Email Marketing - Creating Campaigns

1. You can create campaigns offline
wizemail's own visual editor is powerful and easy to use - but you can use any web design software to create wizemail emails. Just click the purple 'Import a Template' button that appears after you start a 'new campaign'.

Then, find your .HTML file and all the associated images which make up the template, and click on upload. (Don't forget the golden rule - get your designers to keep all images and HTML in the same directory).

The code is automatically cleansed as it is pulled in, and any errors will be reported back. A common error is that you've missed an image file used in your template. Likewise, you're also alerted if you are referencing images absolutely - probably from your own site - in this case, you should double-check that this file is on your server.

Once the upload is complete, you will be taken to the "Edit Campaign" area where you can check everything's worked. From here you should proceed as normal, adding your 'unsubscribe' link, subject line etc.



2. Use the Template Library (NEW FEATURE!)
wizemail now includes several pre-designed email templates for you to use. What's more, you can add your own templates to the library, making it even easier for you to run regular campaigns with a consistent brand.

To select a template from the library, click on "New Campaign" then "Copy a template", "Select from Library". You'll be shown all the templates that are available. Find one you like, then click 'Use this Template'. You'll then be taken to the editing window to proceed with your email creation.
wizemail's default templates are especially designed to make it very easy for you to adapt them to your own uses. All the headlines are editable, and you can replace all pictures and images, etc. This gives you the flexibility - stay with the generic look, or use the defaults as a foundation to build something more akin to your own brand. View Template Library



3. Always add ALT tags to images
Including an image in your email is simple - click on the picture icon and locate the image file to upload. wizemail will ask you for a unique name… and an ALT tag.

An ALT tag is a word or phrase that describes the image to people who can't see it. ("Our company logo", "Picture of our head office") etc. Remember, email clients aren't like web browsers. Many of your recipients may have set their client to disable images being displayed - in which case they will see the ALT text instead.

For this reason you should make your ALT tags as descriptive as possible, and not rely on images to convey information that users cannot get from the text. If your descriptions work well, the recipient will engage with your message and will be more likely to enable images for your mail, to see it in all its glory.



4. Include sensible links
Including a link in your email is so simple - click on 'New Hyperlink' (it looks like a globe) and give the full address of the web page you wish to go to. Link tracking is such a powerful feature of wizemail, but some people don't use it to its full extent.

One thing to remember is to give each link a sensible keyword that describes it. ("Homepage", "New Product Information" etc). These will be displayed in the reports after the event, helping you immediately see who has gone where. Don't forget you might be looking at these reports months later - so choose keywords that will always make sense to you!

You can filter the 'Links clicked' report by changing the 'Filter by' drop down on the top left from 'Show all' to 'Keyword'. You'll see a list of link keywords you've used on that campaign - select any of these to display only the users who have clicked on that link.

You can include as many links as you like. Don't include too many (as you'll confuse the recipient)… but remember, each link clicked gives you a small amount more information about your customer. So an email with no links can be a wasted opportunity.

Finally, statistics show that the first link in every email is usually the link clicked most frequently - so make sure your key message is at the top!!



5. Reusing your email campaigns
Even if you've not saved a template in the library, you can call up both previously sent or unsent campaigns to use as the basis of a new one - or simply re-send it 'as is'.

Re-sending a campaign is very easy. In the control panel there's a box labelled 'Campaigns not being Re-used'. Find the one you're after and click on the purple 're-use' button. If you now return to the Campaign Manager screen you'll find your campaign waiting for you in the 'Sent Campaigns' area. You can re-send it from here.

If, on the other hand, you want to make some updates to your old campaign before sending it, the place to start is with 'New Campaign'. This gives you an option to 'Copy a Campaign'. Click this, choose the relevant campaign and you'll be taken to the edit window to make your changes.

Here, you have a choice. If you leave the campaign name 'as is', then wizemail will assume that you're treating your old and new campaigns as one single project, and therefore when you dispatch your new emails the statistics generated will be added to those of the first campaign, giving you a cumulative picture.

If you change the campaign name, however, then wizemail will set up a new set of statistics for these new emails only, preserving your old campaign stats as they were and giving you the chance to compare one against the other.