Formatting emails for consistent delivery across multiple email clients, such as Outlook, Gmail, Thunderbird, etc., renders messages in different ways. While one rule might work well in certain email clients, other clients could interpret it differently, causing unintended display issues. The best way to maximize consistency across email clients is to keep the content and layout of emails simple.
Click here for an overview of sending emails from MC Trade.
Tips and Suggestions
- Copying and pasting from a program like Microsoft Word can often create unintended results. To copy and paste text without formatting issues, it is best to first paste it into a text editor such as TextEdit (Mac) or Notepad (Microsoft). This will strip out any unnecessary HTML code that could affect the message. Use MC Trade's Internal HTML Editor for styling.
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Be aware of the size and number of images included. The header images should be sized to 600 pixels wide. It's best to resize the image before uploading it to the media manager. Including fewer images in emails helps with deliverability, as emails with lots of images can load slowly on mobile devices.
On a PC, images can be resized in a program like Microsoft Paint. On a Mac, iPhoto works well. There are also free online services, like Picasa, that can crop photos. If the original image uploaded is sized correctly, the browser will correctly interpret the HTML. - Keep alignment simple. Image alignment can be tricky with mobile-friendly emails. It is recommended to have images appear on their own lines, rather than aligned with word wrapping. Remember, keep it simple. Similarly, images should not have any margin or spacing applied.
- Remove all spaces from the file name of an image before uploading. Some email clients will interpret a file name with a space as a broken link, causing the image to not appear. As a best practice, remove the spaces entirely or replace spaces with dashes (-) or underscores (_), so rather than uploading an image called "my logo.png", use one called "my-logo.png" or "my_logo.png."
- Because of the different email client standards, it is recommended to style headings with Font Size as opposed to using Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. in Font Format.
This will help ensure that the message is received with the proper styling instead of the default styling of the user's email client.
This is the opposite of what is recommended when creating content for your website, and applies to email only.
Template Selection
Three templates are available already pre-loaded into MC Trade's HTML Template section. Update and save these templates in Admin > Global Settings > HTML Templates. To create a new template, select +Add an HTML Template in the top right corner.
See below to learn how to upload the newsletter templates to MC Trade.
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In MC Trade, go to Admin > Global Settings, which will open the HTML Templates tab as the first menu item on the left. To create a new template, click New HTML Template. Enter a Title for the template, then in the Message field's Source option, paste in the HTML code for the desired template.
Select Save HTML Template to save this basic template/language in the new template.
This template can now be used in any email being composed in MC Trade, using the Template dropdown in the Message section.
Click here for more details on sending an email through MC Trade.