- 5 months ago
- Updated
General Questions
Does Certain use a 3rd party email service for sending email?
Yes. Certain uses www.sendgrid.com and sends email via SMTP. Certain uses SendGrid/Twilio for sending Email Marketing and transactional email solutions to businesses of all sizes.
Email Analytics Event Dashboard & Tabular View
How often is the Email Analytics dashboard refreshed?
The Email Analytics dashboard is refreshed every 10 minutes.
What time zone are the time stamps in the dashboard reflected in?
The dashboard time stamps are reflected in the Pacific Time zone, which is consistent with other timestamps in the Certain platform.
When I move my event from ‘Testing’ to ‘Live’ status will the dashboard totals be cleared out?
No. Dashboard totals include emails sent to both test and live registrations in the event. Dashboard totals also include any deleted emails. Certain recommends including ‘Test’ in the name of any mass action emails so those emails can be excluded via filters on the dashboard.
What do each of the email statuses mean?
- Sent — the message has been prepared and processed for delivery.
- Delivered — the recipient's email server has accepted the message. The % delivered calculation equals the number of emails delivered divided by the number of emails sent.
- Total Opens — the total number of times the email was opened by recipients. A recipient may open the same email multiple times. The % opened calculation equals the total number of times emails were opened divided by the number of emails delivered.
- Unique Opens — the total number of recipients who opened the email.
- Total Clicks — the total number of clicks including multiple clicks by the same recipient.
- Unique Clicks — the count of recipients who clicked on at least one link.
- % Not Opened equals the total number of unread emails divided by the number of emails delivered.
- Undeliverable — the number of emails that were undeliverable. The reason could be bounces, dropped emails, spam, etc. The % Other calculation equals the total number of undeliverable emails divided by the number of emails sent.
Registration Email Activity Summary Totals and Timeline
How often is the Email Activity list and timeline updated within a registration?
Unlike the dashboard, the list and timeline within a registration are updated in near real-time.
Email Opens
What is the difference between Total Opened and Unique Opens?
A recipient can open an email one or more times which is reflected in Total Opened. For Unique Opens, only one open is counted for a recipient that opened the email more than once.
How are opens tracked?
To track opens, an invisible, one-pixel image is added at the end of each email. If the email recipient has images enabled on their email client, or the recipient selects to view images in the email, and a request to SendGrid’s server for the invisible image is executed, then an open event is logged.
Note: opened emails sent as text (not HTML) are not recorded in the Opens totals because of this.
Is there anything else I need to know about open tracking?
Due to the nature of internet routing, load balancing among servers, corporate firewalls, and spam filtering, some opens can be recorded multiple times within 0-30 seconds. If multiple opens of the SAME link in an email are recorded within 30 seconds of one another, the reg timeline displays only a single open.
Click-Through Tracking
Are link click-throughs tracked?
Yes. Link click-throughs are tracked as an optional feature. The optional feature can be enabled at a portal // sub-account // event level.
How do I enable click-through tracking on my portal and sub-account(s)?
Click-through tracking is enabled by default on all portals and sub-accounts. Certain can only enable or disable click-through tracking. Contact helpdesk@certain.com for assistance.
How do I enable click-through tracking on my event?
An administrator must navigate to Plan>Configure>Options>Functional Areas Needed by This Event>Event Module. The administrator must select ‘Email Click-Through Tracking’.
If the option does not appear, then the option is not enabled as a product on that sub-account or for your portal. Contact help@certain.com.
How does click-through tracking work?
Certain uses SendGrid to send emails. Click-through tracking on emails overwrites links with a SendGrid domain. The SendGrid domain is only visible when the recipient mouses over the link.
Upon click of the link, the user's browser opens the website. The experience is seamless aside from the overwritten URL being displayed to the user.
Will recipients be concerned about the overwritten link and think it is a phishing email?
This is a valid concern. This technique of using overwritten URLs is typical of email providers that track email clicks: https://docs.sendgrid.com/ui/account-and-settings/tracking#click-tracking
Can the domain displayed in the overwritten links match that of my portal?
Yes. This is possible. This requires coordination between Certain and the team that manages the Domain Name Service (DNS) for the portal. Some best practices must also be followed by users who configure emails. Documentation on these best practices is forthcoming. In the meantime, contact your CSM regarding branding click-tracking URL’s.
Where can I see the link that a registrant clicked on?
Drill into a registration. Navigate to the Email Activity timeline. The timeline shows the link that was clicked with a corresponding time stamp.
What if a recipient clicks on multiple links in the same email?
Each click is tracked and recorded in the timeline. The timeline includes multiple clicks of the same link.
Is there anything else I need to know about click-through tracking?
Due to the nature of internet routing, load balancing among servers, corporate firewalls, and spam filtering, some single clicks can be recorded multiple times within seconds. If multiple clicks of the SAME link in an email are recorded within 30 seconds of one another, the timeline displays only a single click.
Should I have any privacy concerns regarding enabling click-through tracking in my emails?
As a best practice, Certain recommends that all registration forms include the organization’s (or the client’s organization) privacy policy that outlines how registrant data is managed. As part of that policy, Certain suggests including verbiage that mentions that registrants may leverage 3rd party technologies such as cookies, beacons, tags and scripts. Those technologies analyze trends, and track user movements on websites and in emails to gather engagement data and provide a more personalized experience to end users.
Single Send Emails
What emails are considered Single Send?
- Confirmation emails triggered when a registrant completes registration and lands on the ‘Confirm’ page of a form. This includes single sends of event confirmations, form confirmations, and email templates.
- Any single email sent from the Registration>Email or Profile Email pages.
- Forgot Password Emails
- Digital Emails that include a Join URL
- Single sends are running totals for one-time, single-send emails.
Mass Action Emails
What emails are considered Mass Action Emails?
- Email sent via mass action from the Report Results window. This includes Event Confirmation emails, Form Confirmations, and Email Templates.
- Scheduled Emails
Miscellaneous
What is the retention policy for email analytics?
The retention policy for email analytics is consistent with the data retention policy for email history and credit card data. The retention period is 90 days following the event end date. The data is then archived for an additional 9 months before it is permanently purged from the database.
What emails are not tracked?
Emails sent to Speakers and Reviewers are not tracked. Messages sent as a CC or BCC are not tracked. Email Analytics does not record any data when sent to test registrations.
How many emails can I send in a single mass action?
5000 is the max number of records that can be sent in a single mass action. If more than 5000 records exist, emails must be broken up into smaller sends.
Setting a custom registration property can be used to track who an email has been sent to. Putting a registration on the ‘To-Do List’ can be used to track who an email has been sent to.
How are emails that include a CC or BCC handled?
Emails sent to CC and BCC as well as additional and assistant emails are not tracked.
Is email sent from Certain CAN-SPAM compliant?
No. However, the page states that this does not mean that CAN-SPAM compliant requirements cannot be implemented into your emails.
To learn more about CAN-SPAM compliance click here: [](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business)