Send Classifications

About this Guide 

This document provides conceptual and procedural information about the ExactTarget send classification feature.

What Is a Send Classification

A send classification lets you define parameters for an email job in a central location and reuse those parameters for multiple email send definitions. For example, an administrator might create a send classification that can be used every time a catalog is sent out to ensure that the appropriate parameters are used every time.

You select a send classification, together with content information and audience information, when you define a message send by creating a message interaction.

When you create a send classification you specify the following information:

• Delivery Profile
• Sender Profile
• CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) classification

You create the delivery profile and sender profile separately before you create the send classification. You can override the delivery profile and sender profile on the send classification when you include the send classification in a message interaction.

The CAN-SPAM classification can be Commercial or Transactional. Commercial and Transactional have legal meanings under U.S. Federal law.

• The CAN-SPAM Act defines a Commercial email message, is "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service." Commercial messages must include a mechanism to unsubscribe, the physical mailing address of the sender, and (if unsolicited) a notice of advertisement. For commercial messages, we check for the presence of an unsubscribe link.
• Transactional messages, per CAN-SPAM, are primarily emails that "facilitate, complete, or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender." Per the FTC, to be considered "transactional" per CAN-SPAM, the subject line must be transactional in nature and non-promotional. Also, the email body must present the "transactional content" prior to the commercial content. For transactional messages, we do not check for the presence of an unsubscribe. If you are unsure of classification, we recommend you check "commercial" and provide an unsubscribe link. This is not legal advice. Please see your legal counsel for the proper application for your organization."

ExactTarget requires that all messages comply with CAN-SPAM, regardless of the sender or recipient's destination country. This is because ExactTarget is headquartered in the U.S., and thus most email messages transmitted using the ExactTarget platform originate in the U.S., and likely must comply with U.S. law. Also, U.S.-based ISPs with a strong international presence (such as Yahoo and Hotmail) similarly require that messages received comply with the law. And finally, these guidelines comply with best practice standards applied by most ISPs and email receivers world-wide.

Note: If ExactTarget receives a complaint from SpamCop or more than five complaints from America Online (AOL) regarding your emails, they will give you a Deliverability Report Card to help you improve your deliverability.

If you create a transactional send classification, you can choose whether sends using that send classification honor the opt-out list associated with the list you've chosen to use. If you decide to honor the opt-out list, the system does not send messages according to the following logic:

• For user-initiated sends to a list, subscribers who have opted out of the list are not part of the send.
• For user-initiated sends to a data extension, subscribers who have opted out of the related publication list are not part of the send.
• For triggered sends with an associated list, subscribers who have opted out of the list are not part of the send.
• For triggered sends that have an associated list and data extension, subscribers who have opted out of the list are not part of the send.
• For triggered sends with no associated list (regardless of whether these is an associated data extension), subscribers who have opted out cannot be traced and therefore cannot be excluded from the send.

If you decide not to honor the opt-out list, emails that use the send classification will not include an unsubscribe link.

Why Use a Send Classification

Use a send classification to save time and effort, as well as to avoid the risk of human error. If the parameters included in the send classification do not change, you do not need to repeat the steps in the wizard process for each send.

The send classification also gives you a greater degree of control over your application, letting you perform tasks yourself rather than request ExactTarget intervention.

How to Create a Send Classification

You must create a sender profile and a delivery profile before you can create a send classification. After you create a send classification, you can include it in a message interaction. Use the following steps to create a send classification.

1. Click the Admin tab from the navigation bar.
2. Click Send Management.
3. Click Send Classification.
4. Click the Create button.
5. Complete the information in the Properties section:

   Name	Name of the send classification. Use this name to identify the send classification in the ExactTarget application.
   External Key	A unique value that identifies the send classification. Use this value to identify the send classification with an API call.
   Description	Description of the send classification. Use this description to further help identify the send classification within the ExactTarget application.

   
    
6. Select the CAN-SPAM Classification. Valid entries include:
   • Commercial
   • Transactional
      
7. If you select a Transactional classification, you will see a checkbox labeled Honor source and publication list level opt outs. Transactional sends do not check these lists for unsubscription status during a send by default. However, checking this box will exclude all subscribers who have opted out of sends or pressed the Spam button in email clients like Hotmail, MSA, AOL, AIM, and Yahoo.
8. Complete the information in the Sender Profile section:
   

   Sender Profile	Sender profile associated with the send classification.
   Delivery Profile	Delivery profile associated with this send classification.

   
    
9. Select the Send Priority. The email you associate this send classification with will perform based on the send priority you select:
   

   High	The send performs at a higher pace than normal.
   Normal	The send performs at a normal pace.
   Low	The send is not given priority and may take longer than normal to perform.
   Burst	(This option may not be enbled in your account.) Gives the send priority over your other sends.

   
    
10. Click Save. 

How to Create a Sender Profile

The sender profile will contain the name and address that the message appears to be from in the subscriber's email client.

Note: If you have the Subscriber-Specific From feature enabled, you must have created a subscriber attribute or data extension to contain the subscriber-specific from information before you perform this procedure. To learn about creating data extensions, see the Data Extensions Guide. Once you have a data extension created containing From addresses, you can use an AMPscript lookup function to dynamically set the From name and From address, as in this example:

%%=Lookup("ReplyInformation","Name","State", state)=%%

Alternatively, you can simply create an additional attribute or field on your sendable list or data extension and enter a standard substitution string in these fields (for example, %%FromName%%).

Use the following steps to create a sender profile:

Note: If you do not see these custom settings, this feature may not be enabled in your account. Enabling this feature helps you to more effectively manage your replies by giving you additional options. Contact your ExactTarget account representative if you would like to enable this feature.

1. Click the Admin tab in the navigation bar.
2. Click Send Management.
3. Click Sender Profiles.
   The Sender Profiles workspace appears.
4. Click the Create button.
5. Complete the information in the Properties section:

   Name	Name of the sender profile. Use this name to identify the sender profile in the ExactTarget application.
   External Key	A unique value that identifies the sender profile. Use this value to identify the sender profile with an API call.
   Description	Description of the sender profile. Use this description to further help identify the sender profile within the ExactTarget application.

6. Complete the information in the Sender Information section:

   Sender	The from name and address the system uses for sends associated with this sender profile. Valid values include: Choose from list If you select this value, you must select the from name and address from the list of users. Use the specified information If you select this value, you must enter the From Name and From Email address.
   From Name	Enter the From Name. Complete this field if you selected Use the specified information in the Sender field. For a Subscriber-Specific From, enter a substitution string. For example, if the from name for a subscriber is stored in the ownername attribute, enter %%ownername%%
   From Email	Enter the From Email address. Complete this field if you selected Use the specified information in the Sender field. For a Subscriber-Specific From, enter a substitution string. For example, if the from email for a subscriber is stored in the owneremail attribute, enter %%owneremail%%.

7. Complete the information in the Custom Reply Mail Management Settings. Use the following screen as a guideline.
8. Click Save.

How to Use Sender Header Support in the Sender Profile

A sender header helps sender deliverability for those who are sending on behalf of someone else.

You can enable Sender Header in your Sender Profile feature to store a header name and address:

Your sender header name and address can be static or dynamic. If you have static sender header information, just enter the values into the fields. If you want to use dynamic sender information, include a substitution string in the fields.

See Using Personalization Strings with AMPscript for a list of personalization strings.

Note: You can use sender headers with Reply Mail Management. For information, see the Reply Mail Management Instruction Guide.

How to Create a Delivery Profile

After you complete this procedure, you can include the delivery profile in a send classification.

Use the following steps to create a delivery profile:

1. Click the Admin tab in the navigation bar.
2. Click Send Management.
3. Click Delivery Profiles.
4. Complete the information in the Properties section:

   Name	Name of the delivery profile. Use this name to identify the delivery profile in the ExactTarget application.
   External Key	A unique value that identifies the delivery profile. Use this value to identify the delivery profile with an API call.
   Description	Description of the delivery profile. You use this description to further help identify the delivery profile within the ExactTarget application.

5.  Complete the information in the Delivery Information section:

   IP Address	Determines the IP address used for sending messages associated with this delivery profile. Valid values include: Account Default The system uses the account's default IP address Private The system uses your company's private IP address. If you select this value and have multiple private domains, you must select the private domain to use.
   Header	Determines the header information of the send. Valid values include: None Uses no header. If you select this value, you may want to include a link to the hosted version of the message within the body of the email. Account Default Uses the default header. Library Content Uses stored content as the header. If you select this value, you must select the stored content to use.
   Footer	Determines the footer information of the send. Valid values include: None Uses no footer. If you select this value, you must include an unsubscribe link and your physical address within the body of the email. Account Default Uses the default footer. Library Content Uses stored content as the footer. If you select this value, you must select the stored content to use. The stored content or the body of the email must contain the unsubscribe link and your physical address.

6. Click Save.