Recurring Campaigns: Creating an Email Template

The first step for a successful Recurring Campaign is always going to be creating your template. In this article, I will review how to create an Email Template. This section is highly customizable with many options, so this will be a summary, but please reach out to Support with any additional/specific questions.

First you will navigate to Edit > Automation Suite > Recurring Campaigns. The first tab you should click on is the one on the far right that says Templates. When you navigate to this tab you will see there is the option to select Email or Text, you will want to Select Email since that is what we are reviewing. Additionally, there will be some pre-loaded templates in here that cannot be deleted but you can modify/customize them. You can utilize the provided templates, or you can create a custom one of your own. (Note: You must always have an unsubscribe button and the sender address on any email campaign. There is an article of how to do this that can be accessed here.)

From this page you can create a new email template, search for an existing template, or filter them by categories. 



You will click create new Email Template to navigate to the page where you can pick or add a new template, then you will click blank template.

(Note: You can also edit an existing template to make it work better for your practice. If this is the case, you would click the three dots on the template and then click edit.)

Blocks
To begin, all templates require blocks to generate content. You can include as many blocks as necessary, though the presence of blocks is essential for adding content. When you access the create or edit template sections, you will find several menus on the right side. A useful starting point is the Blocks menu, located on the right. Here, you can click and drag multiple sections to edit and customize the overall layout of your template. Additionally, you can adjust the size of the grids by clicking and dragging, as well as modify the general padding and layout. (Video GIF Below showing examples of how to do this.) 

You can add several blocks, you can use the plus on the top or bottom to add a new row, and then you can change the number of columns in the blocks as well. (screenshot below indicating this.) There are also controls for that block to modify or delete it in the upper right hand corner beneath the orange Create Campaign button.

Add Content

Once you have created some blocks, you can start adding content. Please keep in mind that blocks need to be in place before adding content. You can view the various types of content available by clicking on the content tab on the right. To add your content to the page, simply click and drag from the right side and position it within or around the blocks. This will allow you to place the content in your chosen locations. (GIFS showing examples below.)

• There are multiple types of content that can be dragged into the design window or block.
  
  
  
• Columns: Creates new block in the design Window.
• Heading: Inserts a header placeholder, you can create catchy taglines.
• Text: Inserts a text placeholder, this is where you can add text for a newsletter/announcement/special message.
• Image: Creates an image placeholder. You can upload your own image, generate an AI image, or utilize one of the free stock images.
• Button: Creates a single clickable button. You can set this button to open to your website upon click.
• Divider: Creates a solid line to break up.
• HTML: Creates a raw HTML driven block, (should only use this if familiar with HTML coding.)
• Menu: Creates a placeholder. You can create as many clickable items within a menu as you need. This can be used to house the Office Number, Email, Website, Social Media pages etc.
  
  Add Buttons
  Buttons can be utilized to initiate various functions, with the primary three being "Open a website," "Email," and "Call." Each option enables you to input additional information necessary to execute the action upon mouse click. To configure the button, click and drag in the content area, then select the content box where the button is located to access its settings. This interface allows you to modify the button's background and text colors. If you are unable to select the button text, a recommendation box is available at the top with a dropdown menu for tone selection. Additionally, padding and layout options are provided to facilitate the positioning of the button within the content box as needed.

  
  
  
  Add Images
  

  After dragging the image from the content menu into the designated block, the "Add Image" function will create an initial blank box featuring a logo. By clicking on this box, you will access the image settings. At the top of this menu, you will find our AI tool for generating custom images, which can be activated by clicking the green "Generate Images" button.

  Upon clicking the "Generate Images" button, the AI prompt menu will open, allowing you to enter keywords that describe the type of image you are seeking. For your reference, several examples are provided near the button to illustrate appropriate text prompts for AI image creation.
  

  
  If you do not want to use the AI images you can also upload your own, or look at the stock photos.
  
  
  
  A pre-built list of images is available for your convenience. This can be found in the image menu located on the right side of the interface. Here, you can search for the desired image and simply click and drag it into the appropriate content box on the left. By selecting an image, you can modify the URL link, allowing for changes to the image as needed, as well as adjust alignment settings. Additionally, padding can be utilized to reposition the images for a more refined layout, should you require more precise adjustments.
  
  
  Add Menu
  The Menu button is used to create a top header of the website. This, works like buttons, in which you will have three options ("Open a website", "Email", or "Call"). This is useful to create links for your Office Number, Email, Website, Social Media pages or any other links you wish to include. Below this the layout setup as well as colors for the text color, size and background color of the menu.
  
  
  Body Menu
  The body menu is used to change the body of the content. This can be used to change the background color, Font family, Font weight (boldness), Text color, and link color as well as if the links will be underlined or not.
  
  
  Bottom Left Menu, Undo, Redo, Previews
  

  Along the bottom left of the template, there is a small dark blue menu that will have the following options:

  Undo: This can be used to undo the last change made.
  Redo: This will allow you to replace the last undone task.
  Preview: Take a more detailed preview of how the letter will look once it goes out.
  Desktop View: A preview menu of how this will look on the Desktop.
  Mobile View: A preview menu of how this will look on Cell Phones.
  
  
  
  Save The Template
  Once you have the template created or edited/customized to fit your needs, you can then save the template. When you click save template it will ask you to name the template and pick the category you wish that template to be filtered by from the templates page. If an error comes up that you are missing the sender address or unsubscribe button, you will have to go in and add those. You can see how to do this in the article here, and there is a GIF below.
  
  

  
  As always, if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to Cloud 9 Support by emailing us at cloud9support@planetdds.com, or chatting us online using the chat bubble on the lower right at https://cloud9support.planetdds.com/hc/en-us, or giving us a call during our business hours of 8:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST at the 1.800.394.6050 option 2.