This tutorial will show you how to customize an email template to include more colors, graphics, columns. etc. This information will be very useful for tasks like creating branded newsletters.
1. Log into your Email Marketing System and navigate to the "Campaigns" tab of the main menu on your Dashboard.
2. On the right-hand sidebar, look under "Advanced" for the option that says "Email Templates" and click this.
3. A new window will appear with a list of templates to choose from. You can use the filters to sort through the templates, or just scroll through the list until you see one that looks close to the email design you want to send. Hover over the template you want and click 'Preview' to get a pop-up window with the demo design. If you want to customize that template, click the link that says Copy, and then hover over the new copy and click "Edit.".
4. To change the basic color scheme of your template, click the "Style Options" button in the upper right corner. You will see three pre-set theme options to choose from (just click on one to see the changes), or you can create your own by clicking on the link that says "Add Another Theme" at the bottom. You can click on the boxes within each template to make additional adjustments to colors, font styles, sizes, etc.
5. To edit the layout of your template, hover over a section of the email. You will see a box appear around the edge of the section, and you can click on the "Move" icon on the upper left to drag and drop the section onto a different part of the page, or click on the "Settings" icon on the upper right to change the theme settings or to duplicate the section.
5. To edit the name of the template, click in the text box at the top that says "Name" and change the title. To customize the content of the email, click on the text or image you want to change.
6. If you click on an image, you will see a popup window with options for "New Image", "Change Size", "Make Link", "Edit", or "Remove". To add a new image from your computer, click on the "New Image" option. You will see another popup window with a green button on the right that says "Add Image" - click here to browse for an image on your computer. Hover over the image you want in the list on the left and click "Choose" to insert a replace the image.
7. To edit the text, click anywhere on the text and you can start editing. You will see a pop-up box with options to add links or pictures, change the font size, color, alignment. etc. The changes will save automatically, so just click out of the text box again when you are finished.
8. Once you have edited the images and texts the way you want, you can send a test email to yourself by clicking the "Test" button on the upper right. Once you are finished, scroll down to the bottom and click on the arrow to pull up the dropdown menu, and choose "Save and Exit"
9. Now that you have designed your custom template, you can either send a one-time email (like a newsletter) by click on "Create New Campaign" on the right-hand side and then selecting your new template when you get to the design options, or you can go to "Automations" to create or modify an email in the series.
10. To modify an email in the series, you can follow the steps in this tutorial: How to Edit Autoresponder Emails, with a slight modification. When you get to the step of that tutorial where you click "Edit" in the "Send Email" box, you need to skip that and hover over the name of the email instead (in grey, with a dotted line below.) Click on this to get a dropdown menu, and click on the first option to "Create Email".
11. After choosing a name for your new email that will help you to identify it in the list, click OK. This will take you to the page with all of the email templates. Click on the one you designed, and choose "Use This Design."
12. Enter your name, your email address, and a subject line for the email, then click OK. Now you will be taken to your email in your chosen design template, where you can add or edit the text or images further if you need to.
*This way, you can create a template for your first newsletter, and then just use that same template for future newsletters by updating the text and images to match your content.
13. When you have made all your changes, scroll to the bottom and click "Next" to get to the Summary page, where you can send test emails and review the details of the email. When you're finished, click "Finish" at the bottom - this will take you back to the events in the automation, with your new email set up in the "Send Email" box. Repeat this for as many emails as you need to, using this tutorial as a guide for updating an automated series: How to Edit Autoresponder Emails. Your series will save automatically, so as soon as you are done making your changes, you can exit the page.