Create Template Email / Step 1: Compose Email

To begin, click the Emailer tab to access the Emailer home page. Then, click Compose Email to begin to build your new Email Campaign.

Create Template Email / Step 2: Name Campaign

Provide a name for your Email Campaign that will help differentiate it from your other Email Campaigns. For example: June 2010 Marketing Campaign. This can be anything that you like as the name of the email is not seen by anyone but you.

Create Template Email / Step 3: Send Email Type

Once you have given your email campaign a name, you will need to select an email type. You may choose from three different email types:

1. Using the Email Designer: Starting an Email Campaign from scratch will take you through the process of creating professional-looking email without any HTML knowledge required. You will select a style and structure for your email as well as provide images and content.
2. Provide my own HTML: If you are familiar with HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and/or are using a third-party HTML editing tool (e.g. Dreamweaver, Go Live) and have created your own HTML source code, you can select this option to input raw HTML. If you would like to create an Email Campaign using your own HTML, please see Create HTML Email.
3. Copy a previously created email: To speed the Email Campaign creation process, you can start with a previously created Email Campaign and use it as a "template" for your new email. If you select this option, the style, structure, images and content from the selected Email Campaign will be copied into your new email. You can then edit any of these as necessary to complete your new Email Campaign.

For this tutorial, let's select a blank template by Using the Email Designer. Next, click Continue to Style.

Create Template Email / Step 4: Choose Template Style

Each Email Campaign you create can have its own style. You can select from a catalogue of ADBASE styles or create your own. If you like an ADBASE style but would like to change one or more aspects of it to fit your specific taste, first select the ADBASE style, then click Customize. This will start with the settings from the chosen ADBASE style, which you can then change. If you choose to change the color within an ADBASE style, Emailer provides you the flexibility to select from a broad spectrum of colors or input a Hex # to match a specific color.

Let's select Border Dark Gray, then click Save & Continue to Layout.

Create Template Email / Step 5: Featured Image Layout

Email Campaigns created within Emailer are designed to contain between 1 to 6 featured images showing your work. First select the number of images you would like to feature in your Email. Then, select one of the available layouts for the selected number of featured images. Optionally, you can change the default spacing between your images using the Image Spacing text box. Image spacing describes the number of pixels between each image. Values between 0 - 150 are accepted

Let's select 2 Featured Images and leave Image Spacing at the default of 10 pixels.

Create Template Email / Step 6: Set Email Width

Use the slider to alter the width of your Email. You cannot increase the width of your Email beyond 800 px. We recommend that you use the automatic setting to ensure that your Email will more closely align with the size of your featured images.

Create Template Email / Step 7: Text and Image Areas

Email Campaigns can have a number of additional text and image areas above and below your featured images. Use these to include a short message to your recipients or to include other images that establish your overall branding. Include one or more areas by checking them off. Your Email Campaign will not display empty vertical space for unchecked text or image areas.

Let's select Top Text Area 1 and Bottom Text Area 1. Then click Save & Continue to Content.

Create Template Email / Step 8: Specify Subject Line

Specify a subject line that will engage your recipients to open your Email. The recommended maximum length for an email subject line is 40 characters. Anything surpassing this may get cut off or be tagged as spam.

Create Template Email / Step 9: Personalization

In this area you can:

• Click to input personalization fields (example: the recipient’s first name). You may make a selection from the list below. Once you have slected the personalization field to insert, click Insert to continue.
  
  
• Click Personalize to toggle spell check.
• Click Spellcheck to undo your last operation.

Create Template Email / Step 10: Format Text

Click in the text area to enter your content and to show the text formatting toolbar:

This includes the following controls (left to right): bold, italics, underline, font family, font size, font color, font background color, numbered and bulleted lists, left/center/right horizontal alignment, left/right indentation, link, personalization and spell check.

You can also:

• Click to add a tracked link to your text.
• Click to input personalization fields (example: the recipient’s first and last name).
• Click to undo your last operation.

We recommend that you be as brief and to the point as possible with the content presented in your Email Campaign.

Create Template Email / Step 11: Upload Featured Images

Click Select to open your Image Library and choose an image for this Image Area. You may also upload a new image to be used in your Email Campaign. Note that Emailer will automatically resize your image if it is larger than the recommended size. You may change this size if you do not want to use the recommended size.

Click Browse to select an image that you would like to upload to your Email Campaign. Allowable image formats are .jpg, .gif and .png and the maximum file size is 500kb. Once you have selected your image, provide your image with a name. You can then choose to save the image to your image library or use it only once. Finally, you will need to agree to the Terms by certifying that your company owns the copyright and distribution rights to the image. Click Upload & Continue to continue.

Create Template Email / Step 12: Resize Featured Images

Click Change if you would like to select a different image. This will open your Image Library and allow you to upload a different image to the Image Area.

The image dimensions are also displayed. If you want to resize your image further, click Resize. The file size displayed is the size of the image after it has been resized for use in your Email Campaign. This may be different from the file size in your Image Library. Note that Emailer will automatically resize your image if it is larger than the recommended size. You cannot change the aspect ratio or increase the dimensions beyond that of the original image. To make these types of changes, you will need to edit the image prior to uploading it to your Image Library.

A recommended size is provided for each of your images. We recommend you use the recommended size to ensure that your Email Campaign will more closely align with the overall featured image layout. Click the checkbox underneath the slider to use the recommended image size.

Create Template Email / Step 13: Link Featured Images

You can link your images to a webpage or email address by clicking Add Link. Click Change to alter the URL. Add a Link Name to allow you to easily identify the name of the image that you uploaded when viewing your response data.

Create Template Email / Step 14: Link Text to URL

In the example below, we will create a tracked link to our text. First, you will need to select the text you would like to link to. Then, click to add a tracked link to your text.

Type in the URL you want to link your text to and add the Tracked Link Name. Then click Add Link to continue. Your text will now be linked to the URL you specified.

Create Template Email / Step 15: Create Plain Text

Some recipients who cannot view HTML emails will be able to view your Email Campaign as plain text. For this reason, all emails should have a plain-text version. You can opt to use auto-generated plain text based on the content you’ve already provided, or you can choose to write your own custom plain text content.

When writing your own plain text, you can:

• Click to input personalization fields (example: the recipient’s first and last name).
• Click to open spell check.
• Click to undo your last operation.
• Click to insert the auto-generated plain text content into the text box. This plain text is based on the Email content you have specified above.
• Click to clear the existing plain text.

Below is an example of a plain text message. Once you have created and reviewed your Content, click Save & Continue to Tracked Links to review the links you added to your Email Campaign.

Create Template Email / Step 16: Review Tracked Links

From the Tracked Links tab, ensure that each of your Tracked Links have a unique name so click-through statistics can be tracked individually. Viewing the click-through rate for each individual image is important as it allows you to easily identify which of your images have yielded the highest response rate. Click-Through statistics are available to you after your Email Campaign has been sent. Clicking on View URL will open the linked page in a new browser window for testing purposes.

When you are satisfied with your selections, click Save & Continue to Delivery Options to select your ADBASE lists and send your Email Campaign.