Building an email

This short guide will introduce you to one of the core elements of the BriefYourMarket.com system, email functionality.

In this guide we will cover:
Starting out
Editing your title
Default salutation in your template
Building content using the drag and drop building blocks

To start out, navigate to the email page on your platform.

From here, you will be provided with two options, to start a “Simple Email” or to start an “Email Newsletter”.

For the purposes of this guide, we will breakdown the stages of creating a simple email.

Once you have clicked on the “Simple Email” button, you will be asked to name your email. This is merely for internal reference and will not be visible to your email recipients.

For this example, we will call it “Test”.

You will now be prompted to decide whether you want to create a Marketing or a Transactional email – the difference between which is explained in our [What is the difference between a Transactional and Marketing Campaign?] guide.

Our example will be created as a marketing email. If your email is transactional in nature, feel free to select that type of communication instead.

Next, you will need to select a layout for your email. These layouts pre-populate the email template you select with some basic formatting.

Note: There is also the option of using a blank email template, if you wish to fill out the content from scratch.

Here, we will use the “Basic” template to cover the wide range of options that are available within the email editor.

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Editing your title

The example we are going to build will be a simple email, meaning that it will consist of a heading, salutation, introductory paragraph, a mid-body image, and a closing paragraph with a sign-off.

To begin your email, type your preview message into the text box in the top left corner. This text will appear after the subject line in your receivers’ inbox.

Next, change the heading by hovering over the message title and clicking on the pencil.

This will highlight the text and bring up the editing bar. For now, just focus on the text itself rather than the font style, and type in whatever you want your email title/heading to be.

Then, click anywhere outside of the box and the editor bar to save your changes.

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Default salutation in your template

The box marked “Text” below your header is – by default – the Salutation box.

Your salutation would have been discussed when you first came onboard with BriefYourMarket.com and may have been set to ‘Dear Title Last Name’ / ‘Dear First Name’, or something similar. As this is embedded in the code of your template, there is no need to edit the salutation box any further unless you do not require a salutation for a specific type of campaign – in which case, you may begin to add text straight into this box.

Note: If you want to remove or modify the salutation from your template, feel free to contact us and we will be able to change that for you. Charges may apply.

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Building with blocks

We now need to add building blocks to your email for the rest of your campaign content. For this example, we will need separate blocks for an introductory paragraph, a mid-body image, and a closing paragraph with a sign off.

For this layout, you could add 3 one-column layout blocks from the Building Blocks tab. These can be dragged and dropped into your email.

As you drag and drop new blocks into your email, you will note that a few rectangles containing a pencil will appear on the template.

There are two main ways to assign these blocks a content type. The first is to hover over them and select “add an image” or “add text” (see below).

The second is to drag a content block – again, from the Building

Blocks – onto the box in question (image to the right).

We will follow the first option for our top layout block – “add text” (below).

To insert the image, we will use the second option. Drag across a content block from the Building Blocks menu. This will open the Media Library (image to the right).

If the image that you want is not yet in the BriefYourMarket.com media library, follow the step outlined below. Click on Add files, navigate to where the image is stored on your local computer, and select it.   Note: The email editor does not support animated images such as .gifs or .apngs

When you have selected your images, click Upload (bottom right corner).

This will place the image into your media library. From here, you merely need to select the image and click Ok.   It will then appear in the body of your email.

To resize your image or alter it in other ways, click on it and select “edit image”. This brings up a variety of options to manipulate the image.

Once happy with the size, click anywhere outside of the highlighted area in order to de-select the image.

Now all we have left to do is to enter the content for the bottom text box. To sign-off your email, simply add text in the same way as the top box with your concluding paragraph.

Simple email complete.

To send your finished email, check out this guide on sending an email campaign