Simple Email - System eComm Checklist

Download this checklist (scroll to bottom) if you are building and sending an eComm Marketing Cloud email that does NOT include a link to a Cvent event registration form. Kate's role is to provide an audience report (or list).

STEPS

TIME FRAME

TASK


STEP 1:
STRATEGIZE		 5 weeks
IDENTIFY GOAL, MESSAGE, AUDIENCE & DESIRED ACTION
This is a fictitious example
  GOAL: To announce employee award
  MESSAGE: CU President announces Employee of the Year
  AUDIENCE(S): CU System employees
  ACTION: Read email and visit www.cu.edu webpage for more info

 

SET IMPORTANT DATES
Dates often drive communications. Identifying dates and working backwards from there and building in plenty of time for your readers to take action is the best strategy. Using our fictitious example, here's important dates that our email campaign will work towards. 
  JUNE 1: Employee is awarded Employee of the Year award
  JUNE 2: www.cu.edu website is updated with a press release
  JUNE 2: Email announcement is sent to CU System employees

It's important to plan for reminder emails at this stage as well. Plan for them and engage the right people so you are not making your emergency theirs.  

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STEP 2:
EXISTING CHANNELS		 5 weeks
CAPITALIZE ON EXISTING CHANNELS
No need to reinvent the wheel. Check out existing campus communication channels (eg; 1800 Grant elevator calendar). If any are being sent to your desired audience, request to have your topic included in their next issue. This will broaden your reach and increase engagement. 

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STEP 3:
AUDIENCE		 5 weeks
IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE
Sending everything to everyone is not the best way to increase engagement and overall goodwill with CU constituents. This practice could lead to global unsubscribe activities, which affect all CU communications, including any future communications you send. 
  Who would be most interested in your message?

 

OTHER AUDIENCE DETAILS

If you have a list of individuals who need to receive your communication and who are not in a CU source system, prepare a spreadsheet and include as many details as possible. 
  At a minimum, we need the following data points to process your list (each in a column):
      ID number (eg; Employee ID, Student ID, Salesforce Contact ID, etc.)
      First name
      Last name
      Email  

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STEP 4:
CONTENT		 4 weeks
WRITE THE MESSAGE
1. Write email message and ensure it meets email marketing best practices. You can do this is a Word doc or text editor. Get all the details ready before you build it in Marketing Cloud.  
  • Is it short, easy to read and compelling? 
  • Identify the "actionable component." This may be "read more," "Register" for an event, "donate," etc. Identify this item in a prominent way within content. You might do this with a button, large font or a use a Marketing Cloud Content Block. 
  • Identify contact information. This is not only a best practice, but is required under CAN-SPAM legislation (address, phone and email)
  • Get message edited or at least reviewed by a second set of eyes to check for spelling, grammar, etc. 

2. Write a compelling subject line

3. Write a pre-header (for mobile devices). Learn more about pre-headers. 

 

DEVELOP LANDING PAGE
Most, if not all, email communications should send reader somewhere else, such as a website, registration form, etc. This must be ready in advance.    Create a clear and easy-to-follow landing page so your reader can quickly accomplish your desired task. 
  • Is it obvious to the reader what you want them to read or take action on?
  • Ensure the reader does not have to click somewhere else or at least keep the number of clicks to a minimum
  • Ensure easy-to-find contact information is available on the landing page

 

COLLECT ASSETS
eComm already has CU branded headers and buttons (eg; register, donate, etc.), but if you would like to include additional or other assets, such as a photo or special graphic, you'll need to acquire these assets. All images should be no larger than 600 px wide. Learn more about image sizes. 

 

BUILD EMAIL IN MARKETING CLOUD
Check out our training page if you're new to eComm or if you want to browse our eComm Wiki for details on specific topics. You can also look through the System eComm Team (SET) blog.

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STEP 5:
SUBMIT		 2 WEEKS
(at least)
SUBMIT LIST REQUEST

Kate will develop your audience list(s). Don't forget about reminder and follow-up email lists. Put your request in now!

Submit List Request 

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STEP 6:
REVIEW		 1 week
REVIEW
  • Pop into office hours to review the audience and send classification with Kate. Ask other questions as needed. 
  • Review content with your internal stakeholders and/or approvers (eg; your boss). Have your team check spelling, links, graphics, subject line and pre-header.
  • Obtain approval from internal team

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STEP 7:
SEND

Day of

Send your email and celebrate! 

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STEP 8:
ANALYZE		 Day after - 1 week after send
ANALYZE DATA
  • Review open, click-through and unsubscribe rates in Marketing Cloud
  • Modify future communications (eg; reminders) accordingly
  • Are you planning to send a reminder? Make sure you submitted a list request. 


Download the Checklist


Do you have something to add?
Send a note to Kate.