As part of the Email Framework, some of your configurations will now be centralized. You provide us with your information, and we keep track of it using a key, called a Brand Configuration ID. Since each ID is unique, your unit can submit as many configurations as needed.
When you create a message, you just reference the appropriate ID and your email will get populated with the information that the brand configuration contains.
What goes into a brand configuration
Heading
Messages will no longer use image-based marketing lockups. Instead, they will use text-based branding headers. This is a great advantage for a couple of reasons: the text will load when the email is opened (unlike images, which sometimes do not load), and is more accessible.
Each header will include a primary unit (e.g, Art History), which identifies who the email is coming from. You also have the option to include a secondary unit (e.g., College of Arts + Sciences), which is usually the larger department or office that your unit is a part of.
"From" information
Before users even read your email, they decide whether to open it. One of the most impactful things that determines this is whether the From name is easily recognizable or not. From names should follow these guidelines:
- Keep it short. Your From name will be cut off after 20-30 characters, depending on email client
- Link your unit to IU or your campus. Just having something like University Marketing and Communications without any connection to the university, is not clear to recipients.
- In situations when the email is coming from a person rather than a unit, reinforce their connection with the university. This helps when someone is scanning their inbox. "IU Indianapolis Chancellor Latha Ramchand" rather than "Latha Ramchand," for example.
- Don't use acronyms. For anyone who isn't familiar with your unit, the use of an acronym can result in the recipient thinking that the email is irrelevant to them because they don't recognize it. And for people who are familiar, it requires additional mental load to recall what the acronym means. Spell out the name of your unit instead.
Footer
The footer information that is controlled by the email framework includes:
- Social media links, which are optional
- Physical address
Physical address will not be associated with your unit's precise location on campus, but rather the campus administration building. This is because CAN-SPAM requires that the recipient have the ability to write to the organization writ large to unsubscribe.
Color palette
Most brand configurations will use IU's cream and crimson color palette, but we also have options for neutral branding. Neutral branding removes the IU trident altogether from the header, leaving the unit name text. All crimson accents turn dark gray.
Submit your request
A brand configuration is required to use the email framework. When you request yours, you'll hear back with the ID you'll use plus additional information about the new send classification to start using.
Request a brand configuration
The circled items show everything that is controlled by your brand configuration. All that has been changed is the brand configuration itself—otherwise the emails are identical when built in Marketing Cloud.
