After you have completed all the pieces of a transactional message, it's time to send it (or schedule it to be sent). This article:
- reviews the steps that should have been completed up to this point,
- describes the send options for transactional messages, and
- describes the scheduling options for transactional messages.
Transactional Message checklist
This is a quick-reference checklist that you can use to ensure that everything has been done and the message is ready to be sent.
You have (or an account Admin has):
| An understanding of transactional messages | |
| Prepared the recipient data file or iMIS SQL View | |
| Created a message template | |
| Created an attachment template (optional) | |
| Created a transactional message | |
| Tested the message (preview, email deliverability, spam filter, personalizations) |
When you're sure that all of these checklist items have been completed, you're ready to send the message.
In the sections that follow:
- we'll take a high-level look at the send and schedule options, and then
- we'll move on to accessing the list of messages and sending the message.
Send vs. Schedule
Before you access the messages list to send your message, you should review your options so that you have some familiarity with the available options when you go to send.
- Send Now enables you to send your message immediately. This doesn't require any set up or configuration steps; it simply immediately sends the message.
- Schedule gives you the ability to set when your message actually gets sent. This requires several set up steps, as well as having bonus options, such as Send Time Optimization and Mailing Reuse.
NOTE: The ability to schedule a transactional message is available only for accounts that are integrated with a Legacy iMIS database (i.e., iMIS 20.2 & earlier).
Access and send transactional messages
In the Admin interface:
- Navigate to Messages > Transactional > List.
- Hover on the envelope-arrow icon for the message and then hover on Publish.
The two options, Schedule/Options and Send Now, are described in the sections below.
Send Now
Use this option to immediately send the message to the contacts who are included in the recipient data file or the iMIS SQL View that was uploaded to the message.
When you select Send Now, the Publish to Subscribers page opens.
The page indicates, in red text:
- the Target Group and
- whether the message has previously been sent.
- Click No to not send the message and to return to the Transactional Mailings List.
- Click Yes to immediately send your message; a confirmation displays.
Schedule/Options
NOTE: This option is available only for accounts that are integrated with a Legacy iMIS database (i.e., iMIS 20.2 & earlier).
Use this option to configure a variety of schedule settings to truly manage when to send the message to the contacts who are included in the recipient data file or iMIS SQL View that was uploaded to the message.
When you select Schedule/Options, the Mailing Scheduling/Publishing Options page opens.
Scheduling notes
- The scheduling defaults to Hold - Not scheduled (at the bottom of the Schedule Options section).
- If the message has a recipient data file, you'll only have the Send Once schedule option.
- If the message has an iMIS SQL View, you'll have the Send Daily or Weekly and Send Monthly options with which you can set a recurring schedule.
In the Schedule Options section, click the appropriate radio button and set the:
- send-once date and time; or
- the daily or weekly recurrence schedule (for weekly recurrence, select just one of the seven days); or
- the monthly recurrence schedule (for annual recurrence, select 12 Months).
- This recurrence schedule can be up to 24 months.
Use these settings to manage when the message gets sent to individual contacts and to which contacts:
- Send Time Optimization - Check the box to send the message when contacts historically open their messages.
- Mailing Reuse - Check the box to send the message to only those contacts who have never received this message. This prevents this message being sent to contacts who have previously received it.
- Recency and Frequency Rules - Use the dropdowns (independently or jointly) to set "number of days" (1 day, 10 days, no limit) and/or "number of emails this month" (1 email, 5 emails, no limit) thresholds to avoid inundating your contacts (i.e., too many messages too soon) with messages.
Use these settings to optionally select a group of additional contacts and/or send only the Text Version of the message:
- Additional Recipients - Click the dropdown to add one test group of contacts to be sent the message.
- Format Options - Check the box to send only the Text Version of the message.
Click Update to schedule your message to be sent as you have configured it.