The document outlines Condé Nast's production process for email marketing campaigns in 5 steps: 1) Sales and booking involve setting the date and quantity with the sales team. 2) Obtaining email assets at least 1-2 weeks prior, including HTML files, images, and copy. 3) Conducting a best practices and optimization review to ensure emails comply with policies. 4) Sending test emails and getting approval from the client. 5) Deploying the email to distributions lists and providing a report after 5 days.

1. Production Process
STEP 1: Sales & Booking
Confer with the sales team to set a date, and agree upon a quantity to be fulfilled per the I/O.
o If applicable, please inform us if you will be providing a suppression list or not.
o If applicable, please request any targeting requirements before setting the date.
(If Client is sending an HTML file to Conde Nast)
STEP 2: Obtain Email Assets for Development
A .zip file must be sent at least one week prior to the send date; it should include:
An HTML index file, meeting the above guidelines, with images linked, and links finalized.
All referenced images should be zipped together with the index file, or hosted on the client’s server
A .txt or .doc file containing all of the relevant copy
A list of email addresses that will need to approve the email creative
STEP 3: Best-Practices and Optimization Review
The Condé Nast Team will review the creative assets for technical best practices
If an email comports with our policies, its accepted as is
If an email DOES NOT comport with our guidelines, Condé Nast will work with the client to alter the email so
that it does.
(If Client is sending a page design to be converted into and HTML file)
STEP 2: Obtain Email Assets & Design
Material pack must be received at least two weeks prior to deployment; it should include:
Either a Layered PDF or a PSD file. Jpegs, gifs, and InDesign files will not be accepted.
Please provide the exact urls, and a description where to map each link.
A list of email address that will need to approve the email
A .txt or .doc file containing all of the relevant copy
STEP 3: Best-Practices Review & HTML Conversion
The Condé Nast Team will review the creative assets for technical best practices
If an email comports with our policies, CND will begin converting into HTML immediately
If an email DOES NOT comport with our guidelines, Condé Nast will work with the client to alter the email so
that it does.
o Once the Condé Nast and the Client agree upon a design, HTML conversion will commence

2. STEP 4: DreamMail Test & Approval
A test will be send via DreamMail to the list of email approvers you included with the creative.
You will receive two tests, a Text and an HTML version, check for proper layout, and ensure that the links are
working properly, there are no typos, and the display is clean.
All emails are tested across Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL mail, and Outlook 2007
Once any corrections or edits made, and new batch of tests will be sent to confirm the changes have been
made, and the email is now displayed correctly
Once final approval is received the email will be locked, we confirm the list size guaranteed on the I/O, and
agree upon time-of-day to deploy.
STEP 5: Deploy & Report
The Email is Deployed to a Distribution List from the Condé Nast Database, as well as to the seed list you
provided for approval testing.
After a window of 5 business days we can send response metrics related to the camps performance in the field.
Suggested Tips
Write Compelling Subject Lines:
o Be short, less than 50 characters -- many email clients cut off longer subject lines
o Be direct and representative of the email content
o Avoid spam buzzwords like "NEW," "FREE," "WIN" and "!!!!"
Optimize Layout:
o Use a clear format and manageable length to increase readability
o Balance the use of text and images, so the message will still be understood if the images have been
turned off – remember to use alt tags for all images, especially buttons
o Focus on relevance, make a personal connection with the images and copy so the recipient can
immediately identify with your brand and want to learn more
o Design for email, what works on a website or in print won't necessarily work in an email environment –
please follow our best practices and those of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) email standards
o Flash, JavaScript, and other client-side scripts or attachments are not allowed under any circumstances.
o Keep file size down, to help with deliverability and storage, optimal size is 50-80k
Use Direct Calls to Action:
o Make sure every email has a clear purpose that can be executed online, use action-oriented verbs so the
recipient knows what to do next
o Don't offer all the information in the email itself, give people a reason to click thru to your website
o Use ONE LINK to deliver ONE MESSAGE. This is an ad, not a website, & not a newsletter.
Think About Scheduling:
o 80% of all email is sent between 9am – 5pm Monday through Friday; your message needs to cut thru the
clutter. Sunday is the day most people check email, and Saturday is the day with the lightest volumes.
o For retailers, the biggest email day of the year is the day after Christmas. Beyond Christmas, other high-
volume email days occur in connection with Tax Day, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Father's Day,
President's Day, Valentine's Day, and Easter
Learn from Reporting:
o Due to the wide number of variables, email is the only direct marketing channel without standard
benchmarking metrics so study your own performance
o Analyze key metrics: Delivery, Open Rate, Total Click-thru Rate, Unique Click-thru Rate

3. o Focus on clickthru rates as a percentage of opens not delivers to get a true account of how engaged
recipients reacted to the message
o Look at percentages and at raw numbers to understand impact
Legal Requirements
Key Requirements of CAN-SPAM – We ensure compliance, but for your information:
o This law, passed in 2003, governs all commercial emails, the full law can be found here:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm
 Refrain from sending any message with a misleading heading (includes from address, domain
name, and subject lines)
 Include in each message a valid return email address, or Internet-based reply mechanism that
functions for at least 30 days following the transmission of the message
 Include a physical postal address in the body of each message
 Include a conspicuous notice identifying each message as an advertisement or solicitation if
consent was passive (ie: opt-out method)
 Include in the body of each message a working "opt-out" link and honor all requests within 10
business days of receipt