EA Mailer Standards and Guidelines
Getting Started
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EA Mailer is Firefox, Safari and Chrome friendly; you may experience some issues when using
Internet Explorer
When creating a project, use general campaigns as your project name. (Example: Bruin Bash
FY15.) Emails under a project should be specific. (Example: Bruin Bash Nov. 30 Save the Date;
Bruin Bash Nov. 30 Invite; Bruin Bash Nov. 30 Thank You)
When selecting a template to use, it is highly recommended that you clone a previously sent
email or use a blank template and paste the source code from another email into the email field
o To obtain the source code from another email, open the email as a web page by clicking
on View in Browser, then go to View -> Source. Copy the entire HTML source code.
o If cloning a previously sent email and copying and pasting the source code on to a
different project, don’t forget to delete the previously cloned email or project no longer
in use.
o When inserting an external source code, you must change the drop down for
“Automatically Inline CSS Found in Style Tags” to Disabled. This is located under the
email field.
Email Creation
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The From Description name sent on behalf of the organization should consistently be from the
same source.
o Our official email From name is UCLA Alumni (not UCLA Alumni Affairs, not Alumni
Affairs, not UCLA Alumni Association)
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Example: Either use Bay Area Bruins or UCLA San Francisco Bay Area Network; do not
alternate using both names
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From Address and Reply To Address should almost always be the same address, unless there is a
special circumstance
o Our default From and Reply To Address should be [email protected]
Subject lines should not include letters with ALL CAPS or strange symbols, or they risk getting
caught in SPAM filters
Images and Logos
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Only the following file formats are accepted: .jpg, .gif, .png
Image file names should not include any spaces or symbols like parentheses
o Images with names that include spaces and symbols may not appear correctly in some
email platforms like Gmail
When selecting an image, be sure you adhere to all copyright laws and rules
Resize the image or logo before upload it to email mailer
o All edits to the image, such as cropping, resizing, brightening, should be done before
loading into EA Mailer. This can be done in Photoshop or Paint.
o Images or logos serving as the top banner should be resized to 600 pixels wide. Use
landscape orientation. Height should not be more than 350 pixels.
o Do not change the original proportionality of the image or it will appear distorted.
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Only use network logos for the very top of the email, not the alumni logo. Alumni logo should be
placed at the footer.
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When inserting image into body copy, insert a table first; this allows for proper spacing and
alignment between the image and the copy.
Creation of new logos should be requested through your marketing manager
Copy
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Be clear, concise and consistent
o Clearly identify the action item
o Less is more
Place headline underneath image using Headline 1 drop down
Abide by Associated Press Style Guide rules
o Refer to UCLA and AP Style Guide Cheat Sheet
Avoid overusing exclamation points
Hyperlink rules
o Change the Protocol under Link to Other when using an email variable like [[FirstName]]
When linking to a registration or rsvp page, use the personalized EA Mailer link (if
provided) as opposed to the general link that’s for a web page
Be careful of copying and pasting from other html sites, because it copies additional source
codes that could affect the formatting of your email
o Best to paste copy in Notepad first to eliminate hidden coding
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Footer
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Include the Campaign bug in all emails. Placement is between the body copy and logos.
The following hyperlinked logos should be in all footers: Alumni Affairs, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
Use color variations that contrast the background (Example: For dark backgrounds use
white logos)
The membership join message should be in all footers
o Use the correct living alumni count which is 426,000; this number will officially increase
every summer as June graduates are entered in CRM
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Lists
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DPRs are the primary tool to acquire lists for emails
o For true emergencies, contact your marketing manager to acquire a list outside of the
DPR process
When creating DPR criteria, keep in mind that segmentation is very important for our future
o Alumni who receive emails not relevant to them may opt out of ALL our email
communications permanently
o When sending reminder emails, consider sending to only those who opened the initial
email
A mandatory Alumni Affairs seed list must be included for ALL emails
o For Alumni Affairs events sent under the UCLA Alumni name, include the all Alumni
Affairs staff for general awareness (This already includes the mandatory Alumni Affairs
seed list)
When a list is no longer needed or if it’s older than 3 months old, delete it from EA Mailer
Testing
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Be careful not to send a test to all the listed reviewers
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Be sure to preview the email in different browsers and email platforms before finalizing
Finishing
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Many emails look fine in Outlook but have formatting issues in iOS and Gmail which
have more users
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From time to time, the preview function in EA Mailer goes down. A second alternative is
to send it to our various test accounts ([email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]) all passwords are gobruins
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It is best to send your emails at a time where it is received between 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. in your
recipient’s time zone
o This time frame yields the most open rates
o Emails arriving late at night are more susceptible to get caught up in SPAM filters; so be
cognizant of Eastern and international time zones
All emails are still viewable under Sent Email
Help maintain the organization of EA Mailer by deleting unused or un-needed projects, email
and lists
Additional Notes
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Do not schedule your email the day that Connect is sending, which is usually the very end of the
month (or at the very start)
o The content of your email should already be in Connect
o Since Connect goes to all alumni, sending on the same day could affect both open rates
If you’re having difficulty with any tasks in email creation, we have staff who are experts in
manipulating source codes and images to help you achieve your goals.