[Video Walkthrough] All about Email Templates

INTRO:

Before we get into the specifics, we want to go over what an E-Mail Template is and in what instances you might want to use them. E-Mail Templates are useful any time you might ever contact a Client, such as to send a response to a LEAD, to send out proposals, to deliver an Invoice or Contract, Payment Reminders, etc.  Also, any time you find yourself writing the same E-Mail multiple times, it’s probably time to make it an E-Mail Template.  

You have opportunities to attach Template E-Mails from just about anywhere within Pixifi, so for the sake of your sanity, we have created this feature so that Template E-Mails of all kinds are organized and edited from within the same page/section.  We have already shown you in many of our example instances where Template E-Mails are extremely efficient and a powerful time saver!  In this video, we are going to show you how and where to create them!

E-MAIL TEMPLATE TYPES (01:08)

On your side navigation bar, we are going to click on TEMPLATES and then select E-MAIL TEMPLATES.   All E-Mail Templates are assigned a Type and this is really important!  The Type assigned to an E-Mail Template will essentially tell this E-Mail where to show up as an option and what variables to make available to auto-fill information.  So, for example, these sample E-Mail Templates I have created have been labeled as LEAD for the “Type" so it will only appear for me to use when I am working in the LEADS module.  If I were to go into the CLIENTS module, I wouldn’t have access to those E-Mail Templates with “Lead" assigned as the Type.  It gets even more specific than this too… when I am inside the CLIENTS module under General Communication, I cannot view any E-Mail Templates labeled as Invoices, Questionnaires, etc until I go into those tabs and begin E-Mailing from there.  It is designed this way so that you can keep these Templates organized and also that you won’t be bombarded with tons of possible variables for all Types of E-Mails.  Instead you will only be presented with the variables that are relevant to this Type of E-Mail; after all, variables such as “Invoice balance" or “Invoice ID" are useful when you’re sending an Invoice, but not while you’re sending a questionnaire.  Also, because Pixifi gives you the opportunity for multiple Events, Invoices, Contracts, etc, the system would have no way of knowing exactly what you want it to do when you apply your Template to that specific scenario.  Like, if I were simply in the CLIENTS tab try to send a Payment Reminder E-Mail to a Client who has had 12 Invoices over the course of 5 years working with my studio, the system has no way of knowing (from a Template - which remember Templates are our goal here because they save you tons of time) which Invoice you are intending to pull into the E-Mail as a link.

CREATING E-MAIL TEMPLATES (02:57)

So now that we have gone over what an E-Mail Template is, let’s create one together.  Back inside the E-MAIL TEMPLATES Module, I’m going to select [+ Create New Template] and start with a Template name.  Next I will choose a Template Type so that the correct variables will fill into this drop down box.  Remember, these Templates are organized by Type so unless you tell the system which Type this Template is, it doesn’t know which Type of variables to present you with for your Template E-Mail.  

Subject is optional, but assigning one here makes that one less thing you have to Type out each time as well.  If you want to make your subject personalized as it sends out to each individual Client or for each purpose, you can use the variables to auto-fill your subject line as well!  For example, if you want the subject to include the Client’s name.    To do this, wherever you want to insert that custom field, click your cursor in that spot, then go to the variables/tokens and click on the one you want and Pixifi will plug in that variable for you!  So, when this Client sees their E-Mail in their inbox, where you see “Hello {contact_1_first} I'm available for your {Type} on {Event_date}"  They will see “Hello Tim, I’m available for your wedding on 10/10/2020."

The same concept applies below as you type out your Template E-Mail.  In this case, I’ll switch over to the CLIENTS module so you can see how this can save you loads of time.  For this instance, I’m going to create a Template to send out a Payment Reminder.  First I need to assign the Type as “Payment," give it a subject line, and begin typing out my E-Mail Template that I’d like everyone to get when they are receiving a Payment Reminder.

I’m going to include the Client’s name for personalization, I’m going to pull in the specific Invoice number and payment due date in the body of the E-Mail, along with a link to the actual Invoice where they can make a payment online or see all the details they may need to write a check, etc.  I’ll finish the E-Mail by inserting our jpeg E-Mail block to make it look that much more professional and consistent with our brand.  

So, now any Client who receives this customized Payment Reminder (Template) E-Mail will see it the exact same way, displaying their own information.  And the best part about it is that even though this took a couple minutes to think through and set up, you won’t ever have to think about it again after you create this Template, especially if you set up your system to send out these Payment Reminders automatically which we will teach you how to do in Class 202: Invoices.  If you take some time now to set up some E-Mail Templates for yourself,  you will have some information to pull from or you could use the sample E-Mail Templates we have provided for you!

EVENT REMINDER TEMPLATES (05:41)

So, now that you know a little more about how to set up E-Mail Templates, I’m going to walk you through how to set up Event REMINDER TEMPLATES which will actually use your E-Mail Templates that have been assigned with “Event" as their Type.  

There are a few ways to get to this screen, but for the sake of helping you keep all of this organized mentally, I will take you to TEMPLATES, E-MAIL TEMPLATES and finally Event Reminder Templates.  From here you will click [+ Add New Reminder Template] and name your Template (think of it as a set of reminders you will want applied to all Events of this nature).  Once within your new reminder Template, you can choose which E-mail Template to send with this specific reminder, which will either drop down a list of previously created E-Mail Templates that have been assigned with “Event" as the Type, or allow you to create a new Event-Type E-Mail Template on the spot (by clicking on the [+] plus button).

The purpose of this feature is that you may want to communicate different things to you Clients as their Event date approaches, or send out reminders about Events to your staff members or vendors as the Event draws near.  You assign a date and a time of day for the E-Mail to send and if you want to create multiple reminders within this Event Reminder Template, you simply click save for the current one and add the next reminder the same way.  This way, when you attach this Event reminder Template as a whole to any given Event, it will behave the exact same way for each Event, sending out this exact set of reminders which pull from these exact same E-Mail Templates you have assigned.  As you can see you can develop an unlimited amount of Event Reminder Templates and even assign multiple Templates to any given Event.

Now I can show you a quick way to apply the E-Mail Template Reminders we just created so you can see them in action.  We’re going to go to THINGS TO DO, EVENTS, click on my Events listing and we’re just going to pull up one of my demo Events that I already have created.  Down here at the bottom left is the Event Reminder section.  Here is where I am going to add whatever Event Reminders I would like applied to this Event by clicking the [+ Add Reminder] button.  A pop up box is going to come up and ask me if I’d like to create this Event Reminder manually or if I would like to apply a reminder Template.  Since we just showed you how to create these various reminder Templates, I’m going to pick the Template I want from this drop down box and click [√ Save].  You’ll see it has added this Template (and all of those various reminders and E-Mails contained therein) to my Event, complete with a status update and a list of the responses to send and on which dates.  You can add another reminder Template (or manual reminder if you decide to) the same exact way, and you can do this for all of your Events.  You can only imagine the amount of time and headache this feature will save you!  

ATTACHMENTS (08:31)

One really cool feature within E-Mail Templates is a way to automatically attach a file or files to any E-Mail whenever that Template goes out!  So the way you do this is pick an E-Mail Template from your list, open it up and scroll down to the bottom where you see “Attachments:"  You can click [+ Add Attachment] and if this is the first time you’re doing this you will need to click [Upload File] to bring the document/file you want into Pixifi to be attached.  Then hover over that icon and click the select button and you will see it appear at the bottom under “Attachments."  Click [√ Save] and you’re good to go!  The next time you send this E-Mail Template out to a Client either manually or through an Event reminder, this document will be attached to that E-Mail.

CLOSING REMARKS (09:14)

Class dismissed!  Thank you for taking the time to learn about E-MAIL TEMPLATES.  In this video, we covered what an E-Mail Template is, where and how to create them, and how to use them to save you tons of time in all areas of your business!   We have no extra for this course so go ahead and re-watch season 5 of Saved By The Bell!  

We want to say CONGRATULATIONS!  You have completed all necessary coursework for your Freshman experience and you are now officially Sophomores!  But don’t think that means you can slump…. Because we have a lot more amazing information coming at you!!!  So, whenever you are ready, go ahead and start Class 201: Products & Packages!