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Automatic date-based mailings - an example

The OpenEMM provides you with the automatic date-based mailing function as a way of sending out e-mails to coincide with special occasions. You define the rules (dates) and the OpenEMM sends the mailings on the basis of these rules. By way of example, you can send mailings congratulating customers on their birthday, or even mailings to remind customers of special dates. The OpenEMM checks every day at the chosen delivery time whether the rules fit a recipient; if they do, it sends out the corresponding e-mail.

A date-based mailing is defined in three steps:

Extend your database so as to be able to store data meant to trigger a mailing. If you want to send out a mailing on the occasion of a customer’s birthday, you need to be able to store that date in a database field.
Define a target group setting the required rules. In words, this could be current date equals birthday, for instance.
Create a new date-based mailing triggered by the above-mentioned target group.

The following example explains how to create a date-based mailing which automatically sends out birthday greetings when triggered.

1.You need, of course, a field storing recipients’ birthdays in user profiles. Create a new Date field in the user profile (see chapter "Managing profile fields"). Now either enter birthdays by hand (which is tedious and time-consuming) or import existing data using a CSV file (see chapter "Import function for recipient data"). In the course of our example, we will assume that the user profile comprises a BIRTHDAY field containing the required date.
2.Now you will define a target group containing all recipients whose birthday is on the current date. In the navigation bar, select Target groups, then New target group. Enter a meaningful Name in the corresponding field, for instance Rule: Birthday greeting. The name makes it clear that the target group will be used for a date-based mailing. Do not forget a unique description for your target group.
Fig. 3.47: You start by creating a target group with rules describing who should receive an email.

Fig. 3.47: You start by creating a target group with rules describing who should receive an email.

3.In the second drop-down list, select the BIRTHDAY field. The relational operator is the (default) equals sign. Enter sysdate into the reference value box. This is an internal variable by which the OpenEMM defines the current date. The variable sysdate can also be used for calculation purposes. sysdate-14 gives the date 14 days ago. Through creation_date = sysdate-14, for example, new recipients can be written to two weeks after registration. Further information on target groups is contained in chapter "Target groups - Dynamic filters". Now click on the Add button.
4.The OpenEMM will now display the New search rule under Target group definition. In the right-hand drop-down list, select MMDD as the date format. This makes sure only the month and day are checked. After all, you want to send birthday greetings to subscribers of any age.
5.Once you have finished entering the rules, click on the Save button.
6.Once you have finished creating the target group, click on the Mailings button in the navigation bar, then in the New mailing sub-menu. All functions available for normal mailings (see chapter "Mailings - Sending out newsletter") are at your disposal. The name should start with the word Date: so you can immediately see in your overview that this is a date-based mailing. For the same reason, it makes sense to select exactly the same name as for your target group.
Fig. 3.48: Specify Date-based mailing as the Mailing type

Fig. 3.48: Specify Date-based mailing as the Mailing type

7.There is only one difference, and that concerns the Mailing type drop-down list. Select the Date-based mailing setting. Now select the previously defined target group in the Target group drop-down list. In our example this is Rule: Birthday greeting. Now click on the Save button.
8.To activate the date-based mailing, click on the Send mailing tab. Click on the Activate next to Activate mailing to send the date-based mailing to the OpenEMM. From now on, the system will check the rules every day and send out an e-mail to all recipients of that particular target group. In our example, this will be a mailing with birthday greetings.
9.It is possible to select any time for sending out a date-based mailing by specifying the exact hour and minute of the day for sending the mailing. The date for sending out the mailing will be generated automatically as soon as the conditions set in the rule are fulfilled.

Please note: When clicking on a mailing which has already been activated to see its details, you will notice that certain data may no longer be changed. They are the drop-down lists Mailing list, Target group and Mailing type. These disabled elements are greyed out by OpenEMM. A date-based mailing must be de-activated first before you can make any further changes. Open the Send mailing tab and click on the Deactivate mailing link. You may now make any changes you want. Don’t forget to activate the mailing again once you have finished. This is done in the Send mailing tab.