10 features that make newsletters easier

Choosing the right platform for your newsletters can feel like hacking through a jungle. The number of platforms keeps growing, which makes telling them — and their various options — apart difficult.

To give you a clearer sense of the specific things that make the work easier, here are ten features in Ubivox and what each is for. The list is as useful if you already use Ubivox as it is if you are considering it.

Drag and drop editor

Dragging and dropping blocks into your newsletter lets you put each one exactly where you want it, which makes the work both easier and easier to follow.

The editor shows your newsletter as you edit it. You do need to press save before the latest change appears in the preview.

A/B split testing

Most platforms offer split testing, and with good reason. If you cannot decide between two subject lines or two calls to action, run a test and let your recipients decide for you.

In Ubivox you first choose the two versions to test. Then you choose the criterion to measure — most clicks, fewest unsubscribes, fewest complaints. Then you set what share of the list is tested, when the test ends, and when the winner goes out to everyone else.

As an extra layer, you can set a minimum margin before a version counts as the winner. If there are only three clicks between them, that may well be chance. Set the threshold there and the winner has to be at least three clicks ahead before it is sent.

Always test one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference.

Video in your email

Email puts hard limits on the size of media you can embed, which usually means falling back on a GIF when you want something that moves. That is not the same thing at all when the video is meant to explain something.

Our answer is a block that shows a preview of the video — a still frame with a play button over it. The recipient intuitively taps the image, the email opens in their browser, and the video plays there inside the newsletter.

The advantage is that they are not sent off to an external site and lost. They can scroll on through the rest of the newsletter once the video has finished.

Nine languages

Most email platforms are offered in English, and so is ours. But as a Danish newsletter system our first priority was to build the platform in Danish. At some point the demand for English grew large enough that we did something about it — and since we were translating anyway, we thought, why stop there?

The result is nine languages to choose from:

Open your Ubivox account, go to the account settings in the top right corner, and pick another language.

Detailed statistics

The statistics page shows your general performance across campaigns, for your automated flows and for individual newsletters, on the usual measures: opens, clicks, complaints, unsubscribes, bounces, devices, locations and so on.

We have extended that with a 24-hour view, so you can establish when your recipients are most active in your newsletters. You can also set goals for your work and download a summary as a PDF, which makes it quick to show the value of the effort — useful if you have to present it at a departmental meeting.

Secure login

Two-factor authentication tends to divide opinion. Some people roll their eyes; others are glad of the extra layer. The fact is that some organisations need it to maintain the level of security their data processing requires, and that is exactly why we offer it on your account.

Add-ons for data protection

It is no secret that we take data protection seriously. First, because we think anyone working with email has a responsibility to look after the recipient’s data. Second, because our platform is used by a great many municipalities and public bodies who require a high standard.

As a Ubivox user you can set rules for the right to be forgotten, so a recipient and their data are deleted entirely from our system when they unsubscribe. That may sound obvious, but many platforms keep the data for a period afterwards — which can be a breach when the recipient has actively asked you to delete it.

Beyond that, our add-ons can remove personally identifiable statistics about your recipients. No stats removes all statistics and tracking; generic statistics keeps the general numbers but removes anything that can be traced to an individual.

Straightforward user management

People leave and new colleagues arrive, so creating and removing users in your organisation’s account needs to be easy.

When you remove a user they are logged out automatically and cannot get back in. If you work across borders, you can also set language and time zone when you create one.

Multiple accounts and group structure

If your organisation is divided into departments, our group structure is worth looking at.

It lets you administer accounts for departments around the country, or the world, simply and clearly from one main account. Everything is run from there, and you can create an unlimited number of department accounts.

From a department account, staff administer their own email communication themselves. When they need help, the main account has full access to exactly their account, so you can see what they are working on and help them along.

Invoicing goes automatically to the main account, or to the department account if you prefer. You choose department by department, so the setup stays flexible and you avoid internal cross-charging.

An open platform that integrates with your own systems

In most cases Ubivox ends up as part of a larger whole — alongside a business system or a communication system of your own.

So we have kept the platform open, letting other systems talk to it. It can take in data from outside and deliver data, including statistics, back out.

We aim to use simple, widely adopted protocols and open integration models, to give the broadest possible support for whatever you run.

If you have particular requirements for an integration, you are always welcome to get in touch so we can find the right approach. You can see examples of integrations we have built on our integrations page.