As you’re probably aware, we’re beta testing a new message editor for broadcast messages. It makes building your emails a lot easier by giving you an intuitive, drag and drop interface.

This week, we wanted to draw some attention to the template manager included with the message editor beta – it vastly expands your options for creating campaigns.

Teaching an Old Template New Tricks

Any HTML template can be imported, whether its an old one you used in our previous message editor or something that was designed for or by you outside of AWeber.

By using the new template manager, you can develop your own gallery of custom templates to choose from, making message creation a snap.

Drag and Drop Your Template into Place

If we learned anything in our work on the new message editor, it was that drag and drop, visually based interfaces are both more intuitive and just plain more useful than mucking about with menus and so on.

With the new template manager, we’ve taken that concept to the next level, allowing you to add content areas to your templates with ease, letting you quickly convert templates for use with the message editor without having to even look at HTML.

Converting old favorites is a straightforward drag and drop process, and you even have access to more advanced features such as adding rows and removing sections in a single click.

Create your own custom template today.

What About You?

Have you made use of the new template editor? Have a favorite template to recommend? Share your thoughts in the comments!

“We’ve heard your feedback and want to clarify any concerns about the submission guidelines (updated here). We’ve updated them to reflect that there’s no coding required and image files are acceptable submissions. With that change in mind, we’re extending the deadline to Monday, April 30 to allow more designers time to compete.”

Graphic designers, a challenge for you:

Can you read Smashing while simultaneously smashing through barriers that may be keeping small businesses from thriving?

We submit that you can. Furthermore, we think you can do it by designing an email template.

You see, we’ve recently unveiled our new broadcast editor with a drag-and-drop interface that makes email creation super easy for our customers, and we’d like them to have some awesome templates to use with it. So along with Tuts+ Premium, an amazing resource for web designers, we’re holding a contest.

Changing the World Through Design

With enough power behind it, a positive idea can make the world a better place. But the businesses implementing those brilliant ideas don’t always have the technical know-how to, say, design their own email template.

Every aspect of the AWeber service is geared to help those businesses grow without that know-how. Our hope is that by doing so, we’re also:

• Encouraging personal fulfillment
• Putting our weight behind powerful, positive ideas and
• Promoting a lift in the global economy.

We’d like you to be part of it. The right presentation can give these positive ideas even more power, so we’re looking for some rocking email templates from inspired designers.

Prizes, Rights & Ownership

All winning templates will include a footer link with the designer’s name (if desired) and link to their site. Winning designers will be featured with a short bio and interview on the thinking behind their design, also featuring their site, to our blog, customer and affiliate communities.

Winners can choose to either add the template to AWeber’s library for further exposure, or keep their winning design to use however they wish (keep, sell, whatever their choice). Winners will retain full rights to their designs and the template will not be used without their permission.

The designer of the top winning templates, as voted on by a panel of AWeber marketers and designers, will be awarded:

• First Prize: 2 year membership to Tuts+ Premium
• Second Prize: 1 year membership to Tuts+ Premium
• Third Prize: 6 month membership to Tuts+ Premium
• Runners Up (up to 10): 3 months of free AWeber service

Tuts+ Premium is the best way to learn creative and technical skills like design, web development (and lots more). Get access to your very own library of courses, tutorials and eBooks, available whenever you need them. Join a community of over 15,000 members and start getting better at the skills you care about.

Design Considerations

These templates should be designed for small businesses and microbusinesses, people trying to reach out to their customers and potential customers.

They send things like newsletters, one-off messages, sets of product listings, and coupons. You may want to

• Design a template that’s flexible for all these purposes
• Pick one and dedicate your design to making it kick ass

Either format works; which you choose is up to you. Whichever way you design your template, you’ll want to take a look at how our new editor works so you can see how marketers will be using it. Also note, they’ll be adding paragraphs and probably pictures, so make sure to leave plenty of space for them.

Submission guidelines are here. There are templates available for you to start from. Choose one and make your own. When you’re ready, send us your creation according to the guidelines.

The deadline’s Friday, April 20 Monday, April 30, with the winner to be announced on this blog. We can’t wait to see what you’ve got!

This editor’s literally designed for all skill levels: you now have three different editors you can work in. Choose from:

Block Editor

Got a vision but no HTML skills? You want the Block Editor, your what-you-see-is-what-you-get option.

Now this, ladies and gentlemen, is a busy marketer’s best friend. With the Block Editor, you just drag whatever you want to add to your email down from the menu bar.

Headlines, images, buttons, logos, paragraphs, coupons, product listings – you’ve got blocks available for all of them, so you can build a custom email structure in a few clicks.

• If you want an image in your email, you just drag an image block down from the block menu. Choose your picture, align it, link it up and add alt text, all without touching any code.
• Want a button for readers to click over to your site? Drag a button block into place.
• Want to invite readers to follow you on social networks? Grab the “follow me” block and point it to your account.

There are 10 types of blocks in all to choose from. And as you’re working, a plain text version is automatically generated for readers who don’t have images enabled (and to keep your deliverability high). To see how the Block Editor in action, check out this video walkthrough.

The Block Editor In Action

Want to see more? Come to our webinar Wednesday, March 14 at 12 pm EST to see the full walk-through and get your questions answered.

The Raw HTML Editor

Are you pretty good with email design? Want the freedom to tweak every bit of code ’til it’s just so? This editor’s for you.

You can, of course, switch to full-screen mode and choose from a white or black background, whichever you prefer.

Make sure you’re confident with HTML before choosing this editor, since you can’t skip back and forth to the Block Editor while editing – that creates a mess. And of course, you can preview your message at any point – in a new tab, so you can keep the editor open as well.

The Plain Text Editor

Just want to send out a few paragraphs? If you want black text on a white background, without pictures, formatting or other such fanciness, this is your editor. Just type your message up and send it on out.
(You can also create a plain text version in the HTML Editor, you don’t have to jump around, and again, the Block Editor generates a plain text version automatically.)

Switching Over From the Old Editor?

If you use the same basic format for each broadcast, you can continue to do so.

Copy and paste the HTML of your template into the template manager. You’ll need to add tags to any parts of the message you’ll want to edit. From there, you can add your new content with the Block Editor’s quick drag-and-drop system.

For now, you can also continue to hit the “copy” button on your original template. The new message will open in the old editor, so you can keep adding content the way you have been.

Is It Everything You Hoped and Dreamed?

We know each of you have your own unique needs for email creation, and we built this editor to accommodate as many of them as possible.

We want to know what you think of it and what needs you have that aren’t taken care of. If there are any other features you’re looking for, let us know in the comments below, and we’ll keep working on improving AWeber to make sure you have what you need to keep attracting more business!

“After watching the demo of the new AWeber broadcast editor, I quickly created a very basic email template to send to my lists (based on the block editor).

At this time, I’ve had the highest open rate, the most clicks thrus and the least complains of any mailing I’ve done in the last year.

This feature is beyond exciting, it’s re-inventing professional email. My readers are at at all time high and there’s a significant amount lower complains.

Thank you so much for making broadcasting something I want to do again.”

- A Happy Customer

It’s something you, the AWeber community, have been asking for.

It’s something that will make your email marketing really easy. And it’s almost here.

We’ve been working on this secret project for a while, and recently unveiled it in a few AWeber accounts to test it out.

We took feedback, we made improvements and in a few days, you’ll have it available in your account!

What’s the New Broadcast Editor Like?

Well, it’s built according to specification – yours.

You wanted an editor that made message creation as simple as dragging and dropping, and you had lots of ideas of how to make that happen.

We gathered all your ideas together and set out the craft the perfect broadcast editor. The journey was dangerous; we battled dragons made of HTML and knights armed with technical bugs, but we triumphed, and you, dear readers, get the spoils.

Your new broadcast editor will be available in all AWeber accounts on Tuesday, March 6. Until then, watch this video to see how it’s designed to meet your editing needs:

Here’s Where You’ll See It

The old broadcast editor will still be available in your account for the time being. You’ll see the new editor just beneath it on your Broadcast Editing page, looking like this:

Click into it, and you’ll be able to create a new broadcasts in three different editors…more details to come on Tuesday!

Have a Suggestion? Send Us Your Feedback

We think you’ll be thrilled with the new editor (we’ve worked out the bugs in recent rounds of beta testing), but if you see something that could be better, please let us know!

If you want to include images, videos, branding or a color scheme in your emails, you have to create them with HTML.

Some people don’t want to do that (and that’s okay). They don’t want to learn HTML or hire a designer; plus, they believe sending HTML emails will bring down their delivery rates.

If that’s you, read on. Creating HTML emails is just as simple as plain text (we’ll show you how). Plus, we’ve checked in with Laura Atkins of Word to the Wise, a leading expert on email delivery, for the straight story on hitting the inbox.

Templates Make It Simple

When you create a plain-text email, you’re just typing words. You can do the same thing with an HTML message. Just use an email template – a pre-designed background you can type directly into.

Many email services provide them, or you might be able to get a few for free across the Web (here and here, for example). If you use AWeber, you’ll find hundreds of templates already available in your account.

Now, As For Delivery…

It’s clear that sending HTML by itself can cause a problem.

As Laura explains, “Spamassassin is still giving relatively high scores to “HTML only” mail. Failing to send a multipart/alternative email can… tip an otherwise inbox-delivered mail into the bulk folder.”

But there’s an easy solution. Send a multipart message, with both plain text and HTML versions bundled together.

Setting this up is copy-and-paste easy in AWeber. After you create your HTML email, copy the text of your message right into the plain-text box, and you’re done!

Then, if someone can receive the HTML version, they will, and if they can’t, you have plain text as a backup.

This type of planning is uncharacteristic of spammers, so filters are more likely to let your message through.

What About Images In Your Emails?

Another concern about HTML email is that the wrong image-to-text ratio can land you in the spam box. Too much image compared to the amount of text in your message can bring down your delivery.

“There is a lot of spam that is just images,” Laura says. “So if you send mail that is heavy on the images and low on the text, it’s going to look like spam.

This doesn’t mean it’s going to be a delivery problem necessarily. But, if the mail has other issues: mentions domains that have iffy reputations or recipients that aren’t engaged then a heavy image to text ratio may be enough to tip the mail into the bulk folder.”

So, in general, Laura does recommend that for the best delivery, your format be “primarily text, and readable and understandable without turning images on.”

Also, it’s important to keep in mind if you’re using any images whatsoever that some people may have images turned off by default, so make sure you do have alt text set for your images.

In AWeber, you can do this by adding a “screen tip” when adding your image.

The Bottom Line

Here’s what Laura tells her clients:

“If they’re currently sending mail without consistent delivery issues, then they don’t need to make changes. Even if the mail is all images or all HTML, if it’s not broke, DON’T FIX IT.

There are lots of senders who use poor formats but see no delivery problems because the mail is wanted and the ISPs know the recipients want it and so they deliver it. If they’re looking to make improvements, I’ll tell them to add text and start making the email readable without images but that’s more to help recipients rather than delivery. ”

How Do You Protect Your Deliverability?

Keeping a low image-to-text ratio and sending multipart messages are just two ways to keep deliverability high.

What measures do you take to keep your emails out of the junk folder?

As a small business owner, you probably understand that getting customers to engage with your email campaign is a big factor in its effectiveness. How do you design a campaign that your customers will want to read regularly? There’s one key word in that sentence: Design.

If you’ve been sending plain text emails to your subscribers, you might want to rethink your strategy. HTML emails might sound scary at first, but they have advantages that plain text just doesn’t offer. And online consumers are more responsive – one study shows that HTML transactional emails got a 50% higher click through rate than their plain text counterparts.

Trying to brand your campaign or show off your products? HTML can do that and more in your emails. Here’s how to harness that power in your own campaign.

Brand Your Campaign

HTML gives you style control over your email messages so you can design them to reflect your brand’s online identity. You can add images – like your company logo – and use background colors and fonts to match your site design.

LivingSocial uses strong branding techniques in their emails:

Click to enlarge

Their emails use the same fonts and a layout that’s similar to their website in addition to including their logo at the top of every email. Carrying your brand’s online personality through to your email campaign helps your customers recognize and recall your brand more than plain text emails could.

Learn more about branding your email campaign with HTML:
Make Yourself Memorable: Branding Your Email CampaignEmail Design Tips: Leverage Your Logo

Show Off Your Products

Sometimes an image shows more than words can say. Designing your email with HTML allows you to add images to your message – images that can display your products, like this example from Serena & Lily:

Click to enlarge

Images in email aren’t just for retail stores to display their wares. Designers, artists, photographers, restaurants and other service industries can take full advantage of images for their businesses too. Think before and after shots, examples of your artwork, or photos of your menu items.

Learn more about using images in your campaign:
Are You Using Images Effectively?

Add Video To Your Emails

If images amp up your email’s marketing capabilities, video takes it to the next level. Using video in your emails is the perfect way to engage your customers with helpful, useful content. Using HTML, you can use a screenshot to link to your video in your email, like Steve Spangler Science does here:

Click to enlarge

Videos make your message more dynamic and engaging, excellent selling points for your business.

Learn more about using video in your emails:
How To Send Video in Emails
New Way to Send Video Emails?

Make People Keep Reading

Remember how HTML gives you more design options than plain text? One way to use this design power to your advantage is to create an eye path teasing your customers to read through your entire message. Here’s an example of how Lomography implements this:

Click to enlarge

This email uses a big leading image and text that’s half on the “fold” – the area of the message that displays before the reader has to scroll down to read more.

Laying out your message around the fold like this engages your readers’ curiosity, enticing them to scroll down through the rest of your message.

Unlike text, HTML emails can tease your customers to read more.

Give Your Message More Visual Impact

Even a simple, clean HTML design can give your message more visual impact than plain text, using different fonts and colors for emphasis.

TimeToSignOff, a daily curated email, uses simple design and font sizes to break up content and headlines:

Click to enlarge

Their content is easily readable and their emails are clean and attractive with a simple design. You don’t need a lot of flashy graphics to make a big impact with your emails. Simply organizing your content with headlines, fonts and colors can make a big difference.

What Can HTML Do For You?

Have you made the design switch from plain text to HTML? How do you use the strengths of HTML design to your campaign’s advantage?

This spring, one of the biggest smartphones (the iPhone) joined with the biggest mobile carrier (Verizon). People are snatching up the iPhone in droves, which means your mobile email audience is the biggest it’s ever been.

If you send only plain-text emails, this isn’t a very big deal.

But many people send HTML. And HTML emails tend to look a little different on mobile devices.

But we know four easy ways you can make sure they still look good.

The iPhone 4G displays at a width of 640 pixels, so you’ll want your email to be just around that size.

Previous versions display at 320 pixels, which still works with a 640-pixel message – your design scales down nicely by half.

AWeber’s email templates are all around 600 pixels. Use them, and you’re all set.

Make sure you’ve got grabby, interesting content in the top, left section of your message. Try a headline, a picture or a paragraph that lets readers know something exciting is happening. They’ll need to scroll over and down to see more.

This actually has double impact. It gives an enticing glimpse to your subscribers who first encounter your emails in a preview pane. They’ll see either the top or the left, depending on their email client.

If the top left is where you ask your readers on a date, the bottom or right is where you move in for the kiss. That’s how Dr. Flint McLaughlin, who studies millions of emails at MECLABS, describes the email experience.

Keeping your call to action off the initial screen gives readers a second to acclimate. Once readers decide they’re committed enough to scroll down, you can ask them to take further action.

Get more subscriptions.

While you’re waiting for clicks on that call to action, generate a QR code for your brand. iPhones (and other smartphones) can scan these cousins to bar codes and be taken straight to your sign up form (just follow these easy steps).

You can get your QR code printed onto business cards, t-shirts – pretty much anything. So when all the Verizon-ites who just picked up iPhones are looking for fun ways to use them, they can sign up for your emails.

But the truth of the matter is that very often, email marketing is pushed to the bottom of your never ending “to do” lists. There are so many pressing tasks at hand and sending email is so quick that you usually put it off until later, right?

Fortunately, these last minute tips for messages that should’ve gone out yesterday will get you out of the office by 5:00 and cozied up in front of the TV in no time.

Your 20-Minute Manual

Choose a Template

Not sure how you want your email to look? Picking a template can save a lot of time and aggravation. Depending on which one you choose, the columns will dictate the content and give your email focus.

Once you pick a template that suits your needs, simply pop your logo and important company information in and you’ll have a unique, customized template that you can use again and again – just by clicking copy.

To Insert Your Logo:

1. Copy the image URL from your website.
2. While editing your HTML message, place your cursor wherever you want the logo to appear.
3. Click the yellow “Insert/Edit an Image” icon that appears in the HTML editor.
4. Paste the image URL in the “URL” field, then click the “Insert” button:

   

Get Link Happy

According to Dr. Flint McGlaughlin of Marketing Experiments, your email has one job: it invites your subscribers to a mental conversation.

That conversation should take place back on your website, whether it be making a sale, sharing a blog post, offering a discount or taking reservations.

When you’re in a rush and hurrying to send your newsletter it’s easy to skip the extra steps. Be sure to make the invitation to conversation very clear with a few well-placed links to your contact page, store hours, menu, FAQ or other frequently sought pages.

Remember though, these secondary links shouldn’t distract from the main point or the call-to-action of the email.

Review Discarded Content

If you don’t already, get in the habit of saving the work that doesn’t make it into your messages. When you’re short on time and in a pinch, it’s the kindling for an incendiary newsletter.

If you find that you ramble on and always cut portions of text out of your pieces after writing them, keep the content that ends up on the cutting room floor and devote your newsletter focus to your brilliant insight that was previously too lengthy to publish.

You could even keep a folder with snippets of abandoned blog posts or newsletter articles handy when you’re working on your emails – so long as the content is valuable, your newsletter will build itself.

Spend Time on Your Subject Line

If your subject line doesn’t compel readers to open the email, the rest of your content goes unseen. Make sure it clearly presents the email’s value while staying consistent with your past subject lines.

In fact, you can use existing messages to guide you. Keep track of patterns in open rates to see which subject lines earned the most opens, then mimic the format with your new one.

Treat it like a game of Mad Libs and fill in the blanks:

If “Free Shipping – All Handbags, One Week Only!” was your message with the most opens, take out the specifics and replace them with this week’s deal.

“Free Shipping – Spring Essentials, Wednesday Only!” is new and different from the last, but the format worked for you before and should work again, according to the stats.

Procrastination in Moderation

It’s nerve wracking, but waiting until the last minute to send messages can actually work out in your favor…when you don’t make a habit of it!

Great campaigns do take time to plan and implement. How do you save time when writing your messages?

We’d love to hear your thoughts below!

Plain text has a no-nonsense, businesslike air, and is simple to create. HTML grabs attention with colors and images. It lets companies incorporate logos and display data with graphics.

Sometimes, though, plain text is used by marketers who would prefer the gloss of HTML, but aren’t sure how to create it. The good news is, many email marketing services provide pre-designed HTML email templates that make the switch practically painless.

Of course, there are still a few things to learn. If you’re new to HTML email, follow these tips for polished, professional messages.

Your Plain Text-to-HTML Concerns

Have you made the switch from plain text to HTML?

If so, what were the trickiest bits for you to learn?

If you want to switch but haven’t yet, what concerns are holding you back?

Generic email templates are a dime a dozen and it’s no surprise, they fit the mold for most people. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. But what makes a template extraordinary? How can we provide you with opt in form templates that go that extra step toward fostering success?

We’re proud to present you with three sets of templates (email and web form combinations) available exclusively to AWeber customers.

We knew our new Web Form Generator marked the dawn of a new era for your email signup forms.

Now that we can easily create an opt in form template, why not create Email / Web Form templates that complement each other? Through consistency of branding these templates can provide a professional feel for those of us who aren’t professional designers.

The “Video Arcade” Email / Opt In Form Template Combo

Believe it or not, us video gamers do sometimes get off the couch. Some of us even send email campaigns for our blogs. But even if you aren’t blogging about video games, you can’t deny this template can be used by those who favor a more playful style.

The “Video Arcade” HTML Email Template
is available in 4 color variations.



The “Video Arcade” Opt In Form Template
is available in 5 color variations.

The “eBook” Email / Web Form Template Combo

The “eBook” templates pack a powerful punch for enticing new subscribers. Use the opt in form template to promise your eBook upon sign up. Use the HTML email template to deliver that promise in style.

The “eBook” HTML Email Template
is available in 3 color variations.



The “eBook” Web Form Template
is available in 10 color variations.

The “Wine” Email / Web Form Template Combo

This template is perfect for fine dining establishments. Announce weekly specials, upcoming events, additional menu items and exclusive discounts in sophisticated, yet understated style.

The “Wine” HTML Email Template
is available in 4 varieties.



The “Wine” Web Form Template
is available in 4 color varieties.

How Can You Use These Templates?

These templates are available exclusively to AWeber customers. If you have an AWeber account, simply log in and you will find them the same place you usually find templates when you are either creating a web form or creating a new broadcast/follow up.

Let Us Know What You Think.

We always appreciate your feedback and always take our customers into consideration.

Do you have any ideas of an email or an opt in form template theme that might be especially useful?

Let us know… you might just get what you ask for.