Gmail – Jake Miller

Google Workspace Updates

Gmail has been the most widely used email client for some time, but it’s been missing some features…

One thing that I’ve long wished it had was the ability to create newsletter-like emails. Another is the ability to send 1 email to many people, but to have it appear to each one as an individual email. Of course, there are workarounds for both of these things: formatting the email elsewhere and bringing it into gmail… using mail merges to send 1 email to many people… using BCC… but now, you can do some of that stuff natively in gmail.

They’ve added new marketing tools.

First off, you can now access a variety of templates that include buttons, images, and text elements. Then, you can customize and personalize those layouts with new colors, images, and more. So, that covers that first issue I was talking about. Fancy formatted emails built right in gmail.

The other update is the ability to multi-send emails.

Now, no need to send a BCC to all recipients! By using Multi-Send mode, each recipient gets a separate copy of the email AND it includes an unsubscribe link. These are both great news. The not-so-great news is the availability. Google Workspace for Education Standard and Plus users HAVE these features, while Education Fundamentals and Teaching & Learning Upgrade users do NOT have these features.

Once again though, I’m puzzled by this availability. Education Fundamentals is the free version, so I get why those accounts don’t have it.

Education Standard and Plus accounts are pretty pricy – $3 per student per year for Standard, and $5 per student per year for Plus. So I get why they DO get this feature. What I don’t like though: why don’t Education Teaching & Learning accounts get these features? They are per-staff member accounts that cost $4 per staff member per month. At $48 a year, why would they not get this feature? I know that’s less money than paying $3 of $5 per student per year… but it sure would be nice to give that feature to those Teaching and Learning Upgrade teachers.

A few months after rolling out the Multi-Send feature, Google then kicked it up a notch with personalization Merge tags.

In big email service providers like MailChimp, Constant Contact, BirdSend, and others you can add merge tags to fill in peoples’ first names in your greetings and such. Now you can do that in the Gmail multi-send option IF you are on Google Workspace for Education Plus. So, Education Fundamentals and Education Teaching and Learning Upgrade teachers, you can’t send multi-send emails, so this is no surprise. Education Standard users, though, you can send multi-send emails, but you cannot add this personalization is.

Those of you on Plus, you can now add @firstname, @lastname, @fullname, and @email into your multi-send emails so they look a little less like they were part of a multi-send campaign. You’ll also be able to have a preview email sent to you to make sure the tags are functioning correctly. To fill in those it’ll use the information from in your Google contacts to determine what to fill in there, so you may want to double-check what you’ve got in there.

Here’s a weird part – if you don’t have the recipients in your contacts or if you just don’t have their first name and last name filled in, Gmail will try to guess what to put in there! For the most part, this should work, because gmail will know the info for other gmail addresses. But can you imagine emailing JakeMillerTech@gmail.com and having it guess my last name was Tech or my first name was Jack? Embarrassing.

So, make sure you have accurate contacts for any multi-send recipients if you plan to use this new feature. Just head to contacts.google.com to do that.

And, a reminder, while Plus and Standard users can send multi-send emails, only Plus emails can use these merge tags.

[Image(s) Source: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2022/07/new-integrated-marketing-tools-for-gmail.html ]

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Keyboard Shortcuts for Bullets & Numbering

Sometimes, I think a trick, hack or shortcut that I do with technology is unimpressive and something that everyone either knows or doesn’t care about. But then, when I mention it to someone, and they’re like “Whoa!” I think “Welp, this should be an EduGIF.”

Recently, I had the good fortune to be recording a guest appearance on the Shukes & Giff Podcast (er, maybe it’s the Shukes & Jake Podcast, now!? Kidding!). When I was chatting about Emoji Bullets with Kim Pollishuke (a.k.a. “Shukes”), I mentioned, “So, I’ll just click Shift+Command+8 and then…” and she said “Wait, What!?” And then I knew it, EduGIF time. So here it is . . .

in most Google Tools:

Click CTRL (Command on Mac) + Shift + 7 for Numbering
Click it again to undo numbering
Click CTRL (Command on Mac) + Shift + 8 for Bullets
Click it again to undo bullets

Here’s the EduGIF!

Shortcuts for Bullets and Numbering GIF

Canned Response Filter

In a separate post, I shared my love of Canned Responses in Gmail. What’s better than being able to save time by clicking on a “canned response” to send it out? Having your gmail do it for you! That’s right – if you always send the same response to messages containing the exact same phrase or from the exact same sender, then you can create a Filter that automatically replies with one of your canned responses. Super cool.

Tip: you may want to also select to archive the message, if you’d like it to also disappear from your inbox after the canned response is sent.

Step-by-step instructions are after the GIF.

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Canned Responses in GMail

I am efficiency-obsessed. Anytime I can make something that I do in my job more efficient without compromising quality, I am in. Involve something Google-y in that and I’m not just in, I am psyched.

Canned Responses meets that criteria. It allows you to save certain email text (typically for replies) that you send regularly. You can then insert those messages when needed, make minor edits for personalization if needed, and send them out. Awesome sauce.

The only flaw is the menu – you have to be really careful to not accidentally overwrite your saved canned responses by clicking in the wrong spot (insert vs. save vs. new). But I can live with that!

Check out a GIF of Canned Responses after these brief setup instructions.

Click the gear in the top-right corner of your Gmail window.
Click Settings
Click Labs
Navigate to Canned Responses in the list.
Click Enable, then save.

Boomerang for Gmail

“You’ve got mail.” – America Online

Those used to be such exciting words. The news of having email was exhilarating. Nowadays, it’s nonstop. It’s a constant battle to keep-up and it takes tons of tact to send emails that get read and acted on, because your recipients are overwhelmed, too.

I’ve been using Boomerang for Gmail to help me survive the Battle of the Inbox. These are the 3 main features that I love about Boomerang:

1. Send Later

If you’re like me, you end up sending some 11:45 PM emails. And if your coworkers are like mine, most of them are not typically reading their email at 11:45 PM. So, schedule it to send first thing in the morning. Do lots of work on the weekend? Schedule emails to send on Monday. Find some spare time to send an email that actually needs to go out in two days? Type it now, schedule it to send later. Check it out:

2. boomerang

This is the feature that the name came from. We often get emails that aren’t important yet, but will be important later. They’re not worthy of our focus at this point, but we should look at them before next Wednesday. So, throw them away and set them to boomerang back on Tuesday. Ah, that feels nice. Check it out:

3. boomerang if no response

Ever send out an email where there’s a time sensitive need for a response, but not get the response in time? Ugh! If I had known she wouldn’t respond in time, I would have texted her. With this setting, you can send an email or send away a received email and set them to pop back up in your Inbox if no one else responds. That way you know that you need to follow up with them in a different way! It’s also helpful when you’re hoping that someone else on the chain will answer a question, but this way you can insure that the question gets answered sooner or later. Check it out:

Note: I’m not affiliated in any way with Boomerang, nor am I being reimbursed for this endorsement. I just like their tool.

BTW – Right Inbox is pretty rad too. Boomerang is just my personal preference.

Calendar Lab in Gmail

I don’t know about you, but I’m often reading and responding to emails that relate to scheduling things. When I am doing that, it’s great to have my calendar handy. Using the Google Calendar Gadget Lab in Gmail makes that possible. I can see my calendar, add events to it and quickly get to the details for certain events. Check it out: