For the past three months, a select group of Delivra clients have been beta-testing a new import utility that was written by our Development team over the summer. We’re happy to announce today that the testing was successful, and that the beta period is officially over!

The new import tool has the same purpose as the old one–to allow you to upload a CSV file containing your email addresses and associated demographic information. However, there are new features that make the new utility superior to the importer that was included in Lyris ListManager, namely:

1) Import files can use any names in the header row, or contain no header row at all. It’s not necessary to include database column names in the CSV file, because the new importer lets you map the fields of your file to the right database column as well as specifying any fields that can be ignored:

2) Imports run in the background, allowing you to work on other tasks while your file is processed.  You can view the status of your import at any time:

And, receive an email when it is completed, with attachments showing any records that could not be imported:

3) For our clients who use subscription categories to manage list members’ preferences, it is now possible to import addresses directly into those categories from a CSV file, in addition to your use of categories in profile forms or API integrations.

The new CSV importer will be made available to all Delivra clients beginning in January 2010 (and the old importer will be retired sometime soon thereafter).   But we’re happy to enable it right now for any of our clients who would like a sneak preview.   Just send a request to support@delivra.com and indicate for which lists you’d like to turn on this new utility.  Once enabled, two new options will appear on the Add Members page:

Chris Broshears | Product Development

Recently I viewed a demo of some new features that will be making their way into our product later this month.  None of them were the sorts of big, splashy things that one would write a press release about.  But I was impressed by all of the changes I saw–to our Media Library and CSV Import modules–because they improve usability and give our users even more flexibility than they are accustomed to.

None of these changes were particularly expensive or difficult to make.  Considered separately, you’d say they were minor.  But together, they make a high-functioning product even better.  And that really embodies the Delivra philosophy of business.  We’re not trying to grow by leaps and bounds, but by continuous improvement–listening to our customers and trying each day to serve them a little better than we did the day before.  To use an analogy appropriate to this fall season of Major League Baseball playoffs, we’re not swinging for the fences, because home run hitters tend to strike out as often as they connect.  If we were a baseball player, we’d be Ichiro–consistently hitting singles and doubles, and scoring for his team more often than many of his better-known contemporaries.

How about you?  Are you trying to inject life into your email marketing program by swinging wildly, trying to hit a grand slam?  Or maybe you’re just going through the motions, sending the same sort of newsletter every day/month/year, hoping for better results without making adjustments.  In our experience, success comes from commitment to continuous improvement.  Delivra’s tools help you test, audit, and report on your mailings so that you can see what does and doesn’t work, who is and isn’t engaging with your messages.  But that information is only useful if you’re committed to acting on it, adjusting your strategy accordingly.  Not sure how?  Let us help.

Chris Broshears | Product Development