Top Gear: Useful Internet Marketing Strategies & Tips to Move You Forward: Turn email pains into gains: Our new editor can help

Whether you’ve just kicked off your email marketing program or you’ve been at it for years, you’re bound to run up against a few obstacles. From finding the time to manage and build campaigns to simply making sure that your emails are user-friendly and readable, there are a lot of moving parts. VerticalResponse’s new email editor was specifically created to make keeping track of all those moving parts easier for you. Among the powerful design tools included in the app update, you’ll find features that help you tackle some of the most common email marketing challenges. If you’re struggling with your campaigns, here are four ways the new editor can turn those email woes into wins.

Pain point: Can’t control the look and feel of emails when using templates

When you don’t have any coding or graphic design experience, an email template can be a lifesaver — it allows you to build your email quickly and gives your campaigns a consistent look and feel. But what do you do if you want to increase the white space between content elements when you’re using a pre-formatted template? What if you’d like to edit the thickness of the email’s border or change the positioning of content elements? Templates are helpful, but one major limitation to using them is you don’t have full freedom to modify the design and format to fit your unique messaging needs.

Solution: Customizable templates and content blocks

To simplify the email design process for you, we’ve optimized our templates by campaign type. So you’ll find pre-made designs for coupons, invitations, announcements, newsletters, and more. If you’re satisfied with the way the template you’ve chosen looks right out of the gate, that’s great — just add your copy and images to the email, and you’re ready to send. The best part is that our new editor gives you the ability to edit these templates as much you need.

The new editor uses a content block approach, which allows for more flexibility in choosing content elements and where they can be placed within an email. Want to insert text, images, buttons, or columns into your template? All of these elements and more can be added with just one click. After you’ve added your content blocks, you can swap elements from one side of the email to the other; choose the exact fonts, colors, and backgrounds you need; and adjust spacing.

Customizable templates and content blocks

Pain point: Mobile optimization

It’s critical that your emails be mobile-friendly, now more than ever. According to a recent study, 80 percent of email users are expected to access email via a mobile device by the end of 2018. No one wants to have to zoom in or out or squint to read an email on their smartphone or tablet. If poorly optimized, an email with excellent, relevant content could be deleted.

Solution: Responsive templates and preview mode

With the new editor, you can ensure that your emails look great wherever they’re read. All of our pre-made templates are responsive, so your emails will automatically adapt to the size of the screen they’re being viewed on. Once you’ve designed your email, you’ll be able to see how it looks on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop using the preview feature. You can even see what your email will look like when it’s read vertically or horizontally on a mobile device. If you’re unhappy with the way your message displays on mobile, you have the ability to go back and tweak the overall design until it’s perfect.

Responsive Templates

Pain point: Don’t have time to send out campaigns on a consistent basis

Small business owners inevitably end up juggling multiple roles, often having to oversee day-to-day business operations while attending to promotional and marketing duties. Even if you know email marketing on average delivers a staggering 4,300 percent return on investment, it isn’t uncommon for your campaigns to take a back seat to more immediate concerns.

Solution: Campaign scheduling

The campaign scheduling feature allows you to send your messages at the exact day and time you need them to go out. Not only does this mean that you can create your emails when it’s most convenient for you and then have them automatically sent out later, but it also allows you to send out emails when they are most likely to be read. If, after using an analytics tool such as Advanced Reporting, you learn your campaigns have higher open and click-through rates at 6:00 a.m., there’s no need to wake up early to send out emails — just schedule them ahead of time.

Campaign Scheduling

Pain point: Don’t have the resources or time to create eye-catching visual content

Your subscribers will form a first impression about an email you’ve sent them in a flash — 50 milliseconds to be exact. Adding high-quality images and graphics to your campaigns can be a great way to grab your readers’ attention and encourage them to really engage with your messages. This might be easier said than done, though, if you’re one of the 65 percent of email marketers who list a lack of time or resources as the biggest stumbling blocks toward creating visual content.

Solution: Free image and graphic libraries

You don’t have to hire a photographer or graphic designer to create visual content that pops. Professional photos and graphics are just a click away with our new editor’s free image and graphic libraries. From animals and landscapes to restaurants and cars — you’ll find a wide selection of images that work for your business.

Free images and graphics from Pexels

Our new editor makes creating and sending professional-looking email campaigns faster and easier than ever before. Find out more about the editor update here.