Creating Autoresponder Emails

Overview

Our emails feature is a powerful tool for connecting with people who submit entries to your lists via forms on your ShortStack campaigns. You can create emails to send to your list, schedule those emails to send now or in the future, and set up autoresponder emails that send immediately after someone submits an entry to a ShortStack form.

This article covers setting up an autoresponder email to send to entrants after form submission. If you are looking to create an email that sends immediately to a list or at a specific date/time, check out our other email docs.

Getting There

There are three ways to access the Email Builder - using the button on the Dashboard, via the Emails Manager,  or via the Campaign Builder. 

Via the Dashboard:

1. Log in to ShortStack.
   
   
2. Click the Email button in the Create section in the top right.
   
   
   
   
3. Choose the Autoresponder option.
   
   
   
   

Via the Emails Manager:

1. Log in to ShortStack.
   
   
2. Click Emails in the main menu at the top.
   
   
   
   
3. Click New Email within the Emails Manager.
   
   
   
   
4. Choose the Autoresponder option.
   
   
   
   

Via the Campaign Builder:

1. Find the campaign to which you'd like to add an autoresponder email and open it in the Campaign Builder.
   
   
2. Click the envelope icon  in the upper right corner of the Campaign Builder.
   
   
3. Click the New Email link to the right of the list for which you wish to create an autoresponder email.
   
   Note: If you have added multiple Form or Entry Widgets to your campaign, there may be more than one list displayed.
   
   

Setting Up An Autoresponder Email

There are several easy-to-follow steps in the autoresponder email setup process. Follow the process below, and you'll set up your first email in no time!

Choose/Create a Company Profile

A Company Profile is necessary for CAN-SPAM Act compliance (learn more here). A Company Profile consists of the business name, the business address, and the business industry. A default profile is set up for all accounts upon signing up for ShortStack.



If you're on an Enterprise Plan, you will have the option to select the Disable CAN-SPAM footer? checkbox. By doing so, you can disable the automatic footer added to the email that displays the name and address in your selected Company Profile. However, please note that this footer is legally required in the US for any outgoing emails that are not transactional in nature.

Note: On the Free Trial and Business Plan, you will be limited to a single Company Profile. On the Pro Plan or higher, you'll be able to create as many Company Profiles as needed.

To edit your default Company Profile (for new users):

1. Click Default Profile. (You'll notice the error icon to the right, meaning the profile is incomplete.)
   
   
   
   
2. Use the fields in the pop-up to enter the Company Profile details.
   
   
   
   
3. Click the blue Save & Continue button at the bottom.
   
   
4. You'll notice that the name of the selected profile has changed to reflect your update. Click the blue Continue button.
   
   
   
   

To use the current Company Profile:

1. Click on the name of the selected profile if you need to view/verify the profile's details.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Continue button (or the Select button if you have more than one profile).
   
   
   
   
3. Click Continue to move forward.
   
   
   
   

To update the current Company Profile:

1. Click the name of the currently selected profile.
   
   
   
   
2. Update the Company Profile details using the fields provided.
   
   
   
   
3. Click the blue Select button to save your changes and use this Company Profile.
   
   
   
   
4. Click the blue Continue button.
   
   
   
   

To choose a different, existing Company Profile:

1. Click the name of the currently selected profile.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the All Profiles button at the bottom of the Company Profile Details page.
   
   
   
   
3. Select the Company Profile you would like to use from your list - clicking will highlight it.
   
   
   
   
4. Click the blue Select button to use the highlighted Company Profile.
   
   
   
   
5. You'll notice the name of your selected profile has been updated; click the blue Continue button.
   
   
   
   

To add a new Company Profile:

1. Click the name of the currently selected profile.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the All Profiles button at the bottom.
   
   
   
   
3. At the bottom of the Select a Company Profile screen, click the Add New Profile button.
   
   
   
   
4. Add the details for your new profile in the Company Profile Details screen.
   
   
   
   
5. Click the blue Save & Select button at the bottom.
   
   
6. You'll notice the name of your selected profile has been updated to the new one; click the blue Continue button.
   
   
   
   

Select a List

Next, you will choose the entry list that will receive your emails when new entries are submitted. You can only choose one list for each autoresponder email.

1. Check the name of the list you wish to select. (If you are planning to attach a list later, click Skip at the bottom.)
   
   
2. Click the Continue button when you have finished choosing your list.
   
   

Note: This step will only show if you started building the email from the Dashboard or Emails Manager. If you started it from the Campaign Builder, the email will automatically be attached to the list connected to your campaign.

Add Codes

If you are attaching a single code or code list to your email, this is when you'll do so. For a more thorough walkthrough of using codes in emails, check out our Adding Codes to Emails help doc. Once you've got your code settings where you want them, click the Continue button.

Choose Email Template

Email templates help to reduce the amount of time you spend setting up your email. We offer several types of templates for a variety of autoresponder emails. You are not required to use a template. If you do not wish to use a template, click Continue to move forward without one.

To create an email from a template:

1. Find the template you wish to use, and hover your mouse over it.
   
   
2. Click the blue Use This Template button that appears on the template's thumbnail.
   
   
   
   

Customize Email in Designer

You can customize your emails as much or as little as you would like. Our templates include sample text, images, and merge fields based on best practices for the type of email you wish to send. You can use the WYSIWYG editor and the merge fields we provide to update your email. The WYSIWYG editor also includes a Source Code option for people who are comfortable using HTML.

To add text:

1. Click on the box where the email preview is displayed.
   
   
2. Start typing.
   
   

To add an image:

1. Click the Insert/edit image icon on the right side of the toolbar.
   
   
   
   
2. If you have the image stored elsewhere online, you can paste the image's URL in the Source field. If you'd like to upload the image, click the Find Image icon . This will open your Media Manager.
   
   
   
   
3. Locate the image you wish to use within your Media Manager or upload a new one, and click so it's highlighted.
   
   
   
   
4. Click the blue Use Selected button. The Source field will now include the image URL.
   
   
   
   
5. Optional: Add a description to the Image Description field.
   
   
6. Optional: Adjust the size of the image by changing the dimensions in the Dimensions field.
   
   
7. Click the blue Ok button.

To add merge fields:

Merge fields are a neat tool you can use to include details the recipient included when they submitted their entry. They are a great way to add a personal touch to the email. Only the fields you included in your form will display in the Available Merge Fields section of the Email Designer. If you are sending emails to recipients gathered by more than one form, only the fields the forms have in common will display as merge field options.

1. Find the merge field you wish to add within the Available Merge Fields section.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the merge field button that corresponds to what you'd like to add.

To add custom HTML code:

1. Click on the Source code icon in the toolbar.
   
   
   
   
2. Type (or paste) in your custom code into the text field.
   
   

When you're finished building and designing your email, click Continue.

Add Email Details

The Add Email Details step is one of the most important parts of your email setup process. In this step, you will name your email, add an email subject, set the sender name for the email, and choose a from address.

By default, the from address will be set to no-reply@campaign-mail-1.com - feel free to use that if you don't have a more specific email address to use.

To add email details:

1. Click on the box you wish to add information to.
   
   
2. Click the blue Continue button when you are finished filling out the boxes.

Note: Due to DMARC restrictions, you will not be able to set the From Email Address to a @yahoo.com, @ymail.com, @rocketmail.com, or @gmail.com address. You can read more about this here and here.

Review Email

The last step in the email setup process is to review your email. The Review page allows you to do just that - review the email. Here, you can review the settings you have applied to the email, along with the email itself. You can also make changes to the email, add filters, send a test email, and save and activate the email.

To edit the email:

1. Locate the email content you wish to update.
   
   
2. Click the content you wish to update, and you will be sent to that part of the email wizard.
   
   
3. Make your changes.
   
   
4. Click the blue Continue button to return to the Review page.
   
   

To add filters to your email:

1. Click on the filters setting (it should be none by default).
   
   
   
   
2. You'll see two filters you can apply; click the Enable button next to the ones you want to activate.
   
   
   
   
3. If you need to remove any activated filters, click the icon on the right side of the filter you need to remove.
   
   
   
   

To send a test email:

1. Click the Send Test Email button.
   
   
2. Enter the email address you wish to send the test to in the Send test email box - the email address associated with your account will display by default.
   
   
   
   
3. Click the blue Send Email button.

Once you are satisfied with your email, click the blue Save & Activate button. After you click Save & Activate, you're all set!

Edit an Autoresponder Email

Editing an autoresponder email will change the content that all entrants after the changes are made to the email see. People who entered before the edits were made will not receive a new email with the updated content.

From the Emails Manager:

1. On the Dashboard, click the Emails link at the top of the screen.
   
   
2. In the Emails Manager, click the name of the email you'd like to edit to open the Email Builder, or the Edit Email in Email Builder icon on the right.
   
   
   
   

From the Campaign Builder: 

1. Click the email icon in the top right corner.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the pencil icon beside the email you wish to edit.
   
   

Then from there:

1. Find the email content you wish to update.
   
   
2. Click the content you wish to update, and you will be sent to that part of the email setup process.
   
   
3. Make your changes.
   
   
4. Click the blue Continue button to return to the Review page.
   
   
5. Click the blue Save button.

Stop/Delete an Autoresponder Email

There may be a point where you want to stop an autoresponder email from sending to new entrants. To do this, you will delete the autoresponder email.

From the Emails Manager:

1. On the Dashboard, click the Emails link at the top of the screen.
   
   
2. Find the name of the automated email you wish to stop, then click the down arrow on the right side of the email's info pane.
   
   
   
   
3. Select Delete from the dropdown.
   
   
   
   
4. To confirm the deletion, click the Delete button.
   
   
   
   

From the Campaign Builder: 

1. Click the email icon in the top right corner.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the trashcan icon to the right of the email you'd like to delete.
   
   
   
   
3. A browser notification will pop up asking you to confirm that you'd like to delete the email. Click the OK button. Once that's done, you'll see the email disappear from your list!
   
   

CAN-SPAM Act Compliance

The United States CAN-SPAM Act created a set of rules for entities sending commercial emails. One part of the CAN-SPAM Act requires companies sending commercial emails to tell users where they are located, which is why we ask you to choose a Company Profile for your email. The name and address from the Company Profile you choose will appear at the bottom of your email. To comply with the portion of the CAN-SPAM Act where users must be given the ability to opt out of emails, we also include an opt-out link ("Unsubscribe") at the bottom of the email.

Adding/Updating the SPF Record

If you are having deliverability problems ("Unverified Sender" error, the email goes to junk, etc.) when you try to test your email for the first time, it's likely because your email domain has not given our servers permission to send emails on its behalf. To fix this issue, you need to add or modify an SPF record on your domain. You will need to go into your settings and add the following domain:

 email.campaign-mail-1.com

For more information on how to add an SPF record, here are the help docs on how to do so for some common domain providers:

GoDaddy
Bluehost
HostGator
1and1

SPF is currently the only email protocol we support, as no changes are needed on ShortStack's end. We don't support changing DKIM or DMARC natively, as it would require configurations to our email servers - though this may be added in the future.

Updating DMARC To Prevent Emails From Going to Spam

If you're using your own email domain but running into an issue where all the sent emails are going to the recipients' spam/junk folders, the culprit is likely the domain's DMARC settings - what's called the "domain alignment" is likely failing. In short, the from email address domain (your company's domain) does not match the domain from which the emails are being sent (email.campaign-mail-1.com, our domain). Because of this failure, the email provider checks the policy specified in the DMARC settings to determine what to do - if the value is p=quarantine - that means that when DMARC fails, the email will be put in the user's spam/junk folder.

Currently, the only real workaround to fix this would be to change the DMARC policy on your domain's side to p=none - this will prevent the sent emails from going to spam. Once your campaign is over, you could safely switch it back to p=quarantine.

Note: If you do update your DMARC policy, you will have to wait for the change to propagate across the Internet before testing new emails. Most changes go into effect within an hour or two, but can take as long as 24 hours.