{"id":4276,"date":"2018-05-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/add-automation-into-your-email-workflow-litmus\/"},"modified":"2022-10-11T10:14:40","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T14:14:40","slug":"add-automation-into-your-email-workflow-litmus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/add-automation-into-your-email-workflow-litmus","title":{"rendered":"7 Ways to Add Automation into Your Email Workflow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Designing and coding emails often involves manual, arduous editing processes that are not only mundane and tiresome, but can easily leave room for mistakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t have to be that way. A variety of tools exist for email marketers and developers to automate their email workflow, allowing you to eliminate the mundane\u2014and catch those costly errors before pressing send.<\/p>\n

As we found in our 2018 State of Email Workflows Report<\/a>, email programs have a lot of moving parts and production cycles typically take a couple of week or more for a single email.<\/p>\n

\"49_Percent<\/a><\/figure>\n

With production cycles as long as that, there are plenty of opportunities to save time here and here and become more efficient. Here are seven ways you can add automation into your email workflow:<\/p>\n

Create standardized templates<\/h2>\n

Amount of time saved: 30-60 minutes
\n<\/em>
\nIf you\u2019re looking to streamline your workflow, a template is a good place to start. Swapping out copy or design elements, but keeping critical brand-specific pieces, can kickstart the email creation process. It can be helpful for non-coders, too.<\/p>\n

The majority of email designers reported only creating one-off email designs for big events, like new products, or key seasonal campaigns such as Black Friday, according our 2017 State of Email Creative report<\/a>. Using a standardized template the rest of the time creates great production efficiencies.<\/p>\n

This is exactly why we built Litmus Community Templates<\/a>\u2014a collection of elegant, pre-tested templates that cover a range of uses, from account management and e-commerce to launching and marketing products.<\/p>\n

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Download the Litmus Community Templates<\/h2>\n

Kickstart your next campaign with one of Litmus’ pre-tested templates.<\/p>\n

Access the templates \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Take a shortcut while coding<\/h2>\n

Utilize Snippets<\/h3>\n

Amount of time saved: 10-15 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n

Snippets<\/a> are modules of reusable code. They\u2019re ideal for elements that are commonly used across email designs, like doctype, bulletproof buttons<\/a>, and links. Rather than having to re-write the code each time one of these elements is used, you can use a Snippet. This reduces redundancy and potential coding errors for common elements in your email designs.<\/p>\n

\"litmus-builder-snippets\"<\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s take bulletproof buttons as an example. Bulletproof buttons serve as a staple in emails for calls-to-action (CTA)<\/a>. However, each button needs customization for each individual email: Different copy, different links, and different placement.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the piece of HTML we use for a bulletproof button:<\/p>\n

<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n  <tr>\n\u00a0\u00a0  <td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0  <table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0  <tr>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0  <td align=\"{align}\" bgcolor=\"{bgcolor}\"\n            <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"{link}\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-size: {font-size}px; color: {color}; text-decoration: {decoration}; padding: {padding}; border: {border}px solid {color}; display: inline-block;\">I am a button &rarr;\n            <\/a>\n          <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/tr>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/table>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/td>\n\u00a0 <\/tr>\n<\/table><\/code><\/pre>\n
Snippets solve the problem of constantly re-creating the bulletproof button code by hand, and you can save it in a Snippet library as a shortcut trigger. In this example, we\u2019ll name it \u2018bb,\u2019 short for bulletproof button.<\/p>\n
\"bb-gif\"<\/figure>\n
Now, whenever you want to add a bulletproof button, you can simply use the shortcut \u2018bb\u2019 to generate the code.<\/p>\n
You can use Snippets in:<\/p>\n