A quick brand and user experience checklist and frequently asked questions for email sends, followed by some FAQs.
Before sending an email, check the following, which is a quick, high-level summary of specifications noted in the Email Module Design Guidelines.
All design standards are followed
All links are violet (#7f35b2), bold, and underlined. As of Jan 2022, do not use a > chevron. This causes Outlook-related issues and should no longer be used.
Consistent padding and spacing is applied per the guidelines
ll links function and are valid – e.g. they send the user to live versions of the content they are linking to, not staging versions or inaccessible versions.
All imagery sizing is per specifications
Typography – must be Neue Haas Grostesk unless your local language has an alternate font.
Header – contains the proper “View online” link and includes the correct logo. If co-branded logo is used, you must have the brand’s usage permission.
Footer – contains the correct information per local and global brand, legal, and privacy standards for your location/region.
Consistency with terminology.
Be consistent with branding: If you’ve used an image on the web, use the same image in the email.
Never use the term “click here to…” Self explanatory!
My old email newsletter had a branded image with the name of my newsletter. Why can’t I use that anymore? Why is it suggested that I switch to an image with text on top of the image? Refer to the Email Standards page. The short answer is that this treatment is preferred due to: accessibility, mobile-friendliness, and flexibility when images don’t load within email clients. Technically, you can use a branded image but your image will scale incorrectly on mobile devices and will look out-of-place
Can I use a self-service banner or image that I created on Brand Central? Yes, that is possible, and recommended for use with internal Outlook templates or Contact Monkey templates. For Marketo, however, we strongly recommend using the prescribed Marketo image specifications as it ensures an email that is the most accessible, most mobile-friendly, and most modern. It is also the most compatible with our digital design system.
What type of imagery can I use in my emails? Follow our email imagery guidelines, which are documented from an overall perspective, and specifically documented within each module on the Email Design Modules page. Note that SVGs do not render across all email platforms and therefore only JPGs (photography) or PNGs (illustrations, charts, graphs, etc) should be used.
If a module includes the option for an image, do I need to use that space? No. Feel free to use text-only. There is a technique to use an “image spacer” to remove the images from the modules.
If a module includes the option for body/paragraph text in it, do I need to use it? No, but consider your audience. This is a good opportunity to convince them to click through. Instead of listing a series of links and hoping for engagement, use the opportunity wisely!
Do I need to follow each starter design exactly? Not necessarily. These were created based on best-practices and overall design needs for a majority of email sends. Feel free to update and add/remove modules as needed; if you have questions, speak with your digital relationship manager.
Do my modules need to appear in a certain order> Not really.** The only “locked down” items are the View Online & Header (which must appear at the top) and the Footer Components. If a module is mandatory, it is denoted in the Email Design Modules documentation. Everything else is flexible and can be reordered/stacked as needed based on priority of communication within the email.
Why is my email footer separating into blocks with white spaces in between when forwarding to another person? This is a flaw in Microsoft Outlook due to how Outlook itself parses the code. You can either manually delete the spaces and forward, or (the preferred method) send the email directly instead of forwarding.
However, you should not forward emails from Marketo. Every link in Marketo is tied to a user and valuable information can be overwritten via the forwarding process.
Who oversees the digital design standards, specifically the email standards? Katie Cisto
Who should I contact about Marketo email questions and/or access to our email systems? Steve Bottjer
Who should I contact for CVent-related questions? Neha Harnal and Amy Kerlin
Who should I contact about Poppulo emails for internal use? Amy Kerlin