The goal of this tutorial is to guide you through the process of connecting a private email address to your Agility account, using it for email distributions, and understanding how best to use it. This will allow you to send emails from a personalized address while still leveraging Agility's robust reporting tools for effective communication management.
This feature is currently available for Microsoft email accounts, with an option for connecting Google accounts coming soon.
🔹 Video Tutorial
🔹 Adding a Private Email Address
To connect your private email address to your Agility account, follow these steps:
Log in to your Agility account.
Navigate to Account, Content Management and then select Data Connections from the sidebar.
In the Data Connections section, you will find the option to add a new email connection. Click New Connection
This will open the window to add a new data connection.
After clicking 'New Connection', you’ll be prompted to choose the type of connection you want to add. For a private email, select the 'Email Account' option.
You’ll then be asked to configure privacy settings for the connection:
Choose 'Only Me' if you want the email connection to remain private and accessible only to you.
🔹 After adding your private email, you can start using it for your email distributions. Here’s how:
Navigate to Media Relations in the main dashboard and select Email Distributions.
Click on New Distribution to create a new email.
When you reach the From Email field, you’ll be able to select from the connected email addresses, including your newly added private email.
Select the private email you want to use for the distribution.
Continue through the process of creating your email by adding recipients, personalizing the message, and attaching any relevant files.
After finalizing the email, click Send to distribute it.
Note: It’s recommended to use private emails for more personalized or smaller email distributions, as this allows for a more tailored communication experience.
You can also use your email address to quickly and directly email media contacts from anywhere within the Agility platform. Alongside any contact you'll see a pencil icon representing the option to Email Contact.
🔹 Reporting and Viewing Replies
One of the key benefits of using a private email within is that you can still track and manage replies through the reporting system, providing seamless communication management.
Navigate to Email Reporting
After sending your email from a private account, go to the Email Reporting section in Agility. Here, you can track key interaction metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and more.
View Recipient Interactions
In the Email Reporting section, you’ll see detailed data about your email’s performance:
Open Rates: Shows how many recipients opened your email.
Click-Through Rates: Displays how many recipients clicked on links within the email.
Replies: The responses that come into your private email will also be shown in this reporting interface.
Track Communication Directly from the Dashboard
Replies to your private email will appear within Agility's reporting system. This feature helps you manage communications directly from the Agility dashboard without switching to your personal inbox. This keeps everything organized and in one place, saving you time.
Reply from the Reporting Interface
Another major advantage of using Agility’s reporting system is that you can reply directly to recipients from the reporting interface. There’s no need to leave Agility PR Solutions to respond. You can craft your reply right within the reporting section.
🔹Important Points to Note
While private emails can offer a more personalized touch, there are a few important points to keep in mind:
Email Provider Support:
Currently, only Outlook accounts are supported for private emails. Gmail support is in development and will be available in the future.
Volume of Emails:
Sending Limits: This feature is not intended for large-scale distributions. If you send too many emails from a Mircosoft or Google email address, it may negatively impact deliverability and you may end up being prevented from sending new emails for a time. For example, you can only send 30 emails per minute from a Microsoft account.
Personal Use:
The feature is intended for personalized, smaller email distributions rather than mass email campaigns.
Spam Risk:
Using a private email to send a high volume of messages can result in the email account being flagged as spam. Agility PR Solutions will provide warnings to ensure you are aware of this potential issue before sending large batches of emails.
Access Restrictions:
Private emails are not shared across all users within the account unless explicitly set. If you want others to access and use the private email, you need to adjust the sharing settings during the connection setup.
🔹Other Considerations
Email History:
When using a private email, all sent emails and replies can be accessed within Agility’s Email Reporting. However, the replies will also be available in your private email inbox, not just within Agility.
More Personalization:
This feature is best suited for sending emails to a smaller, targeted group where personalization is a key factor. It is not recommended for sending bulk emails.
📝 Summary
Using a private email in Agility helps to provide a more personalized touch to your email distributions while still leveraging Agility's reporting tools. However, it is crucial to keep in mind the limitations regarding email volume and spam risks. For most use cases, private emails are best suited for smaller distributions.