Overview - HTML Email Editor

Introduction

The HTML Email Editor is a tool that DemandCenter provides to create Email Messages. It is a great tool for those of you who want to drop in HTML code from an outside editor or who are proficient with HTML and prefer to code emails by hand.

Unlike the Drag & Drop Email Builder which handles the HTML code for you behind the scenes, the HTML Email Editor gives you full control over the raw HTML.

One key feature of the HTML Email Editor is that your code won’t be altered in any way, so you can drop in code from your favorite editor such as Dreamweaver, CoffeeCup, Sublime Text, etc. and know that what you see is what you get.

 

How to Access the HTML Email Editor

Using the side navigation, click Assets. Next, at the top, click New Asset and choose Email Message. Then, in the top right, click Use HTML Editor.

 

Anatomy of the HTML Email Editor

The HTML Email Editor has two parts: the preview pane on the right and the editor pane on the left.

Preview Pane

The preview pane provides a live preview of the Email Message. As you edit your HTML in the editor pane, the preview pane will automatically adjust to show you how the HTML will render.

Editor Pane

The editor pane is where you will edit the HTML of your Email Message. The editor pane shows you the HTML code of your Email Message. It is where you will be editing and adjusting the HTML of your Email Message.

 

Using the HTML Email Editor

For the serious HTML coders, they can start coding their Email Message right away by adding HTML in the editor pane.

But you don't have to start from scratch. You can quickly drop in HTML code that you have developed from an outside editor, or received from someone that built the email for you.

First, clear the existing (sample) code by clicking on the trash icon in the top right corner of the editor. With a blank Email Message, paste in your HTML code and make any necessary HTML adjustments as needed.

Customize Your Email Message

There are insert tools along the top of the editor pane to customize your Email Message.

  • Merge tag allows you to add personal or dynamic content. When emails are sent, merge tags are populated with data taken from your account.

  • Subscription Link is used to provide a link to your prospects so that they can unsubscribe or opt-out from your emails.

    Important: The CAN-SPAM Act requires that Commercial emails include a subscription link. If you fail to include the link, you may be subject to penalties and fines. Read more here: Email Regulatory Compliance


  • Asset Link gives you the ability to include links to whitepapers, reports, brochures, etc. that you’ve uploaded to your account.

  • Image lets you add pictures from your Content Manager library.

Preview Your Email Message

After you’re done crafting your email message, it is recommended to test how your email will look like. The preview pane already gives you a preview of what the email will look, but DemandCenter also gives you previews of your HTML in a mobile or desktop setting.

Click More [...] in the top right and then choosing Mobile Size or Desktop Size. Additionally, you can drag the slider to preview what the email will look like within different widths.

 

Manage Your Email Message's Properties

Before you can save an Email Message created from the HTML Editor, you must configure its properties by clicking Properties in the the top right.

Name

Provide a name for your Email Message. This is the name that will appear in search criteria and reports.

Folder

Choose where to save your Email Message in your Asset Library.

Subscription

Choose what Subscription Type your Email Message should be assigned to.

Subject Line

Provide the subject line of your Email Message. This is what your prospects will see as the subject line when they view your email in their email application.

Preheader

Provide text for the Preheader text of an email. This is text that will appear as the first few lines of an email preview when viewed on a desktop or mobile device. Use this to grab the attention of the reader before they open your email.

Merge Tag Defaults

For any Merge tags that are present in your Email Message, provide the default values. If a recipient of an email does not have values for a field that you reference through Merge tags, the Email Message will replace the Merge tags with the default values that you specify here.

Multi-part MIME

Check the box next to Send as multi-part MIME email message to enable multi-part MIME on your Email Message. To learn more, click here.

 

Save and Proof Your Email Message

After you have configured your Email Message's properties, click Save Email.

It is highly recommended that you test your Email Message to make sure that the email renders as desired and make tweaks if needed. DemandCenter also provides Litmus Integration in aiding the testing of emails.

How to Proof an Email Message

Click Send Proof. Next, choose the sender and recipients of your proof emails. The most recently saved version of the Email Message will be emailed to your selected recipients. If you have made any changes since then, make sure to save those changes by clicking Save.

To help distinguish your proof emails in your inbox, the subject of the proof will appear as follows:  

PROOF [date] [time] - Original Subject Line.

An example:

PROOF Jun 24, 2017 09:40:59 - Join us at the Summer Tradeshow in San Jose!

 

What to look out for when reading your proof emails

Check the formatting of the message to ensure that everything looks as you would expect. Please note that different email clients may render your email slightly different, so do not be alarmed if there are slight differences.

Check that the email links are pointing to the correct web pages.

Verify that links are being tracked by eTrigue upon being visited (clicked). First, click on the links in your email and visit a few pages on your website. Next, open your prospect record and confirm that you see the pages that you have visited in your Activity History.