We are very excited to announce the release of the brand new emailContactor.com v5.4. This is the fifth major release of the emailContactor.com platform and the BEST release we've made thus far. This update will give you an idea on our continually evolving product direction and our focus on making email marketing easy for small businesses.
Here is a quick overview of what you can expect with emailContactor 5.4:
- New user interface & theme
When you login you will notice a brand new interface.
- New subscription form editor
Creating subscription forms has never been easier with our drag and drop form editor. Add fields, change text, re-order options, add custom HTML or images, and more. You can even set a forms theme all while previewing live what the form will look like to your end users.
- New Facebook subscription forms
With the rise of social marketing it is critical to integrate your email marketing efforts with your social media strategy. One way of doing that (in addition to our built-in social tools) is to embed a subscription form on your Facebook page.
While many services offer a similar capability we have created a process that could not be easier. Go to a form, click add to Facebook, and select the page from a dropdown containing all your pages. Simple as that!
- New real-time activity stream
Our users always tell us how they become addicted to our campaign reports and watching the interactions stream in from a single campaign.
We have taken the idea of live interaction data one step further with our real-time activity stream. Watch as people open your campaigns, talk about your campaigns on Facebook & Twitter, subscribe to your lists, and more!
- New status alert system
Your campaigns can be critical for your overall marketing objectives. Thus if there is anything you should be aware of (such as campaigns requiring your attention, limits being reached, etc..) it is essential you know about it right away. With our new status alert system you will be notified whenever your attention is needed or there is critical information you should know about.
- New automatic template, campaign, and subscription form previews
We find most marketing platforms all end up looking the same. Lists of text, numbers, and other data. To help you find what you are looking for faster we are bringing previews of your campaigns, templates, and subscription forms into the work flow. As you create templates, campaigns, and subscription forms we start to show screenshot previews to help you pick what you need when you need it.
- Updated external services & new integrations
We love integrating with the services that you use to run your business. Our new external services page highlights the various integrations we have available and guides you through using each integration.
Version 5.4 includes an updated Shopify integration and our new SurveyMonkey integration.
- Updated custom field manager
Custom subscriber fields provide the data to make segmenting, personalization, and subscriber actions powerful tools. Setting up new fields is considerably easier with our updated custom subscriber field page. Additionally we now make it possible to create custom fields from the subscriber import process and the subscription form editor.
- Updated campaign creation process
When creating a campaign you will see an improved campaign creation process featuring our new header that will allow you to save, continue along the process, and always know what step you are currently editing within.
- Updated forms & public page management
Along with our custom subscription form editor we now make it possible to build & customize every public facing page. From subscription confirmations, unsubscription confirmations, the forward to a friend pages, campaign archive pages, and more. Add custom content, adjust the theme, and more.
- Updated template category management
Previously we had static template categories. You were unable to add new categories or edit the existing category names. With version 5.4 you can tag your templates into any template categories that you choose. Create your own, re-categorize existing templates, and more.
- Other new features & adjustments
Subscription Form Segmenting
You can now segment campaigns by the subscription form they subscribed (or did not subscribe) from.
QR Codes for subscription forms
You can now download QR Code images to use in your marketing that will direct people to your subscription form when they scan the code with their mobile device.
Opt-In’s
Opt-in emails are now directly related to subscription forms only. You may only add “unconfirmed” subscribers (subscribers that would be sent an opt-in) from a subscription form.
Duplicate Subscribers
We no longer support the option that allowed duplicate subscribers in a single list. You can still of course have the same subscriber in different lists – you just can’t have the same subscriber duplicated within a single list. When you are upgraded to 5.4 we will remove duplicates and retain your oldest/most accurate subscriber record.
Remember Me (on login page)
The “remember me” option has been adjusted to be “remember my username” For security reasons we are no longer offering saved logins.
Opt-Out Emails
Emails sent to confirm an unsubscription are no longer supported as we believe in a single & hassle free unsubscribe process.
Public Dashboard / Landing Page
The public dashboard that had subscribe, unsubscribe, update, and archive options has been removed. All options still exist – we just don’t have a default landing page that links to all these options. By default we will now show a subscription form (of your choice) or redirect to the admin login page.
API
- We have removed the following methods starting in version 5.4: form_add, form_delete, form_delete_list, and form_edit. The following methods are still available, but are deprecated in favor of new methods: form_list (use form_getforms instead) and form_view (use form_html instead).
- You will also soon be required to use a new API URL and API Key in place of the username and password, which we are slowly phasing out.
- The “require opt-in” user group setting has been removed at this time due to structural changes of how opt-ins now work.
- Users can only belong to a single user group
- We now show the number of subscribers obtained by a subscription form on the subscription form list page
