How Do I Create a Follow Up Message? :: AWeber Knowledge Base

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How Do I Create a Follow Up Message?

To create and edit messages in your AWeber account, you need to follow just a few simple steps in your control panel. For text instructions, keep reading.

Note: This entry discusses creating autoresponder and follow up messages. See how to create and edit a broadcast.

Instructions for AWeber's new message editor are below. Instructions for the old version of the editor are further down the page.

Under the Messages tab, click Follow Up.

Here, click Create A New Follow Up Message.
Right at the top of the new page, enter the subject for your message.

Note that you can add personalization fields using the Personalize button to the right.

Next, click the Templates button to choose a starting template from the list. Many templates have color schemes you can select from below the the template itself.

Once you've found the template that you'd like to work with, click the Start Over button.

(The "Keep My Content" button will allow you to change the template you're using without losing your work, but you don't need to use that now.)
Now it's time to start using the block editor. The editor has two major components: sections and blocks.

Sections are the areas in a message where you can place your content. Templates come with a number of sections already in place, usually with some dummy text or images included. You can create new sections for content by hovering over a section and clicking the "add row" or "add column" buttons.

This allows you to add content to the new section of your message.

Blocks are the actual content in your message (text, images, etc). You can drag and drop these blocks to move them around. To start working with a block, simply click on it.

Once you've clicked on the block, you'll see the options as above: the "X" will delete the block, the "+" will copy it, and on many blocks, the window to the right will allow you to customize it further:
To add new blocks to your message, simply drag them from the toolbar at the top of the message editor into the body of the message.

The Headline block creates a headline for your messages. Simply click on the block once you've placed it to edit the text.

The Paragraph block creates a block of text. Again, just click to edit the text once you've placed the paragraph block.

The Article block creates a headline, a text area, and a "read more" link. Click the text to edit it, and set the URL of the link in the window to the right. Note that some templates may include an image as well - if that's the case, you can edit the image via the window to the right as well.

The Image block allows you to insert an image into your message. The window to the right allows you to enter the URL of the image you'd like to display. You can also have the image link to another page when clicked, and provide the text that will appear when someone hovers their cursor over the image.

The Button block creates a clickable button. To the right, you can change the URL the button is linked to or replace the button with another image.

The Follow Me block adds buttons to allow readers to follow you on Facebook and Twitter - simply add the social media accounts using the window to the right.

The Product block creates an image which you can replace with an image of your product, along with text for the product's name, description, and price. Finally, it comes with a button that can take customers to your order page. The image and button can be edited via the right side window.

The Coupon block is ideal for special offers or discounts, with a text area and a dashed border (think a cut-out coupon) by default. On the right, you can add a background image or change the border.

Similar to the Image block, the Logo block inserts an image, but automatically loads your logo if you've set one up on the List Settings page.

Finally, the Signature block adds a sign-off to your message, complete with a space for your headshot, your name, and email address.
Once you have arranged the message's layout, you can start entering the actual text. When editing the text of your message (remember, just click on the text you want to change), you'll notice a toolbar at the top of the editor.

This toolbar will allow you to change the font, size, and other formatting of your text. Simply highlight the text you want to change, and use the toolbar to modify it.

To create hyperlinks, highlight the text you'd like to turn into a link, then click the button in the toolbar. In the popup that appears, simply enter the URL you would like to link to.

To use personalization fields, click the button. This will add the field to your message, and prompt you to choose what information should appear.

Note that you can click on the field to change the content if you need to do so.
Once you're done editing your message, scroll down to the bottom of the editor. To the lower left, you'll see the Plain Text button.

Clicking this will show you the plain text version of the message. You can choose whether or not the text from the HTML version of your message will appear here using the Auto-Generate Plain Text button in the upper right.

To the lower right of the editor, you'll see several other buttons.

The leftmost button will allow you to add attachments. Test & Preview will allow you to see what your message looks like, then send yourself a test version. Finally, you can save your work with the Save button.

When you're done, click
At the top of this page, you can enter the interval, the number of days between this message and the previous one. Note that the first follow up message on your list will always be sent out immediately after a subscriber joins your list.

Next, you can choose whether you'd like to use send windows or not. Simply click the button to enable them:

Once enabled, you can choose to have your follow up message sent only on certain dates and times by checking the days, choosing the times from drop downs, and clicking the plus button to add that send window to your message. Below, you can choose to send based on each subscriber's local time and whether to have the send windows applied to all your follow ups.

When your message is scheduled, just hit to save your work, and you're done!

Using AWeber's Old Editor?

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Step by Step Instructions

Under the Messages tab, click Follow Up.

On this page, click to get started on your new message.
The first thing that will appear when you create a new message is the subject field. This will appear as the subject line in your subscribers' inboxes.
Moving down the page, you will see the HTML message area. If you want to use HTML features such as changing the font size or color or inserting images, you can use this area to do so.

Note that you can also learn to use templates in your HTML messages - the templates are listed to the right of the HTML message area.
Below the HTML section is the plain text area. All your messages should have a plain text version in case some of your subscribers do not want to view HTML. Note that this doesn't work both ways - you don't need to have an HTML version if you don't want to.
If this is your first message, you can skip this step - for all other messages, you will next see a box asking you to provide an interval. This is the number of days after the previous message that this one will be sent.

In this area you will also see a checkbox, "Only deliver this message on certain days and times." If you are interested in sending the message on specific days of the week or times of day, learn to use our send windows feature.
Once you're done, just click at the bottom of the page. Your message will be saved and will start going out at the interval that you set.

It is a good idea to test your message once you've saved it. Click the test link to the right of the message you'd like to test to send yourself a copy of your new follow up!