Siebel Marketing Installation and Administration Guide > Installing and Configuring Email Marketing >

Final Test of Email Marketing Components

At this point, you have installed and configured all of the Email Marketing components (Email Sending Daemon, Bounce Handler Daemon, and Click-Through Daemon) and tested each separate component.

This section describes how to test all components and the Marketing application together as a complete system. This test involves sending a test email to three or more test contacts. The content of the test email template should include links to test the Click-Through Daemon, the Web Marketing Server, and the Events server. At least two of the contacts should be invalid email addresses, one within the corporate domain, and one outside the corporate domain. These will test bounce handling and bounce detail communications for the Email Sending Daemon and the Bounce Handler Daemon. Additionally, you should send email to at least one email account that you can access outside of your corporate network. This tests your Email Sending Daemon, DNS alterations, and corporate firewall configurations.

To perform this comprehensive test of the Email Marketing components, perform the following tasks:

• Create the Test Email Template
• Send the Test Email Template to Test Contacts
• Confirm that all Tests Function as Expected

Create the Test Email Template

You create a test email template to verify your Email Marketing components are correctly installed and configured. For information about creating an email template, see Siebel Marketing User Guide.

When you create the test email template, make sure you add a One-Click Unsub Response Form, a Web Offer link, and an Event link.

NOTE:  Because this email will be sent out over the Internet, it is a good idea to add text that announces that this is a test email, offers your apologies if someone unintended receives it, and provides information that allows recipients to contact you.

Send the Test Email Template to Test Contacts

Determine the contacts to whom the test email template will be sent, create an email offer from it, and send it to these contacts.

1. Whether you use a list or a segment to generate your target contacts for this test, make sure the following three contact types are included:
   • Invalid contact email address within the corporate domain. This tests communication from the Email Sending Daemon to the Marketing Object Manager. The Email Sending Daemon reports synchronous bounces to the Marketing Object Manager. An invalid email address within the corporate domain generates a synchronous bounce from the Mail Transfer Agent.

     NOTE:  The system administrator should make sure that the Mail Transfer Agent is configured to handle synchronous bounces and confirm that the contact's email address will generate a synchronous bounce. This is desirable even if the Mail Transfer Agent is normally not configured to handle synchronous bounces. The reason for this is to make sure that if the normal Mail Transfer Agent configuration changes and starts performing synchronous bounces, your system will properly record them. After testing, the system administrator can return the Mail Transfer Agent to its normal configuration.

   • Invalid contact email address outside of the corporate domain. This tests the corporate firewall and Internet DNS configuration of the Bounce Handler Daemon. This also tests communication between the Bounce Handler Daemon and the Marketing Object Manager. An invalid email address for a domain other than the corporate domain should generate an asynchronous bounce that the Bounce Handler Daemon should be able to receive bounced emails, process bounced emails, and send the bounce details to the Marketing Object Manager.

     Be aware that some email domains (such as aol.com) do not generate bounces. Also, be aware that email bounces are not guaranteed to be returned. It may take some research to determine whether the problem is actually the Bounce Handler Daemon or one of a number issues not related to the installation and configuration of the Email Marketing components.

   • Valid contact email address for an email account accessible outside of the corporate firewall/DMZ. This tests the corporate firewall and Internet DNS configuration with the Click-Through Daemon, Web Server, and Event Server. This tests communication between the Click-Through Daemon and the Marketing Server. The email sent to a valid contact contains a One-Click Unsub Response Form, a Web Offer link, and an Event link. The tester should access this account and email from a computer outside the corporate firewall to correctly execute this test.
2. Launch a campaign using a list or segment including the described types of contacts.
3. Monitor the campaign to make sure that it succeeds without any errors. One example of an error is an error message in the log containing the word SOAP. This indicates that the Marketing application is not correctly configured to communicate with the Email Sending Daemon.

Confirm that all Tests Function as Expected

You need to perform the tests in this section to confirm that the system behaved as expected.

1. Test an email offer sent to the valid contact email address
   1. Verify that the email offer was received. Find a computer that is outside of the corporate network and has access to the valid contact's email account. Then you need to access that account from the computer that is outside of the corporate network.

      Results of test. If the email offer is received, you have confirmed the following results:

      • The Marketing Server communicates with the Email Sending Daemon.
      • The Email Sending Daemon can access the email message content and subwaves from the Marketing File System.
      • The Email Sending Daemon can send email to email accounts outside of the corporate domain using the corporate Mail Transfer Agents.
      • The email message From and Reply-To headers are correct.
   2. Click the One Click Unsub link in the email.

      A Web page that is hosted by the Click-Through Daemon appears with the message, You have been unsubscribed!

      Results of test. This message confirms that you correctly configured the Click-Through Daemon for the corporate firewall and it has been properly added to the Internet DNS records. Additionally, this confirms that the Marketing application has been correctly configured with the base URL for the Click-Through Daemon.

   3. Click the One Click Unsub link in the email for the Web Offer link and the Event link.

      Results of test. The Web Server and Event Server base URLs are properly configured within the Marketing application.

2. Campaign details
   1. Synchronous bounce reported. Navigate to the Campaign Contact/Prospect Applet-Admin applet for the test campaign. Verify that the invalid contact with an email address within the corporate domain is identified as a bounce.

      Results of test. The Email Sending Daemon is able to communicate with the Marketing application and can report synchronous bounces.

      NOTE:  You may have to add the Email Bounce Type and Email Bounce Reason Code columns to the visible columns shown in this applet.

   2. Asynchronous bounce reported. Navigate to the Campaign Contact/Prospect Applet-Admin applet for the test campaign. Verify that the invalid contact with an email address outside of the corporate domain is identified as a bounce.

      Results of test. The Bounce Handler Daemon can receive bounces sent from outside of the company firewall. This means the Bounce Handler Daemon's hostname is correctly configured in the Internet DNS records. The Bounce Handler Daemon is able to communicate with the Marketing Object Manager and can report asynchronous bounces. The Marketing application has been correctly configured to use the Bounce Handler's hostname as the SMTP envelope from address.

   3. One Click Unsub recorded. Navigate to the Campaign Response List applet and verify that the valid contact's email address is entered here with a Response Type of One Click Unsub.

      Results of test. The Click-Through Daemon can communicate with the Marketing Object Manager and update the Siebel transactional database with information that it collects when an email recipient clicks on a link that it monitors.