How to Create an Email Using the Code Editor

Create Email Marketing Templates & Editor Updated on October 23, 2020

Benchmark offers 3 email editors the Drag & Drop, Plain Text and the Code editor. If you have an email in HTML code you can easily add it in the Code editor.

To learn where to add your HTML code see steps below.

 

1. Log in to your Benchmark account.
2. Click on Emails from the Dashboard, and then select Emails.
3. Click on the Create New Email option. 
4. Select Regular Email and click Next.
5. Now, select the Code Editor option and then click Next. 
6. Give your email a name. The name is only visible to you in your Benchmark account, recipients will not see it. 

 

In the next page, complete your Email Checklist by clicking on each section and saving. Below we explain each section.

• To
• From
• Subject
• Design
• Link Tracking & Sharing
• Send Email

 

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You can watch the following short video if you want a quick guide on how to create your email campaign in the Code Editor.

 

 

 

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To:

From the dropdown, select the list you would like to send to. You can also exclude a list to prevent contacts from receiving your email, even if they are on a selected send list.

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From:

This name will be displayed to the contact as the sender. We recommend using your company or business domain instead of a personal email address.

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Subject:

Create a subject line you want your readers to see. Click Here to learn how to write a compelling subject line. You can click on the Emoji Support link where we briefly explain the use of emojis on a subject line. Click the light bulb icon for suggestions! 

AB Test Subject Line: To Enable this toggle the slider from gray to blue. Set the testing period and the sample group size.

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Design:

 

Open this section by clicking on it, once the HTML Editor is open, you can go ahead and paste your HTML code. When done, click the Save & Next option. 

In the code editor you can design your email from scratch or paste in your own HTML code.

Replace the EMAIL CONTENT text with your code, if your HTML code already has body and HTML tags you can remove the tags in the editor.

 

Code Editor ToolBar

1. Theme Style: In the first drop-down menu, you can change the code editor’s theme style.  
2. Merge option: Allows you to add merge tags into the email. The merge tags available in the code editor are Forward, Greeting, and Contact Details. Before using the contact details tags, make sure that you have the values added in your contact list.
3. Text Version: Displays all of the text in your HTML email. If this option has an “X” it indicates that the text version and the HTML version are not synced. Emails can’t be sent or scheduled without first syncing the HTML and text versions. To sync both versions do the following:
   1. Click on the Text version button.
   2. Now, click on COPY TEXT FROM HTML EMAIL.
   3. In the popup, confirm your changes by clicking Continue.
   4. Then, click the HTML button.
   5. You can schedule or send your email now.
4. Image Gallery: add one of your existing images or upload new images to use. When you select an image, it’s URL will be inserted in your email code. You’ll need to add the appropriate image tag, ex. <img>.
5. Code View: by default, you’ll see a split view, on the left the code editor, and on the right a view of the HTML email. The split view allows you to see your code changes almost immediately. You can also work in full-view mode by clicking on this option. 

 

Settings Option

You can change your physical address and select which subscription links you’d like to use in the Footer section. Also, in the content section, you can add or remove the Permission Reminder (adding this makes your email GDPR compliant) and the link to your email’s web page version.

 

 

Other options

The Preview option lets you see what your email will look like before sending it, and the Test drop-down menu provides options like Send a test email, Spam check, Print version, Send an email to a specific contact, and the Inbox checker.

IMPORTANT: To find a tag or some information you want to replace in your code, use your browser search option by clicking cmd+F for Mac or Ctrl+F for Windows users.

You’ll now be taken back to the Email Checklist. Review that each section is completed.

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Link Tracking & Sharing: 

Aside from the previous sections mentioned, Benchmark offers some tools to help you track and share your email. 

To enable tracking or content options, click on edit or directly in the Link Tracking & Sharing box, this will open the section and allow you to enable the following. 

• Google Analytics: Is used to track site visitors. You will need to have Google Analytics set up on your website to use this feature. 
• Automatically tweet your email on Twitter: If you’d like to automatically post the email to your twitter account when it is sent, enable this option. 
• Benchmark’s public Community: You can add your email to the Benchmark Community to be viewed by other Benchmark clients. 

Benchmark Archive: Add your email to your archive. The Email Archive can store all emails selected, and a URL is provided to be so others can view your previous emails.

Preview Text: This text appears in the inbox after your subject line. In the next page, complete your Email Checklist by clicking on each section and saving. Below we explain each section.

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Send Email

When you are ready to send or schedule your email, click on the Schedule or Send Immediately option on the top right. The Send Immediately and the Schedule option are only clickable once all sections are checked off.

• Send Immediately: The email will go out within the next 10 minutes. Click Send Immediately to confirm. 
• Schedule: This option enables you to schedule your email for a later time. Select the date, time, timezone, and click on Schedule when done.

Tip: You can send test emails to yourself to confirm how your email would be displayed in your contact’s inbox. If you are interested in knowing how your email is displayed in multiple inboxes, check out our Inbox Checker feature.

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When completing the Email Checklist, each section has to be saved before moving on to another section.

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact our support team via Email, LiveChat or Phone.

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