Campaign Enterprise 12 is a complete reworking of the Enterprise system. While the basic functionality is the same; you connect your list to Campaign, create your personalized email, and send them through the server, version 12 is much more powerful and scalable than previous versions. Once you download the installation files, it is imperative that you read the readme text file before running the install.

Then new installer is actually a batch file, and there are important modifications you and your network administrator will need to make prior to running that file.

• You must have IIS 7 installed
• The DNS entries for the domain names you want to use for campaign, must be completed for the program to run, so that when you start the program, you are able to log in and manage your campaigns.
• Those domains are updated in the install batch file prior to running, so that all the domains used by the program can be created and added to your IIS server upon installation.

The minimum requirements for Campaign Enterprise 12 are as follows:

• Windows OS (Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 or later)
• Two core processors (CPU)
• 8 GB RAM
• 30 GB Disk space

Campaign Enterprise can run on Virtual Machines, (VMs)

Before installing the program, please contact technical support for information on installation and configuration in your network. Also, check out the demo of the program to look at the new interface.

Campaign Enterprise 12 is used in conjunction with Windows IIS 7 or later. One of the first things you may need to do when configuring your Campaign 12 system, is ensure IIS is enabled and started. Here is how you do that.

• Go to Start > Control Panel
• Find Programs and Features
• On the left of that page, go to Turn Windows Features on or off
• Select Internet Information services and click OK, it may specify an earlier version of IIS, make sure you pick IIS 7.
  
• It will take several minutes to enable and may require a reboot of your OS
• Go back to the control panel and find Administrative Tools > Services
• Select the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager to configure

When you instal Campaign, you can configure the domain names you want to use for the system. Those domain must be listed properly in your DNS entry, where you manage your main domain, in order for the program and links to work properly.

By: Chris Lewis

"Why would I use your software instead of a service like Constant Contact?"

There are definite conditions when a email service provider (ESP) would work better for you than having your own email marketing software in-house.  Here are some situations you might want to consider when determining the best path for your company:

List size - If your list size is relatively small, in the thousands or ten-of-thousands, and you don't mind giving out your list to an outside company, an ESP is a good solution.  You will be able to upload these email addresses and/or set up code on your page to ask for new email addresses.  Once your list starts exceeding 100,000 then you may want consider bringing things in-house.

List availability - Does your list change?   Is the list actively worked on in real-time?  If so, you may find it hard to manage these situations using an outside solution.  You will have to create some way of getting new list entries to this provider to be included email projects.  It may take creating output files from your CRM or other source and uploading them at a regular basis.

Cost - An ESP is simple and easy to get started with.  They usually charge per month based on the number emails you typically send in a month.  It is sort of like a Cell Phone bill though where you buy a certain plan and if you don't use the minutes, you lose them.  If you go over, you pay for the extras usually at a higher rate.

Privacy - If your email list does not have privacy issues than an ESP will work. If you believe your ESP has good protection and a good reputation you can sleep better, but it could be possible for your account to be compromised or, worst, they ESP could be compromised.  Could this happen to you if you have an email system of your own?  Sure, but at least you have the ability to add all the security you require.

Having your own emailing system in-house will be more effort to maintain than using an ESP.  ESPs can get quite expensive every month if you send large emails.  So there is a lot to consider when making your choice. 

When you are sending emails to accounts on the gmail system there is a chance that the FROM line of the email will say:

From: Chris via YourSendingService

Gmail checks whether emails are correctly authenticated. If your messages are sent by a bulk mailing vendor or by third-party affiliates, publish an SPF record that includes the IPs of the vendor or affiliates which send your messages and sign your messages with a DKIM signature that is associated with your domain. 

By: Chris Lewis

There are many elements that are involved in email distribution that can affect performance.  When you have to send out a few thousand emails performance does not really matter as much, but if you are in the ten's or hundred's of thousands then performance is crucial.  The flow of an email distribution system is:

SQL or file-based Database with email addresses and other info (SQL Server, Access, Oracle, etc.)
Email merging and sending software (Campaign Enterprise)
Mail Transport system (SMTP) like PowerMTA, Ironport, etc.

Bottlenecks can occur in these systems, as a result of the merges within an email itself, or depending on how these systems are placed in a network, the connections between them.  The way to diagnose this is to start from the back and work your way up front.

Checking the MTA
The #1 bottleneck we have found historically is the MTA.  Campaign can send emails faster but it is wait for the MTA to accept the emails. In order to find out if this is the bottleneck you will need to send the emails to a different MTA that will accept emails at an extreme speed.  Then, if the sending speed increases due to this switch, then you know it is either the MTA or the connection to the MTA system.  The simplest way to do this in Campaign Enterprise is to:

1. Create an SMTP Connection that sends the emails to a folder (EML files) instead of the MTA.  Do do this, after logging in as an administrator, go the the Administrator link, choose SMTP Connections, then create a new SMTP connection and select EML Files, and set a scratch folder on a disk the EML files can be sent to.
2. Change your Campaign's sending SMTP setting to this new EML files setting
3. Run the campaign. You can stop it after a few thousand emails or 1 minute, it should be sufficient to get a performance
4. Go to the reports for that campaign and see what your performance is in the Overall Report

If your speed increase after this test, then you can assume the issue is your MTA or the path to it and that should be addressed.  Many MTAs are busy doing other things, they could have throttling agents in place for mass-mailings, etc.  So if this happens to be the case, then there is plenty to check out.  Sometimes when the MTA is on the same box as the database and the Campaign Enterprise, it is true that communications between these system can be really fast, but it may end up being slower overall because the computer has to manage all these processes even with multiple cores.

Writebacks During Send
If you are writing-back to the database after each email goes out, then you should probably disable this code for the test above if there is no improvement.  It is possible though this write-back activity could be the bottleneck, so if you can leave it in for this test and reset the data after you run the campaign that would be best.

Merge Field Performance
If you have a lot of merge fields in the message, especially if it is a large message, then that can cause a bottleneck.  Remove all the merges from the email and send a test Campaign to the EML files.

Email Size
If your performance is going down sometimes a your emails may be unknowingly getting bigger and require more transmission time.  Reduce your email to a simple 1 line email and test again using the EML files setting.  If the performance speeds up this may be the problem.

Embedded Images
If you have embedded images in your email, that can slow down transmission of the emails.  Also Campaign Enterprise always does a scan for embedded images in an email.  If you are not using embedded images you can go to the Miscellaneous tab for the Campaign and check the box to ignore the embedded images scan.

Your Database
If extreme rare cases your database may be the issue.  If none of the steps above help performance then it may be your SQL server or single database file.  Best way to test this is just to keep dumbing-down the SQL statement you are using until it is very simple.  Usually single database files are very fast, like MS Access, but SQL servers can be busy or on a different computer on a busy network.  We found many times an SQL server really slows down when batch processes are being done on them, like backups or mass data updates.

If you find that none of these are helping, we can definitely help further by logging into you system for an analysis.

By: Chris Lewis

After years of development and a complete re-write, Campaign Enterprise version is close to completion.  We have had many inquires about what will be included in the new release.  It might be good first to show how the software has developed over time.

Back in the early 90's, Arial Software was created just about when the internet was gaining steam.  The first product we created was a desktop emailing system.  It was basically a glorified Microsoft Outlook, had some merging capabilities, but nothing like SPAM or unsubscribes existed back then.  As the internet changed and SPAMing became a reality, the software change to accommodate this.  Then Campaign Enterprise was created which was the first web-based product we had with a built in webserver.  This webserver was pretty simple but there was no configuration required and back then IIS was very difficult to configure and not get hacked.  Campaign Enterprise continued to accommodate for new SPAM rules, new online editors, new operating systems, and new databases.  During this time the same code has been used and features like multi-threading, SSL security, and other webserver system were added.  The things we created ourselves were now becoming available in the .NET programming world and though our systems were stable, it was time to move the system to a new language and platform.

For the past year we have been rewriting Campaign Enterprise from the ground-up.  Campaign Enterprise is now completely written in the .NET framework, supports true multi-threading managed by the OS, and the platform for the webserver is now IIS (Microsoft's Internet Information Service).  Campaign Enterprise now works as two separate systems working in harmony.  The webserver aspect of the product, used for campaign administration, conversion event resolution, views-as-webspage function, and unsubscribe functions is now all IIS driven.  Now, you will have control over all aspects of how the products works, like security, SSL certificates for HTTPS functions, NTML user authentication, and everything else IIS offers.

Also, the back-end database for Campaign Enterprise will now be based on Microsoft's SQL server.  Campaign Enterprise will include a version of SQL server or you can use your own existing SQL server by creating the appropriate database volume.

There is much more to come, but below is a short-list of the new capabilities of Campaign Enterprise version 12:

• The system completely rewritten in a modern language (.net) that supports today's OSs and multi-threading
• The web server portion works in Windows IIS which offers a ton of flexibly.
• Email sending speeds have been dramatically increased
• The user interface is more intuitive to sending email
• You can send from multiple lists at the same time
• There is a built-in POP server so all bounce handing is done internally and you don't have to establish bounce POP accounts for each campaign as before
• You can create "Client" areas, each with their own users and campaigns separate from all other Clients (different clients, departments, etc.)
• You can create and maintain built-in Email Lists with importing capabilities
• The backend database is MS SQL Server. You can use the free version of MS SQL or use an instance of your own SQL server
• Email sending is done using multiple sending threads instead of a singular sending thread
• Since we are using IIS for the web server all SSL certificates for communicating in HTTPS are support
• Windows user login ability (NTLM) allows you to choose to use your Windows login context to log into Campaign Enterprise
• View email as a webpage capability
• Graphics that are referenced in the email you send can be upload through the interface and used by the emails when they are viewed
• Higher performance conversion tracking due to the IIS server and MS SQL server
• More reporting capabilities with the combination of MS SQL server table and better recording structure
• Able to submit campaign initiation from outside of Campaign Enterprise (API)

By: Chris Lewis

One of the uses of Campaign Enterprise is to send out triggered emails like for birthdays, anniversaries, or other info that has to be sent on X-amount of days after a date.  The following example sends out an email 3 days after someone signs up for information:

First, we have a table where information about your signups are stored.  For this example we will call this tblSignups.  In this table, we need a date column in this table to trigger on in your email.  For this example, we will have the column called "SignupDate" and this should be set at the date that the person signs up on your website.

Next, we create a campaign that we want to use to send the email and on the Datasource tab we use this following SQL statement (assuming MS SQL Server):

SELECT * FROM tblSignUps WHERE DateDiff(dd,SignupDate,GetDate())=3

Now for this Campaign to work, the campaign will need to be scheduled to run each day at the same time. If a day is missed, then that day's emails will not go out. The only way to make sure all emails go out is having another column in the database that is marked when the email is sent, and then you can check that in the SQL statement used for sending.  For example, if you had another column called EmailSent (a BIT type) that was set when the email was sent, you would use an SQL statement like this:

SELECT * FROM tblSignUps WHERE DateDiff(dd,SignupDate,GetDate())=>3 and EmailSent=0

You can add more sophistication to these statements but this is a good start.

By: Chris Lewis

When the first Arial Software products were create the database language of SQL was thought of to be too hard to use and just for programmers.  Many of the database operations that were done using our program were simple field/column updates, like incrementing a number in a record if the email was sent. The program was set up so that the field to be updated was in a selection box and the only operation you could do is increment the field by one. This functionality still exists today even in version 11, but as many have seen this simple operation is not sufficient.  Because of this we added the ability to run an SQL statement when an even happens in Campaign Enterprise, like when a record is sent, when an email is unsubscribed, or a click through occurs.  This feature can be turned on in the administration area which then causes the program to show this new SQL statement box on each even configuration screen.  Some have opted to, instead of incrementing a record, to insert a new record recording the event into a table that can be used for later reporting.  And example of this, say for an unsubscribe operation would be:

INSERT INTO tblUnsubscribes (CampaignID,UniqueID,EventDateTime) values ({CAMPAIGNID},{UNIQUEID},GetDate());

So, when a unsubscribe event happens for a particular email that was sent, this statement is sent to the database you are using and the values within the braces { } are replaced with real values.  The resulting statement that is actually sent to your database would look like this:

INSERT INTO tblUnsubscribes (CampaignID,UniqueID,EventDateTime) values (14,43456,GetDate());

After the operation is done, you will have a new record in the tblUnusubscribes table recording this event.  This data can now be used for filtering and/or reporting purposes later.  The advantage of this method is that it records the specific date and time of the event, and the data is separate from the original record.  Using this method is required when the original data cannot be modified due to security or database structure.

You can use any legal SQL statement you want for these events.  You could opt to update a record instead of inserting, or you could run a stored procedure to trigger other events.  More information is available on this subject on this website or by request.

When sending emails, to make sure you are not going to get into trouble with Spam lists, or worse, a violation of Federal law, here is a summary of the CAN-SPAM act:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

By: Chris Lewis

From time to time we get questions concerning email address verification.  Though many SMTP servers allow the verification of email addresses there are probably just as many that don't allow it.  So, email verification at it's best is about 50% accuracy using the method the internet RFC guru's designed.  Thanks to SPAMers this built in verification system is not very usable, especially with the big email providers. 

Campaign Enterprise and Email Marketing Director do not have this email verification capability mainly because doing mass email verification can cause your SMTP server to become blacklisted.  Many SPAMers use this technique with fabricated email lists in hope of getting valid email addresses (ie: jim@arialsoftware.com, dave@arialsoftware.com,...).  So while it is an important thing to keep your list clean it should be done as if you were a normal one-at-a-time emailer that gets a bounce when the email is bad, then you don't send to it again.  When you send out the first email campaign on a new list you will receive bounces if the email addresses are not valid.  It is important to receive these emails and mark them as bounces to not send to them again.  There are two reasons for this:  First, you don't want your campaign to waste time sending to these addresses again. If your list is small, this may not matter, but if your list is big, or you are paying for each email sent out through a service, it is especially important. Second, if you keep sending emails that bounce your SMTP server will acquire a bad reputation will eventually get blacklisted.

There are verifications services that specialize in the field of email list cleaning that have good internet reputations, are known for being good citizens of the internet, and are allowed mass verifications of lists.  One of them we recommend is http://freshaddress.com. You send them a list and they will make sure each address is usable, and they also do other services like email forwarding if the email address has changed.

If you use sending services like SMTP.C
Taking the time or spending the money to get your list clean will have many benefits over the cost.  If you try to save money here and do it marginally you may end up spending a great deal more in time and money trying to get your SMTP server off blacklists.