Email Development and Execution
Primary Email Elements
Sender Profile
Must be representative of the entity sending the email. To protect and build the Pepperdine
University (any domain with the application of 'pepperdine.edu'), and to develop your
sender reputation (the relationship your recipient has with your email marketing communications),
consistency is necessary and will be monitored by the administrators of the system.
For more questions, please contact Arwa Sutarwala.
Subject
Use engaging and relevant subjects, you do not want to mislead your reader (CAN-SPAM).
Use emojis with caution and when most appropriate; while some brands apply these to
their subject lines, they do not execute consistently across all domains or devices.
65 Characters in a subject line has a strong performance in relation to reading rates.
Pre-Header
This is the text seen in the recipient's inbox, this is the light grey text or first
line of the email copy. This text will need to be kept short and to the point, usually,
this is an in-active 'call to action'.
Header
This text is applied to the copy of the email marketing communication to introduce
the subject matter of the remaining copy. This should be kept short and to the point.
There can be a hierarchy applied to your email, as needed, this hierarchy is defined
in styling and should not be customized by the individual building the email.
Copy
This is the supporting content of your message, in a text format. This content should convince the reader to follow through to the next step to the
website, event registration, etc..
Digital Media
Images can say 1000 words or simply complement copy. Digital media can include static images and animated gifs. Videos are not hosted in emails, rather
on a website or landing page.
Call To Action
This element should always be in your email marketing communication. This can be a
clear action-oriented button or an inline link associated with the copy.
Template Standards & Build-Out
There is a standard set of email templates and content blocks available to each School
with their respective logo. In addition to, a standard Pepperdine University email
template with the application of major Units.
Standards
For the development of your individual email, there are established content blocks in compliance with University Brand Standards, please use the existing blocks for building out your email, applying images and copy accordingly.
- If there is a specific layout or design not available, please contact Arwa Sutarwala on the Digital Marketing team with the Integrated Marketing Communications group for more information.
- Do not create new zones types, visual divides or CTA buttons without the help of IMC.
Build-Out
For the set-up of your content blocks on your email template canvas, the following rules would apply;
- Miller's Magic Number 7. Rule of 7 +/- 2; Do not exceed 9 Content Zones. This relates to the recipient's ability to retain the information you're sharing.
- Set-up the copy in the 'F-Pattern' format for scanning.
- Apply a Chunking format to your content.
- Apply lists over paragraphs when possible, and keep to one topic per paragraph or message.
- Avoid common SPAM triggers in your content.