Direct Mail 7 is our most significant update ever, and we are thrilled to share it with you starting today. You will notice right away the updated, modern user interface, but the improvements are more than just skin deep. From the depths of the database on up, we have re-engineered all aspects of Direct Mail to make it the best email marketing tool for campaigns large and small. You will find new tools for growing your list, new options for designing standout email campaigns, and enhanced campaign reports with more actionable information.
Check out our “What‘s New” page to learn about the improvements in Direct Mail 7 and upgrade today!
We recently notified our customers by email of upcoming policy changes from Google and Yahoo that may impact their email campaigns. This blog post is an adaptation of that email.
Google and Yahoo recently announced new email security requirements that go into effect next month. Because they are two of the largest mailbox providers, their new requirements affect all email service providers, including Direct Mail. Here is what is changing:
Sending campaigns from a “free” email address (like @gmail.com) is no longer allowed. Starting in February, if you send using one of these free email addresses, Direct Mail will automatically change the From Email address for you (to an email address ending in “@via.directmailapp.com”). Don’t worry, replies to your campaign will still go to your email address, and the From Name will not change, so your recipients will know it’s you.
You may wish to consider purchasing your own, branded domain name instead of continuing to use a free email address.
Sending campaigns from your own, branded email address (like @mybusiness.com) now requires that you enable email authentication. You can learn how to enable email authentication here. Starting in February, if you send without email authentication turned on, Direct Mail will automatically change the From Email address for you (to an email address ending in “@via.directmailapp.com”). Don’t worry, replies to your campaign will still go to your email address, and the From Name will not change, so your recipients will know it’s you.
If you have questions about these new requirements, would like help setting up email authentication, or would like us to do it for you, please contact our support team. We are happy to help.
Are there other requirements?
Yes. Emails to your list must include an unsubscribe link and spam complaint rates must be below a strict threshold. For users of Direct Mail, these are not new requirements, but it is a good reminder to double-check that your unsubscribe link is easy to find and that your mailing list meets our opt-in requirements. There are additional technical requirements that Direct Mail already takes care of for you.
Fall is finally here, and with the changing of the seasons comes ample email marketing opportunities. For those of us in the United States, the following holidays are right around the corner:
Halloween, October 31st
Columbus Day, Second Monday in October
Veterans Day, November 11th
Thanksgiving, Fourth Thursday in November
…not to mention religious holidays and football games (but I repeat myself). But what if your subscribers are located around the globe and not just the United States? What if they are more interested in Oktoberfest or Harvest Festival, but not so much Columbus Day or Thanksgiving? In this blog post, you’ll learn how to segment your mailing list so that your fall-themed emails are sent to the right subscribers at the right time.
Use Smart Groups to Segment Your List
For the purpose of this blog post, let’s assume that you have a fall-themed email campaign lined up that’s most appropriate for your subscribers living in the United States. Maybe it’s related to Veterans Day or another holiday that’s not celebrated in other countries. How can you send your campaign to just U.S.-based subscribers? The answer is by using Smart Groups.
Smart Groups are a feature in Direct Mail that lets you filter your subscribers based on various rules/criteria that you choose. One of the supported criteria is “Most Recent Location”. Direct Mail determines the location of your subscribers based on the IP address they use to open and read your email campaigns. Let’s create a smart group that contains subscribers based in the United States:
Open your Direct Mail Project
Choose “Addresses > New Smart Group…” from the menu bar at the top of your screen
Give your smart group a name (e.g. “USA Subscribers”)
Select the groups you want to pull from, or stick with the default setting “All Groups”
Now let’s set up the filtering rules. Change the “First Name” pop-up menu to “Most Recent Location – Country”
In the text field, enter “United States”
When you’re all done, the smart group settings should look like this:
Click “OK” and Direct Mail will create the smart group and populate it with addresses that match the rules you specified. Smart groups automatically update as you add new subscribers, or when Direct Mail detects that their location has changed. When it comes time to send your campaign, select your smart group from the list:
That’s it!
About Geographic Location Accuracy
As mentioned above, Direct Mail uses the IP address of the subscriber to determine their geographic location. For most users, the location reported is accurate down to the city level. However, some subscribers may use technologies (like VPNs, proxies, or iCloud Private Relay) that prevent Direct Mail from determining any location, or only allow for country- or region-level accuracy.
Fall Holidays Outside the U.S.
The techniques described in this blog post apply equally well when targeting countries outside the U.S., too. Here are some upcoming fall holidays to be aware of for a non-U.S.A. audience:
Canadian Thanksgiving, 2nd Monday in October
Oktoberfest, Germany, Late September to Early October
Mid-Autumn Festival, China and Taiwan, September or early October
Harvest Festival, UK
Tsukimi, Japan, September or October
Diwali, India, mid-November
Dia de los Muertos, Mexico, October 31st to November 2nd
Beaujolais Nouveau Day, France, third Thursday of November
Conclusion
The fall season is full of holidays, festivals, and other opportune times for email marketing. If your subscribers are located in diverse locations, increase the effectiveness of your campaigns by targeting the right message to the right audience. Smart Groups in Direct Mail make it easy to filter your mailing list down to subscribers located in certain countries, or matching other criteria you choose. Targeted campaigns will always yield better results than generic ones. Have questions about smart groups? Please reach out to our customer service team!
It’s that time of year again! The latest upgrade to macOS is out today: macOS 14 Sonoma. If you plan to upgrade, rest assured that Direct Mail is fully compatible. For the best experience, make sure that you are running the latest version of Direct Mail (6.1). If needed, you can upgrade by choosing “Direct Mail > Check for Software Update” from the menu bar. If you downloaded Direct Mail from the Mac App Store, you can check the “Updates” tab in the App Store app.
If you have any questions, or run into any issues, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our customer support team!
Microsoft recently released an update to Outlook for iOS that changes how some emails are rendered. Unfortunately, that change broke many of the “responsive” layouts that you are able to build with Direct Mail. If you’ve noticed that your emails are looking strange in Outlook for iOS, now you know why.
The good news is that we just released a software update to work around the Outlook issue. If you update to Direct Mail version 6.0.9, any new emails you send will look as they should.
You can update right away by opening Direct Mail and choosing “Direct Mail > Check for Software Update” from the menu bar at the top of your screen. If you downloaded Direct Mail from the Mac App Store, you can obtain the update from the App Store. Alternately, you can wait for Direct Mail to update itself, which should happen automatically the next time you launch the app.
If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, we’d love to hear from you!
