Fax Marketing/Broadcasting Instructions

A. Prepare your Fax document

1. Create your Fax flyer/document in Microsoft Word, Publisher, PowerPoint etc. and convert it into PDF format (for personalised/mail merged faxes a .prn file is required — please see Personalised Fax Broadcasting Instructions)

   
   

   Below are a few tips to assist you with your fax document design:

   
   

   • Avoid using coloured writing — might be very hard to read on a fax as it might turn out very light

     
     

   • Avoid using coloured or grayscale backgrounds — might turn out very dark and use up a lot of ink

     
     

   • Avoid using large and/or dark images — might turn out very dark, therefore use up a lot of ink and might be hard to identify

     
     

   • Avoid using small fonts — might get blurry and hard to read

     
     

   • Use a remove option to allow recipients to unsubscribe from further sends
     e.g. If you do not wish to receive any further information from us, please fax back to ______ and include your fax number in full.

     
     

   • Include your company logo for easy recognition

     
     

   • Include your contact details — Address, Phone, Email, Website

     
     

   • Keep the content simple, easy to understand and choose a headline which draws attention

     
     

   • Mention special offers if available

     
     

   • Make your offer stand out from competitors

B. Prepare your Fax database

1. Enter your Fax contacts into an Excel spreadsheet and save the Excel file in .csv (comma delimited) format. Close the .csv file and reopen this file to begin formatting.

   
   

2. Make sure that your fax numbers are in column A and insert the column heading Fax above the numbers. Please note that you can have multiple columns with information you might require (e.g. Company), however the column heading Fax can only be used for the first column.

   
   

3. Remove any text or spacing from the fax number column
   Excel Shortcut: Select the Fax number column and Go: Edit > Find > Find and Replace > select the tab Replace > type a space into Find what and leave Replace with blank. Then click on Replace all.

   
   

4. Remove any commas, hyphens, brackets, apostrophes etc. from all columns
   Excel Shortcut: Select your columns and Go: Edit > Find > Find and Replace > select the tab Replace > type a comma/hyphen/bracket/etc. into Find what and type a space into Replace with. Then click on Replace all.

   
   

5. Put your fax numbers into international format and make sure that all numbers include the area code
   Excel Shortcut: Select the fax number column and Go: Format > Cells > Select Custom and replace the General text with 61 0 for Australian numbers or 64 0 for NZ numbers. Then click on Ok.

   
   

   Below an example of how your list should look:

   
   

   Fax	Company
   6476364150	Joan Samson
   61247591841	Harrison Bros
   61292670690	Bikes R Us

   
   

6. Save and Close the csv file.

C. Upload your Fax broadcast

1. In the navigation bar, select Login > Fax Upload from the left hand menu and enter your username and password. (You may wish to add this login page to your favourites for quick access in future).
   If the Login page does not appear, you will need to install the latest version of Java

   
   

2. If you use multiple services select Fax Marketing otherwise select New job:

   
   

   • Job Description: Enter a name for your campaign which allows easy identification for job starting, reporting and billing purposes

     
     

   • Fax page (-s) Postscript File: Click on add and select the PDF file you wish to send (insertion of multiple files/pages is possible)

     
     

   • Fax number File: Click on add and select the Excel CSV file you wish to send to

     
     

   • Personalised: Leave un ticked (for Personalisation please see Personalised Fax Broadcasting Instructions)

     
     

   • Eliminate double fax numbers: Leave ticked unless you wish to send to duplicate numbers

     
     

   • Job Blocklist: If you have a Blocklist file, please format as in the same way as the Fax database (international format, csv file etc.) and click on choose.. to select the file. If you do not wish to block any numbers leave blank.

     
     

   • Server Blocklist: Leave ticked, unless the recipients have requested to receive fax information from you

     
     

   • Fax Header line: Type what you would like to appear in the heading of your fax (e.g. your company name).
     By selecting Edit you can also insert additional information such as total pages, page number etc. As well as fields from your database to personalise the fax heading free of charge.

     
     

   • Fax ID (Number of Sender): Enter your company’s fax number including area code.

     
     

   • Fax quality: Leave as Normal unless you wish to send your broadcast in High Resolution, which attracts a 25% price increase.

     
     

   • Tariff: Leave as Express.

     
     

   • Starting time: — To insert the Fax broadcast for the current date + time leave the fields blank — To schedule the send for a later date + time please enter date (dd/mm/yyyy) and time (hh/mm) in 24 hour format (QLD time).

     
     

   • Resending: To reattempt any unsuccessful fax numbers after the initial campaign is complete select the Express option under Resending. The system will automatically upload a resend file into the job administration. Simply login and start the resend job from the job administration. If you do not wish to reattempt any unsuccessful numbers please select No Resend.

     
     

   • E-Mail Address for report: Enter your email address or the email address which you wish the fax report summary to be sent to.

     
     

   • Control Fax: Enter your fax number in international format (e.g. 61740513399) without any spacing, commas etc. to receive a test fax for your uploaded Fax campaign.

     
     

3. Click on Accept

   
   

4. The Overview Fax Insert page will appear. If any writing appears in colour this indicates an error has occurred. Double check all details of your Fax broadcast and click on Send to continue

   
   

5. Wait until 100% of the data is transferred and click on OK.

C. Send your Fax broadcast

Always check your test fax before starting your Fax broadcast!

1. Click on Job Administration.

   
   

2. Check all details of the Test Fax you have received — If you haven’t received the test fax highlight your fax campaign, enter your fax number in international format into Controlfax to and click on Send.
   
   Instead of sending a test fax to your fax machine you can also view the test fax online — simply select your campaign in the job administration and click on View.

   
   

3. To start your Fax campaign select your job in the job administration and click on Start. If your send is scheduled for a later date + time the Status will change to waiting and automatically start at the selected date + time.

D. Reports

1. Once the Fax broadcast is completed a report summary will be sent to your selected email address.

   
   

2. To view and/or download a detailed report of your Fax campaign please click on the link next to to view your detailed report please go to... within your report email or go to our website and select Login/Fax and SMS Reports from the left hand menu.

   
   

3. Enter your Username + Password and click on Login.

   
   

4. Select Fax Marketing if you use multiple services.

   
   

5. Select your Fax broadcast and click on Get Report (located at the bottom of the page) or on the following icon .

   
   

6. On the next page please select from the given formatting options for your report and click on Request report.

   
   

7. Click on Open or Save.

To access additional reports click on Back to overview and proceed as above.