Overview of templates for messages and landing pages

Template designers create templates to form the foundation for personalized messages and landing pages. Marketers create messages and landing pages by modifying the template in the Message Editor. To create an effective message or landing page, template designers must understand how marketers use the template. Marketers must understand how templates are created and must be prepared to provide the information that template designer requires.

Template designers and marketers use templates to create personalized messages and landing pages as follows.

1. The template designer creates a template. Typically, the designer creates the template outside of the Deliver Message Editor.

   The template is usually an HTML file. For text-only email, the template can be a text file, but the file must define certain HTML tags that the Message Editor requires.

   For information about template requirements, see Template types and requirements.

   Unica recommends that experienced web developers do this work. In some cases, a third-party web design team might create templates to specifications that marketers provide.

2. The template designer uploads the completed template to the Content Library with tools that are available in the Deliver Message Editor.

   If the template designer cannot access the Content Library, the email marketing team might be called upon to upload the template.

   For uploading guidelines, see Adding content to the library.

3. In the Message Editor, the email marketer adds the template to an email or landing page communication.

   For more information, see Deliver Message Editor.

4. The marketer modifies the HTML template by adding individual content elements, conditional content, personalization fields, and hyperlinks.

   Email marketers can also use the Message Editor to modify the static elements of the uploaded template.

   When marketers design messages, they can use the template to create HTML email, text-only email, or automatically generate text-only email that is based on an HTML template.

   For more information, see Template types and requirements.

5. To make the modified communication (email or landing page) available for use in a mailing, the email marketer uses the Message Editor to publish it.

   For information about publishing an email or landing page, see Publication.

6. The email or landing page communication is referenced in the configuration of messaging campaign. If a referenced email communication includes HTML and Text versions, the mailing configuration specifies a content type, which determines the version that the system sends.

   For more information about configuring a mailing, see Working with mailings in Unica Deliver.