Audience Activation Settings: Sender Setup

Overview

In order for Audience Activation to send emails on behalf of the Dealership, there are two options for setup: 1) using the dealership’s domain, which requires DNS records to be set up by the domain owner or someone with access to the domain (usually the website provider) or 2) allowing Fullpath to send emails from our domain, which requires no additional setup. 

Scenario 1: For dealers who want to send email from their own domain:

Sending from the dealer domain is the preferred setup as our data shows better open rates and overall performance when the emails come from a trusted domain the customers recognize and have business with. 

1. Enter the Dashboard > Audience Activation > Sender Setup: https://dashboard.fullpath.com/settings/nurture/sender_details 
2. Select 'Dealership Domain'
3. Enter the sender email address 
4. Download the DNS records by clicking on the 'download' button
5. Attach the downloaded DNS file to an email and send the file to the dealership contact.
6. They will need to add the DNS records into their domain manager (GoDaddy, Network Solutions, etc) once they confirm this is complete you may....
7. Return to Dashboard > Sender setup > https://dashboard.fullpath.com/settings/nurture/sender_details 
8. Insert the Sender Email using their domain ([e-mail]) > click 'verify' button to see that the address is verified
   
9. Hit SAVE button (lower right hand corner of page, DO NOT HIT SAVE if the address is not verified)
   

Reply to Sender Domain

In the case where you use a dealer domain as the sender:

• • the reply-to email must be from the same domain
    
  • If reply-to email is left blank, the default is to send replies to the sender email.

Scenario 2: For dealers who want to send email from the Fullpath default domain

Sending from the Fullpath domain is a safe option which is verified, however our data shows increased open rates and better overall performance if the Dealership sends from their own domain.

No domain verification is required to send emails from the Fullpath domain. However, to improve email deliverability and open rate, a Powered By Fullpath marker is added to the footer of all emails sent by the Fullpath domain (@alstspecials.com). 

1. Select 'Fullpath Domain'
2. Set up a Sender Name (usually the Dealership Name)
3. Set up Sender email  [e-mail]
4. Set up a reply to email [e-mail]
    
   
   1. • If no reply-to email is input and the field is left blank, the default is to send replies to the sender email.
        
        
      • Sender email and reply to email must be from the same domain. So if the dealership is using the Fullpath email instead of their own, the reply to should also be the Fullpath email and we will auto-forward responses to a designated dealership email address (see more on this below)

 

Reply To ALST Domain and Smart Forwarding

You may also set up a reply to email address which the system will forward replies to - in this way, any responses to the ALST domain sender email will be routed through your established internal channels at the Dealership without risking spam filters which may be triggered if the sender and reply to email are not the same.

By auto-forwarding replies to your dealership from an established email which matches the sender email, you can be sure to receive the highest amount of replies instead of losing them in spam or other filters.

The reply- to email, from which your dealership will receive auto-forwarded responses from customers, is <dealerdomain>@alstspecials.com .

To set this up, simply enter the email address you'd like to set as the recipient when someone hits 'reply' on any Audience Activation email. The input will automatically be saved on the page.

Setting up a reply-to email does not require verification or DNS records.

Open Rates and Sender Reputation

Our data has not found a significant difference in delivery and open rates between clients using alstspecials domain and those choosing to use their own domain.

Fully-aligned Authenticated Customer Domain is highly recommended, as it allows Dealers to take full control of their sending reputation and deliverability. It maximize Dealers' opportunity for reliable delivery while maintaining domain reputation (which in turn increases open rate).

How Fullpath is helping to maintain Dealers' Domain Reputation

Fullpath use SendGrid and SES to send email:

• SendGrid - Fullpath clients are each isolated in sub-accounts allowing us to wall them off so one's domain reputation does not effect another
  
  
• SES - we use dedicated IP clusters. This means that we are utilizing multiple groups IPs that are only being used by FullPath. This also helps us to maintain domain reputation.

Best to Avoid...

1. Sender email address with capital letters. Example: [e-mail]
2. Sender email address that looks random. Example: [e-mail]
3. Phone numbers in the disclaimer text: Example: “If you have any questions call: [phone]”