Overview
Need to send a one-off email to a segment of your contact list? That’s what broadcasts are for!
To get started with broadcasts all you need is…
- Some subscribers
- An SMTP service
- And an email to send!
Scheduling a Broadcast
Before scheduling a broadcast you need to create an email template to use in the broadcast.
Once you’ve created an email template you can start the broadcast scheduling process from several places.
- From within the email template editor itself. Click the [⁝] next to the publish button.
- From the Admin Bar widget.
- From the Broadcasts page and click schedule Broadcast
- From the contacts page and using the More Actions dropdown above the contacts table.
In each case the same broadcast wizard will appear. Follow the prompts to schedule your broadcast.
Batching
You can choose to spread out the delivery of emails over a period of time by enabling batch sending. Specify the number of emails to send at once, and the interval of when to send them.
Batch sending is useful if you want to limit the amount of traffic being sent to your site at once.
Dynamic vs. Static Segments
When selecting the segment of contacts that will receive the broadcast you will be able to select either a static/fixed segment or a dynamic segment.
Static/Fixed means that contacts in the chosen segment at the time of scheduling will receive the email. If I’m scheduling a broadcast a week into the future to a segment of contacts that have the customer tag, the email will send to all the contacts that had the customer tag when I scheduled the broadcast, regardless of whether they have the customer tag when the email is actually being sent.
Dynamic means contacts in the segment at the time of sending will receive the email. If I schedule a broadcast a week into the future for contacts with the customer tag, only contacts that have the customer tag when the broadcast is being sent, will receive the email.
Static broadcasts send quicker than dynamic broadcasts because dynamic broadcasts have to do their scheduling and sending at the same time, while static broadcasts do scheduling before hand.
Reporting
To view the results of a broadcast go to the Groundhogg » Broadcasts » Sent to see the list of previously sent broadcasts. From here you will be able to see sent, opens, and clicks.
To see additional information, such as which links were clicked, bounces, and other metrics, hover over a broadcast in the table and click the Report link to be brought to the full broadcast report.
The full broadcast report (Groundhogg » Reporting » Broadcasts) may not match the table stats (Groundhogg » Broadcasts » Sent) all the time as the table stats are cached for performance, while the full report is not.
You can see how sent broadcasts compare to each other by looking at the interactive broadcast report in Groundhogg » Reporting » Broadcasts.
Tracking Bounces
Bounces will only be tracked if using an official SMTP integration! If you’re using a third-party SMTP plugin, or your host’s default email service, bounce tracking will not work.
FAQs / Troubleshooting
Q: Why is my broadcast is sending slowly?
A: Your cron jobs may not be configured correctly, double-check that they are firing off every minute. If they are, consider using an official SMTP integration that allows for super-fast email sending.
Q: Can I make changes to an email template that I’ve already scheduled?
A: Yes, you can make changes to the template right up until the moment it’s sent to a recipient.
Q: Why is my open/click-through rate is worse after switching to Groundhogg?
A: SaaS CRMs are notorious for inflating open rates and click through rates. Groundhogg tells you the truth, and the reality is likely that your emails were not performing as well as you thought. There are many factors that impact opens and clicks in additional to the raw “deliverability” of any given service. Ultimately the answer too poor email performance is to send better email.
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