Creating Standards-based Electronic Communications • HTML e-mail • Online newsletters

1. Creating Standards-based Electronic Communications• HTML e-mail• Online newsletters University Publishing Web Services February 20, 2009

2. What I hope you will take away from this session today • You will understand the services offered by UP to help you create electronic communications. • You will understand the options, costs and timeframes associated with HTML e-mail creation and delivery. • You will understand the options, costs and timeframes associated with creating an online newsletter. • Template resources. • Inspiration.

3. University Publishing Web Services We offer a full service HTML e-mail and online newsletter development program in support of WSU’s internal e-communications policy. • Build a standards-compliant HTML e-mail message. • Develop interactive components as needed. • Test your message in a wide variety of e-mail clients. • Deliver your message to an address list. • Measure the effectiveness of your message. • Choose from several online newsletter options.

4. Standards-compliant e-mail If your e-mail is not standards-compliant it will end up as junk or get tagged as SPAM. Here are the basic rules we follow to avoid this problem: • Use tables to control the layout of your e-mail. • Insert descriptive HTML text above the first image. • Provide an unsubscribe link. • Provide Alt text for all images. • Provide a street address and phone number in the footer. Wikipedia is a good source for info on CAN-SPAM

5. Program an interactive component Interactive features make the experience richer. • RSVP component • Add to Calendar component • Notify Me component • Send to a Friend component These features are only available on the Web as you can’t embed executable code into an e-mail. A good example of interactivity is in the CUB Grand Reopening e-mail

6. Test, test and test some more... E-mail client testing ensures a quality presentation of your message. • Test groups view emails in both machine-side and web-side mail clients. • Machine-side clients include Outlook, Entourage, Mac Mail, Eudora, AOL. • Web-side clients include hotmail, gmail, yahoomail, Outlook Web Access.

7. HTML e-mails require special delivery Copying and pasting complex HTML into a blank e-mail in Outlook and sending it will not produce consistent results. • We use an open-source e-mail/newsletter fulfillment manager called phplist. • phplist provides metrics, manages subscriptions, and stores e-mail lists. • We are working closely with IT to help streamline the delivery of internal e-mail via the Mailman system. • We also provide a link to your e-mail on the Web so people who wish to view it in their browser may do so.

8. Preparing to measure your success You’re going to get results almost immediately so right away you can start seeing what people are doing once they receive your e-mail. • Setting Goals • Open rates • Click-throughs • Google Analytics • Examine ROI

9. Online newsletters At UP we offer several online newsletter program options. They are all created in our content manager. There are several different scenarios. Here are some examples: • The Chronicle • Play magazine • MOA NOW • EdNews

10. Other examples of HTML e-mails • President’s State of the University Address • Memo from President Floyd • Holiday Message from VP Michael Tate • WSU Foundation appeal

11. Estimated Costs • Scrub your email list: $15 • Original e-mail design & testing: $200-$500 turn time 2-4 days • Existing e-mail updates: $65-$130turn time 1-3 days • UP CMS Newsletter templates: $500-$1000 turn time 7-21 days depending on specs • Template updates $130-$500turn time 5-7 days • Non-UP CMS newsletter templatescosts determined only after consultation

12. Support for e-Communications • Communications plan consultation. Contact your current print publications coordinator to set up a meeting to discuss your needs. • Assistance in choosing the right media mix for your message - e-mail, Web, video, print. • Cross-training UP print design staff in order to keep up with demand. • Offering templates as a way to save money and time. • All of our Web applications and Web sites are hosted on servers maintained by UP and IT technical staff.

13. “All Electronic” Internal Communications Policy • Executive Communications • WSU Today – Daily Updates • WSU Announcements • Text Only or HTML Emails to various Mailman lists • Electronic Tools Web Page

14. For more info • Visit our Web site and you’ll see a headline with a link pointing you to a page with an in-depth look at our operation and more examples of our work. • Visit Our Story to learn more bit about how we arrived at this point and what gives us strength as a service center. • Follow our Twitter account for updates on products and services.

15. Thank You! Edward Sala, Manager University Publishing Web Services sala@wsu.edu

16. OK. So, how did I do? • Do you understand the services offered by UP to help you create electronic communications? • Do you understand the options, costs and timeframes associated with HTML e-mail creation and delivery? • Do you understand the options, costs and timeframes associated with creating an online newsletter? • Do you know where to go to get template resources? • Did you find some Inspiration? Questions?