Send a One-Time Message (Email)

Overview

One-time messages are a great way to communicate upcoming sales or convey special messages to your customer audience. Similar to automated campaigns, they allow you to target specific types of customers and automatically pull in personal data using placeholders. The primary difference is that a message is a one-off notification that you manually send, while automated campaigns are a series of notifications that are automatically sent based on the job triggers. In this article, we'll review how to create an email one-time message. If you would like more information about sending an SMS one-time message, check out this article, in case you are wondering why your message has not gone out to all your targeted contacts, please refer to this article.

Creating a Message

There are two ways to send one-time messages (Click to enlarge):

A. From the Communication tab within a Photo Job. [ Classic Interface: From the Selling tab within a Photo Job.] Using this option will send your message to applicable customers within this specific job.		B. From the One-Time Message tab on the Communication page. [ Classic Interface: From the Newsletters tab on the Customers page.] Using this option will send your message to applicable customers out of all your customers.

Once you're on the One-Time Message page, you'll find several settings, as indicated in the screenshot below.

1. Name: Provide an internal name for your message. It's good practice to use a name that will be meaningful in the future, as it's possible you'll have multiple messages at any given point. 
2. Recipients: When you click Add/Edit, you'll be redirected to a new window where you can select any number of recipients. Note that you have many filters available, including job, customer status, year, album, etc. You can add multiple jobs by selecting them in the dropdown, and then narrow your target market even further by selecting specific albums/groups. 
3. Automated Scheduling: Tell the system to send the email immediately once you click send or, have the message sent at a specific date and time of your choosing. Please note that people are most likely to open/read emails in the morning.

   If you plan to send numerous emails or text messages, please note that our system delivers them in batches to manage volume efficiently. This may result in delays, and some customers may receive messages later in the evening or at night, depending on the list size and when sending begins. 

   Unlike communication profiles (automated campaigns), one-time messages may be delivered at any time once triggered. Depending on the number of recipients, delivery may take some time. On average, 10,000 emails are delivered within an hour. However, to prevent spam classification, we stagger the sending over a period of 3 hours. Sending earlier helps ensure your message doesn’t reach customers at night. Alternatively, have the message sent on a specific date and time of your choosing.

   ⚠ Important: Once you have scheduled your message and saved the settings, you still need to click the Send Newsletter button to activate the scheduled message.
   

4. Design: Design the body and content of your email. HTML is supported and needs to be input into the source code by clicking the <> icon on the top right of the text editor toolbar.  There are a number of preloaded templates available on the right-hand side under the Template dropdown menu that can be a helpful jumping-off point (especially with our tried and true holiday templates!).

Adding Images to a Message

Follow the instructions below to add images to your message. This method can be used in other text fields throughout your admin area.

1. Click the File Manager button at the top of any page within the Communication page [ Classic Interface: You can find the File Manager under the Settings page]. Click the Upload button to upload your image(s) to your GotPhoto platform. For banners, we recommend using an image that is 600×200px. A URL will be created for each file you upload. Make sure to copy this URL for the next step! 
2. Back in the message template, click either on the Image icon in the toolbar or in the right-click menu: 
3. In the menu that appears, paste the image URL that you copied in Step 1. 
4. Next, add an image description (this will be displayed if images in emails are blocked), and feel free to adjust the image dimensions.

Finalizing and Sending Your Message

Once you've completed the design and content of your message, click the Save and preview newsletter button at the bottom of the page – you'll then have an opportunity to preview the email with populated placeholders and make any last-minute changes before you hit send.

The Takeaway

Whether sending from a specific photo job or your entire customer base, you can effortlessly create impactful one-time messages, conveying special messages, promotions, or updates directly to your audience.