Comms
Three Kinds of Email: News, Group Business and Meeting Papers
What each kind of email in Swoop is for, who it goes to, whether it carries an Unsubscribe link, and what happens if someone marks it as junk.
Three Kinds of Email: News, Group Business and Meeting Papers
When you write an email in Swoop, the first thing it asks is What kind of email is this? Nothing is ticked for you. It feels like one more click, but the answer does real work. It decides who the email can go to, whether it carries an Unsubscribe link, and what happens if someone marks it as junk.
This guide explains the three kinds you choose between, and the two Swoop sets for you.
News and updates
Newsletters, events, fundraising. Anything that is trying to get people to book, give, buy, join or come along to something they can choose to skip.
- Who gets it: only people who said yes to news from your group.
- Unsubscribe: it carries an Unsubscribe link, and the Unsubscribe button that Gmail, Yahoo and Apple Mail show above the message works too. Pressing either one stops your news and nothing else.
- If someone marks it as junk: Swoop treats it as that person unsubscribing from your news. They stop getting news, and only they can turn it back on. Swoop does not stop anything else you send them.
Group business
Renewal information, AGM notices, changes to how the group runs. Facts only, nothing promotional.
- Who gets it: everyone you pick, including people who said no to news. That is the whole reason this kind exists, and it is why you must be careful with it.
- Unsubscribe: none. Its footer has a Change my preferences link, and no Unsubscribe link, because there is no news to unsubscribe from.
- If someone marks it as junk: the first time, Swoop stops nothing and your admins are told, with a note on the person's record. If the same address marks another email from your group as junk, Swoop stops all email from your group to that address until an admin starts it again. The guide on what happens when someone marks an email as junk has the detail.
Swoop says this plainly next to the choice: using Group business to promote something to people who said no to news breaks the Spam Act, and your name is kept with the choice.
Meeting papers
Agendas and minutes. When you send them from Meetings, Swoop sets this kind for you.
- Who gets it: everyone you pick, except people who have stopped meeting papers.
- Unsubscribe: the link in a meeting papers email stops meeting papers only. It does not touch their news.
- If someone marks it as junk: the same as Group business.
There is a separate guide on meeting papers that people can stop.
The two Swoop sets for you
- Booking message: a message to the people booked on one event.
- One-off message: a receipt, an invitation or a sign-in email.
You never choose these, but you will see them on the stats page and in a person's activity log.
A quick way to choose
Ask whether the email is trying to get anyone to do something optional. If it is, it is News and updates. If it is telling people a fact they need to know because they belong to the group, it is Group business. Agendas and minutes are Meeting papers.
If you are still not sure, choose News and updates. It only goes to people who said yes, so it cannot break the Spam Act. Anyone who said no will not see it, though, so tell them another way if they need to know.
Where you see the kind afterwards
- The last step before you send, in large words.
- Sent history and the side panel for each message, which also says who chose it and when.
- A person's activity log.
- The stats page, which splits the numbers by kind of email.
A template can say what kind of email it is usually sent as. When you start from it, that kind is ticked and marked as a suggestion. You still check it is right before you carry on.
Common questions
- Why does Swoop ask what kind of email I am sending?
- Because the kind decides who the email may go to, whether it has an Unsubscribe link, and what happens if someone marks it as junk. Nothing is ticked for you, so you make the call each time and your name is kept with it.
- Can I send Group business to people who said no to news?
- Yes, but only for facts about how the group runs, such as renewal information, an AGM notice or a change to the rules. If you use it to promote something to people who said no to news, you break the Spam Act.
- Is a notice of the AGM news or group business?
- An AGM notice is a fact about how the group runs, so it is Group business. An invitation to the annual dinner, which people can choose to come to or not, is News and updates.
- What if I pick the wrong kind?
- Swoop shows the kind in large words on the last step before you send, with who it will go to. If it is wrong, choose Change the kind of email. Once an email has gone, its kind is shown in Sent history.
- Do emails like receipts and sign-in links have a kind?
- Yes. A message to the people booked on one event is a Booking message, and a receipt, an invitation or a sign-in email is a One-off message. Swoop sets those two for you.