Nimble allows you to send targeted email messages to 1,000 contacts per month provided your email service provider can sustain this volume. This is a great way to send targeted sales outreach or marketing messages to lists of your contacts.
How Group Messaging works:
All messages are sent over your personal email address' SMTP, so they will appear as if they were sent from you, not an email marketing system.
For now, our grandfathered users are limited to sending up to 50 messages per person, per day, with the clock reset at midnight in your time zone.
All Business account users will be able to send up to 1,000 group messages per person, per month.
Office 365 Users: You should not have any issues sending up to 1,000 messages per person, per month.
Google Apps/Gmail Users: You should not have any issues sending up to 1,000 messages per person, per month. See more about Google SMTP limits here.
Third-Party Email Providers: Daily SMTP limits will vary depending on your provider. Please contact your email provider for more details.
Table of Content:
Group Message Layout Overview
Nimble's Group Messaging feature is great for small email outreaches enabling you to send messages to up to 25,000 contacts per user, per month.
In this layout, you'll see options to add your recipients, choose which email address you wish to send from, compose a new message or choose a custom template; and CC or BCC contacts. You'll also have options to add merge tags, an unsubscribe link, customize your fonts, attach files, insert images, and create hyperlinks.
When you are ready, simply click "Send message to list" to send and track your messages for opens and clicks. Or send a test message to yourself if you'd like to see how it looks first. You also have the option to not track the message.
Sending to a Contact Segment
In your Contacts tab, you can choose any contacts and send them to the group messaging page. If you've already segmented your contacts either by creating a tag or a saved segment, then you can select that segment and the group of contacts and then choose "Send Group Message.
Please ensure that your contacts have an email address and that they have not unsubscribed from your mailing list.
For an overview of Segmentation in Nimble, please see our support article here: Nimble Smart Segmentation Overview
Insert Hyperlinks for Click Tracking
Nimble will not only track the number of opens your message gets but also the number of clicks. Therefore, you'll want to include hyperlinks to track which recipients are engaging the most with your message.
Include hyperlinked text for your email and websites in the body of your message. This will allow you to track clicks on group messages sent from Nimble.
Add Merge Tags
Merge tags (a.k.a. placeholders/variables) are text identifiers that match the unique data saved in fields on a contact record. They make it easy to personalize messages that are sent to larger lists. This way, your message will look like you have done your homework and you're worth their time.
Use merge tags to display contact information in your emails. For example, if you use a merge tag of 'First Name' and send it to a list of 1,000 contacts, Nimble will autofill each recipient's name after it has been sent.
You can apply as many merge tags to your email as needed.
Learn more about merge tags here: Merge Tags for Group Messages
Sending Group Messages
Once your contacts are added, select "Send to list" to send out your message. You may also choose to send a test message to yourself to see what it looks like, as well as whether you would like to track this message.
(Please note, test messages are only sent to the "From" email you have selected, not to anyone in the recipient's list, or the CC or BCC fields. Additionally, Unsubscribe links will not function in test messages.)
Creating Email Templates
To save a message as an email template for future use, select "Save as New Template" before sending your new message.
If you would rather pre-create a bunch of email templates, go to Settings >> Email Settings and select "Add Template".
This will bring up our template editor, where you can insert all of your email fields, including attachments and merge tags.
Once you create a template, it will be available beneath the "Select Template" option on the Group Message screen.
Please Note: It is best to create your templates in Nimble or within a Google Doc. When copied and pasted, some systems such as Microsoft Word have been known to cause strange characters to appear in the body of an email after it is sent. You can always test whether these characters will appear by first sending a test message to yourself.
Templates must not be written in HTML and must be text only. In Nimble, you can create hyperlinks, add images, and customize your fonts.
Group Message Reporting Dashboard
Our Group Message Reporting Dashboard displays an overview of tracking information for each sent group message. This includes how many messages were sent, when the last activity occurred, and your open and click rates for each message.
To access your Group Message report, go to your Group Messages tab.
Click on the subject of any sent group message, and our reporting dashboard will display the contacts you’ve sent to, who has opened or clicked on your message, when it happened, and how many times they’ve done so. Additionally, you may view who has not yet opened your message.
You can also take further action from your group message reports to send follow-up messages or tag contacts.
At the top of the report, select some (or all) recipients, click “Add tag” to tag these contacts for later, or click “Send Message” to send a follow-up email.
Mute Tracking Notifications
If you are receiving too many open/click notifications from a particular contact, you may choose to mute the conversation.
Simply select the contact you would like to mute. The word "Mute" will then become active and appear in red.
Click on the word "Mute" to determine how long you would like to mute the conversation.
When you are ready to turn on notifications for this contact, simply select the contact again and click "Unmute."
The "Mute" option is available for in-app, Gmail, and desktop notifications.
Opens/Clicks tracking will still be counted in the background.
Enable Notifications
To ensure you follow up at the best time, we give you the option to enable in-app and desktop notifications for Group Message opens and clicks.
To enable this, navigate to Settings >> Notifications and check the box to enable desktop notifications.
Once Desktop Notifications are enabled, you will see notifications whenever a recipient opens or clicks on your message. Click on the notification to see the message report so you may engage with your contacts at the right time.
Group Message Best Practices
Always provide an opt-out option
If you are sending an unsolicited email, it's always important to make sure that your recipients can opt-out of an email. This is especially important to comply with CAN-SPAM and GDPR.
Insert the "Unsubscribe" link into your email signature with a message such as, "To unsubscribe, please reply with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line".
Learn more here.
How can I check my total number of messages?
At the top of the "Recipients List", we show a count of how many messages you have left for the day. There is a second counter towards the top right-hand corner of the Group Messages tab.
If you have any questions, please write us at care@nimble.com, initiate a chat from this FAQ, or join one of our Nimble Onboarding and Best Practices sessions, held every weekday at 9 AM PT.