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Solus eDMs are a great way to speak to our audience while having complete control over the content, layout and branding. Having these built can be difficult with a regulardesigner; you typically need someone familiar with building in HTML. The only real restriction on size is the width, at a maximum of 600 pixels, however you can make the eDM as long or short as you like. Keep in mind the main goal you want our audience to complete – in most cases, clicking through to your landing page. With this in mind, keep the content informative and the images relevant, and leave the audience eager to find out more!
The most important features to take into account when building a Solus eDM are to keep all your styling inline, avoid using CSS where possible and to use standard tables instead of div tags. Background images or gradients are not compatible with Outlook, so it is best not to include these. If you absolutely must use a background image, include a background colour in the same space as a backup for Outlook users. Alternatively, any text written over a background image can simply be added to the image itself and provided as one image (rather than text and an image).
It is important to note that the same HTML code can be translated differently across different email platforms (like Gmail and Outlook) and even across the same email platform but on different web browsers (for example, opening your Gmail on Chrome VS Firefox). You can use Litmus to test your HTML creative be-fore sending to us to ensure you are happy with the design on all variations, but keep in mind that it will never be 100% the same across them all. Just make sure that the design and the message gets across on them all, it shouldn’t matter if it’s out by a few pixels of space or a slightly different font.
Some programs like Word, InDesign and Photoshop have an ‘export’ function that says it will create a HTML document for you. DO NOT use these to build your eDM – these functions are not meant for email and you will end up with major issues when testing. If you have a bit of experience in HTML and want to design the eDM yourself, click here for some great pointers to get you through it.
Any image you want to use can be either hosted on your end or provided to us to host on our end. Images should be provided in JPG, GIF or PNG only. JavaScript, Flash, video or any sort of data capture is not able to be used in email and should not be included. If a video is important to your campaign, you may use a screen-shot/ image and have it linked to the video landing page. Animated GIFs are acceptable, but please keep in mind that animation is not compatible with some email browsers like Outlook. In this case, Outlook users will only see the first frame of the animated GIF, so make sure any important messaging or graphics are on this first frame.
Momentum Media uses MailChimp for all our email needs, so you may make use of their specific merge tags to enhance user experience and engagement. A list of these can be found here. If you are unsure of how to use these or just can’t find the tag you’re looking for, get in touch with us and we can help you embed them.
Lastly, we want to make sure your campaign gets the best possible results and resonates well with our audience, so we would just like to touch on some basic marketing tips. There are many different reasons and goals for utilising eDMs: some are a simple message that a brand might want to get out and reach as many as possible. Others might be looking to drive as much traffic as possible to a selected landing page. If the latter is your goal, always make use of a ‘call to action’ (CTA). This is typically a big button or image with provocative text and a clear instruction to the user. You can have the button coded in HTML or as an image. A good example might simply be ‘CLICK HERE’ or ‘To find out more, register now’. The use of click and impressions trackers is recommended, and these should be embedded into the eDM prior to sending it through to us. Please note, we cannot use any type of URL shortener in email campaigns, they will often cause the eDM to be flagged as spam and won’t land in the inboxes of our subscribers. Furthermore, we are unable to track links that do not begin with 'http' or 'https'. For example, areas linked with 'mailto' are not able to be tracked, and therefore unable to be recorded in our reports to you.
If you have any questions you can always reach out to your sales manager, who can put you in touch with our digital team.