Bulk Emailer User Guide

What is the Hearth bulk email?

The Hearth bulk email is simple e-mail marketing software for sending and managing your mailing list. It allows you to send email with or without an attachment to large number of recipients.

How do I access the bulk email tool?

What types of mailing list are compatible with the bulk email system?

The bulk email system is compatible with any Comma Separated Values (.csv) file but the following fields and headers must be present and populated:

NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS & MEMBERSHIP NUMBER.

Therefore you can upload any report downloaded from the officer reporting tool on Hearth, use an informer report sent from HQ, or a list you have created yourself (as long as it is in .csv format).

You can also import contact groups from your Hearth email address book.

Where do I begin?

Before sending a bulk email you will need to upload or importa mailing list.

To upload a .csv file list from your PC first click on UPLOAD LIST this will take you to this screen:

Enter your list name e.g. Demo Test

Click the browse button to find and select the file on your PC, then click UPLOAD MAILING LIST.

You will then receive a confirmation message and the following screen will appear.

You will need to refresh the page to see when the list has become available; this will vary depending on the size of the data, but should not take very long at all.

TIP: As you will see from the diagram above, available lists are in blue,queued lists are in italics and rejected lists are in red italics.

Import a contact group from your Hearth email address book

The system is designed to automatically transfer your existing contact groups from your officer email account to the bulk email system.To import them click on LISTS AND ADDRESSES, you will see them listed under the heading ‘Generic Email Contact Groups’.

Simply click on IMPORT to transfer them to your active mailing lists.

If no list appears then you will need to create a contact group of all those you want in your mailing list, in your officer email address book. Instructions on how to do this are available at

To view people in a mailing list, or to delete one from the system simply click on its title.

Tip: From this screen you can also export individual contacts, to your generic email address book by clicking on EXPORT.

Creating and Sending an Email

Go to ‘NEW MESSAGE’

Below ‘To’, check the box next to the list/s you wish to send an email to, enter the email subject, and then type your text in the body of your email. You can use the basic formatting tools at the bottom of the page to format your email.

Tip: Try to avoid copying pasting text from Word, as Word contains hidden coding which can corrupt the formatting.

NOTE: Do not use your browsers BACK button to navigate as you will lose any unsaved work.

Attachments

If you wish to embed an image in your email message click the browse button next to ‘Upload a new image’ once selected from your PC ensure you click UPLOAD to add the file. (The maximum file size is 500 x500 pixels).

To add an attachment, click the browse button to find and select the file on your PC, then click UPLOAD to attach it to your email.(See diagram on next page)

NOTE: Changes made to the attachments, including deleting attachments off an email, are not permanent until you save the email.

If you would like to send a test copy to yourself to see how it looks to recipients, check the SEND TEST COPY box. By default a test copy will go to your generic officer email address. Alternatively you can enter any email address you wish to use.

Click on PREVIEW to preview and edit your draft, ensuring you click on PREVIEW, then SAVE DRAFT when you have finished.This saves your email to the drafts folder. If you are happy to send your email, simplyclick on SEND BULK EMAIL. Or you can leave it in your drafts folder to send or amend later.

Your email will be queued for sending, and sent shortly. Click on SENT to view your sent items and check progress.

How do I manage my mailing list?

Any lists uploaded will remain in ‘list and addresses’ and also appear under the ‘to’ list when you click on ‘new message’. These lists can be deleted at any time and new lists can be uploaded. Please note that the data in the reports from the officer reporting tool changes frequently.

How can members reply to my emails?

To avoid your inbox becoming full, bulk emails are sent from a ‘do not reply to’ email address.

This means any replies, out of office, or delivery failure notices go to a separate, unmonitored inbox.

In the recipients inbox it will simply say

From: NUT - Division News

We suggest including a message similar to the following at the bottom of your email, so your members can reply to you.

“The mailbox this mail is sent from is unmonitored, so please don't reply to this email address. If you'd like to get in touch, or unsubscribe please contact me at ”

Do I have to provide recipients with an option to unsubscribe?

It is advisable to include an option for members to unsubscribe.

You could suggest they forward the message to your generic email address with ‘Unsubscribe’ as the subject.

NOTE: It is important to let RSS know of any changes to members email addresses

I have a problem which is not covered in this guide, who do I contact?

If you are experiencing any problems not covered in this guide, please use the feedback facility which is available at the bottom menu of every page on Hearth and a member of the web team will respond to your query as soon as possible or within a reasonable time.