What does FLIMP mean?
FLIMP stands for FLash Integrated Microsite Platform.
What is a FLIMP?
A FLIMP is a self-tracking flash audiovisual microsite.
What is a microsite?
According to Wikipedia, a microsite, also known as a minisite or weblet, is an Internet web design term referring to an individual web page or cluster of pages which are meant to function as an auxiliary supplement to a primary website. The microsite's main landing page most likely has its own URL. Microsites can be either HTML or Flash and are typically used to focus attention on a specific topic of either editorial or commercial information.
How are FLIMPs made?
Using a FLIMP account, FLIMPs can be created quickly and easily in a three step process that does not require web programming skills. FLIMPs can be made using existing available content.
How do I access my FLIMP account?
Your FLIMP account is a web-served platform than can be accessed directly at http://dcdashboard.flimp.net
Do I need to download any software in order to access my FLIMP account?
While your FLIMP account is entirely web-based (meaning you will not need to download anything onto your computer's hard drive) you will need to have Flash Player 9 in order to use your FLIMP account. FLIMP will work on any platform that supports Flash 9 (PC, Mac, Linux, etc)
Are there any file size or format restrictions regarding images that I can use to create my FLIMP?
While there are not any size restrictions in regards to images, FLIMP microsites can only support images that have been created in a .gif, .jpg or .png file format.
Are there any size limits to the size of a video file used in my flimp microsite?
While there are not any limits to the size of a video file, FLIMP recommends that to effectively engage your audience that any video used be under four minutes in length. Also, videos that are longer than fifteen minutes may not load immediately, might take a few seconds to appear, will almost never be viewed to completion, and are not recommended.
Do I need to save my video in a specific file format?
Yes. All videos need to be in a .flv (Flash Video) file format. There are many utilities to convert existing video content to FLV format, or we can convert it for you inexpensively.
Are there any restrictions in where I place images, text or audiovisual content on the FLIMP microsite canvas?
The FLIMP microsite canvas does not restrict the placement of images, text or audiovisual content. FLIMP was designed as a blank canvas, so the designer has full control on where content elements are placed.
What can flimp microsites link to?
Flimp microsites can link to any Web element, including a web page, web served PDF or an email address.
After I launch a FLIMP microsite, is there a waiting period before I can start reviewing the performance reports?
No. FLIMP's reporting features go live as soon as a FLIMP microsite is launched and viewed. You will be able to track the performance of your FLIMP microsite in real time.
Can performance reports be exported outside of the FLIMP platform?
Yes, users have the option to export data elements from FLIMP to a tab delimited file, which can be directly loaded into a spreadsheet or other application for further analysis.
Does FLIMP store or download any content onto a user's computer when someone receives a flimp and chooses to view the microsite?
FLIMP does not store cookies or any other content on user's computers.
Similar to how other web pages function, a flimp microsite temporarily stores the images and audiovisual content in a user's web cache. The reason that the content is stored in the web cache is so that a user can replay a flimp microsite without having to make another round trip to the FLIMP host server. Also, because videos tend to be 10MB in size or larger, video content buffers up into a temporary file in the user's web cache as the video is playing. Thanks to progressive download, the technology is intelligent enough to start playing the audiovisual content before the entire microsite is downloaded. This is why video embedded into a flimp microsite will start playing within one to two seconds once the microsite has been launched.
FLIMP does not have direct access to user's computers and has absolutely no control where the temporary files are stored or when they are deleted. The temporary files are stored depending on which Web browser (i.e., Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox, Safari, etc.) is being used and the files will be stored along with other images and content from other web pages. It is impossible to visit any web page on the Internet without a computer storing something in the user's temporary web cache.
If I distribute a flimp microsite via email, how does the email sender information render?
A flimp microsite distributed via email will display the "From Name" and "From Email Address" that you enter into the distribution tool. For example, if your "From Name" was John Doe and your "From Email Address" was johndoe@emailaddress.com, then the recipient would see an email message from "John Doe at johndoe@emailaddress.com."
Can we send our flimps through our own email provider?
Absolutely. One of the distribution methods within the flimp platform allows you to generate a zip file that can be sent right to your email provider. This zip file contains both a text version and HTML version of an email that you construct step by step within the platform. You can modify this email in any way you want. The only limitation is that you should not modify the link to the flimp generated by the flimp platform. Also, you will not get tracking by email address if you use your own email provider. You will get all other tracking information.
If I have my own email service platform, can I send out a FLIMP microsite via email?
The way an ESP typically works is that the content manager needs to load a list of recipients, compose an email message and then distribute the email. With FLIMP, a user using a client ESP will follow a step-by-step process to forma t a flimp microsite email template and then generate the HTML and text within the FLIMP platform, generating a ZIP file with the code. The ZIP file can be sent to the client's ESP or put into the ESP provider by the email web master. Within each ESP there should be a place where a user can provide the HTML for the email. The HTML will be copied out from the ZIP and then placed into the ESP. The user can then continue to format the email message or edit the content as necessary.
What are types of reporting metrics can I generate if I create and distribute a flimp microsite?
Flimp microsites provide metrics on the following activities:The number of flimp microsite views, video starts, video watches to completions, and
interactive links clicked by hour and by day.
The number of clicks on each embedded link.
The video's duration.
Total views.
Total viewing time in minutes.
Average viewing time in minutes.
Total video starts.
Video starts as a percentage of views.
Total number of users who have watched to completion.
Watches to completion as a percentage of views.
Total number of links clicked.
Total number of viral recipients (Forward to a friend or Email to a friend) and their
email addresses (of both the sender and the viral recipient).
The text message that a user created when forwarding a flimp microsite to a friend or
emailing a flimp microsite to a friend.
The contents of any response forms added to your flimp microsite.
If you distribute your flimp microsite via the FLIMP proprietary email systems or the
Publicaster ESP, the reporting will display the email addresses of individuals who performed
any of the listed activities by day, hour or overall campaign total.
Are there any reporting limitations if I use my own email service platform to distribute a flimp microsite?
For flimp microsites sent from a client's Email Service Provider (ESP), currently you cannot generate a report of the individuals who interacted with a flimp microsite by email address. However, all other reporting metrics are available.
Are flimps sent as attachments?
No, they are not. The emails generated by the flimp platform contain an image of the flimp that links to the actual flimp viewer. This image is automatically reduced in size and surrounded by user customizable messaging.
Do flimps play right in the email?
No, they do not, for two reasons. The first is that over 90% of current email readers do not support video within an email, so a flimp would only play for 10% of people. The second is that even if a flimp did play automatically when someone opened or previewed their email, the response rate would not accurately represent who actually meant to view your message.
When a person receives an email, who does it appear that it is from? You set up your from name and from address on your emails. They will appear that they are sent by you.
Which domain shows up when a person views a flimp?
By default, the domain name of the flimp player is viewit.cc. So it is brand-neutral.
Can I make it look like my flimp is coming from my own domain?
Yes, you can. Simply choose the "Website Flash" distribution option. You can take the generated HTML code and place it within any web page or blog entry. Your flimp will appear seamlessly within the surrounding web page, while continuing to be hosted from the flimp server network. We have done this on our own homepage. The video that is playing and the text to the right of it is actually a flimp.
Can a flimp email be construed as spam?
Unfortunately, almost any email nowadays can be wrongly construed as spam as a result of the unscrupulous emailers among us. Even emails from companies like DELL and Amazon.com have ended up in my spam folder, even though I opted-in to receive emails from both companies. That being said, we regularly run our email template through the leading email deliverability monitor, http://www.returnpath.com. Further, our email marketing partner, Publicaster, is whitelisted with all major ISPs, implements delivery enhancement functionality such as DomainKeys, and has advanced bounce management tools.
If you send your email from your own provider, a flimp email is no more likely to be construed as spam than any other HTML email with an image, link and text in it.
Where is the content that appears on a flimp hosted?
All content that appears within a flimp is hosted on our server network. You can set up links to any content that can be referenced by a web URL, such as PDFs, other web pages, documents, and the like. Any document linked to on a flimp is not hosted on our servers.
Is there any flimp branding that appears on our microsite?
There is no branding on microsites other than what you add.
What kind of training is available? What training is included?
The flimp platform is exceptionally easy to use and figure out on the fly. We do include a 1-2 hour online "webinar" with whomever you would like to include on the call. We also include training for our Publicaster emailing platform should you choose to use it. Additional hours of phone training are available for $150 each.
FLIMP stands for FLash Integrated Microsite Platform.
What is a FLIMP?
A FLIMP is a self-tracking flash audiovisual microsite.
What is a microsite?
According to Wikipedia, a microsite, also known as a minisite or weblet, is an Internet web design term referring to an individual web page or cluster of pages which are meant to function as an auxiliary supplement to a primary website. The microsite's main landing page most likely has its own URL. Microsites can be either HTML or Flash and are typically used to focus attention on a specific topic of either editorial or commercial information.
How are FLIMPs made?
Using a FLIMP account, FLIMPs can be created quickly and easily in a three step process that does not require web programming skills. FLIMPs can be made using existing available content.
How do I access my FLIMP account?
Your FLIMP account is a web-served platform than can be accessed directly at http://dcdashboard.flimp.net
Do I need to download any software in order to access my FLIMP account?
While your FLIMP account is entirely web-based (meaning you will not need to download anything onto your computer's hard drive) you will need to have Flash Player 9 in order to use your FLIMP account. FLIMP will work on any platform that supports Flash 9 (PC, Mac, Linux, etc)
Are there any file size or format restrictions regarding images that I can use to create my FLIMP?
While there are not any size restrictions in regards to images, FLIMP microsites can only support images that have been created in a .gif, .jpg or .png file format.
Are there any size limits to the size of a video file used in my flimp microsite?
While there are not any limits to the size of a video file, FLIMP recommends that to effectively engage your audience that any video used be under four minutes in length. Also, videos that are longer than fifteen minutes may not load immediately, might take a few seconds to appear, will almost never be viewed to completion, and are not recommended.
Do I need to save my video in a specific file format?
Yes. All videos need to be in a .flv (Flash Video) file format. There are many utilities to convert existing video content to FLV format, or we can convert it for you inexpensively.
Are there any restrictions in where I place images, text or audiovisual content on the FLIMP microsite canvas?
The FLIMP microsite canvas does not restrict the placement of images, text or audiovisual content. FLIMP was designed as a blank canvas, so the designer has full control on where content elements are placed.
What can flimp microsites link to?
Flimp microsites can link to any Web element, including a web page, web served PDF or an email address.
After I launch a FLIMP microsite, is there a waiting period before I can start reviewing the performance reports?
No. FLIMP's reporting features go live as soon as a FLIMP microsite is launched and viewed. You will be able to track the performance of your FLIMP microsite in real time.
Can performance reports be exported outside of the FLIMP platform?
Yes, users have the option to export data elements from FLIMP to a tab delimited file, which can be directly loaded into a spreadsheet or other application for further analysis.
Does FLIMP store or download any content onto a user's computer when someone receives a flimp and chooses to view the microsite?
FLIMP does not store cookies or any other content on user's computers.
Similar to how other web pages function, a flimp microsite temporarily stores the images and audiovisual content in a user's web cache. The reason that the content is stored in the web cache is so that a user can replay a flimp microsite without having to make another round trip to the FLIMP host server. Also, because videos tend to be 10MB in size or larger, video content buffers up into a temporary file in the user's web cache as the video is playing. Thanks to progressive download, the technology is intelligent enough to start playing the audiovisual content before the entire microsite is downloaded. This is why video embedded into a flimp microsite will start playing within one to two seconds once the microsite has been launched.
FLIMP does not have direct access to user's computers and has absolutely no control where the temporary files are stored or when they are deleted. The temporary files are stored depending on which Web browser (i.e., Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox, Safari, etc.) is being used and the files will be stored along with other images and content from other web pages. It is impossible to visit any web page on the Internet without a computer storing something in the user's temporary web cache.
If I distribute a flimp microsite via email, how does the email sender information render?
A flimp microsite distributed via email will display the "From Name" and "From Email Address" that you enter into the distribution tool. For example, if your "From Name" was John Doe and your "From Email Address" was johndoe@emailaddress.com, then the recipient would see an email message from "John Doe at johndoe@emailaddress.com."
Can we send our flimps through our own email provider?
Absolutely. One of the distribution methods within the flimp platform allows you to generate a zip file that can be sent right to your email provider. This zip file contains both a text version and HTML version of an email that you construct step by step within the platform. You can modify this email in any way you want. The only limitation is that you should not modify the link to the flimp generated by the flimp platform. Also, you will not get tracking by email address if you use your own email provider. You will get all other tracking information.
If I have my own email service platform, can I send out a FLIMP microsite via email?
The way an ESP typically works is that the content manager needs to load a list of recipients, compose an email message and then distribute the email. With FLIMP, a user using a client ESP will follow a step-by-step process to forma t a flimp microsite email template and then generate the HTML and text within the FLIMP platform, generating a ZIP file with the code. The ZIP file can be sent to the client's ESP or put into the ESP provider by the email web master. Within each ESP there should be a place where a user can provide the HTML for the email. The HTML will be copied out from the ZIP and then placed into the ESP. The user can then continue to format the email message or edit the content as necessary.
What are types of reporting metrics can I generate if I create and distribute a flimp microsite?
Flimp microsites provide metrics on the following activities:
Are there any reporting limitations if I use my own email service platform to distribute a flimp microsite?
For flimp microsites sent from a client's Email Service Provider (ESP), currently you cannot generate a report of the individuals who interacted with a flimp microsite by email address. However, all other reporting metrics are available.
Are flimps sent as attachments?
No, they are not. The emails generated by the flimp platform contain an image of the flimp that links to the actual flimp viewer. This image is automatically reduced in size and surrounded by user customizable messaging.
Do flimps play right in the email?
No, they do not, for two reasons. The first is that over 90% of current email readers do not support video within an email, so a flimp would only play for 10% of people. The second is that even if a flimp did play automatically when someone opened or previewed their email, the response rate would not accurately represent who actually meant to view your message.
When a person receives an email, who does it appear that it is from? You set up your from name and from address on your emails. They will appear that they are sent by you.
Which domain shows up when a person views a flimp?
By default, the domain name of the flimp player is viewit.cc. So it is brand-neutral.
Can I make it look like my flimp is coming from my own domain?
Yes, you can. Simply choose the "Website Flash" distribution option. You can take the generated HTML code and place it within any web page or blog entry. Your flimp will appear seamlessly within the surrounding web page, while continuing to be hosted from the flimp server network. We have done this on our own homepage. The video that is playing and the text to the right of it is actually a flimp.
Can a flimp email be construed as spam?
Unfortunately, almost any email nowadays can be wrongly construed as spam as a result of the unscrupulous emailers among us. Even emails from companies like DELL and Amazon.com have ended up in my spam folder, even though I opted-in to receive emails from both companies. That being said, we regularly run our email template through the leading email deliverability monitor, http://www.returnpath.com. Further, our email marketing partner, Publicaster, is whitelisted with all major ISPs, implements delivery enhancement functionality such as DomainKeys, and has advanced bounce management tools.
If you send your email from your own provider, a flimp email is no more likely to be construed as spam than any other HTML email with an image, link and text in it.
Where is the content that appears on a flimp hosted?
All content that appears within a flimp is hosted on our server network. You can set up links to any content that can be referenced by a web URL, such as PDFs, other web pages, documents, and the like. Any document linked to on a flimp is not hosted on our servers.
Is there any flimp branding that appears on our microsite?
There is no branding on microsites other than what you add.
What kind of training is available? What training is included?
The flimp platform is exceptionally easy to use and figure out on the fly. We do include a 1-2 hour online "webinar" with whomever you would like to include on the call. We also include training for our Publicaster emailing platform should you choose to use it. Additional hours of phone training are available for $150 each.