Because many of you ask us what is the optimal organization when creating emails with LePatron. How to have a quality control of its emails designed with the builder and which points to check step by step to have a control of production and guarantee the quality of its creations.
For you, here is the ultimate quality control checklist to design your emails with LePatron!
Steps and organization to create your marketing emails
1. Conception, design and contents
This step takes place directly in your email design application: LePatron.
☐ Template settings (general options)
☐ Customization of fixed elements (Header and Footer)
☐ Adding and setting up blocks
☐ Text and image content insertions
☐ Desktop and mobile preview
2. Quality control and email rendering
We are still in the LePatron app but we leave the preview to see what happens once the email is sent and received in a mail client. We can proceed to the rendering control of our email and the validation of the contents.
☐ Sending a test email (grouped sending via test list possible)
☐ Desktop and mobile client and webmail rendering
☐ Proofreading and validation of text content
☐ Image validation
☐ Link control (dead links and presence of tracking)
3. Email proof and dynamic content
For this key step of design finalization, you must switch to your routing tool (ESP). Only it can interpret your dynamic content (personalization variables, mirror page, unsubscribe link,...)
To do this, you will need to export your HTML email and its images from LePatron (several methods are possible) then import it into your router.
☐ Sending an email about your test segments
☐ Mirror page link validation
☐ Unsubscribe link validation
☐ Control of customization variables.
☐ Content control and dynamic blocks (product stock, satisfaction questionnaires, ...)
Quality email creation with LePatron
Here is a more detailed list of quality control recommendations that you can apply in the first phase, the creation of your emails with the builder.
Control your content options
These are the template and block options available in the "content" tab when you edit your email. There are several types of content and they are crucial to the perceived quality of your email marketing.
☐ Check the links #toreplace
☐ Check the background image (background image)
- general visible in preview in the app
- positioning option
- option to repeat in pattern
- specific mobile visible only with a test transmission viewed from a cell phone
- specific outlook visible only with a test shipment viewed via Outlook
- Dimensions (fixed height): the image and the block must have the same height and width, otherwise Outlook will distort the image
☐ Check the attributes of alternative text alt on the images
☐ Check for the presence of content generic text " Lorem ipsum "(preheader in particular)
Control the style options
This is the tab that directly follows the content tab. As for the previous one, it is directly linked to the part of the template that you are customizing.
☐ Color chart coherent with the graphic charter
☐ Background color (background color) : even if you have a background image because this is what you will see if the image is not displayed
☐ Line spacing (font size and line height) : the line spacing must be greater than the font size (recommendation : current text : 120% of the font size in line spacing [ex: text size: 16px, line spacing : 19px])
☐ Contrasts between text color and background color (to ensure readability and accessibility)
☐ Font size Do not go below 11px (running text: 15-16px)
☐ Text alignment avoid centering long paragraphs
Using the editing bar
This is the finest customization and therefore the one that will require the most care. This edit bar appears when you select a portion of the text content of your email to edit it.
- font size different from the rest of the paragraph, be careful because you will not be able to act on the line spacing specific to this selection (see line spacing in style options)
- link insertion
- target : new window to open in another tab even if webmails implement it by default
- style : underline (UX : easily identifiable)
- title : not required
- unbreakable space to avoid unsightly line breaks or according to typographical rules (in French, before double punctuation characters: ; ! ?)
Resources and annexes
To go further and to deepen your knowledge on certain subjects, do not hesitate to consult these links:
Oh My God!
Of course despite all these precautions it can happen that errors occur. Fortunately the Patron customer support team will always be there for you.
And she has even prepared a frequently asked questions with the most common mistakes!
