Part 3: Content

Introduction
Creating new content
Editing content
Personalizing content
Inserting clickthrough URLS
Inserting clickable text
Inserting a clickable image
Inserting an undisguised URL
Inserting conditional content

Introduction

A mailing has two parts: the content, or message you want to send, and a segment, or group of recipients who should receive the message. When you create a new mailing, you can either type the content you'd like to send directly into the mailing, or insert content you've already created.

Creating content instead of entering your message into every mailing has many advantages. You can:

• Create a sample of content once, then use it in multiple mailings as a template.
• Personalize your message by inserting mail merge fields and conditional text.
• Add clickthrough tracking URLs, and track how often they've been clicked.

If you are sending out a message only once, and don't want or need to use these features, you may find it easier to skip this step and go to the Mailings section.

The main Content page

The main Content page shows you all of the content you've created for a particular list. You can save, edit or reuse content on this page. Think of it as your personal content "library":



Creating new content

1. Click on the Content tab.

2. Click on Create New Content. You'll be taken to the Content: New Content: Essentials page:

   

3. Enter a Content Name and Description to identify the content. Note that the Name cannot have any spaces.

4. Enter the email address of who the message should appear to be From:. By default, your email address will appear there. Here are some examples of valid entries for the From: field:

   bob@example.com
"Bob Smith" <bob@example.com>

5. Enter the email address of who the message should be To:. By default, the To: field is set to %%nameemail%%, which will merge in the name and email address of each recipient. To customize the message further, select Insert Field to insert a mail merge field.

   The To: field does not actually select the message's recipients. When building your mailing, you'll specify the segment or lists to which you'd like to send the message.

   Example:

   "Jazz List" <jazztalk@lists.sparklist.com>

   * Please note that using a generic name in the To: field (instead of the recipient’s name) may cause your messages to be filtered into bulk or "junk" folders. We recommend using the default: %%nameemail%%

6. Enter the Subject of the message. Recipients will see this line as the subject of the message they receive. To customize the subject line for each recipient, select Insert Field to insert a mail merge field.

7. Select the Text Message or HTML Message tab, and type or paste the contents of your message in the field. (In the HTML tab, only enter HTML code.)

   You may create just a text or HTML body, and that is what will be sent to your recipients. Or, you can create both, and send a message that has both text and HTML. This format is called multipart-alternative, and ListManager will create the correct headers and boundaries automatically. Recipients who can see HTML will only see your HTML message; those who can't, will see the text.

   You can customize your message for every recipient by selecting Insert Field or Insert Condition. Track which URLs recipients click by using Insert URL.

8. Select the Advanced tab if you'd like to add headers, or save this Content as a template.

9. Click on Save and Test to preview what your message will look like. Or, click on Save. You'll be taken to the Content main page, where you can edit, test, copy, or delete the content you just created.

   Important note: The unsubscribe information for your list will not be automatically included to your message if you create it through the ListManager administrator GUI. Please remember to add unsubscribe instructions to your content or mailing.

What's next?

• Continue learning about Content (part 2 of 5)
• Skip to Part 4: Segments
• Return to the Getting Started main page