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Home – Identity – Broadcast Email Guide: Emma

How-to Guide for Building a Broadcast Email

Examples of CSUN Emma Templates

Step 1: Get Access To The Emma Broadcast Email Tool

Emma is the campus broadcast email tool. Easy to use and intuitive, Emma gives you the control to build your own emails. 

Request access to the Emma tool by submitting this form.

The Office of Strategic Communication and Brand Management reviews and processes requests every Wednesday. 

Once approved, you’ll receive an email notification confirming your access.
 

Step 2: Prepare For Your Broadcast Email Send Date Using The Emma Tool

 

The Office of Strategic Communication and Brand Management (SCBM) manages the university’s broadcast email calendar and sends all emails built by campus Emma users.

  1. Request your email to be added to the university’s broadcast email calendar using the SCBM Services Request Form. Please make your request at least 2 weeks prior to the desired send date.

    Note: Once your request is processed, you will be added to monday.com, our project management platform.

    You will receive an email notification with your confirmed send date. Only emails that are calendared will be sent.
     
  2. Request your email distribution list(s) from Advancement Services using the Data Request form. Please make your request at least 5 working days prior to the send date. Select “Email list.” 

    Advancement Services will inform you once the distribution list is created and they will provide you with the name of the list. This list name must be entered in to monday.com.
     
  3. Approvals are required for sending broadcast emails. If your email is going to recipients within your functional area, you hold the responsibility for obtaining approval from your unit head, following the internal communication approval protocols set by your college/area leadership. Documentation of this approval must be uploaded to monday.com.
    • Note: All fundraising solicitations require additional vice presidential approval regardless of recipient list.

    If your email is going to recipients outside of your functional area, you hold the responsibility for obtaining approval from the divisional vice presidents or delegates representing the constituencies. For example, if you are a faculty member in the College of Humanities and would like to send a broadcast email to all students, approval from William Watkins, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, would be required. The designated approvers are listed below. For more information, please refer to the university’s e-mail policy.

IMPORTANT DEADLINE NOTE: By 5pm the day before your scheduled broadcast email send date*, you must provide to SCBM via monday.com 1) the name of your email list, 2) the name of your completed email campaign, and 3) documentation of approval confirmation from your unit head, or if applicable, documentation of approval confirmation from the divisional vice-presidential. 

*Emails are distributed daily between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. If the submission deadline is not met, the email will be rescheduled for the next available distribution window.

 

Step 3: Let’s Build A Broadcast Email In Emma

Using templates from the "Shared Templates" folder only, you’ll easily customize your broadcast emails to suit your needs. 

  1. Log in to Emma using this link. 
     
  2. Create your campaign. 
    a. Click on the “Create new campaign button.” 
    b. Choose “Regular Email.” 
    c. Name your campaign using this naming convention: 
            i.  SixDigitSendDate_YourCollege/Area_EmailSubject

                Here’s an example:
                072524_SpecialEvents_PresidentsWelcomeAddress

                You can use underscores in your file naming, but please do not use other punctuation marks.

    d. Click “Continue.” 
     

Select the template style best suited to your broadcast email message.

There are five customizable templates from which to choose. 

  1. Simple text
  2. Simple text with banner header
  3. Event Save the Date
  4. Event Invitation with RSVP button 
  5. Newsletter


For this exercise, let’s choose the “Simple text with image” template and customize it.

Tip: Emma is a contextual visual editor. This means when you select an item, all the editable attributes automatically appear on the right side of the screen.
 

  1. Customize your wordmark:

    The wordmark is at the top of the page, and it may also be known as your college or area’s logo. 

    a. Click on the wordmark at the top of the email.
    b. On the upper, right side of the screen, select the Content tab. Click Change Image (blue button).
    c. Select your wordmark from the Shared Images folder. Please, do not modify wordmarks. 
    d. Enter the Alt Text that describes the wordmark. For example, California State University, Northridge College of Engineering and Computer Science. Please read the Universal Design Center’s resource on writing alt text. 

    Tip: Remember to save your work! The save function is in the upper right corner. Emma autosaves, but we recommend that you save your work frequently. 
     
  2. Customize your banner image:

    a. Click on the banner image [It is populated with a placeholder image.]. 
    b. On the upper, right side of the screen, select the Content tab. Click Change Image (blue button).
    c. Click the Upload (blue button) and select banner image from your computer. 

    The banner image size is 750 pixels wide by 562 pixels high. To ensure fast loading, we recommend 300k as the maximum file size.  

    d. Enter the Alt Text that describes the image. Please read the Universal Design Center’s resource on writing alt text.]

    Tip: Undo, Re-do and Rewind Clock. Icons for these functions can be found in the lower left of the screen.  The undo icon is the left point arrow.
     
  3. Add your copy:

    a. Select the H1 TITLE immediately below the banner image. Enter your copy.
    b. Go row by row adding copy as needed. 
          • To duplicate a row: Highlight the row, select the square icon to duplicate the row
          • To delete a row: Highlight the row and select the trashcan icon.
          • To rearrange rows: Highlight and drag the row to its new position.

    A note about font type: Atkinson Hyperlegible is the default font for all university broadcast emails. 
     
  4. Customize the Call to Action (CTA) button and create the hyperlink: 
    Click on the Call to Action (CTA) button and enter the copy you’d like to appear in the button.

    a. Create a hyperlink for the CTA button. Clicking outside of the red CTA button, the contextual menu will open on the right side of the screen. Enter the URL of the webpage that the CTA button will link to. 

    Reminder: If you don’t need a CTA button, simply delete the row by selecting and clicking the trashcan icon.
     
  5. Customize your social media links:
    a. Click on the row of social media icons.
    b. On the right side of the screen, links to the individual social media platforms are displayed. Enter your custom links.
    c. Add additional icons if needed via the “Add New Icon” button.

    Tip: Don’t forget to save your work.
     
  6. Send a test email:
    a. Click Send Test (upper right of screen).
    b. In the “To” line, enter the email address(es) for those who you want to receive and review the test email.
    c. In “Note,” add a note for test recipients/reviewers/approvers.
    d. In the “From” lines, enter the From Display Name. Example: Jane Doe or the Director of University Communications. 

    Then enter the From Email Address. Use your email address if you want to receive replies. Alternatively, you set a separate reply-to email address such as a departmental account or noreply@csun.edu. 

    e. “Subject” line. Here, enter text that lets readers know what this email is about.
    f. The “Preheader text” is optional but recommended. This is a summary of the email and is displayed in the preview pane of email clients.
    g. Click Send test.
    h. Once you receive the test message, do a final proofread of the copy including the sender email address and sender display name. Check links to see that they function and are correct.

Want to know what the email looks like in mobile view?
Click on the mobile phone icon in the upper, left corner of screen, to see the mobile or tablet view. Spacing may need to be adjusted. If so, select the component and edit margins as needed.
 

Step 4: Let’s Finalize and Approve Your Broadcast Email 

Now that your test broadcast email is proofread and approved, by 5pm the day before your scheduled broadcast email send date*, provide the following to SCBM via monday.com. 

*Emails are distributed daily between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. If the submission deadline is not met, the email will be rescheduled for the next available distribution window.

  1. The name of your email list, provided by Advancement Services,
  2. The name of your completed email campaign and,
  3. Documentation of approval confirmation from your unit head to send your e-mail to recipients within your functional area. Or, if applicable, confirmation of approval from divisional vice-president(s) to send to campus groups outside of your functional area/department. The designated approvers are listed below. For more information, please refer to the university’s e-mail policy.
  4. Once these items are completed, be sure to update the statuses of your assigned tasks to "Done" in the monday.com platform, which signals that the email is ready for distribution.  

Congratulations on building your broadcast email! Please be sure to review all steps to confirm every requirement is met. With practice, sending broadcast emails will be a cinch.

Step 5: Viewing Your Engagement Results

When you send a campaign, Emma collects the engagement results for that mailing in the Response tab. Each mailing has its own response breakdown with an overview section and separate tabs for opens, clicks, shares, new signups, and opt-outs. Each of these metrics are tracked at the recipient level once your mailing reaches a contact's inbox.

Most marketing emails are opened within the first 48-72 hours after the email was sent, so it's expected that the bulk of your response data will fall within that time. However, those totals will continue to adjust even after the 48-72 hour window. Response data, especially bounces and deliveries, can take up to 30 hours to finish processing, so be sure to give your mailing plenty of time before considering any of the results official.

Overview

From the Dashboard, click on your recently sent email if it is available in the "Recent Emails" listing. If not, select, "Campaign" in the upper left, then, "Sent". You can find your email in the listing or use the search function to find. Click on the email name and you will be on the Response Overview page. This section contains quick summaries of each individual metric, a link to view the campaign webview in a new window, and other information, including:

  • Campaign name
  • Sender name and email address
  • Audience groups, segments, subscriptions, and singular recipients
  • Total number of recipients
  • Date and time of sending
  • Mailing score
  • Opens by device
  • Opens by client
  • Click analysis

Beneath this section, you'll also find the current statistics for the mailing's open rate, click-to-open rate (the click-to-open rate is the percentage of contacts who opened a mailing and also clicked on at least one link in that mailing), delivery rate, bounce rate, and opt-out rate.

Most of the metrics above are self-explanatory so let's examine two that might need some clarification:

Mailing Score

The mailing score provides an at-a-glance understanding of a campaign's performance, as compared to the scores of 45,000+ customers and millions of emails sent through Emma. 24 hours after a campaign is sent, the score is calculated based on the open rate, click-through rate, opt-out percentage, signup percentage, and use of split testing. This results in a number on a 10-point scale, which is represented by the outer ring of the graphic.

Click Analysis

The Click analysis provides a visual representation of where recipients clicked in your email campaign. To access the link-by-link breakdown of clicks, switch your view to List instead of Click map.

*Note that response data is saved in the Emma account for 18 months.

Please ensure that your broadcast emails are accessible. For more information, please refer to the Universal Design Center. 

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