BroadcastByEmail Software Guide
Create and Broadcast a Email Using Voicent BroadcastByEmail
Tips for Success
- Obtain a clean HTML template and size it for 600 pixels wide (if you don't know what we're talking about here, get a designer or friend who does and have them create the template for you.
You will then be able to easily use it over and over again to create each edition of your newsletter). If you are using Voicent's BroadcastByEmail software, choose one of its template files.
Do not simply create an email in Outlook and try to make it look like a newsletter. It will not render correctly in other mail clients. It will look choppy and goofy, and that's not a look you want for your newsletter.
Use the Notepad text editor (it's an accessory on every Windows computer) or download a free HTML text editor, such as CoffeeCup. Avoid so-called "Wizzy Wig" editors, which are described as WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get) editors. Although much easier to use, these editors tend to drop in all kinds of extraneous code that can play havoc with email clients.
We're not saying that you can't use such editors (FrontPage and Dreamweaver are among them), but if you do, plan to extensively test every email newsletter you create against every major email client.
- Design or have designed, a header image showing the name of your organization and the name of the newsletter. Make it simple, clear and clean. This will appear at the top of your newsletter.
This image will need to be placed in a folder on your web server. When your newsletter is opened it opened, will (if allowed) automatically call out to that photo and present it in the newsletter at the exact location and size the HTML code specifies.
Do not embed or attach the image to the email. If you do, it will likely appear differently for every email client or not appear at all. You don't want that. You want consistency. - Decide how the Sender Name and Subject Line will be handled. The rule here is transparency and clarity. The Sender Name must be recognizable or you risk having someone inadvertently delete your newsletter as spam.
The Subject Line also needs to be clear. Use something similar to this: "Smith Law Offices Spring 2012 Newsletter."
Avoid words such as "sale" or "free offer", ! exclamation points or other attempts to be attention-getting. These tactics will trigger spam detection filters and may get your newsletter dumped directly into a spam basket or even deleted outright.
- Choose a common, easy-to-read font and keep the background white. Fancy, patterned backgrounds rarely display properly and almost always make newsletters harder to read.
- Limit yourself to one or two images at most. And make sure they are properly optimized for the web, so that it won't take forever for your email to load it.
- Don't forget to add your postal or street address, and instructions for opting-out of your email list, to the bottom of your email template.
- Put some dummy text into your email and send it to your own email addresses, including Outlook, Gmail and any others you have. Make sure it looks good.
- Now, create a text-only version, and test that one as well. For the text version, use repeated symbols or dashes to break-up text. For example: