Action Network Training Video 3 - Creating an email with drag and drop

Summary

This training video guides users on creating emails using Action Network. It emphasizes a three-step process: crafting the email, targeting recipients, and sending. The video highlights the importance of quality control by suggesting users create emails and have them reviewed by staff before sending. It introduces the drag-and-drop email editor, explains how to set up email components, and stresses the need for clear calls-to-action with buttons and text links. The presenter also encourages hands-on practice and offers to address any issues during the training session.

Takeaways

• 📧 **Three-Step Email Process**: Action Network's email creation involves drafting the email, targeting recipients, and sending.
• 🔒 **Permission for Sending**: Initially, users won't have permission to send emails themselves for quality control purposes.
• 📝 **Draft and Review**: Users are asked to create the email, review it, and then contact MakeVotesMatter staff for final approval and sending.
• 📆 **Schedule in Advance**: It's recommended to get the email checked by staff as soon as it's ready, not just before sending.
• 💻 **Email Editor Access**: The email creation starts from the group management page with a specific button to create a sponsored action email.
• 🖼️ **Editor Options**: Action Network offers both a visual HTML editor and a drag-and-drop editor, with the latter recommended for better results.
• 🔄 **Switching Editors**: Users can switch between editors but should be cautious as it may delete unsaved work.
• 📊 **Preview and Customize**: Users can preview the email on both desktop and mobile views to ensure proper formatting and visibility.
• 🔗 **Linking Essential**: It's crucial to include clickable buttons and text links for actions, as some recipients may overlook embedded links.
• 📝 **Personalization**: Utilize 'clips' to personalize emails, such as addressing the recipient by their first name if available.
• 🗂️ **Layout Templates**: Applying a pre-set layout can streamline the design process and ensure branding consistency.
• 🔎 **Double-Check Links**: Before finalizing, ensure all buttons and text have the correct and functional links.
• 🔍 **Test Emails**: Use the preview feature to send a copy of the email to yourself or a colleague to review its appearance in different email clients.

Q & A

What is the purpose of the Make Votes Matter Action Network training video?

The purpose of the training video is to guide users on how to create and send an email using Action Network, emphasizing a three-step process: creating the email, targeting recipients, and sending the email.

Why might the group initially not have permission to send emails themselves?

The group might not have permission to send emails themselves initially to allow for quality control by the Make Votes Matter staff before emails are sent out.

What should users do once they have created an email and are satisfied with it?

Users should contact Make Votes Matter staff to review the email and request that they send it on their behalf.

How can users change the default email editor in Action Network?

Users can change the default email editor by clicking on their profile picture, going to the profile page, scrolling down, and changing the default email editor mode.

What is the recommended email editor to use in Action Network according to the video?

The recommended email editor to use is the drag and drop editor, as it is believed to yield better results for most people.

What is the function of the preview text in an email?

The preview text provides a snippet of hidden text in the body of the email that appears in the recipient's inbox, which can give a clearer idea of the email's content, especially if the recipient has a big heading followed by a salutation.

Why is it important to have buttons with links in the email?

Buttons with links are important because they provide a clear call to action for recipients who scan emails quickly. It ensures that the main action the sender wants the recipient to take is easily identifiable.

How can users test different subject lines to see which one gets the best open rate?

Users can test different subject lines by creating multiple options using the plus icons in the email editor, which allows for A/B testing to determine the most effective subject line.

What does the drag and drop editor offer in terms of content customization?

The drag and drop editor offers a variety of content blocks that can be customized and arranged within a column structure, including the ability to switch between single and multi-column layouts.

How can users ensure their email looks good on both desktop and mobile?

Users can use the mobile tab in the drag and drop editor to preview how their email will look on a narrower screen, and adjust properties such as hiding or not stacking elements on mobile to optimize the email's appearance.

What is the significance of the 'clips' feature in the email editor?

The 'clips' feature allows users to personalize emails by injecting data from the recipient's record, such as their first name, to make the email seem more friendly and personalized.

How can users share a test version of the email with others without giving them access to Action Network?

Users can send themselves and others a copy of the email using the 'Send a test email' button and inputting email addresses, allowing them to review the email's appearance without needing access to the Action Network platform.

Outlines

00:00

📨 Introduction to Action Network Email Creation

This paragraph introduces the process of creating an email using Action Network, a platform for advocacy and campaigning. The video training covers the three-step process: creating the email, targeting recipients, and sending the email. It explains that initially, the group's plan is to restrict sending permissions to ensure quality control. The speaker encourages viewers to create an email, review it, and then contact the Make Votes Matter (MVM) staff for final approval and sending. The importance of not delaying the review process is emphasized to ensure timely email scheduling.

05:02

🛠️ Exploring Action Network's Email Editor

The speaker guides viewers through the Action Network's email editor, highlighting the two available options: a visual HTML editor and a drag-and-drop editor. The latter is recommended for better results and is the focus of the training. The default editor can be changed in the profile settings. The paragraph details the drag-and-drop editor's interface, including setting the email subject, from field, reply-to address, and preview text. It also touches on the ability to create multiple email variations for testing different subject lines and the editor's responsiveness, ensuring emails look good on both desktop and mobile views. The speaker suggests experimenting with the editor and seeking help during the training session for any issues encountered.

🔗 Utilizing Personalization and Links in Emails

This section discusses the power of personalization in emails, such as using first names, and the importance of including clear calls to action with buttons and text links. The speaker explains how to use merge tags to personalize emails and the default fallback to 'friend' if no first name is available. The paragraph also covers the process of deleting or duplicating content blocks and the provided pre-designed email layout that includes a group-specific logo and consistent NVM branding. The emphasis is on ensuring that emails have visible and accessible links, both within text for careful readers and as buttons for those who scan the content.

🚀 Finalizing and Sending Emails with Action Network

The final paragraph covers the final steps in preparing an email for sending. It mentions checking links and ensuring that the email's purpose is clear to recipients. The speaker suggests using the 'send a test email' feature to review the email in different email clients. The paragraph concludes by mentioning the process of saving the email and contacting MVM staff for final checks and scheduling the email send, noting that the exact process for contacting MVM may change and will be covered in the training session. The speaker encourages participants to practice using the platform and to attend the training session for further assistance.

Keywords

💡Action Network

Action Network is a platform that enables organizations to create and manage online campaigns, including emails, petitions, and events. In the context of the video, it is the primary tool used to demonstrate how to create and send emails for advocacy purposes. The script mentions Action Network as the central platform where users will be creating and managing their email campaigns.

💡Email Campaign

An email campaign refers to a strategy used to send targeted email messages to a group of people with the goal of driving specific actions. In the video, creating an email campaign is the main focus, with steps provided on how to set one up using Action Network, including composing the email, selecting recipients, and sending it.

💡Drag and Drop Editor

A drag and drop editor is a user-friendly interface that allows users to create content by dragging and dropping elements into place without needing to write any code. The script emphasizes the use of Action Network's drag and drop editor for creating emails, suggesting it as a more intuitive option over the visual HTML editor.

💡Email Subject Line

The subject line is the title or headline of an email, which is crucial in attracting the recipient's attention and encouraging them to open the email. The video script mentions setting the email subject line as the first step in the email creation process within Action Network.

💡Content Blocks

Content blocks are pre-designed sections that can be dragged into an email template to add various elements like text, images, and buttons. The script describes how to use content blocks in the drag and drop editor to build the structure of the email.

💡Preview Text

Preview text, also known as snippet text, is a short summary that appears in email clients to give recipients a preview of the email's content. The video explains how to set custom preview text in Action Network to give recipients a clear idea of the email's purpose.

💡Responsive Design

Responsive design ensures that an email looks good on all devices, adjusting its layout to fit different screen sizes. The script discusses the importance of checking the email's appearance on both desktop and mobile views within the Action Network editor.

💡Customization

Customization in the context of email campaigns refers to tailoring the content to individual recipients, such as addressing them by their first name. The video mentions using 'clips' in Action Network to personalize emails, making them appear more friendly and engaging.

💡Testing

Testing in email campaigns involves sending a copy of the email to oneself or a select group to review its appearance and functionality before the official send. The script advises using the 'send yourself a copy' feature in Action Network to test the email's layout and links.

💡Quality Control

Quality control is the process of ensuring that the output meets a certain standard before it is released. In the video, it is mentioned that initially, users will not have permission to send emails themselves, implying a quality control step where the Make Votes Matter staff will review and send emails on their behalf.

💡Scheduling

Scheduling in the context of email campaigns refers to planning when the email will be sent out. The script suggests that once an email is ready and checked, it can be scheduled for sending in advance, which is a feature likely available in Action Network.

Highlights

Introduction to creating an email using Action Network

Three-step process for sending an email: create, target recipients, and send

Quality control by not allowing new users to send emails directly

Process for getting an email checked by MakeVotesMatter staff before sending

Navigating to the group management page and creating a new email

Choosing between the visual HTML editor and the drag and drop editor

Changing the default email editor to the drag and drop editor

Setting up the email with subject line, from field, reply to address, and preview text

Using the drag and drop editor to build the email layout

Importance of preview text in email clients like Gmail

Creating multiple options for testing different subject lines

Using content blocks and columns to design the email

Adjusting content visibility for desktop and mobile views

Customizing content block properties and adding elements like images, headings, and buttons

Using clips to personalize emails with recipient's information

Applying a pre-created layout for consistency and branding

Ensuring that links are included in buttons for easy access

Including links within the text for those who prefer reading over clicking

Checking and testing the email before considering it finished

Sending a test email to preview how it looks in different email clients

Finalizing the email and getting it approved by MakeVotesMatter staff

Recommendation to practice using Action Network before the training session

Transcripts

hello and welcome to this make votes

matter Action Network training video uh

in this video we're going to go over how

to create an email using Action Network

so sending an email with action

Network's three-step process first you

have to create the email and you target

who the email is going to get sent to

and then finally press the send button

when we first set your group up the plan

is we won't give you the permission to

send emails yourself this is just so we

can either do quality control so what

we're asking you to do is if you can

create the email you double check you're

happy with everything and then get in

touch with makebrose Master staff and

say hey we've got this email ready to

send can you can you look over it and

send it for us and you don't need to do

that at the time you're going to send it

if you know you've got an email you're

going to send ahead of time just make it

as soon as you're ready and then let NVM

know as soon as you're ready they can

schedule listening to happen way in

advance so there's no point in waiting

around once you've got an email good to

go get it checked as soon as possible

so if we jump straight in uh hopefully

from the previous videos you uh you know

how to get to this page so this is the

group management page and then for

making an email which is going to get

you to click this little email button

create sponsor action email button here

when you click that you get taken to

action networks email editor first thing

so Action Network has two email

addresses there's this visual HTML

editor and a drag and drop editor we

think you'll get much better results or

most people will get much better results

using drag and drop editor so that's

what we're going to cover today but by

default action Network gives you the

visual HTML editor so you can change

this default setting so if you click up

here on the on the picture of you and go

to edit your profile that will take you

to this profile page

you can scroll down and change the

default email editor mode so if you

click that and then save changes and

anytime you start editing an email you

get the drag and drop editor you can

switch between editors so if you if you

click that button it will give you a

warning telling you it's going to delete

everything you've made so far

um and now you're in the drag and drop

editor

so it's pretty straightforward you've

got setting the email subject line here

from the field here and a reply to

address here and that's where email

anyone that replies your email their

reply is going to go to that inbox

and finally you've got this preview text

well that's preview text does is

basically it puts some hidden text in

the body so if they're using say Gmail

then in their inbox they'll see that

text and that's really useful if you

know you've got a big heading and then

it says dear friend dear person then you

don't like it it might be more clear

what the email actually is if you write

some custom preview text that won't show

up in the body of the email

I guess it's worth mentioning these

little plus icons here mean that you can

create multiple options this is really

if you want to say I'm going to test

different subject lines to see which one

opens gets the best open rate or

whatever maybe a bit Advanced for this

video

you get this um

choose a layout drop down here we'll

come back to that but first of all I'm

just going to quickly go over the editor

so

this is the editor it's the main editor

itself on the left you've got what your

email currently looks like on the right

you've got all the content blocks you

can drag in

it's worth mentioning any any of the

content blocks except columns has to be

inside a column so they've given us a

single column container to start with we

can drag in and see another one and

whenever you have a Content block

selected on the left here the right

panel changes to give you the properties

of that content block so we can change

this column to a two column container

and then um

we could change more properties down

here something else I think it's worth

flagging you've got desktop here and

it's a tab and also mobile so when you

click the mobile tab you get to see what

your email will look like in a narrower

screen which is worth thinking about and

there are properties down the bottom

here to say hide on mobile or don't

stack on mobile there's quite a lot of

power there in terms of controlling how

your emails will look and that is

probably worth thinking about

so when you're done setting the

properties of a

content you can click this little close

cross up in the corner and you're back

to the list of content box so let's drag

in you know it's dragging a picture at

the top and then a heading

um maybe a button and some text and

that's pretty much all there is to

really go into I am going to go into

details in this video obviously there's

a huge amount of power in all of these

properties of each of these items

but I think the best thing to do is for

people to have a play around with those

and then you know bring any questions

you have to the training session

uh you can move items around here so

you've got these little handles whenever

you click something because I've got

this button selected I can move the

button into the other

column there and also whenever you have

a

um a piece of text selected or a button

or a heading or whatever you get this

new menu pops up here

and that shows you kind of normal text

editor things you would normally expect

but something that is really worth

pointing out here is this clips and

these are really powerful and they

basically allow you to take stuff from

that activist who's going to receive the

emails record and

um

inject that into your email so kind of

the one you're always going to have is

is the first name customization so this

means you can say hello first name

and customize email I'll make it seem a

bit more friendly and if we don't have a

first name for them it would default to

friend so for me that would be hello

James this is a new text block

that's what I'd see in the email

finally you can delete any of these

blocks by clicking the little um trash

can there and you can duplicate them by

this copying icon

obviously I'm no Graphics designer and

this looks terrible and it's clearly you

know it's very powerful but it's also

quite complicated to build something

from scratch so to make life a bit

easier we're giving you a layout so this

will be set up in your group when your

group is is created

so if I press apply here then it will

warn me it's going to delete all of the

careful email building I've just made so

if I press ok then I should get this

nice pre-created uh makers Mata layout

this should be a logo that's customized

for your group and then you've got all

these sections and a nice NVM branding

makes the email look

on brand

the the last thing I think is really

important to mention is is links uh

people will

scan and Miss links that are hidden in

text right if you've got links in that

are in text some people are going to

just scan through they're going to read

the headings and they're going to see

buttons so it's really important that

you have buttons to link to whatever it

is you've sent this email you know when

you're sending email you're going to

want them to do something maybe sign up

for a zoom or go and fill in a petition

or something so

yeah it's important to have links and

it's important that those links are in

buttons for the people that scan through

text

similarly other people won't see the

buttons they'll scan down and read the

text carefully and then their brain will

completely filter out this button

they'll think oh it's just some kind of

image or something I don't need to pay

attention to so I think it's important

that you have links in the text so if

you select some text click this little

link icon then you can add a URL and

make it open a website and that's really

important too uh I find it quite easy to

you know change the text of a button and

say

go to the website

and then completely fail to fill in the

URL and make it do the thing so that's

another thing it's really worth checking

and before you consider an email

finished you really double check that

you've got the links that you want in

there because that's the main point

generally of sending an email out

uh once you've got you know you're happy

with it and um it's it's ready for more

serious testing you can use this button

down here and this box down here to send

yourself a copy of the email and see

what it actually looks like in your

email client so that is is well worth

doing and you can put in you know if

you've got a fellow organizer in your

group you can put in someone else's

email address there and they can get a

copy of look at it as well without

having to have a permission to log into

Action Network so that's pretty handy

so yeah at this point you I'd say you

know we're ready to press this save

button or one of these other save

buttons and then you'll be getting in

touch with makeup smart staff and saying

hey Andy hey Sally you know can you

um go and check my email for me and

maybe send it or schedule it for sending

so I haven't talked about exactly how

you do that how you get in touch with

MVM and get them to check your email and

send it and that's on purpose because I

think that's a process that's quite

likely to change so yeah don't worry

about that we will cover that in the

training Zoom session and then um

we can update it easily in the future

so I hope that's been helpful uh yeah

obviously it's pretty complicated so I

would absolutely recommend you get

yourself logged into the training

Network and have a proper play with all

this stuff really make sure you you feel

happy that you can do it before you come

to the training session uh because then

if it turns out that there's any

problems you'll have us on hand to sort

those problems out and then you'll feel

confident that you can do this when you

want to send an email yeah so hopefully

I'll see people soon in the training

session and I'm looking forward to it