Sport connect logo

Creating and sending your first newsletter

The following tutorial will help you use the Newsletter Sender for the first time.

Accessing the Newsletter Sender

If you have had the Newsletter Sender installed on your SSPWebsite, you can access it from its own panel on your Account Home page. To start creating your first newsletter click 'Add New Newsletter'. This will take you to the first step which is 'Add Newsletter'.

Step 1 : Newsletter Basics

Your first step is to create your newsletter. This is done by entering three basic pieces of information: Newsletter name, Subject and Sender address.

The newsletter name is the main heading people will see when they open your email. It is also used in your site admin as the reference name so you can find it in the future.

The subject line shows up first in email clients. It should be made to sound interesting and be relevant to the content of your newsletter. Be careful though as subject lines are one of the biggest factors in email being picked up by spam filters. We have compiled a short list to give you an idea of the types of language to avoid using:

Winner, Special, Promotion, Offer, No fees, Order Now, Save money, Cash Bonus, Credit, Loans, Free.

Finally the sender address shows up in the from part of your email. If a user clicks reply, this is the address their email will be sent to. Please note that by default the sender address is set to 'system@yourpartnershipsurl' which cannot receive incoming messages. If you want/expect people to reply to your newsletters you should change this to be a valid email address that you regularly check.

Once you have filled in all three fields click 'Next Step' to continue.

Step 2 : Add Content

The newsletter sender works by allowing you to create multiple blocks of content that you can add to and reorder. You are required to create the first piece of content as part of the initial add newsletter process. Please note you can add to, change and reorder content before you have to send out your newsletter.

There are four types of content block available for you to choose from. These are:

• An image on it's own: This is useful for breaking up a very text heavy newsletter. Also handy for sending out flyers/invites or simple image based newsletters.
• A written story on its own: Select this option if you just want to write text into this block.
• A written story with an image to the right/left: If you have a mixture of content to add (text and images) then these blocks should be perfect. As the names suggest the image you add is placed next to the story you write giving your email more the look and feel of a magazine.

Choose the block type that most suits your content and click the 'Select' button. This will reload the page and show the relevent fields beneath. Add your content and click 'Next Step' to proceed.

Step 3 : Review Newsletter

Reaching this step means you have added the minimum amount of information required to create an email newsletter.

Please note that at this point your email has not been saved. To save what you have done so far please click 'Save Only' at the bottom of the page.

Beneath the title Newsletter Content is a list of the blocks you have added to your newsletter (if you are following this tutorial for the first time you will only see one block of content). By clicking on it's name (or 'Edit') you can change what will be shown inside this particular block. In doing so you can also change the block type to reflect a change in the content you have.

Above this list are two buttons. Choose 'Add New Content' to create a brand new block for this email. Once added it will show up in the list. There is also a 'Reorder Content' button. Use this to rearrange the content you have added to be in your desired order. Clicking the button makes each item in the list become dragable. Simpley rearrange the items in the list into the order you want and click 'Save New Order' to save them.

Towards the bottom of the page under Additional Options you can choose to add dynamic content to your newsletter. Your site can automatically include the latest news and/or event information in your email newsletter to promote interest amongst it's recipients. Simply tick the box next to the things you want to include and hit 'Save & Continue'.

If you don't want to send your newsletter right away, simply click the 'Save Only' button at any time and everything will be stored for you to come back to another time. To access previous/saved newsletters choose the 'Manage Newsletters' option from the panel on your Admin Home.

Step 4 : Recipients

The last thing you have to do before sending out your newsletter is decide who will receive it. You have three options here:

• Send it to members off your partnership based upon profile type. Simply tick the oppropriate boxes and an email will be sent to the account email address for each person in each selected profile type.
• Send to site visitors who have signed up to receive email updates. To do this tick 'Send to subscribers'.
• For testing purposes and/or to receive a copy of each newsletter you send out be sure to tick 'Send copy to myself'.

Once you are happy you have made the correct selections, click 'Save & Send' and your newsletter will be sent instantly.

We hope you enjoy using the Newsletter Sender module.

Return to tutorials index