Listed below are suggestions for sending successful, professional, branded emails with Email+.
Layout and Design:
- Choose an "Illinois wizard" skin.
- If using a non Illinois wizard skin, avoid using a variety of fonts and colors. Fonts like Arial, Verdana, and Georgia will work in Outlook: others might not.
- Consider adding a banner or a header image to customize the content area.
- When designing your email with these elements, deselect "Top and Bottom Padding" to align the banner with the skin's header image.
Content:
- Don't design an email that is a single, large image. Instead, add in the text into a content block.
- Use minimal content. Stats show users often do not scroll after opening an email. Droids and other devices break emails up into pages, that are often not clicked through.
- Be careful pasting in text. Formatting is provided, so pasting in extra padding, different styles, and text formatted in tables can break the email and/or look unappealing.
- Avoid changing the font-size in the text editor. Mixing font sizes can cause faulty calculations for aligning columns and content. The font size should be changed on the Appearance/Styles tab or ab the bottom of the element being worked on.
- Avoid pasting in images. When incorporating photos, add them on the Image tab or create a new email element.
- Always include alternative text in case the image is blocked by the receiving email client.
Mistakes that cause emails to break/malfunction:
- Do not include images larger than the email's content area.
- Pasting in elements like photos, lines, and sometimes invisible padding can stretch the email and cause images to break and become blurry. This can occur when your text is pre-formatted in a table that was created outside of Webtools.
- Keep URLs short. Long URLs break your layout, stretching your header image and making everything blurry.
- Do not include a URL that is longer than the content area in an email.
- Consider creating a Short URL or imbedding the URL in text.
Don't overlook the details:
- Remove extra spacing and indents before sending. If you need to add a break in your message, create a separate content element in the Message Tab.
- If you copy content from another source and don't want the source formatting, paste as plain text with Ctrl + Shift + V. Email+ has pre-set formatting that makes emails look consistent.
- Use a "From" name and email address that recipients will recognize.
- Keep subject lines meaningful and short (50 characters or less).
- Checking for spelling errors and other mistakes before sending your emails.
- Confirm that your links work properly.
- If you have questions about style or tone, consult Champaign-Urbana's Branding Guidelines, UIC's University Style Guide, or the UIS Style Writing Guide.
- When providing a URL in your email copy, don't include "http://" in the display text.
- You still need the full URL to create the hyperlink.
- Example: marketing.illinois.edu
Include a preview text:
- Preview text contains summary text and displays under the email subject when viewed from the inbox. Preview text is another way for you to persuade your recipients to open your email. Use a preview text to summarize your email's content or convince someone to read more.
Test!
- Test until you know the email functions in Outlook and on your phone.
- It is best to test the email in as many browsers, operating systems, and devices as possible.