Get Results with BCM's E-mail Marketing Service
E-mail is a great way to stay in touch with your contacts. Your contacts appreciate thank-you notes, informative newsletters, sale announcements, special offers, and project updates that keep them informed. BCM makes it easy to send these communications to your valued contacts. BCM's E-mail Marketing Service (EMS) offers several advantages over regular Outlook e-mail delivery:
- Click tracking - Web links in your e-mail are automatically tracked so you'll know how many recipients clicked at least one link in your message
- Reply tracking - Replies are tracked, so you'll know how many recipients responded to a given mailing
- Unsubscribe tracking - EMS tracks which recipients opt out of your distribution list. Knowing the opt-out rate helps you improve the content of your messages
- Unlimited mail volume - Send large volumes of e-mail without exceeding the limit in the service agreement from your Internet Service Provider
- Specify an alternate, text-only message - Not all e-mail programs support HTML formatting. You can decide what the text-only version of your e-mail contains so it is easy for all recipients to read.
I'll start by creating a Word document that contains the information I'd like to share with my recipients. In Word, click the round Office button and select "New...". Then search for a good e-mail template by typing "e-mail" or "html" as part of your search terms. To make sure it will display properly in e-mail, save the Word template as HTML, close it and re-open the HTML file to see how it looks.
You can personalize your EMS message by adding contact fields. To do this:
- Select the "Mailings" tab in Word and then click "Start Mail Merge | E-mail Messages"
- Click "Select Recipients | Select from Outlook Contacts..."
- Double-click "Business Contacts" to connect to the datasource
- Click "OK" when the list of Business Contacts is displayed (we'll select our recipients later).
- Now place your cursor where you'd like to insert the customer's name and select "Insert Merge Field | First"
- Click the "Preview Results" button to see how your message will look with personalized fields
- For more information on EMS personalization, see this help topic
If you're still working with the HTML version of the Word document, save back to .docx to ensure that images are displayed properly. Now make sure that the .docx file is less than 200 KB. If it's too big, try resizing images smaller, then use Word's "Picture Tools | Format | Compress Picture" option.
Now that I've saved my Word document, the next step is to select my audience. In this example, I'd like to send a newsletter to several travel agents to keep them abreast of the latest vacation packages.
To do this I'll open the Business Contacts folder in Outlook and select recipients by holding the CTRL key while left-clicking on individual contacts. Next, I'll right-click on one of the selected contacts and choose "Create | New Marketing Campaign for Business Contacts". I'll select "E-mail Marketing Service" as the Delivery method and then click the "Browse" button to locate the Word document with my travel package prices. Clicking "Launch" will start the EMS wizard.
BCM users can currently send 50 free messages each month through EMS. If you provided contact information when you registered BCM, you'll receive a one-time bonus of 150 credits when you setup your EMS account. If you need to send additional e-mail messages each month, EMS offers two plans: 1,000 or 10,000 per month.
Before sending your e-mail messages, be sure to send a test e-mail message to your own account so that you can see how the e-mail message will look in various e-mail clients such as Outlook and Hotmail. If you've added personalized First or Last name fields to your Word document, you'll see <First Name> and <Last Name> in the test message to show you where recipient names will be displayed in the final e-mail messages.
After sending the e-mail campaign, the Marketing Campaign form will switch to the "Track" page to show you the list of recipients and the delivery status of each e-mail. At the bottom of the page, you'll see a tracking totals for your campaign. To refresh the status list and totals, click the "Refresh Data" button in the Marketing Campaign Ribbon.
Comments
Anonymous
May 10, 2007
Hi allAfter creating a doc in Word, then pasting as HTML into Outlook and selecting recipients,is it possible to have a field in the body of the email auto-populated with the FIRST NAME of every business contact selected as a recipient i.e. "Dear <business contact first name here>"This level of personalization is needed for a company newsletter. Please adviseThank youAnonymous
May 15, 2007
You can send personalized Outlook HTML e-mail using Word e-mail merge.To do this, create a Marketing Campaign. Select your recipients, then choose "Word E-mail Merge" as the Delivery method. Browse to an existing Word document or create one as described in the posting above.Clicking the "Launch" button will take you to the Word mail merge wizard. The last step of the wizard will prompt you to select an e-mail subject and format. If you select HTML, Word will generate a separate Outlook HTML e-mail message for each of your recipients.Anonymous
May 17, 2007
I see that the Marketing Campaign Tracker tracks the number of people who replied. Is there a way of displaying in one place (or one list) all the customers who actually replied?Anonymous
June 28, 2007
Hi,Does BCM's E-mail Marketing Service support charset=iso-8859-2 in TXT emails?I collect data in BCM in charset=iso-8859-2, so the question is - can I use BCM's E-mail Marketing Service at all?thanks in advance!NebojsaAnonymous
January 01, 2008
I want to convert from Goldmine to BCM. In Goldmine the current open Contact is automatically inserted into a WORD document (set up as a Goldmine Template). Can BCM do this - NOT mail merge - merge just one, preferable the open contact record?Anonymous
January 17, 2008
When using BCM's E-mail Marketing Service, I noted that the "From" has a bunch garbage letter that precedes the sender's name and that the "To" says "List Member" . Is there a way to fix it to remove the garbage letters and to replace the "List Member" with the receipient's name .Anonymous
January 17, 2008
I noted that opened emails are not tracked. Is that true? Or is there a way to track the emails as they are opened?Anonymous
January 18, 2008
Hi Slenner,"I noted that opened emails are not tracked. Is that true? Or is there a way to track the emails as they are opened? "The opens are only tracked if the emails where opened on a client that allows images. If the client settings are to block the download of images by default the tracking image won't get hit."When using BCM's E-mail Marketing Service, I noted that the "From" has a bunch garbage letter that precedes the sender's name and that the "To" says "List Member" . Is there a way to fix it to remove the garbage letters and to replace the "List Member" with the receipient's name . "This is happening because we use a redirection link for the email list. Most email clients now show the redirect link because of spam and phishing issue. There is nothing from a sender side of thing that will change this.Anonymous
January 22, 2008
Hi dmcor,Currently, there is no conversion available from Goldmine to BCM. Can you please explain more clearly as to what does insertion into Word document mean? Apart from the mail merge, you can link a Word document to a Business Contact using the BCM add-in present in the Word document. Is this what you are looking for?-SateeshAnonymous
February 06, 2008
If I write a standard email I can change the forwarder about the field "From". But in the marketing campaign is no field where I can change the forwarder. It will use the standard email adress.Is there a way to send an email campaigns as another forwarder-email adress?Anonymous
February 19, 2008
How do I buy additional credits?Thanks for any pointers.KenAnonymous
February 20, 2008
Hi Ken,Additional credits cannot be bought as of now. This feature is still under discussion.-SateeshAnonymous
February 21, 2008
Sateesh,Thank you for taking the time to respond. I hope there is more information soon since I am a critical decision point on whether to move forward with BCM or select another solution. Without the ability to purchase additional credits the utility of the 'integrated system' drops dramatically for me. In every other respect BCM is just the right size for my current needs.KenAnonymous
March 04, 2008
The comment has been removedAnonymous
March 17, 2008
Hi EdwardL,Unfortunately BCM does not support automatic creation of Phone Logs and Journals cannot be linked to BCM Contacts.Thanks,BurcuAnonymous
April 15, 2008
Has a decision been made on whether it will be possible to purchase additional credits?I am now at a go/no go decision point on whether to continue to use BCM based on the implied ability to purchase "1,000 or 10,000" credits per month.KenAnonymous
April 21, 2008
Any decision on the email marketing service yet? We need to buy more credits, willing to do so, but MS is not allowing it. When will this change or is there a workaround?We will use constant contact or another program instead if there is not a good answer.ThanksAnonymous
April 21, 2008
HiWe acknowledge that this is not supported today since we are still in the Beta phase and we are considering new capabilities based on customer demand.ThanksVinit [MSFT]Anonymous
April 23, 2008
Thanks for the answer.Any idea on the timing?Anonymous
May 09, 2008
Since this seems to be the best/only forum for me to express preference on the BCM email marketing system, my update is this.I want to use BCM/Outlook/Accounting Pro 2008, as a single solution for my small business. But, I cannot live with only 300 email credits per month and I afford to spend the time to maintain and track contact data in multiple sources. So, for the time being, I have moved off the BCM platform until such time as MS is ready to sell additional email marketing credits.Anonymous
June 23, 2008
I'd like to know if it is possible to change the "From" field in an email campaign somehow (with BCM or with E-mail marketing service)?!Anonymous
July 01, 2008
In non EMS instance it uses the default email from the current outlook profile.With ems, you can go into the account settings and change the from address, this is global for all marketing campaigns sent from the account.ThanksVinit [MSFT]Anonymous
August 29, 2008
Is there any word on whether MS has wised up and allowed people to purchase additional EMS credits? I certainly hope so because we would love to use it as our marketing tool, but if it doesn't work, then we would have to go to a competitor.Anonymous
December 12, 2008
I would like to create a multi-touch campaign and don't see how to accomplish this program with BCM. In other desktop CRM's I can set multiple emails to send in one campaign for one or more distribution lists. Example: Campaign 1 Email 1 - Topic 1 Email 2 - Topic 2 Campaign 3 Email 1 - Topic 2 Email 2 - Topic 3 Is it possible to create such a model in BCM without creating 4 discrete email blasts and manually managing each? Thanks, RonAnonymous
December 17, 2008
Hello, Whenever I try to launch a marketing campaign after selecting the users and creating or selecting the word file (*.docx) I receive the following message:"Business Contact Manager for Outlook could not complete your last action or actions". I'm working with the Spanish trial version. I have already installed the SP1 for Outlook with BCM, I reboot the computer and the message keeps showing. I opened the log file but it seems that nothing is wrong: [V] [18:15:10.5000000]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: IMSCapabilities::GetCapabilities:Enter: 0x02f04d8c [V] [18:15:10.5468750]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: IMSCapabilities::GetCapabilities:Return: 0x02f04d8c, 0x00000000 [V] [18:15:10.5937500]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: IMSCapabilities::GetCapabilities:Enter: 0x02f04d8c [V] [18:15:10.5937500]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: IMSCapabilities::GetCapabilities:Return: 0x02f04d8c, 0x00000000 [V] [18:15:10.6562500]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: IMSCapabilities::GetCapabilities:Enter: 0x02f04d8c [V] [18:15:10.6562500]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: IMSCapabilities::GetCapabilities:Return: 0x02f04d8c, 0x00000000 [V] [18:15:39.8281250]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: moMnuHelpAboutBusinessContactManager_Click: Exit [V] [18:15:39.8593750]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Enter [V] [18:15:39.8593750]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Exit [V] [18:15:39.9687500]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Enter [V] [18:15:39.9687500]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Exit [V] [18:15:42.1250000]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Enter [V] [18:15:42.1250000]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Exit [V] [18:15:42.3281250]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Enter [V] [18:15:42.3281250]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Exit [V] [18:15:42.4375000]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Enter [V] [18:15:42.4375000]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Exit [V] [18:15:43.9687500]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Enter [V] [18:15:43.9687500]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: MenuBarBase:moCommandBarsEvents_OnUpdate: Exit [V] [18:15:44.3125000]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: ExplorerWrapper:moExplorer_Close: Enter [V] [18:15:44.8906250]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.DataSync: OfflineManager.StopPollingForSharedDBConnectivity: Entry [V] [18:15:44.8906250]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.DataSync: OfflineManager.StopPollingForSharedDBConnectivity: Exit [V] [18:15:45.0937500]Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn: ExplorerWrapper:moExplorer_Close: Exit [V] [18:15:45.6562500]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: IMAPITable::Unadvise:Enter: 0x02effd90 [V] [18:15:45.6718750]Iris.Mapi.MessageStore: MAPITable::Unadvise:Return: 0x02effd90, 0x00000000 I'm getting really desperate because I have looked up in other blogs but no one seems to have the answer. My client wanted to purchase this tool but after all the problems we have had to get BCM installed we are considering to choose a different software. Could you please give us a hand. We would really appreciate any help. MarisolAnonymous
February 26, 2009
i must be missing something but having a problem with bcm fields merged incorrectly. i followed the step by step guide above for sending email with the EMS using a mail merged .docx. everything sends fine, but all my emails are using the same contact name on the merged fields. for example...I sent to the following people in my office for a test (jeremy, mark, zach). each user received the email at his address but the email was addressed to Mark for all 3 recipients. what am i missing. when i preview the document it seems fine but the fields are merging incorrectly or only for the first contact in the list to be more precise. thanks bcmteam for your help in advance.Anonymous
April 16, 2009
The comment has been removedAnonymous
April 20, 2009
Hi ToniBaloni, Could you give some more context on whats going on here? Are you connected to a shared or local database? Did this started to happen recently? Thanks -Vinit [MSFT]Anonymous
May 05, 2009
I would like to create a mailing list of contacts based on geographic location and the owner of the contact (e.g., NY, MA and PA and contact owners A, B and C. Is this possible?Anonymous
May 05, 2009
Hi dmbrandon, You can create search folders based on geographical location. You can learn more about creating search folders from http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/archive/2007/02/14/using-outlook-folder-views-and-search-folders-with-business-contact-manager.aspx#8555568 Hope this helps. Thanks Vinit [MSFT]Anonymous
May 06, 2009
Thank you for the information. I would to also add the contact owner to the search criteria. Is this possible?Anonymous
May 06, 2009
Yes,you can apply this criteria on the Advanced Tab of the Filter dialog. Thanks -Vinit [MSFT]Anonymous
July 30, 2009
Someone asked this earlier, but has not gotten an answer (that I could find). How do I create a series of emails (email campaign) that wll be AUTOMATICALLY sent out at predefined intervals (i.e.email #1 goes out on day 0, email #2 goes out on day +3, etc.) WITHOUT using a 3rd-party solution like PinPoint or Prophet? I'm using BCM 2007 (but will upgrade if 2010 will do this). Thanks!Anonymous
June 10, 2010
Why is the refresh data button grayed out under Marketing Campaigns/Campaigns ribbon/Refresh Data? (Outlook 2007,Exchange 2003,BCM Service Pack 2)Anonymous
March 06, 2012
Very Informative ,You are really Master. Thanks for giving us such a wonderful information http://www.alphasandesh.com/Anonymous
October 02, 2013
yeah agree... thanks for sharing... for all types of email services and lists visit http://b2bemaillistz.com/Anonymous
October 02, 2013
yeah i agree... thanks for sharing.... for all types of email lists and services visit http://www.optinlistsgroup.comAnonymous
December 27, 2013
The comment has been removedAnonymous
February 15, 2015
I've been looking for highly effective email marketing with cost-effective, lightning fast method where you stay in constant contact with your entire database of clients, prospects, and leads, preserving and building long-lasting relationships, while increasing your business overtime. So one of my clients show me this guys – Email Marketing Boost (www.emailmarketingboost.com) .Than I realized that targeting the right prospects with the right message and product can make your campaign highly effective. Building relationships based on loyalty, relevance, and trust, results in repeat sales and cross selling.