Broadcast Emails are bulk emails sent to the entire list or to an audience. They can be send for various reasons, for example, to remind people with zero points to get engaged. The advantage of using KickoffLabs to send these messages is that we make it easy to include lead properties such as their custom share links and score.

* To be able to send Broadcast Emails from KickoffLabs, first, you will need to add a 3rd party email provider setup.

How To Set Up Broadcast Emails in KickoffLabs

1. To access broadcast emails, please follow the path Setup>Messaging>Send Broadcasts
   
2. If you haven’t set up custom email provider before you will be asked to do it now.
   
3. If you set up the Email provider previously, you will be taken to the broadcast setup screen.
   
4. To create a new Broadcast click “Send Another Broadcast” and you will see a new screen where you can add a subject, an audience and content of the email.
   
   When you choose an audience you can see the predefined audiences as well as the audiences you saved in the lead search screen.
5. When you finish setting up the email, send a test email to see if comes as you expected.
6. Once you are happy with it, you can send it to the chosen audience.
7. At first the broadcast will be in “Sending” status.
   
   When you refresh the page and the email is done sending you should see it changed to “Sent” status.

* In the broadcast emails you can use the tokens the same way as in other emails.

The post Sending Broadcast Emails appeared first on KickoffLabs.

A. The fields “from” and “reply to”

If you would like to control the from field and reply to address of emails from KickoffLabs you can do it via Email Defaults (Managing Default Email Settings – KickoffLabs Support). 

B. The email footer branding

This branding is simply removed with a business or higher plan.

C. Sent Via KickoffLabs.com

Please be aware that some email providers (like gmail) will still show “Sent Via KickoffLabs.com“. You see the “via” branding because we’re sending email on your behalf.

In order to remove that message from gmail you would need to do one of two things:

1. Connect your own email provider

Custom Email Providers – KickoffLabs Support

This can be done on any paid plan level and it will grant additional benefits listed in the document.

2. Connect a custom email domain to KickoffLabs (requires Business or higher plan)

Choosing this option will require you to make some changes to your domain at DNS provider. Please email support@kickoffLabs.com to get the required DNS changes made on KickoffLabs side. Once you make the changes we confirm them and you should no longer see the “via”.

D. Control the email template.

You can control the layout and look of the emails being sent on each campaign by adding a custom email template to wrap the content of each email.

The post Removing Email Branding appeared first on KickoffLabs.

Using a custom email provider means:

• Emails sent no longer count against your monthly uniques at KickoffLabs
• Better control over sending with your own IP address and custom email domain
• Direct access to email analytics
• You could use the same service to send bulk emails.

Email provider setup

**We don’t recommend using Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo etc**

Please note: In order to use a custom email domain, you will need to verify the domain via your provider. If you’re using Sendgrid, we’ve created a step by step guide to verify the domain.   

To access e-mail provider setup follow the path Setup>Messaging>Custom Email Provider from the campaign overview screen.

Click “Configure email provider” and you will be taken to the new screen where you can see three options to set up e-mail provider:

• SMTP
• Sendgrid
• Amazon Services SES

Sendgrid via SMTP

In the KickoffLabs Provider setup click SMTP and you will see the following screen

Now go to your Sendgrid application and follow the path Email API>Integration Guide then click “Choose” below SMTP Relay option

You will see the next screen

where you need to enter enter “Testing KickoffLabs” on the “My First API Key Name” field and click “Create Key“.

Copy the API Key and server information and go back to KickoffLabs where you need to enter the info.

Once you fill in all mandatory information click “Verify“. This will only work if the e-mail address which you have verified in Sendgrid is the same as the e-mail address added in the default settings in KickoffLabs. In case you would like to use a different e-mail for KickoffLabs, you can, but you will need to enter in “From Address” field the verified in Sendgrid email address.

When you have finished, click “Save Configuration” button.

Sendgrid via Web API

This time in the Email Provider screen click Sendgrid and you will be taken to the next screen.

In the meantime access Sendgrid and in the integration guide screen, click “Choose” under the option “Web API“. Then click Settings and API Key

Click “Create API Key” and then choose “Restricted access“.

Scroll down and select “Mail Send” and click “Create Now“.

Copy the key and click “Done“.

*Please note that once you click done you will never be able to see this API key again!

Once you have the API key you can go back to KickoffLabs and paste it in the email provider section.

First click “Verify” and then “Save Configuration“. You will see a confirmation on the screen that the set up has been completed.

The post Custom Email Providers appeared first on KickoffLabs.

• Creating and Customizing Email Templates
• Setting Up Automatic Reply and Reward Level Emails
• Setting Up SMS Contest Messages
• Choosing a Custom Email Provider
• Setting up broadcast emails

The post Messaging appeared first on KickoffLabs.

KickoffLabs is setup to enable Twilio verification as part of your contest. This article walks through the setup.

Requirements

SMS Contests with KickoffLabs require:

1. The SMS Add-on for KickoffLabs. This can be purchased with existing plans for an additional monthly fee OR is included with Enterprise Plans.
2. An account with Twilio. Twilio is a service used for delivery and receipt of SMS messages. This means you pay directly for the messages being used instead of us including a huge markup on messages like other Text to Win services.

Follow along with the step by step screenshots below to get started. 

Setup

1. Create a KickoffLabs Campaign

First you’ll need to create a campaign with KickoffLabs if you haven’t already. Today SMS contests work together with landing pages so you always have a home base for your campaign.

2. Connect to your Twilio Account

From your campaign overview page select “Setup” > “Messaging” from the top menu. Then, select “SMS Verification.”

Once there you’ll be asked for your Twilio Connection. You’ll need to locate your Twilio Account SID, Service SID and Authentication Token. This will allow us to send messages on your behalf through your Twilio account.

Open a new tab in your browser and navigate to Twilio.com. From the Twilio dashboard, copy your Account SID and Auth Token and paste them into the above KickoffLabs Twilio integration settings.

Next, select “explore products” on the left side Twilio Dashboard menu. Scroll down to “Account Security” and select “Verify.“

Select the blue + icon to add a new verification service.

Next, give the new verification service a friendly name. Please note that whatever is entered here will be included in messages sent via Twilio. 

Twilio will now take you to the service level settings. We recommend keeping the default settings that Twilio has enabled other than the Email setting. This will need to be disabled from the email tab.

Select the “General” tab from the Service Settings. Copy the Service SID and paste it into your KickoffLabs integration settings. 

At this stage, you should now have the Twilio Account SID, Auth Token, and Service SID filled out in KickoffLabs. The last step is to turn on the integration in KickoffLabs. 

Once enabled, KickoffLabs will begin to show the SMS verification in the list of actions. When a lead signs up, they’ll receive a verification code from Twilio via SMS to place into the KickoffLabs SMS action. At this time, we require the actions to be added to your KickoffLabs pages/Contest Box, or use the API. 

Leads that have verified will show as verified with a green check mark as-well as show as having completed the verification action from the lead section in your KickoffLabs dashboard. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to support@kickofflabs.com!

The post Setup SMS Verification With Your Campaign Via Twilio appeared first on KickoffLabs.

Please note that the template that you use will be used campaign wide. There is currently not an option to use multiple email templates in a campaign. While we support using your own email templates, any troubleshooting/debugging custom code would be outside of our team’s support scope.

From your campaign dashboard, select “Edit Messaging.”

Next, select the “Default Settings” on the right side of the messaging settings.

From the messaging defaults page, the Template Design section is located on the right side. In this area you can select an existing template from the dropdown to view or edit, or select “add a new template.”

Once you’ve entered the editor, you can modify your code on your template and give it a name. Any HTML can be modified within the template, so long as the two required content tags are within the template. These tags are {{email.html}} and {{footer.html}}. These tags pull the information from your KickoffLabs campaign.

The post Creating and Customizing Email Templates appeared first on KickoffLabs.

Here’s how to manage your Default Email Settings:

1. From your Campaign Dashboard, click “Setup” and then “Messaging”
   
2. Select “Default Settings.”
3. By default, we use whatever email was used to sign-up for your KickoffLabs account. Below we’ve included a quick breakdown of each of the email settings. If you need to use something different for your campaign, you can update things like:

• Sender Identity
  From Name, From Email Address, and Postal Address via the Email Settings. These settings will apply only to the campaign you are updating.
• Templates
  As a default we use a Minimal and Responsive template used, however, we allow you to fully customize your email templates, including uploading your own template, copying a template from another source or building your own template from scratch. Please note that we do not provide any support/troubleshooting on custom email templates.
• Unsubscribe
  You MUST include a valid Postal Address to be in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.  Your settings also enable you to update your Unsubscribe message, which is automatically included in the Footer of all of your KickoffLabs auto-reply Emails. If you wish, you can also select a specific URL that we should send to users after they unsubscribe. This could be a custom unsubscribe page, your signup page, your status page, or somewhere external. Our default unsubscribe message looks like this – and redirects to your signup page by default:
  

Be sure to click the blue “Save Email Settings” button once you’ve finished updating your Email Settings.

If you have any questions, please let us know at support@kickofflabs.com!

The post Managing Default Email Settings appeared first on KickoffLabs.

These messages are a great way to open the lines of communication with your leads, thank them for signing up, and relay any important information you may not have included in your signup or thank you pages.

Here’s how to set up an auto-reply Email for your campaign:

1. The auto-reply mail can be accessed two ways. From your Campaign Dashboard, in the “Common Settings” area.
2. Or via the top nav by selecting “Setup” > “Messaging.” Either option will take you to the same Messaging settings.
3. Next, select the auto-reply mail to edit.
4. If you’ve have’t added a mailing address to your account, you will immediately be prompted to do so. A valid mailing address is required under the CAN-SPAM Act. If you’ve already added your address to your account, you’ll be taken to the auto-reply email editor.
5. On the Email editing page you can enable/disable the email, update the Email subject line and text, send yourself a preview, and see a list of Email tokens which you can use to personalize your Emails. Let’s take a closer look at each option, we’ll go from top to bottom on the page:
   

• Frequency dropdown menu – here you select how often you want the auto-reply Email to be sent
  – Never. Please do NOT send any auto-replies.
  – Every time a lead signs up
• Email Subject Line
• Email Body Text – these Email are mostly plain text. We don’t currently support uploading Email templates. Use the text editing bar at the top of the Email Body field to customize your fonts, link text, add images, and add downloadable assets. Embedding videos in Email messages is widely unsupported.
• Save Auto-Reply Settings – you must click this to save any changes you make
• Send Yourself a Preview – this will send a preview of your auto-reply to the account Email address. The preview Email will include Example links, so please don’t worry if your only seeing an example URL in your preview. We will replace the example URL with your Default Share URL when a live Email is sent.

Scroll down on the page to view the list of available tokens.

An example token below. To view the full list of tokens, please follow the link.

Important Notes:

• Visit your Default Email Settings to update things like your From Name and Address, Postal Address, Unsubscribe Message, and Unsubscribe Redirect URL.
• Our auto-reply Emails are simple HTML and plain text based. We do NOT provide support/debugging on any custom third-party email templates.
• The margins on the Emails are set and cannot currently be adjusted.
• Embedding videos in Emails is widely unsupported. If you want to include a video, we recommend hosting the video on a site like YouTube, taking a screenshot of the video, and then linking the video image to your hosted video.
• When customizing a token, be sure NOT to remove the {% token_link %} portion. Your customization should go in between the token_link and closing bracket %} with a space on either side. For example {% token_link Your customization %}
• Email going to spam? Read our guide on avoiding spam filters!

Still need help setting up your auto-reply Emails? Shoot us a message to support@kickofflabs.com

The post Setting Up an Automatic Reply Email appeared first on KickoffLabs.

1. Verification Email

When are they sent?

After a new leads signs up, they will be required to manually verify their email address (commonly known as double opt-in).

What is it used for?

• Provide an integrated double opt-in experience.
• Help prevent fake emails from skewing results.
• Safest solution for campaigns with significant value.

This email is optional, you can skip it and go for single opt-in instead with the Automatic Reply.

2. Automatic Reply*

When are they sent?

Immediately after the lead signs up (or has verified their email if using Verification Emails).

You can optionally have the auto-reply mail turned completely OFF for the contest.

What is it used for?

• Skip the verification email with single opt-in.
• Welcome/thank a new lead for signing up.
• Deliver downloadable opt-in bribes & coupons.
• Remind them about any incentive for sharing.

3. Reward Level Emails

When are they sent?

After a lead has reached specific referral milestones. For example: after 3, 5, 10 & 20 referrals.

These need to be created in order to be sent. You can get notifications when leads reach referral goals.

What is it used for?

• For campaigns that define specific sharing goals and rewards for your leads.
• Delivering specific rewards for a lead reaching referral totals you define.
• Telling the lead what they will get if they reach the next reward level.

4. Broadcast Emails

When are they sent?

Broadcast Emails are bulk emails sent to the entire list or to an audience when you choose to do so.

What is it used for?

• They can be send for various reasons, for example, to remind people with zero points to get engaged.

5. SMS

Today KickoffLabs can capture your leads phone number and send two text message back to your participants. One to confirm their subscription and the other with a sharing code that’s used like the email automatic reply

If you have any questions regarding how to best integrate KickoffLabs emails, contact support@kickofflabs.com

The post What are the different campaign emails or SMS messages I can send? appeared first on KickoffLabs.