Campaign Enterprise can connect to any ODBC compliant database, one that complies with Open Database Connectivity requirements. These include, but may not be limited to the following:

• MS Access
• MS SQL Server
• MySQL
• Oracle

There are three steps to go through before making data available to the end user for actually sending the campaign.

• Set up the database connection
• Select the table and and filters
• Assign it to the end user

Set up database connection:

• Determine your database type. The database connection is dependent on what database you intend to use for your email addresses. Go to connectionstrings.com and get the right connection string for your database. You will need to know the version of your database, the permissions used, the IP address and other information as specified by your database administrator. You may also need a username and password depending on how your database is administered.
  
  Example Strings: 
  Access: Standard Security: Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\myFolder\myAccessFile.accdb; Persist Security Info=False;
  
  Access: With Database Password: Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\myFolder\myAccessFile.accdb; Jet OLEDB:Database Password=MyDbPassword;
  
  MS SQL Server: Standard Security: Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername; Password=myPassword;
  
  MS SQL Server: Trusted Connection: Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Trusted_Connection=True;
  
  MySQL Standard Security: Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;
  
  These are just a few examples. Go to connectionstrings.com to find the string for your database.
• In Campaign, log in as the administrator and click the Administration link.
• Click Database Connection Management
• Click Add New Database Connection
  Name it something readily identifiable, "Main SQL Connection" for example
  Select the database type
  Enter the string, with any variables necessary already filled in.
  
  When you save the string, Campaign will automatically test the connection. You may have to tweak the syntax of your string as prompted to successfully connect.
• If you are in a multi-user environment, make sure you assign the users and groups that have access to this connection.
  

Create External Email List:
You can now create a new external email list, using this connection string. All available connection strings will show in the drop down and you would select the one you need for a particular list.

• Click Email List
  
• Click Add New Email List
• Name the list something readily identifiable "Sales Followup" for example
  
• Select External and click continue
  Select the database connection from the list of available connections
  Select the table, SQL Statement option, Stored procedure or use a filter in the project by selecting "From Campaign"
  Match the columns shown, Bounce, Unsubscribe, ID and Email
  Then save the Email List
• Enter a Bounce SQL statement if you want one.
• Set the permissions for this connection
  

There are other options available for more advanced list configuration should you need it. Please contact technical support for more information. The email list will appear in the campaign to address field for those users with permission to connect to this list.

By: Chris Lewis

The choice of the SMTP server you use is as if not more important that the email marketing tool you us. You can create the best looking, most effective email ever but if your SMTP server setup is not set up well then it is like you never sent it.

SMTP servers are the email work-horses of the internet.  In the world of amazing technology, it is sometimes hard to be impressed, but I am constantly amazed by the thought and foreknowledge of the whole SMTP server framework.  As time has moved on, the SMTP framework has changed, and the biggest change is that of SPAM control.  There are to main problem areas we see daily with SMTP servers: How to connect to your SMTP server, and how "good" your SMTP actually functions.

SMTP Connection - The problems that are encountered when connecting to SMTP servers are varied and usually include these:

• The port you need to use is being blocked by your ISP if you SMTP server
• My ISP only allows so many email per day/hour
• Not using the correct connection method (ie: TLS, SSL, NTLM) or wrong domain name
  
• My ISP's SMTP server is not a "good citizen" in the internet world
  

SMTP Configuration - If you have your own SMTP server on-site you are both blessed and cursed.  You will be able to get your emails out to the SMTP server at lightning speeds, but since you have your own SMTP server YOU will have to be responsible for being a "good citizen."  This means you need to do daily duties like making sure your IP address(es) on the SMTP is using is not blacklisted, that major email providers like Hotmail, AOL, and Gmail and not blocking your emails, and making sure you are not overwelming your SMTP server or your connection to the internet.  Needless to say this is a big subject, but these are some of the things to consider.

SMTP Providers - There are specialized companies out there that will act as your SMTP server.  They will ensure your emails going out are appropriately make to conform to SPAM rules, they monitor their servers to make sure they are not blocked, and they will help you resolve issues that do come up is there are any problems with email recipients.  Now it is true this will cost you some money, but if you add up all the time you or someone you will hire to work on these issues I think the value is there.  If you are sending 100,000 emails a month, then the prices are really reasonable.  If you send over a million, then that is maybe when you can start thinking of having your own SMTP server, but it really depends on the connectivity, your budget, and your expertise.  One of our partners is SMTP.com (http://arialsoftware.smtp.com) and they have been a great partner with us for years. There are others, but I think they are the best, so check them out if this seems like a solution for you.

Many email professionals use Microsoft's Exchange server to send out their emails from Campaign Enterprise or Email Marketing director.  The number one complaint we get is usually that it is very slow even though they are on "a super fast system on a fast internet connection."  By default, Exchange Server is not setup to be a mass email system. In fact, they have created many settings by default to stop email from being accepted at a rapid pace. Depending on your Exchange Server version, there are settings you can look at to stop this throttling.  A prominent term used is "tarpitting."  Now the subject of tarpitting mainly concerns a set of parameters you can set in your Exchange Server so that it will accept emails at a rapid pace.  Because of all the version of Exchange Server out there, and with them trying to deal with the SPAM issue through time, there are different settings for each of these versions which we cannot cover, but hopefully this article will uncover a nagging problem you might be having.  Now keep in mind, many Exchange Server administrators may not even know what you are talking about because it is a rare occurrence and they probably have not encounter it before, so you may have to prime the pump with some Google service on "Exchange Server SMTP slowness" and show them some of the settings they will have to deal with.