iContact FAQs

Contacts can be ignored during an upload for two reasons.

If an email address in your file is already associated with the list you're uploading to, it will be ignored as it is considered a duplicate. Contacts can be added to multiple lists within an account, but may only appear once per list.

Contacts will also be ignored if their email address is invalid. For the purposes of uploading a file to iContact, invalid email addresses are any address without an@ ora period.

If errors are found in your file, you can choose to review them before the upload completes, or automatically ignore them and proceed with the upload.

To review errors, use the toggle located at the bottom of the Review & Confirm page that will be presented during the upload process. Setting the toggle to "Yes, allow me to review any errors before completing the upload" will allow you to review errors prior to completing the upload.

If errors are found, you will be given the option to review them. The Review Errors page will show you the invalid email addresses and the line in your file where they can be found. You then have the option of ignoring the errors and completing the upload, or canceling the upload and correcting the errors.

The Button Block is a type of Content block that allows you to add a call to action button to your message.

After adding the Button block, you'll need to set the button text, and add a hyperlink.

To change the button text:

Click the Button block to select it.

In the Button Text field, enter the new text for the button.

The changes will display immediately in your message.

To add a hyperlink to the button:

Click the Button block to select it.

Click the Add Link button.

Use the Link Type drop down to select the type of link you wish to add. The options include:

URL - This link type allows you to hyperlink to a web address, or URL.

Email Address - This link type allows you to create a Mail To link, which will send an email to the specified email address.

Phone Number - This link type allows you to add a phone number, which will be converted to a live link when viewed by the contact.

Merge Field - This link type allows you to insert a Manage Your Subscription or Web Version URL to your message.

Link a PDF or Image - This link type allows you to link to a PDF or image file, so your contact can click and download the file.

Enter the URL in the provided field.

Click the Save button.

There are several additional properties that can be adjusted, including:

Button Styles

Button Color - This property allows you to change the color of the button, using a color picker.

Button Text - This property allows you to set the font style and text color.

Button Size - This property allows you to change the size of the button. There are three options - small, medium, and large.

Button Corner Rounding - This property allows you to change how rounded the corners of the button are, using a slider.

Border Style - This option allows you to add a customizable border around just the image.

Button Alignment - This property allows you to change the alignment of the button. The options are right, center, and left.

Default Size - This property allows you to set the width of the button. By default, the property is enabled. Click the toggle to change the width using a slider.

Spacing

Padding - This option allows you to add padding to each side of the text.

Convert to HTML

This option allows you to convert the block to HTML code. You can then manually edit the code as you wish. Please note - Converting a content block to HTML cannot be undone.

Your bundled iContact account has a built-in Split Test feature (also known as an A/B Test), but iContact Split Testing is not integrated with Salesforce. You may run Split Tests from iContact, but you will not be able to see the results of your tests or any statistics associated with those tests in Salesforce.

For more information about iContact Split Testing, please read our Split Test tutorials on the iContact Help pages.

A single contact may have multiple opens for a single email because:

The contact may have opened the email multiple times.

The contact's email client may reload the tracking image multiple times.

The contact's email server or anti-virus program may have "pre-loaded" the images to check for malignant code.

The contact may have forwarded the email. If the recipient of the forward opens the email, it will appear as an open by the contact.

To track a message:

Click the Email link on the right hand side of the screen.

Click the Sent link at the very top of the screen.

Click on the message name or hover over the message section, and click the View report link.

On the Tracking page of a message, there are multiple tracking statistics:

Opened - The Opened category represents contacts that have opened the message, and displayed the images. There are two numbers for the Opened category. The first number shows how many contacts opened a message, and the second number shows how many times the message was opened. Often the number of opens will exceed the number of contacts that opened a message, as a contact may have opened the message multiple times.

Bounced - The Bounced category represents contacts that had the message bounce instead of being delivered to their inbox. There are many different reasons why a message would bounce, such as the inbox was full or the email address is not correct.

No Info - The No Info category represents the number of contacts who neither registered a bounce nor an open. Please note - No Info does not mean "did not read", it simply means the message was delivered (did not bounce) but did not register an open. Some contacts might have opened your email, however they will appear as No Info instead of Opened if they have images disabled in their email client or have not clicked a link in the HTML version of the email.

Clicked - The Clicked category represents the number of clicks on hyperlinks in the message. There are two numbers for the Clicked category. The first number shows how many contacts clicked on a link, and the second number shows how many times the links were clicked. Please note - If a message doesn't contain hyperlinks, there will be no data for this category.

Unsubscribed - The Unsubscribed category represents the number of contacts who removed themselves from your list using the subscription management link in the footer of the message. Once a contact is unsubscribed from a list, you cannot re-subscribe them to that list. However, if the contact wants to re-subscribe themselves to the list, they can do so from the Manage your Subscriptions and Profile page.

Complained - The Complained category represents the number of contacts that marked the message as spam. These contacts are automatically removed from the account, and cannot be added back.

The Device Usage section shows the percentage of each device type that was used by recipients to open a message. There are three types of devices that we track at this time: smartphones, tablets, and computers.

The Social Engagement section shows the various tracking statistics if the message was sent to a social media site.

The Lists and Segments section displays which lists and segments the message was sent to, and how many contacts were on each.

Click the View Details button at the very bottom of the page to access the Contacts Reports. Click a report type to display a list of contacts that match that criteria. Check the Show Expanded Data box on the right to view additional details.

To export message data:

Click the export message data drop down in the upper right corner of the page.

Select which message data to download.

Click the Download File button.

To create a segment based on the message data:

Click the create a segment drop down in the upper right corner of the page.

Select which message data to create the segment with.

Give the segment a name.

Click the Create Segment button.

To enable a social media integration:

Click the Account drop down.

Click the Settings and Billing link.

Click the Social Media link.

Click the Enable button to the right of the desired social media site.

Follow the on-screen steps to complete the integration.

Repeat steps 1-3 to enable integrations with multiple social media sites.

Please note - You can only enable an integration with one account per social media site.

Emails are reviewed by a review team 24 hours a day to ensure there are no issues with your messages, such as broken links or images. This process also checks to make sure that spam messages are not sent out. The review process should take no longer than 15 minutes, but times will vary depending on our sending volume at the time.

The email review queue is processed on a first-come-first-served basis, and if your email goes through the review process, the sending of that email will be delayed until the review is complete.

Many email clients and customer management systems, such as Outlook and ACT!, contain the feature to export contacts in a comma separated value, or .csv, file. If you are unable to export contacts in a .csv file, you can manually create the .csv file instead.

To create a .csv file in Excel:

Open a new spreadsheet.

Create a header row. The header row should be the first row of the spreadsheet. Each header should contain the field name for the column in the following format: [fieldname]. For example, the email field will have [email] as the header.

Enter the data for your contacts. Each contact should be entered on a separate row, and each piece of data should be entered in a separate column. This helps to avoid messy data later in iContact.

Save the file using the .csv file extension. For example, contacts.csv. Please note - If you are using a Mac, you will need to save the file as a Windows .csv file.

An example:

To create a .csv file in Notepad:

Open Notepad.

Create a header row. Each header should contain the field name for the column in the following format: [fieldname]. For example, the email field will have [email] as the header. Following the order of your header row, enter the data for your contacts using one entry per line. Any blank field must still be separated by a comma. For example: Roger,Waters,,[email protected].

Save the file using the .csv file extension. For example, contacts.csv.

An example:

Please note - A header row is not required to begin your upload. If you do not include a header row in your file, you will be able to tell iContact which rows correspond to the appropriate custom and standard fields during the upload process.

The Image block is a type of Content block that allows you to add images to your message. You can add images directly from your File Library or by using the image's source URL.

Below is the Image Block placeholder you see when you add an Image Block.

After adding an Image block, you'll need to replace the placeholder image with your own.

To replace the placeholder image with an image from the File Library:

Click the placeholder image to select it.

In the Image Properties section on the right hand side, click the Choose button.

Locate the image you wish to use.

Optional - Click the Upload button to upload a new image from your computer.

Optional - Click the Stock Images tab to view the available stock images from Getty Images.

Hover over the image, and click the Select button.

To replace the placeholder image with an image from a URL:

In the Image Properties section, click the radio button next to Image URL.

In the field, type or paste in the image's URL.

There are several additional image properties that can be adjusted, including:

Image Attributes

Alternate Text - This option allows you to add alternate text behind the image. This text will appear when the image is unable to display.

Link - This option allows you to attach a clickable hyperlink to the image.

Image Size

Default Size - This toggle, when disabled, will allow you to change the width of the image. If it is blue, like in the image below, click on the blue toggle to see the width option.

Image Appearance

Image Alignment - This option allows to change the alignment of the image within the image section.

Border Style - This option allows you to add a customizable border around just the image.

Spacing

Padding - This option allows you to add padding to each side of the image.

Convert to HTML

This option allows you to convert the block to HTML code. You can then manually edit the code as you wish. *Please note - Converting a content block to HTML cannot be undone.

You can export (download) contacts out of iContact, either on a per list basis, or all of your contacts.

To export contacts from a specific list:

Click the Contacts link on the left side of the page.

Use the All Contacts drop down menu to select the desired list or segment. Change the Subscribed drop down if you want contacts that are in different statuses.

Check the checkbox next to Email Address which is directly above the list of contacts.

If there are more than 20 Contacts in the list, select the 20 Contacts in the blue bar that appeared at the top of the page and choose to select all.

Click the More... button to the right of where you select all the contacts.

Click the Export link.

Select the contact fields that you would like to export.

Click the Export button.

Save the file to your computer.

To export all contacts from your account: (This will just be a list of all contacts. It will not contain what list they were in.)

Click the Contacts link.

Leave the All Contacts drop down menu to All Contacts. Change the Subscribed drop down if you want contacts that are in different statuses.

Check the checkbox next to Email Address which is directly above the list of contacts.

If there are more than 20 Contacts in the list, select the 20 Contacts in the blue bar that appeared at the top of the page and choose to select all.

Click the More... button to the right of where you select all the contacts.

Click the Export link.

Select the contact fields that you would like to export.

Click the Export button.

Save the file to your computer.

The Text block is a type of Content block that allows you to add text to your message.

When editing a text block, the text formatting toolbar will appear at the top of the message that allows you to customize your text. The text formatting tools include:

Format - This tool allows you to change the format of the text, with options including Body Text, Heading 3, Heading 2, and Heading 1.

Font - This tool allows you to change the font style of your text. We've included most of the universal font styles that work across different operating systems and email clients.

Font Size - This tool allows you to change the size of the text.

Line Height - This tool allows you to change the distance between lines of text.

Font Color - This tool allows you to change the color of the text using a color picker.

Text Highlight Color - This tool allows you to change the background highlight color of text.

Bold - This tool allows you to bold the text.

Italics - This tool allows you to italicize the text.

Underline - This tool allows you to underline text.

Strikethrough - This tool allows you to add a solid line going through the middle of the text.

Superscript - This tool allows you to elevate text above where the text would normally stay.

Subscript - This tool allows you to lower text below where the text would normally stay.

Numbering - This tool allows you to create a numbered list.

Bullets - This tool allows you to create a non-ordered list.

Text Alignment - This tool allows you to change the alignment of the text, including default, left, right, center, and justify.

Hyperlink - This tool allows you to add a hyperlink to text. You have the option of selecting the following link types:

URL - This link type allows you to hyperlink to a web address, or URL.

Email Address - This link type allows you to create a Mail To link, which will send an email to the specified email address.

Phone Number - This link type allows you to add a phone number, which will be converted to a live link when viewed by the contact.

Merge Field - This link type allows you to insert a Manage Your Subscription or Web Version URL to your message.

Link a PDF or Image - This link type allows you to link to a PDF or image file, so your contact can click and download the file.

Remove Hyperlink - This tool allows you to remove a hyperlink that has been added to text.

Remove Formatting - This tool allows you to erase the formatting of selected text, reverting to the default styling.

Attach File - This tool allows you to include a link to a file that your contacts will be able to click and download.

Merge Fields - This tool allows you to insert any standard or custom field into your message.

Along with the font formatting toolbar, you'll have access to the text properties as well. These options include:

Link Color - This property allows you to change the color of any hyperlink that is inserted.

Background Color - This tool allows you to change the background color for the entire text block.

Padding - This tool allows you to add space between the edge of the text block and the text itself.

Getting your message to the inbox is important and authentication is essential to avoid being blocked or ltered. iContact automatically authenticates your campaigns using SPF and DKIM. Professional email marketers can choose to setup their own authentication which can improve your email deliverability.

To setup email authentication and domain protection, you will need your own domain name and the ability to access the DNS records to make changes.

Each DNS provider is unique in how records are created. You may need to contact your provider’s support team for assistance.

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SPF - Sender Policy Framework

SPF is an email authentication tool that identies specic IPs that are authorized to send email on behalf of a domain. An SPF record is created within the DNS of a domain.

As mentioned above, the SPF record is checked on the Return-Path domain. For mail sent from our applications, the Return-Path domain is owned by iContact. These domains have the necessary SPF records in place to ensure your mail can pass the check.

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DKIM - DomainKeys Identied Mail

DKIM is an authentication tool that allows a domain name to take responsibility for transmitting a message in a way that can be veried by mailbox providers. This verication is made possible through cryptographic authentication; resulting in a digital 'DKIM Signature' added to the hidden headers in your email messages.

iContact will DKIM sign your messages using one of our shared domains. If you would like to use your own domain, add the following DNS records:

TYPE: CNAME

NAME: icontact.k1._domainkey.<yourdomain.com>

POINTS TO: k1.dkim.icontact.com

TYPE: CNAME

NAME: icontact.k2._domainkey.<yourdomain.com>

POINTS TO: k2.dkim.icontact.com

The recommended time to wait for the change to be active for each record is 1 hour.

Important: Some DNS providers will append the domain name automatically. In those cases, the .<yourdomain.com> is not required. Examples of these are GoDaddy and Wix.

This is an example for GoDaddy on how it should look:

Important:

When completed, you will need to reach out to iContact to verify and apply the change to your account.

If you have a Strategic Advisor, notify them. Otherwise contact Customer Support.

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DMARC - Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance

DMARC is a domain protection tool that assists in protecting your brand from phishing attempts and spam spoong your domain name.

Spoong is the unauthorized delivery of email purporting to come from your domain.

Important:If you are going to set up DMARC with DKIM, make sure that you have DKIM set up properly first and test that it is working before setting up DMARC. Setting up DMARC to reject without the DKIM can cause all of your messages to bounce.

It builds on the SPF and DKIM authentication methods by adding a link to the "From" domain. A DMARC record instructs the mailbox provider what to do with email that claims to be from your domain but fails SPF and/or DKIM authentication checks. There is also a reporting aspect of DMARC that provides insight into where mail is being sent using your domain name legitimately or spoofed.

Example DMARC Record:

v=DMARC1; p=none; pct=100; rua=mailto:[email protected]; ruf=mailto:[email protected]

If a message fails SPF or DKIM authentication checks, you instruct the receiver what to do with the message using the ‘p’ or ‘policy’ tag.

iContact customers can protect their domain by implementing DMARC and setting up DKIM authentication.

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If you would like to move forward to further protect your sending reputation from digital imposters contact our Premier Sales Team to discuss partnering with a Strategic Advisor.

To move ALL contacts from one list to another list (as a way to merge 2 lists into 1):

Click theContactslink on the left side of the page.

Click on the All Contacts dropdown menu to select the desired list. You have to select a list to see the move option. Change the Subscribed drop down if you want contacts that are in different statuses.

Check the checkbox next toEmail Addresswhich is directly above the list of contacts.

If there are more than 20 Contacts in the list, select the 20 Contacts in the blue bar that appeared at the top of the page and choose to select all.

Click theMore...button to the right of where you select all the contacts.

Click the Move To link.

Select the target list to move the contacts to.

(Optional) Create a new list on the fly to move the contacts to by clicking the Create List link in the bottom right corner of the pop-up window.

Fill out the List Name.

(Optional) Enable notifications for the list.

Fill out the Display As name.

Decide if you want the list to show on the Manage Your Subscription page, and enable the toggle if desired.

Click the Save button.

Click the Move button.

To move ONE or a select groupof contacts from one list to another list:

Click theContactslink on the left side of the page.

Click on the All Contacts dropdown menu to select the desired list. You have to select a list to see the move option. Change the Subscribed drop down if you want contacts that are in different statuses.

Check the checkbox next to anyEmail Addresses you want to move.

Click theMore...button in the blue bar at the top of the screen.

Click the Move To link.

Select the target list to move the contacts to.

(Optional) Create a new list on the fly to move the contacts to by clicking the Create List link in the bottom right corner of the pop-up window.

Fill out the List Name.

(Optional) Enable notifications for the list.

Fill out the Display As name.

Decide if you want the list to show on the Manage Your Subscription page, and enable the toggle if desired.

Click the Save button.

Click the Move button.

This article will cover popular automations using the Subscribe Event trigger and provide suggestions on how to build out the automation for each specific use-case.

Use Case #1: Advanced Welcome Series

Send a series of welcome emails to measure your subscribers' level of engagement. Determining the levels of engagement among your subscribers will allow you to send more targeted emails, resulting in a subscriber-base of actively engaged customers.

Required items before building this automation:

Create a custom checkbox field for "Engaged" - this field will help you determine whether your subscribers are engaging with your emails or not.

Use the following action steps:

Timing: Immediately

Condition:EVERYONE

Action:Sendawelcome email

Timing:3 days after

Condition:EVERYONE

Action:Send a follow-up email (additional content; service offerings, newsletter, etc.)

Timing: 1 week after

Condition: IF they opened both previous messages

Action:Update contact record to mark custom field ‘Engaged’ as checked

PDF and image files, like any other attachment, cannot be sent directly through iContact. However, you can upload the file to the File Library, and then insert a link to the file into a message.

WARNING: This will only work in the new Drag and Drop editor which you find when clicking the blue "Create Message" button in the upper left hand corner of the screen when on the dashboard.

To upload the file:

Click the File Library link on the left hand side of the page.

Click the Upload button on the upper right side of the page.

Find the PDF or image file, and click the Open button.

After the file has uploaded, you'll be able to rename the file.

To insert a PDF or Image file link into a message:

Click in a Text block.

Click where you want to insert the link.

Click the Attachments icon at the top of the page.

Press Choose to find the file and click the Select button to the right.

Then enter the text in the Text to Display field as this is what is displayed in the message.

Please note - PDF files are limited to 10mb in size.

Your bundled iContact account comes with over 650 professionally-designed email templates, but sometimes you might want to do your own thing. We get it. That's why we provide you with dozens of basic templates which give you the structure you need without all the styling. These templates are ideal for capturing a minimal aesthetic or for exercising more control of the pre-designed elements you got from your in-house design team.

Use a basic template

In Salesforce, click the iContact MessageBuilder tab or log in to iContact directly.

If you clicked the iContact MessageBuilder tab, click Use MessageBuilder; if you logged in to iContact directly, click Email > Messages > Use MessageBuilder.

In the blue section on the left, uncheck the Category box.

At the bottom of the blue section, check the Basic box.

Find a template that has the basic structure you're looking for, then click it to get started.

Note: The template's underlying structure is shown as the white spaces between the blue sections. You have creative freedom to tweak the blue sections as you see fit, but the template's underlying structure is rigid and fixed. You will not be able to make changes to the underlying structure without advanced knowledge of HTML.

Pro Tip: Have you ever sent a text-only email and realized after updating statistics that there weren't any? That's because text-only messages can't be tagged with our tracking pixel, so we can't report back to you when someone opens or clicks the email.

If you love the minimal look and feel of text-only messages and the personal touch they give, then next time select our One Section basic template. It looks just like a text-only email and we can track all of your subscribers' interactions.

This article will cover popular automations using the Segment Qualification trigger and provide suggestions on how to build out the automations for each specific use-case.

here Note: The following examples require an upgrade in order to access these features in your account.

Contact our Sales team to learn more at 877-820-7837.

Use Case #1:Non-Openers Re-engagement Series

Create an automated series to target your inactive subscribers and see if you can rekindle your relationship with them. Send a series of messages enticing them to re-engage and win them back. This series also helps with list hygiene so that you can move engaged subscribers to a new list and remove contacts who remain inactive after giving multiple opportunities to engage in the series.

Required items before building this automation:

Create custom checkbox fields for "Active" and "Inactive" - these fields will help you determine whether your subscribers are actively engaging with your emails or not OR use this automation to subscribe and remove engaged and disengaged contacts from your Master List.

Stepsfor setting up automation:

After you’ve named your automation, you will select ‘Segment Qualification’ as the event to trigger your automation and will be taken to the automation canvas.

Click "Define Segment" to define the criteria that your audience must meet in order to enter the automation. When you define the segment, you are defining the global conditions for this automation. (Click to learn more about Global Conditions)

Note that automations based on Segment Qualification will trigger for a subscriber at the moment that the subscriber meets the conditions that you've defined (i.e., anyone who already exists on your chosen lists or as a subscriber who meets these conditions at the time of activation would enter the automation at that time. Any new or existing subscriber would not enter the automation until those conditions are met (once the custom field or standard field is updated).

For this example, you would select ‘Date of Last Open’ as the criteria type. This will look at the most recent time anyone in your selected audience has opened ANY message you have previously sent.

Then, you would select ‘Not Within Last’ as the condition. This would pull in anyone who has not opened within xx time frame (time framewill be specified in the next step.)

In the value field, define a time framethat makes the most sense to you depending on factors such as your sending frequency or seasonality of your business.For this example, we’ll set the value to 1 month and will leave the toggle ON to include those who have never opened.

Add another condition for ‘Date Added to Account’ and pair it with the condition of ‘Not Within Last’ and value of "1 month" to ensure that anyone who hasn’t opened a message in the past month was also not newly subscribed to the list in that same time frame. It's important to make sure that you are not including new subscribers that haven't had a chance to start opening your emails yet.

After saving the conditions, you will see that the audience is defaulted to "All Subscribers" who meet the conditions you defined. You can also filter the audience to specific lists. Just click "All Subscribers" to surface the "Choose Audience" selection.

Once your audience is saved, you will see your defined segment for the automation and can begin to add actions.

Use the following action steps:

Timing: ASAP

Condition: Everyone

Action: Send a reminder email re-introducing yourself to your subscribers and share what they missed while they were away. Offer a CTA to "keep them subscribed".

Timing: 2 weeks after

Condition: Everyone who did not click CTA in email 1

Action: Send email with a special offer to entice customers to remain subscribed.

Timing: 1 month after

Condition: Everyone who has clicked the CTA link in email 1 OR email 2

Action: Update Contact Record to "Subscribe" them to your master list or an updated active list OR if you don’t want to create a new list, you can add a custom checkbox field for "active" and then set this action step to update that field to be "checked". This step is meant to mark subscribers as an active subscriber so you know that they regularly engage with your emails.

Timing: 1 month after

Condition: Everyone who has not clicked the link to remain subscribed in email 1 or email 2

Action: Update Contact Record using the "Remove from List" option to remove the subscriber from your master list OR create custom checkbox field for "inactive" and then set this action step to update that field to be "checked." If you choose to use a custom checkbox field for this step, you can later create a segment to exclude these contacts from broadcast sends or exclude them from future automations.

Use Case #2:Preferences Campaign Series

Create an automation that focuses on the behavior and information you have on your subscribers. As soon as a standard or custom field is updated to signify that a subscriber performed a desired behavior or meets desired criteria, let that be the trigger to send a personalized automation series that turns them into long-lasting loyal customers.

For example, let’s say you’re a travel agency and you’ve created a landing page with a form for your subscribers to fill out where they can mark their interest in the type of vacation they are looking for this summer and then enter this automation depending on what they expressed interest in.

Required items before building this automation:

Create custom checkbox fields for the different preferences that your subscribers could have depending on your industry. For example, if you are a travel agency, you would want to set up different checkbox fields for your subscribers travel preferences (ex.: "Cruises", "Europe", "Safari", etc.).

Stepsfor setting up automation:

After you’ve named your automation, you will select "Segment Qualification" as the event to trigger your automation and will be taken to the automation canvas.

Click "Define Segment" to define the criteria that your audience must meet in order to enter the automation.

For this example, you would select "Contact Field" as the criteria type.

Select the custom field you would like this automation to be based around. For this example, let’s say you had a field on your sign up form for "Cruises" indicating that the subscriber is interested in a cruise vacation. You would select that field in the Field Name drop down menu and set the condition to "checked".

Once you "Save" your conditions you will now see your defined segment for the automation and can begin to add actions.

Use the following action steps:

Timing: ASAP

Condition: Everyone

Action: Send email with cruise offerings for the summer

Timing: 1 week after

Condition: Everyone who opened message 1

Action: Send email with a special offer to book a cruise vacation(

Feel free to add more actions to keep the series going with additional emails, reminders and targeted follow ups along the way

iContact's Spam Check tool helps to ensure your message has a better chance of being delivered. The Spam Check scours a message for any issues that an email client would flag as spam.

These issues range from using spammy words, like "Free" or "Act Fast", tohaving a blacklisted URL somewhere in the message, typically as a link or an image. Scores are given, and any message that has a score of 5 or more will not be sent. Its important to keep in mind that the Spam Check isn't designed to punish you by not allowing your message to send. Its actually designed to help you send out messages that will not be flagged as spam.

When you run the Spam Check, you'll see a popup window that gives information of what issues it discovers. Some things are minor and will allow you to send the message while other things are critical and have to be fixed.For example, if you receive a warning for having a blacklisted URL in your message, you'll need to remove all instances of that URL before you can send the message.

A spam check window indicating what should be changed in the message.

Messages created in iContact are built using our drag and drop editor. Messages are built using rows to add a container in the message, to which additional content blocks can then be added.

To create a message:

Click the Create a Message button.

HTML

(Steps 2-4 can be skipped by clicking Start From Scratch in the upper right hand corner.)

Select a theme for the message. The theme provides a base color palette for the message. The theme can be changed later in the editing process.

Select a layout for the message. A layout is different configurations of the theme. Additional rows and content blocks can be added to any layout.

Click the Start Editing button.

Give the message a Subject, and an optional internal name.

Select the sender property to use when sending the message.

The next steps in creating an email involve swapping out the placeholder content for your content. (*Note that if you chose "Start from Scratch" in step 2 above, you will need to drag and drop a row before you will be able to drag and drop a content block.) There are nine types of content blocks that can be added to a message. Selecting a block will open the block options specific to the selected block type.

Text - Text blocks contain text and hyperlinks. When editing a text block, the text tool options will appear along the top of the message.

Image - Image blocks contain images that can either be uploaded into the File Library, or pulled in with a URL.

Caption - Caption blocks contain an image and a space to add a text caption.

Collage - Collage blocks add two to four placeholder images that can either be uploaded into the File Library, or pulled in with a URL.

Video - Video blocks adds a placeholder video that can be replaced with any Youtube or Vimeo video. Please note - Videos cannot be embedded in an email. This block allows a still frame image to be used, with a hyperlink to the video.

Button - The button blocks inserts a call-to-action button. You can then add a hyperlink.

Divider - The divider block inserts a horizontal divider in the message.

Social - The social block adds linkable social media icons.

- The HTML block inserts a block of HTML code. When working with HTML blocks, you will need a moderate degree of coding knowledge.

You can add a content block by dragging the icon from the Content options to the Message canvas and dropping it where you would like for it to go.

While editing the message, additional rows can be added. There are multiple configurations of rows, so you can pick the one that best fits your needs.

To insert a row:

Click the Rows options.

Drag the desired row configuration onto the Message canvas, and drop it into place.

If you decide to change the theme for your message, you can. The process swaps out the background, default color palette, and other aspects associated with the Theme.

To change the theme:

Click the Theme options.

Click the Choose from available Themes link.

Select a new Theme. The Message canvas updates with the new Theme.

If you want to undo the Theme selection, click the Undo link.

If you want to save the new Theme, click the Apply link.

Click the Back button to access and edit the Theme options.

The top navigation bar includes multiple tools and options to assist you. These include:

A quicksave button

Undo and Redo buttons

A Tools drop down, which includes:

Spell Check - The system reviews the text of your message and offers corrections with any misspellings it finds.

Spam Check - Our Spam Check reviews your message for aspects that might flag the message as spam. You'll then receive a score, from 0.0 on up. A message with a score of 5.0 or higher will not be sent from iContact, as it will be flagged as spam.

Send Test Message - Send yourself a test message to see how the message will render on an email client.

Save as Template - If the layout modifications are something you'd like to use in future messages, this option saves the layout so that is is available as a starting point for future messages.

Help - If you need help with using iContact, this link opens the Help portal. The Help portal contains links to video tutorials and help articles.

Preview - This button shows how the responsiveness of the message will render on multiple mobile, template, and computer screens.

Prepare to Send - Continue to the sending process.

If you happen to send a message that is larger than 102KB in size, your Gmail subscribers will see a notification of the message being 'clipped' with a 'View entire message' link that will open your full message in a new tab (similar to the image below). Please note, that depending on the platform being used to view your email (such as desktop versus mobile or Android versus iPhone), the message your subscribers will see may vary.

How does this happen?

This limit of 102KB is based on the amount of content in your HTML code and is a limit that is set by Gmail.

This limit can be reached if you have a large amount of content in your email. This includes things like text, multiple calls-to-action, tracking codes, URLs, style tags, formatting code, images and more, which can all add up and contribute to the overall file size of your message. This does not include the actual size of your images (so for example, reducing the image size would not reduce the file size of your email, but deleting the amount of images would).

Sometimes, this can also happen if you send multiple messages with the same exact subject line. Gmail will end up grouping them together in a ‘thread conversation’ where later messages will be clipped due the the overall size of the message becoming rather large even if the single message has not reached the limit.

How can I find the size of my message?

In order to determine the file size of your message, send yourself a test message. From your inbox, right click on the message and click to view the source code and then save the source code as an HTML file. Then you can view the file size of the document by clicking into the properties.

What can I do?

While you cannot stop Gmail from truncating messages that exceed the limit, there are several precautions you can take to prevent this from happening.

Keep your content concise and only include what your subscribers need to know.

Rather than including everything under the sun in your message, focus on the relevant and important information that your customers need to know. If you’d like to provide more context and detail, you can always add a ‘learn more’ or ‘read more’ link for example, that directs your subscribers to the full content on your website.

Avoid copying & pasting directly from an outside source

Sometimes, if you happen to be using a different word processing program, extra formatting code can be transferred and added to your message, thus increasing the overall file size. If you need to copy content, we recommend first pasting it into a text-editor (such as Notepad for Windows or Text Edit for MAC, for example) to remove any unwanted formatting, and then copying and pasting that into the editor.

Minimize the amount of code in your message

Avoid over-formatting or adding too much styling if at all possible. Try and keep things like line breaks, double spaces and tabs for example, to a minimum.

Avoid sending multiple messages with the same subject line

As mentioned above, these messages will be combined into a single thread, making the message larger than the original size.

SSL is a security protocol that encrypts data sent over the internet. Using SSL ensures that communications data cannot be hacked or intercepted when submitted.

iContact uses the SSL protocol to ensure that your data is kept safe and secure. All of our forms on our site use SSL.

This article will provide steps for troubleshooting the signup form error "Invalid Captcha Response" using the developer tools within a Chrome browser.

*Please note: These troubleshooting steps are for advanced users only

Go to the page that is currently hosting the signup form and thenpress the F12 key on your keyboard to open the Developer’s Tools.

Click the Network tab.

Press the F5 key on your keyboard or hold CTRL and press "r" to refresh the page. Once the page finishes refreshing, click on the “Type” header in the Developer's Tools to sort the elements on the page.

Scroll down to the scripts and hover your mouse over the script names to see the associated URLs. This will help us identify the script elements on the page.

At this point, we will block as many non-CAPTCHA/non-iContact domains as possible in order to eliminate the script causing the problem. You can block the elements by right clicking on the name of one of the items and click “Block request domain”. You can refresh the page each time to make sure that you aren’t double blocking domains. (see next step for more info.)

The screenshot below depicts the Dev Tools after blocking multiple domains. Anything in red is a script that a blocked domain used. For example, if you block a domain that had 5 scripts, all 5 scripts will be blocked and you won’t have to block that domain again. Below that section is a list of the scripts that you have blocked with check boxes next to them showing that they are blocked.

Once you have a lot of scripts blocked, refresh the page and try the Sign-Up form again in the window off to the left side. If the form works, then a script you blocked was the cause of the error. To narrow it down, unblock a few scripts at the bottom of the Developer Tool's by deselecting the checkbox to the left of the domain name and then refresh the page. If the form fails again, one of the scripts that you just unblocked was the cause of the error. If the form still works, unblock some more scripts and try again until you're able to identify the culprit.

Don’t forget to clean up your browser by unblocking all the scripts that you had blocked previously during the troubleshooting.

Merge Fields are variables used in your e-mails. With iContact, you can merge data from your contacts' profiles into your message by adding the corresponding merge field into your message. For example, you can automatically insert each contacts first name into your greeting by adding [fname]. There are two types of merge fields that you can use to personalize your email messages - Standard fields and Custom fields.

Standard Fields

Standard fields are fields that are automatically included in your iContact account. Here's a list of the standard fields as they appear in a contact profile, and their corresponding merge tag:

Field Name

Merge Value

Prefix

[prefix]

First Name

[fname]

Last Name

[lname]

Suffix

[suffix]

Business Name

[business]

Email

[email]

Phone

[phone]

Fax

[fax]

Address1

[address1]

Address2

[address2]

City

[city]

State

[state]

Zip

[zip]

Custom Fields

Custom fields include any fields that you have created in your account. To merge in custom data, you'll need to type in an opening square bracket, then the custom field name, followed by a closing square bracket. For example, if you have a custom field named favorite_beverage, you would need to type in [favorite_beverage].

An 'Initial Event’ is the moment in time that triggers the start of the automation. The timing that you set for each automation step will always be based off the Initial Event and never the previous action. This means that if your Initial Event is set to "User subscribes to *list name*", every step in your automation will occur “___ hours/days/weeks/months” after the contact is subscribed to the selected list. As long as a contact meets the Initial Event criteria, they can potentially receive multiple actions within the automation, unless they are specifically removed or not targeted using conditions.

For example, let's say that you have a 2-step automation. You will be sending your first email immediately after the Initial Event and then you want to send your second email after someone opens the first. You would never want to set the timing for the second step to be "Immediately" because this means that it will occur immediately after the Initial Event - aka the exact same time that your first step is set to. You want to make sure that you give some time for the contacts to receive and act on the first message before you send the second message out. A good practice would be setting the timing of your second step to about 3 days after the Initial Event. In other words, 3 days after the contact is subscribed to the list, the system will send message 2, if they opened message 1 in that time frame.

Tags: Reuse Campaign, Copy Campaign

Please note - All messages used within an automation will need to be created prior to creating the automation.

Welcome emails are a great way to make a good first impression with your subscribers. Say hello, introduce yourself, thank them for signing up, and consider even giving them a special reward for joining your list. 74,4\% of customers expects welcome message after subscribing or giving their email addresses just like they expect that salesperson will greet them in brick and mortar store.

A welcome message is the first email your subscriber will receive upon signing up for your newsletter. The welcome message is associated with a specific list and is automatically deployed as contacts are added to the list. It is a best to compose this message with further detail about the frequency and content of future messages, how to add the from address to the safe senders list, and how to unsubscribe from messages. Typical welcome messages are a general welcome message, thank you message, or reward coupon for signing up.

To create a Welcome Message:

Click the Automation link on the left hand side of the page.

Click the Create Automation button in the upper left hand corner of the page.

Give your Automation a name in the 1st field.

Select Subscribe Event.

Click Continue.

You will need to click the Choose Audience button to select the list that you want to associate with the automation.

Select the list or lists to associate the Welcome Message with. Also select the toggle next to "Contact Uploads" if you want the Welcome Message to be sent to contacts that you add to the account manually through uploads.

Click Save.

You will need to click the Plus icon () beneath the blue rectangle that says Subscribed.

You will now see a line that says "ASAP", "Everyone", and an Action box.

Click the Add an actionbutton to choose the first message.

Click Send Message and then Add.

Select a previously created draft, sent, or automated message to use.

Use the All Senders drop down menu to filter messages by Sender Property. Alternatively, you can enter criteria in the Search Messages field to locate the desired message.

Click the Preview link to the right of each message to view the desired message.

Please note - The Automated tab contains all messages that are currently being used in an automation in your account.

Click the Select button.

If you select a previously sent message, the system will automatically add that message to the Automation. If you select a Draft message, the system will run a spam check on the message to ensure it meets our Deliverability specifications. If your message does not pass the spam check, you will be given the reasons why, and an option to edit the message. When you have finished editing the message, click the Done Editing button to return to the automation.

If you selected a Draft message in the previous step, then you will get a pop-up. Click the Ok, got it button.

(Optional) If you are wanting this to be a Welcome Series where there is more than 1 message in the Automation, you can add other message below the one you just added. You will want to make sure to time them so they do not all go out at the same time. Each Action you add when clicking the "+" sign will showas the first thing. If you click on that, you can change when the next message goes out. For instance, you would have the 1st message go out ASAP but then the 2nd message could be set to go out 3 days later.

After all desired Actions have been added, click the Activate button.

Confirm that you want to activate the Automation by clicking the Activate button in the pop-up window.

The Caption Block is a type of Content block that allows you to add an image, with a dedicated section for a caption.

After adding the Caption block, you'll need to replace the placeholder image with your own.

To replace the placeholder image with an image from the File Library:

Click the placeholder image to select it.

In the Image Properties section, click the Choose button.

Locate the image you wish to use.

Optional - Click the Stock Images tab to view the available stock images from Getty Images.

Optional - Click the Upload button to upload a new image from your computer.

Hover over the image, and click the Select button.

To replace the placeholder image with an image from a URL:

In the Image Properties section, click the radio button next to Image URL.

In the field, type or paste in the image's URL.

There are several additional properties that can be adjusted, including:

Layout Properties

Layout - This property allows you to change how the image and captions sections stack with each other. The options are to have the image to the left, right, top, or to the bottom of the text section.

Image Stacking - This property allows the caption block to stack in a way that the image section is on top of the text section when displayed on a mobile device. Please note - If the layout is changed to have the text section on top of the image section, this property will not change the stacking.

Width - This property allows to change the width of the image and text sections. Please note - The total dimension of both sections must equal 100.

Vertical Alignment - This property allows you to change the vertical alignment of the text section.

Border Style - This property allows you to add a customizable border around the entire block.

Image Source

Select an Image - This option allows to select an image to insert, either from your File Library or a new upload.

Image URL - This option allows you to pull in an image using the image's URL.

Image Attributes

Alternate Text - This option allows you to add alternate text behind the image. This text will appear when the image is unable to display.

Link - This option allows to attach a hyperlink to the image.

Image Size

Default Size - This toggle, when disabled, will allow you to change the width of the image.

Image Appearance

Background Color - This option allows you to add a background color to the image section.

Image Alignment - This option allows to change the alignment of the image within the image section.

Border Style - This option allows you to add a customizable border around just the image.

Padding - This option allows you to add padding to each side of the image.

Text Properties

Link Color - This option allows you to change the color of any hyperlinks that have been added to the text section.

Background Color - This option allows you to add a background color to the text section.

Padding - This option allows you to add padding to each side of the text.

Convert to HTML

This option allows you to convert the block to HTML code. You can then manually edit the code as you wish. Please note - Converting a content block to HTML cannot be undone.

It is good practice to use a consistent design and layout across all email messages sent from your brand. You can easily create a saved template in iContact that you can use over and over without needing to re-create it for each new message. Below are steps that you can follow to create a new template, as well as steps to edit a previously saved template.

To create a new Template:

(If you already have a message layout created, you can skip to step 4.)

Click the blue Create Message button in the upper left corner.

Pick a template or Click Start from Scratch and begin editing a new message.

Build up a message the way you think you will want things laid out as a template. You do not need to include all the text if that is going to change from time to time.

Once you have the layout the way you would like, click on Tools in the blue banner at the top of the page. It is to the right of Prepare To Send. Then click on Save as New Template.

Fill in the name of the Template and click to Save.

You now have a new template saved. The next time you want to create a message with this template, you can do the following steps:

Click Create Message in the upper right hand corner.

Click on Saved Templates.

You can now select the template in the list of templates. You will see the message name and the date/time it was created.

Click on Start Editing in the upper right corner.

To modify an existing template:

Click Create Message in the upper right hand corner.

Click on Saved Templates.

Select the template you want to modify (it will preview on the right hand side of the screen).

Click on Start Editing in the upper right corner.

Make any changes you need to make and then when you are ready to save, click on Tools in the blue bar at the top of the page. Then click Save Template.

Click Save Template to confirm.

iContact offers custom footer services that allow you to remove the iContact logo and/or replace it with your own logo. The charge increases your subscriber plan by $5 per month.

To request a custom footer, send an email [email protected] and include the following information:

Your username.

A description of the changes you want to make.

A statement explaining that you acknowledge and accept the $5 increase.

Your company logo, if you want to use your logo in the footer. The image must be in .jpg or .gif format and should be approximately 234X76 pixels.

For faster service, please have the subject line of your email read "Custom Footer Request." These requests are typically handled within one business day.

Todowngrade or cancelyour account, our Customer SuccessTeamis available to review your sending needs and process adjustments needed within your subscription. We’ve created an intake form to streamline requests and connect you with your Customer Success Manager as quickly as possible.

Click here to Downgrade or Cancel your account

Oncereceived,a Customer Success Manager will reach out to you to confirm your request has beenprocessedand address any questions you may have.

You mayalsocontact your Customer Success Manager directly,dial into our team at 866-936-5680(9a.m-5p.mEST Mon Friday), or email request to [email protected]

A few things to consider:

Need to connect with your Customer Success Manager?

Click on the circle with a picture of your Customer Success Manager in the bottom right of your account Dashboard to get details about how to contact them directly.

terms and conditions

For Downgrade Request:

Parking option need to pause your subscription? You can park your account for 2 periods during the year for up to 6 months at a time.

Subscription changesare processed at the end of the current subscription.

Looking to save money? Annual payments andNon Profitdiscounts are available.

For Cancellation Request:

Amounts paid are not refundable. Subscriptions to our service are pre-paid. As such, any cancellations that occur in the middle of a payment term (month, quarter, or year depending on payment schedule) will be made effective on the final day of such term. For additional information around cancelling your account, please see our .

Back up any data in your account that you want to keep; onceyour account closes, you will not have access to that dataanymore.

Ensure that automations and sign up forms are no longer activebefore canceling.

If you want to remove all underlines from links within a message, follow these steps:

Click on Theme on the right hand side of the screen. If you do not see Theme then click on the small "x" to the right of what you are currently viewing (which might be Text Properties).

Scroll down to the option for underlining links and uncheck it.

While there is no function to automatically remove an underline from an individual hyperlink, it can be done in the HTML code of a block of text. WARNING: If you convert text to HTML, you will not be able to convert it back to a normal Text block.

Here are the steps to take:

Click in the text block with the link to edit the block.

Enter the text to hyperlink.

Highlight the text, and click the Hyperlinkicon at the top of the page.

It looks like this:

Type in the URL for the hyperlink, and click Save.

Click the Convert to HTML button.

In the HTML code, locate the link and this line of code: text-decoration: underline

Replace "underline" with "none", so that the code looks like this: text-decoration: none

Click the Preview Changes link and review the change to the link.

Click the Apply Changes button.

Please note - The following instructions assume that you have created a list in your iContact account, and that you have prepared a file with a valid header row. The iContact software supports .csv (Comma Separated value), .xls, and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel) file formats. We no longer support the .vcf file type.

Also note - Any contacts that you previously "Permanently Removed" will not be added back. The system will say it successfully added the contact but it won't show up because we can't add a permanently removed contact back to the account.

To upload contacts from a file:

Click the Contacts link.

Open the Add/Update Contacts drop down, and click the Upload Contacts link.

Either drag the file from the computer to the white rectangle in the middle or click on "browse your computer".

If your file only has data like e-mail addresses but no header row, then turn off the "Column Headers" option by clicking the blue slider icon.

If you do have a header row, leave it turned on.

Click Map Fields.

If you see the Map Fields page then make sure all the columns either have the field name or have "---Ignore---" otherwise skip to step 8.

Click on Choose Actions

On the Choose Actions page, make sure you select "Add & Subscribe" And then pick the list to add them to. If you change it to "Add Contacts" then the contact is added to the account but not put in a list.

Once you have selected the list, select Review & Confirm Upload

On the final page, you will see a summary of what you have chosen. There are 2 final options on this page.

The Require Confirmation option. Select this if you want to have your contacts confirm to be added to your list.

The Verify Email Addresses option. If you turn this on, it will give you a listing of all the Invalid e-mail addresses at the end. These are e-mails that were entered in incorrectly. Examples are "test@gmail." and "test@gmail;com"

Click to confirm the upload.

Click the image above to view the video tutorial.

If you are having trouble uploading a list of contacts, check the following:

Wrong file type

iContact only processes files in .csv, .xls, and .xlsx format. If your file is not in one of these formats, you must convert it for the upload to be successful. We no longer support the .vcf file type.

File type and extension mismatch

You may need to explicitly save your file as a .csv file in the program you used to create the file. Please note - If you are using a Mac, you may need to save your file as "CSV (Windows)" in Excel to have a valid format.

Invalid characters

Your upload file may have invalid or unsupported characters. iContact will stop the upload process when it finds an invalid character. To fix this problem, you must find the address that includes the invalid character and retype the address.

Multiple Excel sheets

If you are uploading a Microsoft Excel file (.xls or .xlsx), please make sure that it only includes one sheet.

We recommend that the email address field is in the furthest left column.

Please note - You can only have five concurrent attempts at uploading a contact file per hour. If your contact file has failed five times within an hour, you will need to wait until the count resets.

Tags:Import

To comply with GDPR regulations, we've added a Permanently Remove option for contacts that request to have their data removed from the database. Specifically, Article 17 states that consumers have the right to have their personal data erased.

The Permanently Remove function will remove the contact and all of the data associated with that contact from your account, including tracking data. Once this action is performed, it cannot be undone. These contacts cannot be added back to the account, unless they use a different email address.

There are multiple methods of removing a contact from your list:

Delete - Removes the contact from your account and all associated lists, but they can be added back at a later time.

Unsubscribe - Removes the contact from a list, and prevents the contact from being added back to the list. The contact can still be added to other lists.

Do Not Contact - Removes the contact from your account and all associated lists. These contacts cannot be added back to the account, but their data will be retained for tracking purposes.

Permanently remove - Removes the contact and all of their data from your account and all associated lists. This includes all personal and tracking data linked to the contact. These contacts cannot be added back to the account.

To permanently remove a contact:

Click the Contacts link.

Locate the contact to be removed.

Click the ellipses to the right of the contact.

Click the Permanently Remove link.

Check the box agreeing that you understand the contact will be permanently removed.

Click the Permanently Remove button.

Tags: Right to be forgotten, Delete, Delete contact

Pre-header text is what is visible in the email client, after the subject line. Email clients will pull the first line or two of text in the message to serve as the pre-header, and we highly recommend taking the time to fill out the text. Great pre-header text will help increase open rates, as your contacts will have more information about the content of the email.

Adding pre-header text to a template

At the top of each pre-designed template, there is a block of text with reminder text to add the pre-header text.

To change the text:

Click in the block at the top of the message.

Replace the placeholder text with your own text or a hyperlink.

Click outside of the block to save the changes.

Please note - When using a pre-designed template, failure to change the default text will result in the message sending out with the default text visible.

Adding pre-header text to a Start from Scratch template:

If you are creating a message using the Start from Scratch option, you will have to manually add the pre-header text section.

To add pre-header text to a Start from Scratch template:

Click and drag a row to the top of the message.

Click and drag a Text block into the row.

Click out to the left or right of the block to get Row Properties. Set the left/right padding to be 0.

Enter the pre-header text or hyperlink.

Click outside of the block to save the changes.

Adding pre-header text to an HTML or plain text message:

If you are creating a message using the HTML or Plain Text options, you will need to manually add the pre-header text at the top of your message.

Pre-header text examples:

Gmail:

Yahoo:

Outlook Desktop:

Custom fields are user created fields that are used to store unique contact data. This data can be any data, based on your business model. For example, if you have data from your contacts about what their favorite beverage is, you can create a custom field and store that data in iContact.

To create a custom field:

Click the Contactslink on the left side of the screen.

Click the Custom Fieldlink at the very top of the screen.

Click the Create Field button on the upper right hand side of the page.

A pop-up windows will show up that looks like this:

Enter the Merge Field name. Please note - Upper case letters will be changed to lower case upon saving.

Select the custom field type.

A Text field allows a free form answer that a user can provide.

A Checkbox requires a yes/no answer by checking the box.

A Number field allows any number, up to four decimal places.

A Date field allows calendar dates. The accepted date format is MM/DD/YYYY.

Enter the Display As name. This name will appear on the Manage Your Subscription page. It can be the same as the Merge Field name. This can have capital letters.

If you would like to hide this field from your contacts, click the Always Show toggle.

Typically, hidden fields are used by users to categorize their contacts. For example, you can use a custom field to target certain portions of your contact lists, but you may not want your contacts to be able to see how you partition your list. Also, hidden fields are not editable by your contacts, so they wouldn't have an opportunity to change the classifications you have established by changing the value of the field.

Click the Save button.

After the custom field has been created, you'll be able to upload the data into iContact via a contact file. Once the data has been added to iContact, you can create segments based on the data in the custom field, add the field to sign-up forms, or merge the data into a message to personalize your messages. To merge in custom data, you'll need to type in an opening square bracket, then the custom field name, followed by a closing square bracket. For example, if you have a custom field named favorite_beverage, you would need to type in [favorite_beverage].

Please note - If a contact does not have any data in the field that you are merging into a message, the field will show as a blank space in the contact's message.

IMPORTANT:

When naming your custom fields, there are some restrictions on the merge field names but there are no restrictions on the display as.

The following fields are reserved for use by iContact's database:

The standard fields:

prefix

fname

lname

suffix

address1

address2

city

state

zip

phone

fax

business

email

custom fields prefixed with "ic:" are reserved and can not be used.

Fields taken from your account settings:

abusiness - Your business name.

astreet - Your street name.

acity - Your city.

astate - Your state.

azip - Your zip code.

acountry - Your country.

alogourl - The address for your logo.

alogohtml - The HTML used for displaying your logo.

atitle - Your job title.

aphone - Your phone number.

afirstname - Your first name.

alastname - Your last name.

fromname - Your From Name taken from your Sender Property settings.

URLs generated by iContact for an email:

manage_your_subscription_url - The address that allows your contacts to manage their subscriptions.

opt_in_url - The address that allows a new contact to confirm their subscription.

The Opens by Platform section shows the percentage of each device type that was used by recipients to open a message. This number is an aggregate of the past ten sends, and won't necessarily match the numbers in the Device Usage section on Message Reporting pages.

There are three types of devices that we track at this time: smartphones, tablets, and computers.

This data will help you to understand how your emails are being read so you can better tailor the layout of future emails. For example, if you find that your recipients are using smartphones more than expected, you should consider sending emails with simpler designs (e.g. less content, smaller images, etc.). Not only will this help your contacts focus more quickly on what you want them to see, but the email will load faster.

Please note - These percentages are calculated based on the number of devices that could be recognized, and do not include any opens from a device that was unrecognizable, or if the recipient was using a Gmail address. The tracking data that is returned to us from Gmail is typically unable to help identify a specific device that was used to open a message. However, the device usage statistics should still give you an accurate representation of what device types your recipients are using to open emails, as a large majority of Gmail users access their Gmail accounts on multiple device types, and opens would likely be spread across all device types.

This article has 3 sections:

The first section is how to create a non-opener segment.

The second section is how to remove those contacts.

The third section is how to see date of last open for contacts (including non-opens if they have not been removed first) via a spreadsheet.

Section 1

To create a non-opener segment:

Click on Contacts.

Click on Segments.

Click the Create Segment button.

Give the Segment a name. Then for Source, either use All Subscribers or select the list you want the segment to be linked to.

Click on Add Segment Criteria.

For Criteria Type, select Date of Last Open.

For Condition, click on Not Between and leave the toggle set to include those who have never opened the message..

For the date range, enter a very early date and today's date. In this example, I am looking for people who have not opened over the life of the account up until Apr 19, 2019.

ClickAdd.

Click on Add Segment Criteria.

For Criteria Type, select Date Added to Account.

Change Conditionto "Before" and enter a datein theValuefieldfor when the contacts were added to your account.

*Note: We suggest choosing a date that is sometime in the past. If, for example, you enter today's date, then you may end up including contacts that were recently added to your account, but may not have been sent a message yet. In this example, I am only including contacts that were added to my account before Jan 1, 2018.

ClickAdd.

You can see if any e-mail addresses were found by clicking View Matching Contactsin the upper right corner.

If the segment is set up the way you want, click on Save.

This will have created a segment of people that have never opened a message you have sent them during the time frame you chose.

Section 2

To remove the non-opener contacts:

If you would like to delete those contacts from your account, you can follow the steps below. (I always recommend backing up your contact list by exporting them to a file before deleting multiple contacts in case something happens. You can review that process by clicking here.)

Click on Contacts on the left side of the page.

Click on the box that says All Contacts and select the non-opener segment you created.

Important:You should now see the segment selected. If you do not, go back to step 2.

Check the checkbox next toEmail Addresswhich is directly above the list of contacts.

In the blue bar at the top of the screen, click on 20 Contacts (if you have more than 20 contacts in the list) and select all contacts.

Click on Moreand select Delete.

Now we can clean things up by deleting the non-opener segment. Click on Segments at the top of the page.

Click the 3 blue dots to the far right of the non-opener segment and click Delete.

Section 3

To export your contacts into a spreadsheet so you can see the date of last open:

Click on Contacts.

If you want to only see a specific list then select the list in the box for All Contacts. Otherwise leave it as All Contacts.

Check the checkbox next toEmail Addresswhich is directly above the list of contacts.

In the blue bar at the top of the screen, click on 20 Contacts (if you have more than 20 contacts in the list) and select all contacts.

Click on More and thenExport.

You can export all fields if you want. If you only want to see the email address, date added to account, and date of last open; then uncheck "Select All Fields" and select just the following fields:

This will export these contacts, including the selected fields, to an Excel spreadsheet. Anyone that has never opened a message will have no date/time in the Date of Last Open field.

To reactivate a canceled account, you will need to contact our Support team. They can be reached at (877) 968-3996 (US Customers) | (919) 968-3996 (International).

Segments are saved searches that pull in contacts filtered from a specific list, based on selected criteria. The criteria can be based on the content of a contact-profile field, the date the contact was added to the list, or the actions that the contact took regarding a specific sent message.

Segments are automatically updated as contacts meet your criteria. Since you are not adding new subscriptions to your account, segments do not affect your subscriber count and are a great way to reduce the number of contacts in your account if you have several lists with the same contacts on them (For more information on creating a segment with an already existing list, click on the following Help article https://kb.icontact.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021156131-Create-a-Segment-from-an-Existing-List-with-a-New-Custom-Field)

To create a segment:

Click the Contacts link on the left hand side of the screen.

Click the Segments link at the top of the page.

Click the Create Segment button in the upper right corner of the screen.

Enter a segment name.

Select a source for the segment. You can select all contacts, a specific list, multiple lists or a specific sent message. Please note - The source cannot be changed after the segment has been saved.

If you select a Sent Message, then you will get the option to select the Message Engagement. And then get the option to select the message.

Click the Add Segment Criteria link.

To add criteria to the segment:

You'll have five options to select for your criteria:

Contact Field- This criterion is based on the standard and custom fields in the contact's profile. Depending on the field type, you will have different Conditions you can choose from.

Message Engagement- This criterion is based on the actions that a contact did or did not take with a message. These actions include opened, did not open, clicked, did not click, and bounced.

Date Added to the Account orList- These criteria are based on the date the contact is added to either the account, or a specific list.

Date of Last Open - This criterion is based on the date that a contact opened a message. Choose from specific dates, or date ranges. Your options include; After (MM/DD/YYYY), Before, Between, or Not Between.

Date of Last Click - This criterion is based on the last date that a contact clicked on a link in a message. Choose from specific dates, or date ranges. Your options include; After (MM/DD/YYYY), Before, Between, or Not Between.

Depending on the criteria that you choose, you'll have several different conditions that you can use to designate the value that each contact will need to match. Most of these conditions are straight forward, such as "Before", "After", "Between", "Equals", "Does Not Equal", etc. You may also see some PRO Options towards the bottom of the list. These options allow you to use relative dates, as opposed to a specific date, when creating a date based criteria. For example, if you choose "Date of Last Open" as the Criteria Type and "Within Last 6 months" as the Condition and Value, the segment will pull in all contacts who have opened a message within the last 6 months. Each day, this segment will automatically roll so that it is always looking at the last 6 months before "today". If you were to use "After", "Before", "Between", or "Not Between", it would always be based on specific dates and you would need to manually update it every day in order to include contacts who may have opened after the date that was originally specified.

Note: This feature requires an upgrade in order to access it in your account.

Contact our Sales team to learn more at 877-820-7837.

After adding a criterion, click theSave

Each segment can have up to ten criteria added to it.

Tags: Group, Sub-Group, Sublist, Sub-List

The Canadian Anti-Spam Law (or CASL) is a Canadian law that requires senders to obtain explicit permission from Canadian recipients to send email marketing messages.

The major provisions of the act are:

Senders must obtain explicit consent from Canadian recipients. Ignorance of a recipients location is not a valid excuse.

Email messages must clearly identify the sender and their physical address.

Email messages must contain an unsubscribe mechanism.

iContact's policies already provide the identity of the sender and an unsubscribe link in every email message that is sent out. It is up to individual users to obtain explicit permission from their recipients. You can find more information about CASL and how it impacts iContact users on our blog.

This anti-spam policy is incorporated by reference in iContact LLC’s end user services agreement posted at www.icontact.com (“EUSA”). All capitalized terms used herein but not otherwise defined shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the EUSA.

iContact’s Services comprise primarily of a web-based technology platform through which content is delivered once a customer sends such content. While each customer retains iContact to assist with the transmittal of content to its Recipients, iContact does not actually send customer content to Recipients on a customer’s behalf. Each customer is the actual sender of emails. As the sender of emails, each customer is required to comply with the terms and conditions set forth herein and in the EUSA and to comply with all applicable laws.

We have a no tolerance spam policy. Your account will be immediately terminated if you send spam and you will be obligated to indemnify iContact against any liabilities, costs and expenses it incurs as a result of such spam. Generally, spam is defined as unsolicited mass email to persons with whom you do not have a business relationship or have not requested (opted-in to) your mailing.

Anti-Spam Policy

iContact has a no tolerance spam policy. Customer accounts will be terminated if they send unsolicited email messages. Please report any suspected abuse to [email protected]. ISPs and blacklists administrators may also contact us at [email protected] forward the complete email in question, including headers. If applicable, please also unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link at the bottom of the email if you no longer wish to receive emails from that sender. We will take the appropriate action against the sender of the email in question.

ISP and Blacklist Administrator Relations

iContact has built relationships with many of the leading ISPs and blacklist administrators. These relationships usually involve the sharing of information regarding policies, practices and issues. If you are an ISP, mail administrator or blacklist owner and would like to get in touch with us, please email [email protected].

For iContact Customers

Each iContact customer must accept the EUSA prior to using the Services. As part of its agreement, each customer must agree to only send permission-based emails. “Permission-based” means that all Recipients must have opted-in to receive communications from that customer.

An opt-in can occur either via a sign-up form on a website, at a point-of-sale sign-up form, or on a physical sign-up sheet. Any opt-in form should include a clear description of what will be sent and how often it will be sent. Purchased lists may not be used within the iContact system, regardless of the source or permission status.

As a customer of iContact, you may not:

harvest emails from websites

purchase lists (whether they are opt-in or not)

have a pre-checked field on your subscription form

have a subscription form that subscribes users to an unrelated list

send out unrelated offers or unrelated content to your newsletter list

add an email address into a list without the subscriber’s permission

email someone who has requested to be removed from your list

utilize a list older than 6 months without reconfirming the Recipients’ subscriptions

You may:

send out a regular newsletter to a recipient who has opted-in to receive it

send out information and content to Recipients who have requested to receive content on that topic from your organization

Policy Enforcement

iContact has a no tolerance spam policy. The strict measures we take to enforce our policy include, but are not limited to:

We review and monitor large list imports. This includes a review of the list source, list age, collection methods, and confirmation practices.

We utilize an MD5 hash record to screen for characteristics of commonly harvested lists

A member of our staff reviews each message sent to more than 5000 Recipients and either will approve or reject it. This threshold is 500 Recipients for clients that have been with us for less than two months.

We utilize a content-checking utility to screen and flag any message that contains words common to unsolicited emails.

We require each customer to initial the following statement prior to each send: “I certify with my initials that all recipients granted their permission to be sent this message.”

A record is saved of every email that is sent through the system.

Any customer found to be using iContact for spam will be immediately cut-off from use of the product.

We maintain the IP address and date subscribed for every new Recipient.

Every email, whether text or HTML, contains a mandatory unsubscribe/opt-out link at the bottom of the message. This unsubscribe link cannot be removed.

Procedure for Handling Complaints

We have a no tolerance spam policy. Your account will be immediately terminated if you send spam. Generally, spam is defined as unsolicited mass email to persons with whom you do not have a business relationship or who have not requested (opted-in to) your mailing. The Service may be used only by businesses and organizations in connection with their established list of permission-based opt-in email addresses. We provide the Services only to those who follow our strict anti-spam policy. If you use the Services to send out emails to addresses obtained in any way other than a subscriber opting-in to your list, you may incur a penalty equal to $100 (US) per substantiated incident (i.e. per email) or any greater amount that may be imposed under applicable state, federal or foreign regulations.

To determine whether you have sent spam we will:

review the content of the message in question

review your subscriber list for patterns common to harvested lists

review the spam complaint

view the records to see when the subscriber was subscribed and their IP address

Procedure for Handling False Positive Complaints

We realize that it is possible for those who have subscribed to your mailings to have forgotten that they have subscribed. For this reason, we keep the IP address and date of subscription for all new Recipients. If we receive a complaint from a Recipient for which we have a record of their subscription, and the email sent to them contained the content they subscribed to, then we will notify such Recipient of the date and from which computer they subscribed from and provide a link for that Recipient to unsubscribe from your list.

Upon this type of complaint, we will notify you of the complaint, explain the action taken, review your web site, and may suggest changes to the notifications or descriptions you provide when subscribers sign up for your lists.

In the case that a subscriber who makes a complaint did not sign up through your site (i.e. was imported into the system) no IP record or date of subscription will be available. In this case, we will investigate the situation, look at the email in question, and if it is determined that you may be sending unsolicited commercial emails, we will immediately disable the sending function on your account and we will immediately contact you by email and/or phone. As soon as we hear from you and are able to verify that the subscriber was indeed an opt-in Recipient, we will remove the sending-block.

Transfer of Recipients

Please note that a Recipient subscribing to one of your lists does NOT give you permission to transfer them to other lists or to send them content, even if it is through the same list, that differs from the content the Recipient subscribed to.

Procedure for Handling Subpoenas

To request from iContact information about an iContact customer in connection with a civil case, you must serve iContact with a subpoena or court order that is valid and enforceable under North Carolina law, and must agree to iContact’s terms of compensation set forth herein. All civil subpoenas should be directed to the iContact Legal Department. Generally, iContact will not produce any information until approximately three weeks after its receipt of a valid subpoena or court order, unless a formal objection is filed by you or iContact is legally required to do so. iContact charges $100.00 per hour for research (plus additional fees if testimony or deposition is required), $0.25 per page and $22.00 to respond via Federal Express.

For more information visit The Coalition Against Unsolicited Email, or contact iContact Customer Support.

What is CASL?

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) was introduced in 2014 and requires that email recipients opt in or give explicit permission to receive commercial electronic messages. Previous legislation such as CAN-SPAM governed the process of opting out of email communications; CASL takes this a step further by putting requirements in place for opting into email communications. Furthermore, the burden of proof is on the business sending the email. What does this mean? In addition to the mandatory opt-out methods email marketers must employ (as defined in CAN-SPAM), CASL requires the sender to prove that each subscriber has given explicit permission to receive marketing emails from your organization.

Implied vs. Explicit Consent

Effective July 1, 2014, senders are responsible for at least implied consent for their subscribers to receive promotional emails. If you have been following iContact’s permission-based practices (as required by our Terms and Conditions ), the contacts you already have in your iContact account should qualify for implied consent. An existing business relationship with the recipient (such as a previous purchase within the last two years) or if the recipient had made an inquiry to the sender in the last six months are both good examples of implied consent under the legislation. Implied consent also exists if the recipient has “conspicuously published” their email address without an accompanying statement that they do not wish to receive unsolicited mail, AND the mail “is relevant to the [recipient’s] business, role, functions or duties in a business or official capacity”.

As of July 1, 2017, all contacts must have given explicit consent to receive promotional marketing emails. It must be made expressly clear at the point of email address collection that they are agreeing to being placed on a marketing or promotional email list. Typically, explicit permission requires a checkbox with a permission statement at the point of opt in. (Please note that the checkbox cannot be pre-checked.) Anyone who does not click on the checkbox should not be added to your iContact account since they have not given explicit permission to receive marketing messages. Keep in mind, double opt-in is the easiest and most secure way of obtaining explicit consent.

Exceptions

Each iContact customer must accept the EUSA prior to using the Services. As part of its agreement, each customer must agree to only send permission-based emails. “Permission-based” means that all Recipients must have opted-in to receive communications from that customer.

An opt-in can occur either via a sign-up form on a website, at a point-of-sale sign-up form, or on a physical sign-up sheet. Any opt-in form should include a clear description of what will be sent and how often it will be sent. Purchased lists may not be used within the iContact system, regardless of the source or permission status.

As with any legislation, there are some exceptions:

Transactional emails (sales recipients, order confirmations, shipping notifications, etc.)

Messages that provide warranty, recall, safety, or security information about a product or service purchased by the recipient.

Messages sent on behalf of a charity or political organization for the purposes of raising funds or soliciting contributions.

Responses to a current customer, or someone who has inquired in the last six months.

A good rule of thumb is that one-off messages sent on a one-to-one communication basis originating from a previous business transaction are exempt. Please remember that a transaction is not considered an explicit opt-in and may not be added to your bulk mailing lists.

You may:

send out a regular newsletter to a recipient who has opted-in to receive it

send out information and content to Recipients who have requested to receive content on that topic from your organization

FAQs

How do I get explicit permission from contacts already on my list?

If you are unsure if you have explicit consent from your contacts, you can email them and request that they re-verify their interest in receiving your emails. To do this, create an email campaign that includes a clickable link to indicate their agreement to stay on your list. Throughout the campaign, you can re-send the message to those who did not click the link. You can repeat this process until July 1, 2017. Anyone who does not click the link to verify their consent should be removed from the account at this time.

Does this law only apply to Canadian businesses?

No. CASL can be applied to any senders sending to an entity within Canada.

What are the penalties for non-compliance?

It is important to note that CASL violations may results in criminal and/or civil charges. This means the shields of corporations or LLCs will not apply.

Up to $10 million for corporations and up to $1 million for individuals.

Individual recipients of your messages (i.e. any Canadian subscriber) can also sue for damages of $200 per message starting in 2017.

For more information on what CASL means for iContact customers, check out our blog post:

https://www.icontact.com/blog/what-casl-means-for-icontact-customers/

Additional information available at:

http://www.fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/home

Spam is any unsolicited email or junk mail. It is the practice of sending unwanted e-mail messages, frequently with commercial content, and in large quantities, to recipients that perceive the email to be unwanted or unsolicited. If you do not have the permission of all of your contacts to add them to your iContact account or send them emails, any email you send constitutes spam.

iContact prohibits all co-registration programs. If you participate in a co-registration program that generates leads for payment, the email addresses you receive are not permission based and are therefore prohibited. Also, we do not allow purchased lists.

The CAN-SPAM Act ( http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business ) outlines the definitions of spam and the requirements for email service providers such as iContact to stay within the law. We dedicate ourselves to sending spam-free emails.

When running the Spam Check, you receive a spam score stating "Your message must either have more text or less images."

Alternative Text

Spam Check looks for the ratio of images to text within an message. If a message has too many images or too little text, it is highly likely to be flagged as spam and can be flagged by Spam Check.

There is no exact number that we can give to the amount of text you need. The more text you have the lower the spam score. You can add new text blocks with text. You can also add to each image.

Please note - This score can occur even if you have not included any images. If you have a very small amount of text, it is possible that the image in the iContact footer, added as part of the sending process, can put your message over the spam threshold. If you receive this score, you must add more text to balance out the message.

A related error is that the message does not contain a text version. This happens when you only have an image and no text. While the previous error would allow you to still send your message, this one will not. You will need to add text somewhere in the message to get it to send.

Please click the blue Play button below to view iContact's video tutorial which will walk you through adding singular contacts to one or more of your email lists.

Tags: One at a Time, One by One

If you notice that you have a lot of unsubscribes from the same domain, there are a few possible reasons:

Complaints - Every email client has a way for your contacts to mark messages as spam. Whenever this happens, we register a complaint for that contact and automatically unsubscribe them so that they do not receive anymore messages.

Spam Filter - Some email clients will have a filter in place that will automatically unsubscribe their email addresses from messages the client deems as spam.

Invalid email addresses - If you have email addresses that were added incorrectly, no longer exist, or are experiencing other technical issues, your emails will not reach the contact. If you feel that you are seeing a number of unsubscribes due to invalid addresses, you may want to consider using the confirmation request process to clean your list and make it current.

If your message went to a private company, the admin at the company could have performed a mass unsubscribe or Do Not Contact on all email addresses that received the message. It's rare but sometimes private companies do not want to have their employees receiving newsletter while at work.

When a contact marks a message as spam (typically by clicking the "Spam" button in their email client), iContact receives the notification as a complaint. Complaints have a major impact on our sending reputation, so we take them seriously. When we receive a complaint, the contact is removed from the account. To protect the privacy of the contact, we do not make public which contact made the complaint. Additionally, the complaint is listed in the Tracking statistics for the message that caused the complaint.

If you exceed your monthly sending limit, you will need to approve pay-per-send charges to send out more emails for that month. The standard fee for a Pay Per Send charge is $5 per every 1000 messages, with a minimum charge of $2.

To approve Pay Per Send charges:

Click the Account drop down in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Click the Settings and Billing link.

Click the Pay Per Send link. This option will only appear if you have exceeded your monthly sending limit.

Click the Accept Charges button for the desired approval option. There are three options for Pay Per Send approval:

Per Message - This option approves the charges for a single send that is pending.

Per Month - This option approves the charges for the entire month.

Per Year - This option approves the charges for the entire year.

To revoke the pay per send approval, click the Stop Charges button (which will appear after you click to Accept Charges..

Please note - You must have a paid iContact account to use the Pay Per Send option. You also must be paying via Credit Card.

If you have a trial or Free Edition account, you'll need to upgrade to a paid account.

The following is a list of field character length limits.

Field name

Merge tag

Character Limit

Prefix

[prefix]

6

First Name

[fname]

50

Last Name

[lname]

50

Suffix

[suffix]

6

Business Name

[business]

200

Email

[email]

150

Phone

[phone]

20

Fax

[fax]

20

Address 1

[address1]

100

Address 2

[address2]

100

City

[city]

50

State

[state]

10

Zip Code

[zip]

10

List Name

[listname]

200

Custom text field

Depends on the field name

255

Custom checkbox field

Depends on the field name

n/a*

Custom numeric field

Depends on the field name

19

Custom date field

Depends on the field name

n/a

Sender Property name

n/a

30

* Checkbox custom fields that have more than 24 characters in the field name will not have containing data exported. The field will remain blank in the file.

To add a single contact:

Click the Contacts link on the left hand side of the page.

Click the Add/Update Contacts drop down and select Create Single Contact.

Fill out the contact's email address.

(Optional) Fill out and any other additional information.

(Optional) Click the Show button next to the Standard or Custom fields section to expand those fields if you want to add further data.

(Optional) Click the Create New Field link to create a new custom field on the fly.

On the bottom right hand side, select one or more lists to subscribe the contact to.

(Optional) Click the Require Confirmation toggle to send a confirmation message to the contact. Please note - You can create or edit confirmation messages in the account settings.

Use the Sender drop down to select which sender property to use when sending out the confirmation message.

(Optional) Click the Preview button to view a preview of the confirmation message.

Click the Save button.

Tags: One at a time, One by One, New Contact

Note: The following feature requires an upgrade in order to access it in your account.

Contact our Sales team to learn more at 877-820-7837.

Knowing the best time to send an email is a frequently asked question. Not all of your contacts will open messages at the same time of day, or from the same time zone.Smart Sending is a popular iContact Pro feature that solves this problem by ensuring that messages are sent at the right time of day for each one of your contacts. SmartSend will intuitively send your automation messages based on your contacts' previous message engagement. This means that, when Smart Sending is turned on, automation messages will be sent on the day specified within the automation, but the timing will depend on the last time that each specific subscriber took an action on a message.

Smart Sending will first look for the most recent time a subscriber has 'Clicked' on a link in a message. If there is no 'Click' activity, it will look for the most recent time they 'Opened' a message. Between the two, the system will base the send off of the most recent date. If there is no message engagement data, Smart Sending will look at the time they were added to the automation.

For example, if contact A opened their last message at 9 AM and contact B opened their last message at 5 PM, the next automation message will be sent to contact A at 9 AM and will be sent to contact B at 5 PM. This should put your messages in your contacts' inboxes at the most desirable time for them to engage with it. This eliminates time zone concerns because the timing will be unique for each contact based on their last message engagement activity.

A few things to note about Smart Sending:

This only applies to Automation messages and is not an option for broadcast sends.

There is no way to turn this feature on and off. If you have the Pro package, Smart Sending will automatically be turned on for all automation sends.

If a contact is net new to your account and does not have any previous message engagement activity, the timing of each automation send will be based on the time that they were added and subscribed to the list in the audience of the automation.

If a contact is not net new and already exists in the account, but does not have any previous message engagement activity,the timing of each automation send will be based on the time that they were added to the automation.

Important Note: SmartSend messages can not be scheduled for a specific time of day.We recommend allowing 24 hours in advance to ensure that messages reach your contacts on the correct day. For example, we do not recommend scheduling an event reminder automation to send on the same day of an event.