Wrap-Up: Responsive email template that works in Outlook. It can be difficult to create HTML emails that look good in Outlook, but with BEE you can get around virtually any Outlook problem as you create your emails. Use BEE’s simple HTML email templates to design gorgeous emails that can be read by any recipient — Outlook users included! In the main body of the email, you have space to add your product images and their title. The default design of this email template makes it a perfect option for weekly product updates and new product launches. If you are looking for free responsive email templates with minimal design for your online store promotion, this is the best option for. Browse over 600 html email templates and select the most suitable to your business. Wide range of templates available for every industry and usage.
With millions of users around the world, Outlook is a popular email platform that has a lot of benefits for marketers. It can be hard, however, to find a responsive email template that works in Outlook — and that’s where the BEE email editor comes into play. With simple HTML email templates that can be adapted for Outlook, BEE is an excellent solution to help any marketer’s Outlook dreams come true. Here’s how to find a responsive email template that works in Outlook by using BEE.
Making Outlook Work With BEE
Outlook is software created by Microsoft that lets you send, receive, and manage emails, among other features. Many users actually prefer Outlook over Gmail, appreciating Outlook’s offline email option, organizational features, and calendar integration. In 2018, Outlook was reported to have over 400 million active users.
Since so many people receive emails using this platform, it’s important for email marketers to ensure their emails show up in Outlook. But desktop versions of Outlook for Windows are infamous for severe limitations when it comes to rendering HTML messages, and often marketers struggle to find a responsive email template that works in Outlook.
The good news is, BEE’s email templates render wonderfully in Outlook, and they’re a good choice for any marketer looking to save time and create beautiful emails. There are dozens of ready-to-use templates in BEE’s catalog, such as this e-commerce template made by designer Andrea Dall’Ara; simply drag and drop your text, images, and other design elements and then send your email into Outlook inboxes without fear!
BEE uses a technique called “Conditional Comments” to minimize issues with Outlook. This technology allows complex multi-column layouts to be rendered correctly. BEE also uses VML, a Microsoft proprietary XML-based language, to make Outlook compatible with some advanced features (like rounded-borders buttons).
To make sure your emails will render correctly in Outlook, there are a few extra – and simple! – steps to take. Here’s a rundown of these workarounds and what you need to know:
Row Background Image
The Situation
In the BEE editor, you see the background image of an email. When you send that email with Outlook, however, you’ll see the background color of the email instead.
The Solution
You can solve this issue by either choosing a background color that matches your row image, or just not using a row image.
Custom Web Fonts
The Situation
Using custom fonts in your email can be a fun way to help your message stand out — but only if it works. Outlook won’t display a custom font unless that font is physically installed on the recipient’s computer, and in most cases the chances are pretty slim that someone will have a specific font.
The Solution
BEE Pro has a list of fallback fonts — normal fonts that can stand in for custom fonts — that will make sure Outlook displays the closest font to the one you defined. As you design your email, make sure the design looks good even with the relevant fallback fonts. For example, if you want to use the Open Sans font, the stack is Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, and Sans-Serif. If Open Sans is installed in the system of the recipient, Outlook will use it. If not, however, Outlook will scan the font stack and use whichever font the system can read.
Animated GIFs
The Situation
Using GIF’s in Outlook doesn’t work — users will see only the first frame.
The Solution
Choose your first frame carefully so people will still get the gist of the gif. Don’t crop, expand, or stretch the gif — instead, show it in its own size.
Wrap-Up: Responsive email template that works in Outlook
It can be difficult to create HTML emails that look good in Outlook, but with BEE you can get around virtually any Outlook problem as you create your emails. Use BEE’s simple HTML email templates to design gorgeous emails that can be read by any recipient — Outlook users included!
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You do not send email messages or select email recipients from Templates. You send email messages from Messages and save email recipients as email lists in Lists. For more information about how to send email messages, see Messages. For more information about email lists, see Lists.
Tip: For best practice information about email, refer to Blackbaud Email Delivery Best Practices.
Show Me: Watch how to create an email template.
| 1. | From Email, click Templates. Templates appears. |
| 2. | Click New template. The New template page appears. |
| 3. | On the Properties tab, enter a name for the email template in the Template name field. Keep in mind that you use the template for all email messages of this type. |
| 4. | In the Description field, enter additional information about the template such as a brief description or notes about the template. |
| 5. | In the Data Source field, select the data source. The Data source determines which type of list can be used for messages created from the template and which merge fields are available when you write email content. When you set a data source on a template, messages created from the template can be sent to only lists that use the same type of data source. For more information about the types of data sources, see Template Data Sources. |
| 6. | If you select 'Constituents' or 'Chapter,' the Export definition field appears. In this field, click the binoculars to select an export definition from Blackbaud CRM. The fields you include in the Selected Fields box on the export definition screen in Blackbaud CRM appear as merge fields in the email design pane. This provides a way for you to include any applicable field in Blackbaud CRM as a merge field in Blackbaud Internet Solutions. |
Note: You can only select export definitions with a record type of Constituent in the Export definition field. To verify the record type, go to Administration, Export definitions in Blackbaud CRM. The program automatically includes the CMS Constituent Email Export Definition by default. For information about export definitions, see the Blackbaud CRM Query and Export Guide.
If you select “Constituents,” the Email address type field also appears and defaults to use the constituent’s primary email address. To use a different email type when messages are sent using this template, select it from the list. When a constituent does not have the email address type you select in the field, the message is sent to their primary email address.
Note: To change the email address type a message inherits from its template, select it from the Email address type field when you create the message. For more information, see Design and send an email message.
| 7. | In the Appeal field, select the appeal you want to associate with the template. You can add or change the appeal when you create email messages that use this template. |
| 8. | In the Subject, From Name, and From Address fields, enter a default subject to include in the Subject field of email messages you create with the template, as well as an email address and name to include in the From field of email messages. When you create email messages, you can overwrite the subject. |
Free Email Design Templates
Note: Because you do not send email from Templates, the program does not include recipients in the Send to field in the email template. The program saves the recipients as an email list in Lists. For information about email lists, see Lists.
| 9. | To receive responses from recipients at a different email address than the one you use to send the message, enter a return address in the Reply Address field. |
| 10. | To receive failure messages when email messages are not delivered, select Failure to send notification. In the Notification email address field, enter an email address to receive failure messages. |
Note: Failures are email addresses that do not receive the messages. Failure can also be called non-delivery receipts, bouncebacks, UnDeliverables, or Delivery Status Notifications (DSN). For information about how the program handles failures, see Bounced Email Management.
| 11. | To assign security rights for the email template, select the Targeting & Security tab. For each user role, you can manage rights to view, edit, delete, and change security. |
| 12. | To add users or roles, click Add users and roles. |
| 13. | To assign rights, select View, Edit, Delete, or Change Security. |
Note: Edit rights allow users to edit the template and its defaults. To use the template to create email messages, users only need View rights. If users edit a template, the changes do not affect email messages previously created based on the template.
For more information about security and user roles, see Users & Security.
| 14. | Click Save. The template opens to the Design tab. |
Note: To see the scroll bar on an email template, you must use a screen resolution of greater than 800 x 600.
| 15. | Enter the default content for all email messages created from this template. |
To have personalized information from other Blackbaud programs appear in messages created from this template, add merge fields.
| a. | To display the list of available merge fields, click Merge fields on the Insert tab in the toolbar. To expand the list, click the plus sign next to a field category. |
If the template uses a 'Constituents' or 'Chapter' data source, the merge fields that appear are based on the export definition you select in the Export definition field on the Properties tab.
How To Design Email Templates Using Html
| b. | To add a merge field to the message, double-click or drag and drop a field in the content area. |
| c. | Put fields where you want them to appear in the body of the email. For example, enter “Hello, First Name.' In the email, “Hello, [recipient’s first name]” appears. To move a field, click and drag it to the new location. |
For example, you can create an email template for messages sent to existing program users who attempt to register again. In the bottom pane, you can enter the content required to remind the user he is already a registered user and to provide the existing username and password information.
| 16. | To add conditional content to the message to customize it for different types of recipients, click Conditional content on the Insert tab in the toolbar. For more information about conditional content, see Add Conditional Content. |
| 17. | Create links to the pages of your website that contain the User Email Preferences Form and your organization’s privacy statement. You must include these links in each email you send. |
| 18. | To format the email template’s appearance and layout, use the HTML editor. For information about the HTML editor, see HTML Editor. |
Warning: Blackbaud recommends that you use inline styles, such as <div style=”background-color:Blue;”>Welcome color</div>, when you create and design the email content. Do not define classes or use external references because email vendors, such as Gmail or Outlook, are not guaranteed to render the styles correctly when the recipient reads the email.
| 19. | Click Save. |
Warning: If you select the Messages tab before you click Save, you lose the information you entered on the Design tab.
| 20. | To send a message based on the new template, select the Messages tab and click New message. The New Message screen appears. For more information about how to send a message, see Design and send an email message. |
| 21. | To save the email template, click Save. |
| 22. | To return to Templates, click Return. |