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Marketo Email Tips & Tricks

March 11, 2013 By Josh Hill

Emails are a basic component to any marketing automation tool, especially Marketo. Since there is already so much documentation on how to create an email, I thought I’d share a few of the harder to find tips and tricks here.

Organization and Naming Emails

While this was covered earlier, I want to make sure you understand just how important naming and organizing emails are to your successful use of Marketo. Here is a brief reminder:

Good Examples
20120101 Marketo Promo to Product Enthusiasts
01 – Whitepaper Download Nurturing
Alert – Lead Reached a Milestone
Newsletter Email Template - Production
Bad Examples
Send Alert – 1
December 26, 2012_Promo_Holiday_Sales
Josh Email to Various

Editing an Existing Template in Marketo

Unapproved and/or Unused: If you discover an error on a Template which is not used by any Email, then you can Edit Draft and make the necessary changes. Remember to re-approve the Template so the changes appear everywhere.

Approved and in Use: Generally this is a terrible idea. There is a known issue where editing a used Email Template forces dependent Emails into Approved with Draft, but the Draft will be blank!

Technically your data is still present and recoverable—if you DO NOT APPROVE the affected Emails. To recover the Email:

  1. Open the Draft
  2. Go to Edit/Replace HTML
  3. You should see the orginal content, press OK to restore the original html. This will not work of the email was altered or already approved with the new template changes.
  4. Press Save
  5. Preview the Email Draft
  6. If all is well, re-approve the Email.

Program Local Emails vs. Design Studio

I recommend placing generic Alert emails or Sales Insight emails in Design Studio in most cases since they are often used across Programs or Campaigns. Program specific emails should be local assets at all times. Templates always reside in Design Studio.

Forward to Friend is Available

The oft requested Forward to a Friend Link was released in December 2012 to much acclaim. To use this System Token, simply place this token anywhere you wish the Forward to Friend link to appear.

{{system.forwardToFriendLink}}

For a Text email, simply use the token. For HTML, remember you can place this token in the URL dialog box whenever you select text or an image to create a hyperlink.

Email Analytics

Email Analytics are available in several locations, which are summarized here. Please see my Email Reputation chapter and How to Use Analytics for further details:

  • Campaign Email Tab: this will show you email performance for emails used and sent in this campaign any time it was run.
  • Analytics > Email > Email Performance Report: you can modify this report to show the dates of activity and emails you prefer to view. This is a vital report and I recommend becoming familiar with it.
  • Analtyics > Email > Email Link Performance: this report shows the links clicked within an email which was sent out. If the link was never clicked, it will not show up here.

Email Format Testing

This topic is more critical when creating an entirely new Email Template or possibly testing content against Spam Filters. There are a few methods to determining if your email will view as intended on as many email viewers as possible. Remember, your audience is the most important component here. If 90% of your database uses an enterprise email address and MS Outlook, then worry the most about getting the email to render in Outlook. More likely is your database has a mix of personal and corporate emails with some on Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo!; MSN/Hotmail; Apple Mail, and even Groupwise.

If you can use an outside service to test, you normally send the Test or an email to a pre-set list of test accounts. These won’t count against you for spam reputation, so fire away. Here are my favorite tools:

  • IBM Deliverability Package – this is re-sold by Marketo.
  • ReturnPath can test templates and real emails against Spam Assassin and dozens of email viewers.
  • Spam Assassin: normally included in other services, you can also use it directly to see if your content and html are likely to trigger common spam filters.
  • Litmus.com has a wide variety of tools, including Inbox Inspection for a low monthly cost.
  • EmailOnAcid.com  has a free option for 3 clients and a low entry cost for more. Great tool.
  • Mailchimp’s Inbox Inspector: if you already have a paid account (very cheap), you can preview your email template in dozens of viewers.

If you enjoyed those tips you’ll find many more in the Marketing Rockstar’s Guide to Marketo, coming soon. There’s a special offer for members of the email list. So sign up today.

Filed Under: Marketo User Guide

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