Creating Email Campaigns

Checklist for building newsletters/emails:

• login to Mailchimp or Constant Contact via the AccordusTeam (MC) or Accordus client login (CC)
• Select Campaigns
• Replicate or copy the most recently sent email if Accordus built it – if not find the most recent Accordus one and start there.
• Rename the Email campaign as “ACCORDUS: <Topic of Email> <Send date or today’s date>” or something similar
• Change the email settings, starting from the top to bottom: review the recipients, ensure the from name is the client’s, change the subject to a placeholder like “Spring Newsletter” and not “TESTTESTTEST”, change the URL in Mailchimp to a relevant slug to the email (in Mailchimp only – /feb-newsletter will suffice)
• Design the email
• Update the header graphic first, by drag and drop method or click the image and select “insert image/replace image” – make sure the link is the correct URL or works with the theme of the email
• Copy and paste the text from the writer in Text Prep to a blank Notepad or WordEdit document to remove all formatting
• Copy/Paste the plain text into the email
• Ensure Merge Fields are present like Hi, Friend! or Hello Friend, – as a reminder, in MC the first name is *|FNAME|*
• The default font should be Helvetica, 16 point, black or dark grey font – select all text, clear styles, and ensure it matches.
• Insert another text box and/or image box to break up the copy if needed. We prefer images with faces up close, so you can see the whites of their eyes. You may need to include this description in your assignment to a designer.
• Make sure there is a relevant signature graphic or text signature, check that the footer is set up. (You can find signature graphics in the library of graphics in MC/CC or in the client’s dropbox folder. If you can’t find in either place within 5 minutes on your own, ask the designer if they have a dropbox link.)
• Select “SEND TEST” or “PREVIEW” and check that all links work in the images and in the footer (if social media icons are present).
• Grab the “View in browser” link (using Mailchimp) or send a test to yourself (if in Constant Contact).
• Drag and drop the test email into a new mail message or insert the link from MailChimp into the email message
• Send the QA team the QA email with a due date – review this article on how to post tasks via email. You can also assign MailChimp QA’s via Teamwork task with the URL link to the campaign.
• After sending the email to the Team Lead for approval, schedule the email using the Final QA checklist in Teamwork, then send a confirmation to the client and Team lead:

  • After scheduling an email, you should always send a confirmation email to the client(s), and team lead on the project. You can find this on the Client Assignments Doc under client emails.

    
    The confirmation email should contain the subject line, date and time of send, as well as audience list + number of recipients. If in MailChimp, link the subject line. If sending through CC, attach a test email to your confirmation email.

     

    An example email sent to clients:

     

    “Hi Team,

     

    “Blue Skies: Rules of Thumb” will be sent on Sunday, June 5 at 11:00AM EST to the audience tagged ‘Admin’ + ‘June 10-15 2022 Volunteers’ (21 recipients).

    Thanks,

    Julia”