Tools for putting together email newsletters and action alerts through email blasting programs
Some Simple Steps:
- Start with a plain text editor
- Don't switch back and forth between your blaster's HTML & WYSIWYG editors
- Put together your content
- Create your buttons
- Resize your images and THEN upload them
- Run your code through Premailer
- Test that message in as many email clients as possible making sure it at least looks decent in Outlook
Don't forget to check out the Useful Links
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Adobe Photoshop
in 72 toolboxes
add to my toolboxThe gold standard tool for image manipulation. If you don't have big bucks to buy this guy you can use other tools like Seashore or Picnik.
The big thing to remember is to resize your images before you upload them into your email blasting program.
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ColorPicker
in 1 toolbox
add to my toolboxI use ColorPicker for quick hex codes when customizing a template or adding some color snazz to an email.
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Facebook
in 114 toolboxes
add to my toolboxBe sure to include a link to your organization's Facebook page or group in your email as well as inserting "Share this on Facebook" links where appropriate. They're an easy way for people to promote your email.
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Illustrator
in 16 toolboxes
add to my toolboxI use Illustrator when I need to create a cool button for an email. If you don't have it, you can use Inkscape or even the Vertical Response Button Builder to create some great looking buttons in a pinch.
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Inkscape
in 39 toolboxes
add to my toolboxThe open-source alternative to Illustrator. Not the best tool but impressive for an open source initiative.
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Notepad++
in 20 toolboxes
add to my toolboxWhen editing HTML, make sure you use a plain text editor like Notepad++ (Windows) or Tincta (Mac OS X). Don't copy from Microsoft Word or Open Office. These programs add their own formatting that doesn't work with HTML. "Clean it up" by pasting into a plain text editor first.
An added bonus is that Notepad++ and Tincta highlight your code and give you other great features to make your document easier to read and edit. Winning.
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Outlook
in 27 toolboxes
add to my toolboxThe bane of email newsletter creators. Outlook is by far the problem child in terms of what HTML and CSS it will display but unfortunately, Outlook has a huge share of the email client market. Make sure your email looks good in Outlook. Otherwise many people will get a bad impression of your org (or at least your design skills)...
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Premailer
in 2 toolboxes
add to my toolboxChecks your HTML emails to make sure that the CSS is inline and flags potential problems in the coding that might cause problems in various email clients.
Premailer is a good last step to make sure you caught all the troublesome bits in your email.
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seashore
in 4 toolboxes
add to my toolboxSeashore is a simple image editor that can be a bit buggy sometimes but it's a lightweight tool that is good for simple things like resizing images when you don't want to load a behemoth like Photoshop.
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The Noun Project
in 5 toolboxes
add to my toolboxThe Noun Project is a great place to get free simple, icon-like images for use in your emails.
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Tincta
in 1 toolbox
add to my toolboxLike Notepad++ described above, Tincta is a great text editor for Mac that highlights code so it's easier to read.
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Twitter
in 125 toolboxes
add to my toolboxEveryone's favorite 140 character social network, Twitter is the gold standard nowadays for sharing links and small bits of news. Be sure to have Share this on Twitter buttons where it makes sense to make it easy for your readers to forward your email.
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Vertical Response Button Builder
in 2 toolboxes
add to my toolboxWhen you're in a pinch, VR's Button Builder will spit you out a simple, clean button with custom text and colors even if you're not a Vertical Response customer. While they aren't going to win any design competitions, these buttons will certainly do the job.
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VerticalResponse
in 15 toolboxes
add to my toolboxLove it or hate it, VR is our email blasting tool of choice. With 10,000 free messages a month for nonprofit organizations, it's hard to beat in the value department.
