User Guide

It’s important to remember a few things before using ExactTarget:

• Always use ExactTarget in Internet Explorer: While it will generally work in other browsers, it was built for Explorer, and users have occasionally reported issues (missing buttons or scroll bars, slow load time, etc.) in programs like Firefox and Safari.
• Always use ExactTarget for mass e-mails: We cannot use Outlook for mass communications because mass e-mails sent through Outlook will crash our system.
• Avoid using the Back button: Try to avoid using the Back button on your browser when you’re working in ExactTarget, as it slows down page loading and, on rare occasions, causes errors in saving or sending your e-mail.

The Marketing team creates e-mail templates for all regions and teams that use ExactTarget (click here for more information on creating new templates). The top of the e-mail is the header, an image that contains the Teach For America logo and the name of the region or team. Below the header are boxes containing text and images. The number and placement of these boxes will vary depending on the purpose of the e-mail. You will work inside these boxes to create your e-mail.

When creating your e-mail, it is best to cut and paste your content from a Word document. When pasting into ExactTarget, you’ll use Paste Plain Text in ExactTarget’s menus, rather than Paste – because Microsoft Word uses a different kind of formatting code than ExactTarget (which uses HTML), it’s important to get rid of any formatting code to avoid code conflicts that may cause you headaches down the line.

A few things to think about when writing the copy for your e-mail:

• Make sure “Teach For America” is always spelled out; never use “TFA”
• Make sure “e-mail” is always spelled with a dash between the “e” and “mail”
• Make sure the spacing in your text boxes looks consistent
• If you have grammar or style questions, refer to the Style Guide in the Marketing Resource Center.