iModules Standards Update 2018 iModules Editors and Managers

Introduction This guide is a companion piece to the iModules Standards Update 2018 – Managers and Editors. It includes material found in the Email Marketing Style Guide, the Advancement Style Guide and the Master Brand Style Guide (when that becomes available. ) Rely on the Style Guides for information about : content creation brand statements campaign strategy imagery colors fonts layouts

Review - Email Marketing Style Guide This style guide is in draft format – additional changes may still be made. This guide is intended to be supplemental to the Advancement Style Guide and the Master Brand Style Guide (when that becomes available.) Rely on those guides for information about content creation, brand statements, campaign strategy, and imagery. Key differences: The digital version of the Skidmore wordmark does not use the world “College” Departments and sub-brands are identified with text headlines, not logos Color palette is limited to avoid rendering issues on mobile devices Email must use web-safe fonts Subject lines and preheaders are a priority

Revisit - Email Marketing Best Practices Mobile presentation is the first consideration Sidebars start after the text, to ensure that the recipient sees a greeting before the sidebar content Brevity will be very important to uphold the clean and bold look of the email templates When using a multi-column layout, careful attention must be paid to balancing the text lengths across the columns Links should be large enough to click easily on mobile devices - link to a phrase of 3 or more words for best effect. Single column layouts rely on responsive coding to provide the appearance of multiple columns while ensuring graceful resizing on all viewing platforms

Revisit - Email Marketing Best Practices Single column layouts rely on responsive coding to provide the appearance of multiple columns while ensuring graceful resizing on all viewing platforms Place the emphasis on the graphics to tell a compelling story Graphics should reinforce the branding on print and web pieces, without necessarily seeking to exactly duplicate it Images should be chosen to fit the space they will occupy in the email

Revisit - Email Marketing Best Practices Use a preheader on all emails to avoid auto-fill errors Preheaders are intended to provide a second reason for recipients to open your email, so a well-crafted preheader can increase your opening rate. Various email clients will fill in preheaders differently, so it’s better to craft a purposeful preheader rather than rely on what the email client might provide. With Without

Revisit - Email Marketing Best Practices Treat each email as a unique message – do not copy and re-use old emails You can still perfect the first in a series, and then copy it for setting up the rest. If it is a repeat or reminder, look at the statistics of the first sending to decide what to change – subject, preheader, images, and layout can all be changed to present a fresh look at the material, rather than being repetitive. Individually-crafted emails take advantage of updated saved content blocks. When iModules updates to the new email system, we will no longer be able to copy and re-use emails from the old system

Resources Help documentation for iModules is found at http://www.Skidmore.edu/webhelp/email/imodules/ Information about Skidmore standards is found at http://www.Skidmore.edu/webhelp/email/standards/ Note links in right navigation for Advancement Style Guide, and other resources related to the 2018 branding update The Email Marketing Style Guide will be added to the right navigation when it is fully approved Note links in the left navigation for general Skidmore graphic standards. These will be updated in the future when the Master Brand Style Guide becomes available. Custom programming and assistance is always available

iModules Editing – Best Practices Delete your old drafts. The Drafts folder is reviewed periodically and old emails will be deleted. Do not make changes to the Skin Builder or Custom CSS – those contain the brand standards that apply to fonts, colors, and links Do not use old saved content blocks with new templates, or vice versa Use the Setup/Proofing checklist to make sure you have everything in order before you begin Use the Naming Conventions so that your email can be clearly matched with your recipient list

iModules Editing – Best Practices Most saved content is generic, but some is specific to a template: 2018 General Content can be used on all emails created with the General Use 2018 template. 2018 Department-Specific content includes Presidents Society, Young Alumni, and Reunion Regional Events and CEC have their own saved content that will not work in other templates. Saved Content – Not Editable is for use in all templates: Two types of footer – with social media and without. Only one header – the Skidmore wordmark.

iModules Editing – Step by Step Choose a template All are under “Mobile Ready Single Column” and the names end with 2018. General Use 2018 can be used for most emails CEC, Commencement/Reunion, and Regional Events have their own templates Fill out the Email Details page carefully Use the information gathered for the Setup/Proofing checklist to set everything up Use the Naming Conventions so that your email can be clearly matched with your recipient list Email Category = unsubscribe category, so choose carefully Choose the correct footer for the template you are using (No address – Ologie) Change the View this email… line to be “webpage” instead of “web page”

iModules Editing – Step by Step Edit Content Choose Saved Content blocks Preview on the iModules help website, and then choose the blocks that are appropriate to the content Use alternating color blocks to break up your email into smaller sections, and avoid having a top-heavy look Read this help page for how to add Saved Content blocks to your email Edit Text When copying text from a Word document, remember to use the Paste as Text button If pasting into a text-with-image block, you may have to paste the top paragraph in separately from the text below it. There are limitations on changing font sizes and colors Brand standards have set our font sizes and font colors to provide a visual flow through the email from top to bottom Email clients will not always respect a font size that is added to the text as a style, rather than being built into the table frame of the saved content block.

iModules Editing – Step by Step Edit Links The Skin Builder and Custom CSS do most of the work for styling our links, but not all email clients will honor the code placed there. If it is important that links be exactly as you want them, you must add extra code directly into the HTML. One on one tutorials are available to help you get comfortable with this technique. The code used is shown below – replace xxxx with the code that matches the color you need. <a xxxxx href=“http://www.skidmore.edu”>Skidmore</a> style=“color: #006a52;” (black) style=“color: #22372b;” (green) style=“color: #ffffff;” (white) style=“color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none;” (only used for white text on a button) You should always fill out the Title box for your link. This provides extra information to desktop users who hover their mouse over the link, and also to read-aloud programs for the visually impaired. Links should be large enough to click easily on mobile devices - link to a phrase of 3 or more words for best effect.

iModules Editing – Step by Step Edit Images Always resize images before uploading. Academic Technologies can give you access to Lynda.com if you need to learn to use Photoshop, or you can ask for help from a graphic designer Read this FAQ on how to replace placeholder images Commonly used hero images can be found in the /e-mail/hero/ folder Whenever you add an image to your email, make sure to fill in the Alt Text, Title, and Description boxes. (They can be the same text.) These provide a fall-back in case your recipient doesn’t load the images, so make sure that it’s descriptive and will convey the right message to the recipient. They also provide information to read-aloud programs for the visually impaired. Example for a portrait: Portrait of Anne Palamountain, founder and lifetime sponsor of the Palamountain Benefit. Example for a program button: All in to Win: Help your favorite team meet their fundraising goal!

iModules Editing Proofread your email Use the Setup/Proofing checklist to be certain to check all aspects of the email Be sure to check the appearance on desktop and mobile devices (if available.) Communications can assist with checking your mobile versions. If you are using role-based content, you might wish to send role-based previews, so that your reviewers can see what content each role will get (requires multiple previews.) Send your email at the date and time indicated by your content provider. Screenshots and statistics are sometimes requested by content providers, so check your department’s guidelines to know what’s expected.