Email Editor 3.0: Hidden Gems in Marketo Engage

[NiharikaGoyal]

Marketo's Email Editor 3.0 offers a modern, modular experience for building responsive and personalized emails. Many users are familiar with its drag-and-drop interface and improved usability. However there are some of the hidden gems worth exploring:

1) Advanced Use of Modules - This advanced feature allow users to re-use the pre-built blocks across multiple emails. However, there are a few advanced tricks:

• Lockable Modules: Prevent editing of design elements by locking them.

• Nested Modules: Group commonly used combinations or designs like (e.g., image + text), (Text + text), (image + image) and save time on layout.

2) Light & Dark Mode Challenges - While dark mode improves user experience, it poses challenges for email renderability:

• No HTML Access: Email Editor 3.0 restricts head-level CSS.

• Dark Mode Media Queries: Inline @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) inside the email body won’t work.

• Solution:

  • Use image-based text for critical branding headers.

  • Use high contrast backgrounds (avoid pure white or pure black).

3) Personalization Tokens in Email Editor 3.0 - Editor 3.0 supports dynamic personalization using tokens, but with some quirks:

• Limitations: No live preview of token values inside the editor.

• Workaround: Send yourself a test email with specific lead or program data.

Email Editor 3.0 is powerful when used strategically. With modules, snippets, personalization tokens, and a thoughtful approach to dark mode and A/B testing, you can drive better engagement and brand consistency.

[Katja_Keesom]

I share your enthusiasm and comments. I had not caught the preview for tokens challenge just yet. I will make sure to highlight it to the product owner. However, I would encourage you to start using the terminology from the new email designer. As an example, Fragments ar really good, but they are not the same as modules (nor are they the same as snippets). Referring to them as such raises expectations that will not be met.

The new email designer has really powerful features that pretty much cover (almost) all existing functionality, but it is structured differently. Therefore I encourage everyone to adapt to the new language as soon as possible.

[Dave_Roberts · Accepted solution]

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2) Light & Dark Mode Challenges - While dark mode improves user experience, it poses challenges for email renderability:

• No HTML Access: Email Editor 3.0 restricts head-level CSS.

• Dark Mode Media Queries: Inline @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) inside the email body won’t work.

• Solution:

  • Use image-based text for critical branding headers.

  • Use high contrast backgrounds (avoid pure white or pure black).

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/!\ If you're reading this post, please DO NOT use images to display text.
This is not an appropriate solution for the issue and is generally frowned upon in the world of professional email development.

It's simply not worth it to optimize for dark-mode at the expense of accessibility.

Dark mode is a user preference, things like blindness are not.

 ... a quick Google search provides some add'l insight into the issues with this approach:

 [Quoted Text from Google] -- 

Using images of text in emails is generally discouraged for accessibility. It's best to avoid embedding text within images, especially for critical information, as screen readers and other assistive technologies cannot interpret text within an image. Instead, use plain text in the email body or provide alternative text (alt text) for any images that contain information. 

Here's why using images of text is problematic:

• Inaccessible to screen readers:

  Screen readers and other assistive technologies rely on plain text to convey information to users with disabilities. Text within an image is not read aloud or accessible to these technologies. 
• Lack of flexibility:

  Users cannot resize or adjust the text within an image. This makes it difficult for users with visual impairments or those who need larger font sizes to read the text effectively. 
• Information loss:

  If an image is not displayed due to email client settings or other issues, users will lose the information conveyed by the image. 

Alternative solutions for making emails accessible:

• Plain text:

  Use plain text for all email content, including important information, headings, and calls to action. 
• Alt text:

  Add descriptive alt text to any images that contain information or are not purely decorative. Alt text provides a text-based description of the image that screen readers can read. 
• Repetition:

  If you must use an image with text in it, repeat the text within the email body to ensure accessibility. 

Example:

• Bad:

  An email with the event details (date, time, location) embedded in a graphic.
• Good:

  An email with the event details in plain text below a header graphic with some text in it, and the header graphic has alt text describing its purpose. 

By following these guidelines, you can create emails that are accessible to a wider audience, including individuals with disabilities and those who may have difficulty viewing images. 

Additional Resources:

Emailed Images of Text | Digital Accessibility
Always use text instead of images of text. Emailing images of text is not in compliance with web accessibility standards because people cannot adjust or alter how text looks in an image. Choosing to email an image of text may cause recipients to lose essential information that is being communicated within the image.

[SanfordWhiteman]

Couldn’t agree more, Dave.

[SanfordWhiteman]

@NiharikaGoyal one thing I’d add to Dave’s great points is if something is a “critical” branding header then by definition it should not be an image, since images are not displayed by default in Outlook.

(Honestly don’t even know what kind of content you mean. If you mean a hero image, then that would already be an image.)