Messages might fail to send for any number of reasons, such as a bridge not connecting or an issue with an integrated Target Group.
This article offers help by explaining:
- why this can happen and
- the steps you should take if it does.
Why messages fail to send
We determined that our Mailing Scheduler process was adding additional load onto the servers during high-volume periods. To resolve this, we've rewritten the Mailing Scheduler process to reduce the additional load that was causing failed message sends.
Your message-send has failed; now what?
If a message fails to send on the initial attempt:
- the message is moved from the Messages: Sent list to the Messages: In-Progress list and
- the message name is prepended with "Processing," as shown below.
IMPORTANT: While the failed message is labeled as "Processing," the system will automatically attempt to resend it twice. These two resend attempts occur 15 minutes and 30 minutes after the original send time. Do not resend a message during this time, as this may result in duplicates of the same message being sent.
If the message does not successfully send on second of the retries, the "status" in the message name automatically updates from "Processing" to "SEND FAILED" in red text, as shown:
One common reason for send failures is a timeout due to a large integration-data synchronization at send time. (The recent changes to Mailing Scheduler have reduced the timeout in order to reduce blocking issues). This causes the message to be marked as "Processing" on the In-Progress list; however, the sync continues in the background. The scheduler will retry after 15 minutes and again after 30 minutes to see if the sync has completed; if it has, it should successfully schedule the email for delivery. In addition, the "Processing" annotation will be removed.
- Higher Logic staff can manually retry failed messages after the two automated attempts.
- Prior to retrying the message, Higher Logic staff checks to make sure a copy of the failed message has not been created and resent. If this is the case, the retry of the original will be halted to avoid duplicate emails.
Troubleshooting
In some instances, the message shows in the In-Progress list as Processing/Send failed and simultaneously in the Scheduled list. If, after 30 minutes, that message is still showing as failed, check the following.
Bridge Status
- Verify that you can connect to your integration.
Sent list
- Confirm that the message is not in the Sent list after 30 minutes of original send failure.
Target Groups
Navigate to Edit message > Properties tab > Targeting.
- Are you able to get a count on all groups? (Contacts > Groups)
- Does your targeting contain deleted groups? If so, tests will not send, and messages will fail.
- Do your Compound Target Groups contain any deleted groups? If so, tests will not send, and messages will fail.
Personalization
If you're using personalization, verify that it has been entered properly and that you are sending to a group.
Delivery Method options
- Sending to a frequently used group
- Recommended: Optimized Delivery because the system sends the message over a 24-hour period based on when each contact historically opens messages.
- Sending to >50,000 contacts
- Recommended: Distributed Delivery because the system sends the message to subsets of the main group over the selected number of hours or days, rather than to the entire group simultaneously.
After checking all the above:
- Copy the original message and give it a slightly different name.
- Update the message, if necessary.
- Update Delivery Method.
- Re-send the message.
If the message fails again, submit a ticket to informzsupport@higherlogic.com. In your ticket, include:
- the name of each message you attempted to send and
- the deadline of when the message has to be sent.
A member of our team will make sure your message is sent.
Supporting material - process flowchart
The following flowchart offers a quick look at the steps you should take if you experience failed mailings.
NOTE: The steps are geared toward Informz customers who have an integration with an AMS/CRM database.