Keela can be a great way to communicate with your Contacts! You can send direct, one-on-one emails, or send Email Marketing to a bunch of Contacts at once! The best part about using these systems is that all of these emails and their responses are automatically logged on your Contacts' profiles.
But what if you're using your own, external email provider? Is it possible to log emails that you send and receive through your work inbox to Keela? Yes!
What is BCC/FWD Emails in Keela?
BCC is an acronym that stands for "Blind Carbon Copy" and is a common function available when sending emails through your external email provider. It is a field that allows you to send a "Carbon Copy" or an exact replica of your email to another email address, without your recipients seeing it.
For example, below is a screenshot of a new email created in Gmail. The email is addressed to suppport@keela.com (a little too many p's if you ask me!) but an exact copy will also be sent to secretemailaddress@keela.com. The suppport team cannot see the BCC's details and will not be notified that the email was sent to another person.
The ability to forward emails is a common function available when an email is received or after an email has been sent. It allows you to forward an entire email thread to another email address. You can forward an email directly from your inbox or from your sent box.
For example, below is a screenshot of an existing email that is being forwarded from Gmail to suppport@keela.com. The original sender will not be notified that their email was forwarded.
Using BCC/FWD Emails with Keela
Every organization is automatically given their own BBC and Forward Email address that they can enter as a recipient in their BCC fields or when forwarding an email.
Click on your Organizations name in the top-right hand corner > Click on Personal Settings > Click on BCC/FWD Emails
Copy the BCC email address or Forward email address directly from the system by clicking on the Copy icons.
Paste the BBC email address in the BCC field of a new email before sending it to your recipient.
Or paste the Forward email address in the recipient field of the email you are forwarding!
Where are the emails tracked after BCC/FWD has been used?
The idea behind both of these email addresses is that it allows you to automatically log a copy of the email on your contact' profiles in Keela. There are two possible outcomes when using the BCC or Forward Email Addresses in Keela:
(1) If the Contact has an existing profile in Keela
Keela will compare the recipient's full name and email address with existing Full Name and Primary Email Addresses on contact profiles in Keela - if a match is found, the system will automatically update the Interactions tab of that contact's record.
(2) If the Contact does not have an existing profile in Keela already
If no match is found, the system will automatically create a new contact record for the recipient and update the Interactions tab of that contact's record.
Note: The Keela system will try to update the Full Name of the contact based on the information that your email provider sends through. If there is no Full Name data, only the email address will be updated.
(3) If Keela does not recognize the email thread
When you FWD or BCC emails into Keela, we require that you keep the entire header of every email in the email thread the exact same. This is how Keela finds the contact's name and email address. If you change or remove any field of the email header, Keela will not recognize the format, and will not be able to associate it with an existing contact or create a new one. Here is an example of a 'header' - note this might look slightly different depending on your email provider.
Some providers also have header formats that are unrecognizable by Keela. In this case, even if you keep the header, it might not always be recognized. Don't worry though, if this happens, you will find the BCC or FWD email in Personal Settings under the BCC/FWD Emails tab in the section entitled 'BCC/FWD emails with unassociated contacts'. To associated these email threads with a Contact record, you will need to click on each email thread > click 'Edit Contact' > and associate the email to a Contact in Keela.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I have to use a BCC or Forward Email Address every time?
Yes, you will need to add these every time in order for the emails to be updated.
Hot Tip: Why not add these email addresses as new Contacts in your email provider's address book! Give these new contacts memorable names like BCC and FWD - this way you won't need to remember the whole email address or copy it directly from Keela every time.
What happens if I have multiple Contacts with the same Primary Email Address?
One of our recommended best practices for using to Keela is to ensure that the Primary Email Addresses on your Contacts' profiles are unique to that profile. We use the Primary Email Address for locating duplicate records, assigning form submissions and for sending out Email Marketing - because of this, it's important that you have one unique Primary Email Address per Contact profile.
If you have more than one Contact with the same Primary Email Address, the system will update the Interactions tab of the Contact that was created in your account first.
How long does it take for Keela to update the Interactions tab?
This depends on the speed at which your email provider sends Keela this information. Generally, it takes less than 5 minutes to update!
If a new Contact record is created, what information will be updated to that profile?
The Primary Email Address of your Contact will always be updated. If the First Name, Last Name or Full Name of the Contact was sent through by your email provider, this will be updated as well.
Why is the email thread I FWD/BCC's not showing up in Keela?
If you FWD/BCC an email thread into Keela and you do not see it added to an existing contact's profile or a new contact created, I would recommend scrolling up the section above '(3) If Keela does not recognize the email thread'. This will show you where you might be able to find the email thread!
Can see the email thread appear on the Contact's profile, but no content within that email thread?
If you are using browsers apart from Google Chrome to navigate Keela, then you may run into issues with viewing some content/accessing some tools. Keela high-power tools need a high-power browser to support them, so Google Chrome is the browser that the platform is optimized to be used with. Please see our Browsers and Basic Troubleshooting article for more details on browser performance.