We know that email marketing is huge part of your business. Over the years we’ve added tools to the software that enhance your marketing efforts. We added the Bulk Communication Wizard, making it easy to send a group of emails at once. We added the ability to automatically trigger an email to a client based on some pre-defined event in the software, like a status change. And we also added the ability to export a list of email addresses and other client data so you could use a third-party email service to send your emails.

In the new 2015 release of Spectra and myStratus, we are thrilled to announce the release of our new StudioPlus Mail service! This new mail service gives you state-of-the-art emailing functionality that is fully integrated with your software.  Benefits of StudioPlus Mail include:

• Unsubscribe Tracking
• Confirmation Tracking
• Open and Click-Through Tracking
• Block List Tracking
• Campaign Analytics
• Spam Law Compliance

The new service is simple to use and very cost effective when compared to other email marketing services. StudioPlus has partnered with SendGrid, the world’s largest provider of email infrastructure as a service. SendGrid’s clients include technology leaders such as Pinterest, Foursquare, Spotify, and Uber. The new StudioPlus Mail service is designed to make you a marketing genius by helping you create and analyze highly effective marketing campaigns.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the features:

Unsubscribe Tracking

Managing unsubscribes is key to getting maximum email delivery. If your clients have an easy way to tell you they’d like to stop receiving your email besides using the spam button it will give you valuable insights without affecting your reputation. When you send out marketing emails, Spectra/myStratus can automatically add an “Unsubscribe” link to the emails. If a client clicks the link they will be added to an “Unsubscribe” list in the software and Spectra/myStratus won’t send future marketing emails to their email address.

Confirmation Tracking

A cool new email confirmation feature has been added! You can send emails to your clients that include a link to confirm their session or appointment. You can customize the email message with something like,

“We’re looking forward to your upcoming appointment on Wednesday, June 1, 2015 at 10:00 AM. To confirm your appointment, please click here so we know you’re coming. If you are unable to come for any reason, please give us a call to reschedule.”

When the client clicks the link, they will be directed either to a generic landing page with a message thanking them for confirming, or to a custom landing page on your own website. Their confirmation will be downloaded into the software and marked accordingly on their appointment or session record. This new feature can result in huge labor savings for your company and increased show-up rates for your clients!

Open and Click-Through Tracking

With the StudioPlus Mail service, you can track whether clients have opened or even clicked on a link in your email. Rich analytics are provided in the SendGrid portal so you can really begin to see the effectiveness of your marketing and triggered emails.

Block List Tracking

The software will also automatically track emails that bounce back to you because the email address was invalid or because the recipient reported your email as spam. Either will result in the client being placed on a “Block List.”  When you open a client record you will quickly see if a client (or family member) is on a block list (or an unsubscribe list).  Don’t worry, you also will have the ability to remove them from any list if you need to.

Campaign Analytics

Spectra/myStratus 2015 includes a new tool called Email Categories. When you send bulk emails or triggered emails, you can use Email Categories to “tag” these outgoing emails. You can then use the SendGrid portal to view rich analytics showing you the effectiveness of each of your tagged campaigns. Analytics include how many emails you have sent, as well as how many of them were actually delivered, opened, and had links clicked. You can also see how many bounced back or were reported as spam.

Availability and Pricing

The new StudioPlus Mail service will be available in the 2015 version of both Spectra and myStratus Standard, Professional, and Enterprise. It will be offered to all US and international users. The pricing is designed to be very attractive as compared to traditional email marketing services. We’ll provide pricing and other usage details when we launch the new version.

We are so excited to bring these new features to you and look forward to hearing how you use them to grow your business!