Email Editor

Planning for Broadcast Email

Before beginning to actually create your email or newsletter in LeadCentral, you should do some preparation related both to the communication goals and also the actual elements (images, logos, links, etc.) that will be required to build the email.

Consider Your Goals

The first step in the process is to do some thinking about why you intend to distribute the email or newsletter. What action do you want the recipients to take or what key points do you want them to remember? Who do you want to reach with your mailing? Take a minute to write down the answers to these questions as a way to clarify your goals. Next, write a two- or three-sentence abstract for the email, as well as a descriptive and enticing subject line. For a newsletter, write an abstract and title for each article.

Collect the Content

Images help capture the recipients’ attention and can help tell your story. Locate appropriate photographs. If you will be using videos, gather them and create a thumbnail image of an interesting frame of the video (width 105). If you will be linking to other documents such as whitepapers, presentations, PDFs, etc., identify their location and create a thumbnail of each document (width 128). Include a description of format, based on your companies branding standards. Identify the URLs for any external links to landing pages, offers, media sites, etc. Identify a link label for reporting purposes for each your URLS that is based on your companies pre-determined labeling standard. The link should be short and to the point. If you are going rely on LeadCentral to gather leads based on recipient clicks and opens, determine the keywords that you want to capture and store in the database’s Customer Interest field when a recipient submits a request.

Setup Email Only Project

Open the MRC to see a listing of Campaigns, right click on the campaign name where you want to add the new project and left click on the Add Project option. On the right a new blank project form to the Project Summary screen. The first thing you want to do is fill out the (A) Project Name. Use naming standards that your company has set up so it is easy to find project. A typical naming standard is media tactic, name if newsletter if it is ongoing followed by start date. (for example Newsletter/ABC News/2014). Listed next to the project name is the Campaign Name that you selected and the project will be located, this is automatically filled in for you.

Project Setup Details

Under Project Attributes you have three options for Project Type: Standard Process, Custom Process and Send Batch Email, for this example choose the (1) Project Type Send Batch Email. When you do this you will notice the screen options change. The next option is to choose the (2) Domain Server Name. You will find a dropdown of the values available. The options shown on this list are domains that are warmed up and ready for use for email drops. The final option in this section is to Click the (3) Add Email Template button. From the (4) Add/Edit Email Template dropdown menu choose Add New Prospect Template from the dropdown list. Enter the name of your email template in the (5) Template Name field. Use a name that includes its purpose and possibly the date of the email drop. (Example: New product announcement – January 2015). Click (6) Create Template.

Add New Blank Email Template

In this process, you will select a wireframe (template) to create an email for distribution to a target list of recipients. Each wireframe includes certain blocks of content (text) and images (photos) arranged in a layout. In a separate step, you will later fill in this wireframe with your specific content and images.

Wireframe Vs. Template

A wireframe is the preformatted skeleton for an electronic document such as an email or newsletter. The wireframe may include some static content, text and images, that will be included in all documents based on the wireframe. The wireframe includes preformatted placeholders where you will insert your custom content. The wireframe is designed to meet your brand guidelines, including appropriate formatting and use of logos.

A template is an electronic document, based on a wireframe, that has been customized with your content for a specific audience or application. Because it was based on a wireframe, all templates will have a consistent, professional appearance.

Choose Your Template

Review Available Wireframes: Before creating a new template, review the available wireframes from the Marketing Resource Center Tools menu View Wireframe Samples. You need to know the name of the wireframe design you plan to use before proceeding with the next step.

Add a New Email Template

From the Campaign Management tab, in the Campaign list to the left of the screen, find and open your project. In the Email Setup / Email Template(s) section of the screen, select the correct (1) Domain Name Server. There may be only available. If there are more and you are unsure of the correct server, contact GrowthPoint. Click (2) Add Email Template. From the Add/Edit Email Template area, click (3) the dropdown menu for Pick One and choose Add New Prospect Template. Enter the name of your email template in the (4) Template Name field. Use a name that includes its purpose and the layout name of the wireframe (Example: New product announcement – Email Stationery w/Head Shot). Click Create Template. At the bottom of screen, click Update to add the new template.

In the Campaign list to the left of the screen, find and click on the template you created.

Enter the delivery information

On the Email Summary tab, click the Specific Address radio button. In the (1) appropriate fields, enter the information for:

From Address
From Name
Reply To Email
Reply To Name – The only available options will be shown in this drop down
Subject Line

All the address fields you will have a drop down of available options which you can add additional lines, except for the reply to address which an item needs to be choose from the drop down.

For the Template Creation Method, (2) click the wireframe radio button. In the Select Wireframe dropdown menu, (3) choose the wireframe design/layout you want to use. You will see a popup message saying “Changing of wireframe may lead to removal of all statistics and data of the existing template.” It warns you that, if you started a template and then changed wireframes, it erases the content already entered. (4) Click Update to save your changes.

You now have blank wireframe, ready to populate with your content.

Using an Email Wireframe

In this step, you will use a new wireframe that you selected and named, and fill it in with the text, pictures, and other information to create your email.

From the Marketing Resource Center, use the left navigation pane to find and open the desired email template. The blue envelope under your project will signify the prospect email. Click the Edit Email tab to view the blank wireframe template, ready to add your content.

Wireframe Tour

The template will show placeholders for your dynamic or variable content (text, images, links etc.).
Places where you can enter text are indicated by placeholder text.
Places where you can enter images are indicated by a grey box with the dimensions of the available area in pixels.
The image also shows the fixed content that is common to all emails based on this wireframe.

If a wireframe is updated you have the ability to use that wireframe on your template, details can be found here.

You cannot change that design of a wireframe. Contact GrowthPoint to discuss if there is not an existing wireframe to meet your needs. If you want to recheck the available wireframes, the available wireframes can be previewed from the Marketing Resource Center Tools menu option entitled View Wireframe Samples.

Enter Content into the Wireframe

In this step, you will use a new wireframe that you selected and named, and fill it in with the text, pictures, and other information to create your email.

Wireframe Tour

The template will show placeholders for your dynamic or variable content (text, images, links etc.).
Places where you can enter text are indicated by placeholder text.
Places where you can enter images are indicated by a grey box with the dimensions of the available area in pixels.
The image also shows the fixed content that is common to all emails based on this wireframe.

You cannot change the design of a wireframe. Contact GrowthPoint to discuss if there is not an existing wireframe to meet your needs. If you want to recheck the available wireframes, the available wireframes can be previewed from the Marketing Resource Center Tools menu option entitled View Wireframe Samples.

To add an image click on a grey images placeholder in the wireframe. This opens the Edit Dynamic Section window (shown to right) where you can select an existing image or upload a new image. Image placeholders have a suggested image size displayed in the wireframe. You will also see the image size indicated in the window when you click the grey image placeholder to add your images. Images uploaded will be resized automatically. If you do not want to the system to resize your image or like how it is done, you can resize the image on your own and upload the new image. This is discussed below.

Choosing an Existing Graphic

From the Edit Dynamic Section window, use the (1 & 2) folder navigation panes to find the desired graphic. Note along the top of the window that you can click icons to Refresh the screen, create a New Folder, and switch views between a list view and thumbnail view. As you click on files in the list on the left, you can see the image in the (4) Preview Window.

Click the (7) Save button to add the selected graphic to the template, close the Edit Dynamic Section window, and return to your wireframe. If you make a mistake while in the Edit Dynamic Section and don’t want to keep the graphic you selected, you can select a different image to replace it, or click the (6) Cancel button to close the Edit Dynamic Section window without saving your changes. After you return to the Edit Email screen, you can also click on the image there to select a different image.

Uploading a New Image

If you need to upload an image, click the (3) Upload icon at the top of the Edit Dynamic Section window. In the Upload window that appears (shown at right), click the (A) Select button. Navigate to the computer and location where the image is located. If you need to add more than three images, click the (B) ADD button. After selecting the images, click (C) Upload to add the images to the list of available files. You can now use the instructions above to add your new image(s) to the wireframe.

Attaching Links to Images

Upload Image Window

You can make images “clickable,” providing links from them to other resources or websites. Navigate to the target resource and copy the URL. Select the image you want to add the link to which will open the Edit Dynamic Section window. Click in the URL field and paste in the URL. In the Link Name field, provide a descriptive name for the link for reporting purposes. In the Target dropdown, the system defaults to New Window (the linked item opens in a new window), which is the recommended option.

Finally, in the Alt Text field, enter some descriptive text for the image. This text will appear instead of the image for users who view emails as text-only or who have image downloads disabled in their browser. Click (7) Save.

Resize an Image

If you select an image that is too large or too small for the placeholder in the wireframe, the system will proportionally stretch or squeeze the image to fit the placeholder dimensions. The results should be satisfactory however if you do not like the results you can resize your image. If your image is too big for the placeholder, you can use an image editor to resize it. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the file and right-click it. Look at the “Open with” options available to see if you have an editor, such as Microsoft Office 2010, to open and resize it. If not, you will assistance from someone with editing software. Be careful enlarging your image to ensure the quality is still acceptable.

Need to replace an image

If you want to make changes to the image you uploaded you can make changes to the file offline and re-upload the image. To replace the image you previously uploaded, (A) select the image, keeping the same file name, Check the Overwrite if file exists box which is found under the Add button and click (C) Upload to add your new image. Keep in mind that when you preview your newsletter might see the previous image. If this is the case after you have uploaded a new image clear your computer cache.

No Image for a Placeholder in a Wireframe

If you do not add an image where there is a placeholder, there will simply be a blank area there in your email.

Open your project and click on the prospect email envelope. From the Edit Email tab, click on any block of text in the wireframe. This opens the Edit Dynamic Section window with a text editing window where you can add or edit text. You have the common text editing tools available in the toolbar. When copying/pasting text, the formatting is stripped however to be save when pasting your text you can right click and choose Paste Plain Text. It is important to only enter plain text or past in only plain text into the editor or you will have issues with the font not looking consistent.

You can add data stored in the contact record to your email, but in doing so make sure that all your records have that information and that you test your emails with this information so you know how it looks. More detail on entering this information and testing can be found here.

Also in the toolbar you have the ability to include hyperlinks in the text. After entering or editing text, click Save to return to the Edit Email tab. Note that if you do not update or remove the default text, it will appear in your wireframe. See the module on Hyperlink Manager for more information on working with hyperlinks.

Repeating a Wireframe Section

You can repeat the elements of your wireframe by hovering your mouse over the wireframe in the Edit Email window, then clicking the (1) Plus Sign at the top-right of the window. This duplicates all of the elements of the wireframe. You can now edit each of the text blocks individually. You can also replace the repeated images. Remember that if doing put a image in the placeholder that will leave a blank area in your wireframe. Click the Trash Can at the top of the window to delete the repeated section.

2 colum add text If the content is two columns wide, like the example to the right you do not need to fill out both sections. The section you don’t complete will show up blank. For example you can enter the article on the left and leave the right article blank.

Moving Sections in a Template

After repeating a wireframe section (see above), you can rearrange the sections by clicking a section and dragging it up or down in the template.

Previewing Your Template

At any time, you can click the Preview button to see what your email will look like. While the cursor will change to a pointing-finger when hovering over links, the links are not active.

Adding hyperlinks

Adding Text to Wireframe

From the Open your project and click on the prospect email envelope. From the Edit Email tab, click on any block of text in the wireframe. This opens the Edit Dynamic Section window with a text editing window where you can add or edit text. You have the common text editing tools available in the toolbar. When copying/pasting text, the formatting is stripped however to be save when pasting your text you can right click and choose Paste Plain Text. Also in the toolbar you have the ability to include hyperlinks in the text. After entering or editing text, click Save to return to the Edit Email tab. Note that if you do not update or remove the default text, it will appear in your wireframe.

Adding Hyperlinks

Adding hyperlinks allows you direct recipients to landing pages, documents in LeadCentral and other online resources. You can include multiple hyperlinks in the text of your template, enabling the recipient to quickly access the resources. You can also attach links to images. To enter a hyperlink, from the Edit Email tab, highlight the block of text where you want to add the hyperlink. Click the (1) Hyperlink button.

After you click on the Hyperlink icon the Hyperlink Manager window will open.

You have several options for the type of hyperlink (option 1 above):

View email content in a browser: Creates a link allowing the recipient to view the email in a browser instead of as an email. This is sometimes helpful because different email clients will display your email differently. Viewing the email in a browser ensures that it displays as you intended.
Forward email to a friend – English: Opens a pop-up window allowing the recipient to forward the email to someone else who might be interested in the content. This link is typically included near the top of the email. It’s helpful to provide this ability to forward the email in a way that enables the system to capture the forwarded address and add it to the contact database. Without this link, the recipient could simply forward the email using the standard email Forward feature, but the system won’t be able to capture the forwarded recipients contact information. Note that the pop-up window will open in English.
Link to document stored within LeadCentral: Creates a link to documents stored within LeadCentral. The advantage of linking to documents stored in LeadCentral is that it can then track these downloads to identify how frequently an asset is downloaded and by who. You can also link to a document stored outside LeadCentral by using the “Manually enter URL” option (below), but data about that download will not be tracked.

After selecting this option, you will need to (2) navigate to the document stored in LeadCentral.

Link to landing page within LeadCentral

Creates a link to an existing landing page within LeadCentral. The advantage of linking to landing pages within LeadCentral is that the system can collect additional information about the recipient, including the creation of a new lead. You can navigate to the landing page (1) three ways:

Select Landing Page by Campaign/Project: Shows all the available landing pages organized by campaign/project.
Select Landing Page by Custom Process: Show only the landing pages used in custom processes, organized by custom process.
Select Landing Page by Domain: Show all of the domains, and all of the landing pages within each domain.

After clicking the radio button to indicate the location of the landing page, click in the (2) Landing Page dropdown and choose the desired landing page. You have two (3) contact data handling options:
- Update Data on existing Lead: Specialized applications may require this option. Before selecting this option, contact GrowthPoint.
- Copy Date to new lead: Always select this option. When the recipient clicks on a landing page, the system automatically creates a new lead and populates it with all known information from the contact record. This avoids the need for the recipient to re-enter data and improves the conversion rate tremendously.
- Manually enter URL: Creates a link to pages or assets outside of LeadCentral. Clicks and downloads related to these links are not tracked by LeadCentral. When possible, upload the document to LeadCentral and use the “Link to document stored within LeadCentral” option.

“For more information” Hyperlink

There are times when you want to use one page for a variety of purposes so that multiple pages don’t need to be created. You can modify a hyperlink to automatically track requests for information from that link. To create this type of link, first follow the instructions to create a “Link to a Landing Page Within Lead Central.” The URL for the selected landing page will automatically appear in the URL field. At the end of the URL, add the field name in the LeadCentral database that want to be filled in, and the data that you want to be added to that field. Example: If the URL was: http://opp2.lead-central.com/::LeadGUID::

You would add “/customerinterest=xyz” where “xyz” is the text you want captured in LeadCentral’s customerinterest field. If you wanted to add the text “CostReduction” to the customerinterest field, the resulting URL in the URL field would be: http://opp2.lead-central.com/::LeadGUID::/customerinterest=CostReduction

The customerinterest field is the most commonly used field to capture this type of data, If want to capture and store data to other fields, contact GrowthPoint.

Format detail on the Hyperlink

In the Hyperlink Manager at the bottom of the Hyperlink Manager screen, section 3 on the Hyperlink graphic, you will see a number of optional fields for completion:

URL: If you selected a document or landing page in LeadCentral, the URL will automatically fill in. Otherwise, you will have to manually fill in the URL.
Link Text: This field simply repeats the text that you selected to be highlighted as your link. You can edit the link text here and that change will also be made within the email.
Link Name: Enter a descriptive name of what the link connected to. This will greatly simplify review of reports related to the email because the number of clicks on each link will be reported by the link name you enter. This provides at-a-glance analysis of the most-clicked links. This field is only for reporting and will not appear in the email. Note that if you select “View email in browser” or “Forward email to a friend” you cannot add a link name.
Target: Defaults to “New Window” which is the preferred option.
Tooltip: Text entered in this field will appear as a pop-up when the recipient hovers over the link.
CSS Class: Defaults to “Apply Class” which is the preferred option.

After creating and formatting your hyperlink, click OK to save the changes.

Create E-mail Hyperlink

This option creates a link that will open a preaddressed email. From the Hyperlink Manager, click the (1) E-mail tab. In the Address field, enter the destination email address. The Link Text field shows the text you highlighted in the email as the link. Fill in the Subject of the email. Leave the CSS Class dropdown with the default selection, “Apply Class.”

Repeating a Wireframe Section

You can repeat the elements of your wireframe by hovering your mouse over the wireframe in the Edit Email window, then clicking the (1) Plus Sign at the top-right of the window. This duplicates all of the elements of the wireframe. You can now edit each of the text blocks individually. You can also replace the repeated images. Remember that if doing put a image in the placeholder that will leave a blank area in your wireframe. Cl 2 colum add text ick the Trash Can at the top of the window to delete the repeated section.

If the content is two columns wide, like the example to the right you do not need to fill out both sections. The section you don’t complete will show up blank. For example you can enter the article on the left and leave the right article blank.

Moving Sections in a Template

After repeating a section and entering content and saving changes, you may find that the contents needs to be reordered. To move the sections hover over the section to be moved, and click on the grey border surrounding the article and drag the section to the new location. You will get a message that asks if you are sure you want to move, click OK to confirm the move. Sections can only be moved within their repeater section.

Preview the Template

At any time you can click the Preview button on the top right corner of your page. The view may not be perfect depending on your browser settings, but you can get a general idea of the layout and look. To see exactly how the email will appear it is recommended that you email a test message to your email account.