| Audience | Marketers, lifecycle and CRM teams |
| Prerequisites | An email channel and at least one sender identity, set up with your Hightouch team |
Email content lives in a message. Write the subject and preheader, build the body in the drag-and-drop or HTML editor, and save it.
Create a message
- Go to Native Delivery → Messages and add a message for the Email channel.
- Choose an editor: Drag and drop builds the email visually. HTML takes raw markup.
- Enter a subject, and a preheader if you want one. The preheader is the preview text most mail clients show next to the subject.
- Build the body, then select Save.
Choosing HTML is permanent. You can switch a drag-and-drop email to the HTML editor later, but not back. Start with drag-and-drop unless you intend to hand-write the markup.
Start from a template
Templates are reusable email structures. To start from one, open the ⋯ menu and select Browse templates…, then Apply. Templates are filtered to your current editor. An HTML message only offers HTML templates.
Starting from a template copies its content into your message. Edits you make afterward affect this message only, and leave the template as it was.
To save the email you're working on for reuse, select Save as template from the same menu. Manage the library in Assets → Templates.
To bring in existing markup, select Upload HTML file from the ⋯ menu. This is available in the HTML editor.
Reuse content across emails
Content blocks are shared fragments, such as a header or a promotional module, that you maintain once and reference from many emails. In the HTML editor, select Insert content block.
Editing a block updates every email that references it, including messages that are already live. Manage blocks in Assets → Content blocks.
To change a block in one email without affecting the others, select the block and choose Detach. The content stays where it is and becomes part of that message. You can edit it freely, and it stops receiving updates to the original block.
Your email footer is configured once for the workspace under Settings → Brand guidelines, and it carries the unsubscribe link. Hightouch warns you if the footer is missing one.
Add images
Images live in a shared image library you can reference from any email. Upload them directly, or connect your existing digital asset manager and import from it.
Hightouch connects to Bynder, Canto, Aprimo, Adobe AEM, and Orange Logic. See digital asset managers to connect one. If you use a different one, ask your Hightouch contact.
A library image is available to every email. Update it in one place and it changes wherever it's referenced.
Save and publish
What Save does depends on the state of what you're editing:
| State | What Save does |
|---|---|
| Draft campaign, or a message not yet live | Publishes immediately. |
| Campaign past Draft | Stages your edits as a draft against the live version. |
When edits are staged, the message shows an Unpublished changes badge, and recipients keep receiving the live version until you select Publish changes. This lets you revise an active campaign without interrupting it.