai… and English.
- The CakeMail Team
Filed under: End-User Interface, Feature Release, Languages, Modules — No Comments »
By Kevin Huxham on October 23rd, 2009
The PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) has been around for some time, but sadly Canada has never really dealt directly with the issues of Spam, phishing, spyware and malware - until now.
Several key clauses of Bill C-27: Electronic Commerce Protection Act were passed in this week’s Standing Committee Meeting which will reconvene on Monday to bash it out again. Here’s a rundown of the main requirements put forth that will affect all commercial emailers:
- Prohibits the sending of a commercial message to anyone without the recipient’s prior consent and this includes messages asking for the recipient to “opt-in”. Commercial-based messages may be sent if the sender has a prior business relationship with the recipient, but only if that period does not exceed 2 years.
- Unsubscribe requests must be processed within 10 business days, which is consistent with CAN SPAM and was met with some opposition by the Bloc but eventually passed.
- Mandatory content that includes information enabling the recipient to readily contact the sender (ie: full mailing address with postal code and phone number), also consistent with CAN SPAM.
- Penalties for violations are still yet to be ironed out but the CRTC has given power to impose a penalty of $1,000,000.00 for individuals and as high as $10,000,000.00 for any other person. It also gives the right for individuals to sue spammers.
If you would like to listen to a recording of this week’s meeting, click here.
It is difficult to say when and in what form this new piece of legislation will finally be put into law, but one can only hope it does not come out a shadow of its former self. These are important times and if you would like to join Neil Schwartzman and the other fine people at CAUCE (The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email) with me in joining your voice in support of Canada’s C-27 Anti-spam Legislation please click here to sign their petition.
Stay tuned… and bye for now,
Kevin
Filed under: Deliverability — No Comments »
By Francois Lane on August 28th, 2009
Our clients often asks us if we have people we can recommend to do API or Module work for them. If you are a freelancer or an agency with significant experience with the CakeMail Engine API or Module API and are interested in doing work for other CakeMail clients, send a note to jobs@cakemail.com with the following information:
- Company or person name
- Contact Info
- Website
- Your service offering
- Your experience with the CakeMail APIs
- The programming languages you are familiar with
By doing so, you are accepting to be cited as a reference whenever a client asks for a type of service we think you can be a good fit. We also may add you to an upcoming resource directory on our website. Finally, you are also opting-in to our Developer newsletter where you will get notified of anything API-related. All good stuff.
Filed under: Engine API, Jobs, Modules — No Comments »
By Kevin Huxham on August 27th, 2009
Today, I wanted to talk about blacklists and spam reporting services, also what you can do if you’ve been listed.
First off, a lot of people think blacklists are the bad guys, when in fact it’s the exact opposite. The feedback they provide is not only valuable to help ISPs keep spam out of your Inbox, but they can also alert you (the sender) to potential problems as well. You should think of it like your child’s report card in school, if your child fails a class wouldn’t you want to know about it so you can help them?
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Yahoo or Hotmail use these services to help determine if the email you are sending them is Spam. If they receive spam from you or too many people complain, they will send your email to ‘Junk’ or just delete it. These services let you know if anyone on your list did not remember signing up and/or they are not happy receiving your emails anymore (perhaps because they requested to be removed). All of this helps protect your delivery and allows you to judge the quality of the list so you can take action.
What Can I do?
If you have been listed, you first need to look at your mailing list (or segment) and decide whether or not it is still worth using. Strengthen your sign-up process and make sure it’s crystal clear. If you have no relationship with the people on your list, or you are using a publicly available or purchased list – it should be discarded. If the list is legitimate and made up of people who have opted in to receive your email from you directly, then perhaps it is time to reconfirm they want to stay on your list. If the list is old, or you haven’t used it in a while (+6 months), or people are no longer interested in receiving your email – the list should be “cleaned”. This is done by sending an email asking if they want to keep receiving emails from you. If they do not reply, they should be removed. You can also put a link in the email asking them to click if they want to stay on your list or better yet, visit your website to sign up again! The people who are left would remain and anyone that didn’t reply or click should be removed. Depending on how often you send emails and how big your list is, this should be done every few months.
Bye for now,
Kevin
Filed under: Best practices, Deliverability — No Comments »
By Francois Lane on August 25th, 2009
Magento is an open source e-commerce platform. It’s designed to give e-commerce firms complete control over their customers’ buying experience, managing visitors’ relationships with the store brand.
To really engage with buyers, Magento has a newsletter function that can be used to send promotions and updates. And now, keeping connected to customers is easier than ever, with the Magento Newsletter Connector Module.
Connectors are a new kind of CakeMail Module that work with third-party applications to make them work hand-in-hand with our mailing platform. To use the new connector, you simply enable it within Magento’s admin interface and tell it how to connect to your CakeMail account.
The connector was created by Ebizmarts, a development group focused on open source e-commerce technologies. Thanks to them, if you’re a Magento user, it’s easier than ever to keep in touch with your customers and buyers!
Filed under: Announcement, Connector — No Comments »
