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Introducing Carlyle Delivers HTML Emails

by Timothy Hammer on September 20, 2012 in Announcements, Web Development, Web Services with No comments

I mentioned a couple weeks ago in my post on The Anatomy of an Email that we had a new friend we would be announcing soon. Well, today is the day. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Carlyle Delivers.

Yep, he's an ice cream cone who rocks a monocle.

What is Carlyle Delivers?

Short answer, Carlyle sends beautiful HTML emails that work in a wide variety of email clients and on your phone, iPad, or computer. If you receive Bethel eNews or the Royal Recap, you’ve already seen Carlyle in action. Last year’s Christmas video and email was also made possible by Carlyle.

What can it do?

What can’t it do? Well, it can’t write a good email for you and it can’t make people respond. But, it can help make your email better and hopefully encourage more people to respond. Some of the great features of Carlyle:

Beautiful email templates. They look great—and they’re easy to use. Drop in a photo or two, add some content, and get your message out. We’re starting with some great reusable templates and plan on adding some additional ones as we reveal Bethel’s new visual identity next year.
Usable response data. Wonder if people are reading your emails? Maybe you’re not even sure if they’re receiving it. Carlyle can let you know if your message was successfully delivered, opened, and if the recipient clicked on any of the links (you do have a link or two, right?).
No-fuss lists. If you’ve sent out a large email from Bethel before, you know it tends to be a lot of work to pull together and finalize your list of email addresses. That’s why we’ve integrated Carlyle Delivers with Banner. All you have to do is run a simple Argos report to pull your list of email addresses and any data you’d like to include in the email (name, grad year, etc).
Automatic unsubscribes and bounces. If you’ve been to email training or seen You’re Probably Spamming and Don’t Even Know It, you’ll remember the strict federal requirements about bounces and unsubscribes. Carlyle handles all of this. A recipient can unsubscribe with one click and it is automatically recorded in Banner for next time. Bounced email addresses are inactivated automatically, too.

Ready to go?

We spent quite a while testing and launched Carlyle in stages over the past 10 months. Just this month we moved to Carlyle for alumni, parent, and donor emails—all made possible by Eric Moberg, Sandy Gritzmacher, and Lisa Carlson who have been instrumental in the web development and Banner integration.

By Thanksgiving we’ll have admissions and Church Ministries in there too. Carlyle will be used much more exclusively for those areas, so we started with them. As for our current students and employees—you’ll see some Carlyle emails come your way, but sometimes a plain text email is all you need.

Want to know more?

If you’re a part of the Bethel community and think Carlyle might be great for your office, department, or program, send an email over to web-services@bethel.edu. We’re working on some more information about how to use Carlyle, but in the mean time we’d be glad to chat.

If you’re an institution who uses the Banner ERP or would like to know more about how we integrated our systems with a great product from our friends at Campaign Monitor, just let me know.

The Anatomy of an Email

by Timothy Hammer on August 1, 2012 in Web Content with No comments

It’s been about a year and a half since we first circled around to talk about email. It seemed so simple that I imagined people walking out, throwing things, or just falling asleep (fortunately, my colleagues are very kind people). Fast-forward to last week and it was the same situation—email workshop to our alumni relations friends at the CCCU Alumni Conference. As I prepared, I thought it was again too obvious and I would bore people to tears.

But that wasn’t the case—from blacklists, to vendor trouble and horrible open rates, it was one horror story after the next. So I find myself needing to spread the word about email once again. There are so many things we could talk about—from spam and email preferences to a new friend Carlyle Delivers. You’ll have to wait to hear more about Carlyle, but I think there are some important things about email you should know.

If you want the full presentation, check out You’re Probably Spamming & Don’t Event Know It on Prezi. Otherwise, here is a section that I use every time I’m writing, proofing, or dreaming up an email.

The Anatomy of an Email (pdf) is a helpful cheat sheet for working through an email. You’ll find this guide on the desks of most of our editors as a cheat sheet for keeping our emails in line. Here are the 6 areas to look out for:

From address

Who is this email coming from?
Does the recipient know this person?
Is a generic or personal email address best?

Subject line

Don’t sell what’s inside—tell what’s inside. Think going through security at the airport—surprises are bad.
Subject lines are not advertisements. Cheap pharmaceuticals, anyone?
Avoid the words “help” and “reminder.” Overused and ineffective.
Even good subject lines go bad. You don’t want them to think “I’ve already seen this.”
If going to a broad audience, include “Bethel” in the subject. Use familiar words to build legitimacy.
50 characters or less. Try reading a novel on your phone.
Don’t use the “important” status. It’s a bit presumptuous.

Body copy

Do:

Speak like a human. If you want to be formal or classy, send a letter.
Avoid humor and sarcasm. They don’t translate well.
Use short paragraphs, bullets, and numbers. Make the email easy to scan.
Link actionable words. Please no http:// or “click here”
Only underline URLs. Hopefully this isn’t a surprise.
Limit yourself to 2 unique URLs. Don’t give them 10 options—it’s confusing.
Keep the font simple. Times or Verdana, it doesn’t really matter what you choose—just choose one and stick with it.

Don’t:

Use “dear.” Who begins an email with “dear?”
Use all CAPS. Shouting?
Use more than one exclamation point. You end up sounding like you’ve had too much coffee.
Bold, bold, bold. If everything is important, then nothing is important.

Call to action

Clear and singular. The recipient shouldn’t have to guess what you want them to do.
Facilitate a quick response. Don’t make them wait to respond—if they’re ready, they should be able to.

Signature

Who to contact with questions.
Can be an office or individual.
No images, disclaimers, slogans, etc. Save the inspirational sayings for the card you’re sending in the mail.
Should include:
1. Sender’s name
2. Title/Office
3. Phone number
4. Email address

Footer

This let’s them know why they’re getting the message, what they need to do to unsubscribe, and where to find you. It’s the right thing to do—and it’s the law.

You’re receiving this email because you’re a Bethel [role]. If you’d no longer like to receive [role] [category], you can unsubscribe at any time.
Bethel University | 3900 Bethel Drive | St. Paul, MN 55112 | 651.638.6400 | www.bethel.edu

Tip of the Iceberg

Looking at the content of your email is just the tip of the iceberg. But, it’s a great place to start. Once you have a better handle on what you’re saying, it’s a lot easier to be strategic about missing or conflicting messages and to…wait for it…think about effectiveness and relevancy. I’d say don’t treat email as a lower form of communication, but in reality, don’t treat your constituents with such disregard. They’re too important.

Maybe next time we’ll talk the horrors of spam, email preferences, or introduce you to our new friend Carlyle Delivers. Until then, stay classy and say something worth saying.

A Blog about Blogs

by Timothy Hammer on February 13, 2012 in Announcements, Web Development, Web Services with 1 Comment

Writing a blog about blogs, or technically a blog post about blogs, feels a little like talking in the third-person. Even though it’s a little odd, we’ve got some great news to share.

This week we’re launching a new blog system at Bethel. Before you even say it, we know you’re asking: aren’t we a little behind the times? Haven’t WordPress and Blogger been around for quite a while? Yep, you’re correct.

But, here’s a question: What is worse than having to remember 30 passwords? Forgetting one of them.

With Bethel blogs, you won’t have to worry about that. Integrating our web solutions with the Bethel environment so they’re easier for you to use is one of our top priorities. And due to the new calendar, admissions applications, and other recent projects, our blog system has been patiently waiting for its turn.So we’re please to announce, albeit a little late, that Bethel Blogs have arrived. Here are some of the features:

No new account needed. As long as you can remember your Bethel password, you won’t need to remember anything else. Whether you’re creating a blog or reading a private blog, all you’ll need is your Bethel account.
Access control. Along with being tied in with Bethel accounts comes control over who can read our blogs. So, you can choose to have your blog open to the world or just for those in the Bethel community.
Great templates. We’ve got a template designed to match Bethel’s new website or a template that’s related, but has more of a personal feel. And you can still customize it with a photo and other personalization.
Strong technology. Bethel blogs are built on the WordPress technology. This means there are rich features and they’re always adding more.

So who can blog? Well, just about anyone. You might be a staff member who has been asked to blog as part of your work responsibilities. Students can blog—whether you’re blogging for class, your campus job, or just for fun. Faculty could choose to blog for professional development or for a class.

So, ready to blog? We’ve got some resources on our website to help you get started. If you have any other questions, please let us know by sending us an email or posting a question in the comments below.