Customizing an email

Designing your emails with Seguno is easy and quick, thanks to the familiar email editor, your shared theme, Shopify-integrated sections, and key connections with image sources like Canva, Instagram, and Burst. 

Tip

Are you looking for more strategic guidance for your emails? Check out the Email Design 101 course.

On this page:

Email theme settings

Your Seguno Email theme includes your header, footer, branding, and design settings. Your theme is default shared for all newsletters, automations, and starter templates.

Once you've customized your theme settings, your email creation process will be streamlined and allow you to focus on the email body content and sections.

Your preview text should be set to your company tagline - this text will fill blank space in your recipients' email preview if the subject line and preview text do not fill all available characters. It will be visible at the very top of your email. The unsubscribe link in the header is a deliverability best practice. It helps uninterested subscribers move on easily and discourages them from marking your email as junk rather than scrolling down. Be sure to choose an email-optimized logo, selecting your wide logo design to avoid taking up precious vertical space.
Your default navigation menu is imported from your shop settings. Be sure these links make sense to be included in all emails before including them, as space and content high in your email is very valuable design-wise.

Note

For mobile delivery optimization (screens less than 600px wide), the navigation menu is stacked vertically and moved to the bottom of the email.

Your email footer contains shop contact information, anti-spam required mailing address, and an unsubscribe button.

If your shop does not have a physical address or if your business uses your home address, we recommend setting up a PO Box or virtual PO box. You must be on a paid plan to remove the Powered by Seguno badge from your footer. Learn more about paid features and billing.
The remaining theme elements set the standard style for your email and should be set according to your brand guidelines.
  • Background images may be added to fill the side columns on desktop deliveries. Learn more about background images.
  • Default colors should be selected for all sections to make your emails recognizable and consistent with your store experience.
  • Seguno supports all web-safe fonts for email content. Custom fonts are not supported by all receiving inboxes but can be used in images with the Canva integration for headlines and hero images.
  • Button styling should also be set to match your online store, with three button styles supported with various email sections.

Warning

Be that both solid and outlined button styles are easily visible against section background colors.

  • Structure refers to vertical padding between sections. Spacer sections can also be used when designing emails for specific needs.
  • Social media accounts may be added if you want to include the social media icon and link to your account from your header or footer. Be sure to link to your business's page!

Tip

If you want to create a design that does not use your standard shared theme settings for the email, you may change your theme to an isolated, not-shared design from the actions menu.

Content Connections

Having readily available content makes creating your weekly emails a breeze. Connect to these sources to bring more content right into Seguno.
  • Canva - connect to your account with the free-to-use graphic design tools and level up your images in your emails. The integration keeps you in Shopify while allowing you to create and modify your designs and saves tons of edit time. To design with Canva, add any image-focused media sections (Flipbook, Gallery, Image, Image with text, or Image with text overlay.) You'll be prompted to log into your Canva account if you are not already logged in. Learn more about connecting with Canva.

  • Instagram - bring images from your Instagram feed and right into your emails. From your Dashboard, navigate to the Connections menu and sign in to your business Instagram account. Posts from your feed will be available for image sections in the email editor. Repost user-generated content to use those your followers' images easily.

  • Product reviews - connect to supported review platforms and show off your five-star ratings in your integrated product sections. Add your review platform from Connections on the Dashboard. Learn more about integrating your product reviews.

Subject line and preview text

Your subject line and preview text, along with the sender name, entice your subscribers to open your emails. The subject line is the primary line and is often bolded in the receiving inbox. The preview text is a supporting line that continues from the preview text and should tell the subscriber more about the content of the email.

Note

The amount of the preview text that shows in the inbox varies from inbox to inbox. Seguno recommends 100-150 total characters in the preview text. If there is additional space after the subject line and preview text, your preheader text will load before continuing into the email content.

Subject lines and preview text can be set when creating a newsletter or in the email editor.

Easily add emoticons and personalization to your subject lines with the editor. If a discount code is assigned to the email, the code can be included as a personalization tag.

Tip

Our quick subject line guide will give you tips to increase your open rate.

Using the email editor

Seguno emails are built on a 600px wide canvas and automatically optimize the email rendering based on screen size by reducing the image size and stacking content based on sections.

To build your email body, add sections to create the email layout. Select any of the sections in the list or editor to customize content.

Note

As you add content, Seguno will automatically track the HTML weight of your email and notify you if the content is becoming too large and will be clipped by Gmail inboxes.

A variety of section types are available to allow you to quickly and confidently build an email that will stand out to your subscribers. 

Section Type Notes
Blog Integrated with your Shopify blog to highlight posts
Collection Integrated with product collections
Discount Highlight a connected discount with a prominent call to action
Live Interactive sections
Media Image or video content
Product Integrated with Shopify Product data
Separator For styling your email content
Social Highlight a social media account and invite followers
Text Buttons, rich text, and other content-focused sections

All sections have additional options for customization. Integrated sections pull content from your Shopify admin but can generally be overridden as needed for the email content.

When you've created a section you'd like to reuse, save time by saving the section in the editor and keeping it in your saved sections library for when you customize other emails.

If you've added a discount to your email, the discount price rules will be highlighted in a header and footer banner. The discount will be applied for the shopper when clicking through any link to your shop.

The banner may be removed if you add a Discount Callout section to the email. Discounts assigned to an email will automatically be applied if the recipient clicks through any link in the email. Learn more about using discounts.

Using starter templates

Emails can be created from a blank canvas or a starter template. Starter templates guide you in creating high-performing emails by giving you a ready-to-customize layout based on best practices and professional designs. There are 21 newsletter starter templates and automation starter templates for all prebuilt automation series.
Starter templates are built with placeholder images, primary content sections, and sample text. Select each item to insert products and replace placeholders with your images and copy. Learn more about using templates.

Note

Starter templates may be installed or restored through the Template Store.      

Previewing and testing your email

Once you've created your email, send a test email or feedback request to see how the email displays in your inbox and proofread all content.
Test recipients can be added to your Seguno Settings, and test emails will prefix your subject line with "TEST:". Feedback requests may be sent to up to three specific addresses with an accompanying note. These emails are prefixed with "FEEDBACK:"

Note

Because of these prefixes, some receiving inboxes may delay delivery for a brief period (generally not more than 5-10 minutes), and they may not be placed in your inbox as a regular delivery would. Contact support if you're experiencing issues with your test deliveries.

Once you've received your test email, be sure to check:

  • From name and sending address are consistent with how your subscribers would recognize your shop.
  • The subject line and preview text content are correctly set, and any personalization tags are working as expected.
  • All images load quickly and at a high resolution.
  • All images are linked to your site.
  • All links for non-integrated sections go to the correct destination.
  • No typos.

Learn more about sending test emails.

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