My Promotions | How to Add My Promotions and Astro Offers to a Template | Marketing Suite

My Promotions | How to Add My Promotions and Astro Offers to a Template | Marketing Suite

All Templates have the capability of showcasing both the Astro Offers you are enrolled in and the My Promotions you have created. The Image and Details associated with your My Promotion can be easily added to a Promotion/Offer Element. The same goes for the images and details associated with an Astro Offer you are currently enrolled in.

Adding a My Promotion/Offer Element to a Template

Most of the prefabricated Astro Templates will have Promotion/Offer Elements already added to them. All Templates, whether you are designing one from scratch, or editing an uploaded Astro Template can have new Elements added to them. In this example we are going to focus on editing an uploaded Astro Template that already has one Double Promo/Offer Element added to it. 

Upload your Template from Browse Astro Templates

Start by entering your Marketing Suite Dashboard by clicking on the Marketing menu on your Astro homescreen. Once there select Templates. Then select the large grey button that says Browse Astro Templates. Scroll through and Preview the templates listed until you find one that interests you. 
All of these Templates are highly customizable, so if you see something you like, but it's not perfect, don't worry- you can make adjustments.

I chose this guy, because how could I not! Look at that face!



To start editing your chosen template all you need to do is click Import.

Now you will find your chosen Astro Template in your Template editor. From here you can edit the title (top left) to anything you like and proceed with your customization. 


Editing an Existing Promotion/Offer Element

Most of the Astro Templates will have at least one Double Column Promo/Offer Element. In this particular template we have just that so let's start there. On the Promo/Offer Element you will see where it is directing you to click a particular icon to add the Promotion/Offer details to it. That icon is located at the top right hand corner of the element. 

 
Clicking that icon will open up either a pop-up with one drop-down menu (if it is a Single Column Promo/Offer Element) or two drop-down menus, if like this one, it is a Double Column Promo/Offer Element. 


When you interact with the drop-down menu you will see every Offer that you are currently enrolled in, even the ones set to launch in future months and every My Promotion that you have made that is either currently live or set to go live in the future. You will not see any Offers or Promotions that have already expired. 

All of your My Promotions will be grouped together and all of your enrolled Offers will be grouped together. 


Now is the time to be strategic. Who will you be sending this Campaign to? All of your customers, or just your Dog customers (you can do that ya know - How to send Targeted Campaigns using Marketing Lists). Do you want to just focus on this month's Offers/Promotions, or do you want to focus on next month's. Which Offers/Promotions do you think will pair nicely together, or go with the overall theme of the Template. The Template we are designing here is all about how to entertain a Bored Dog, so I am going to stick to that theme.

Adding Columns to a Promo/Offer Element or Removing Columns from a Promo/Offer Element

All Elements that show more than one column (Multiple Text Elements, Multiple Image/Text Elements, Multiple Image Elements, and Multiple Promo/Offer Elements) all have the ability to have a minimum of 2 columns or a maximum of 4 columns.
TIPS:
2 Columns look the best if your customers will be viewing your template from a Mobile Device, or a device with a smaller screen, especially if those Columns contain both Images and Text. If you plan on sending your Campaign as a Push Notification or a SMS Text then stick to 2 Columns. 
3 Columns will work on smaller screens as well, but the images will be smaller and the text will take up more vertical space. If you are just working with a Multi-Image Element (no text) then 3 Columns will work to some extent.
4 Columns are really only suited for Email Campaigns since they can look too crowded on small screens. 
If you want to see exactly what your customers will see, send yourself a Preview of your Template then view it from your phone. 



To add additional columns it's just a matter of clicking on the gear icon located at the top right hand corner of the Element.



Now you can select the number of columns you want from the drop-down menu. You can choose any number between 2 and 4.


At this point, you can choose to add Padding or Borders to your Columns. 
Padding - Blank space between two columns. 
Border - Line between two columns. 
The amount of space or the width of the line is measured in Pixels. 
What I personally like to do for the Padding on a Promo/Offer Element (or any Multi-Column Element for that matter) is add 5px to the Padding-RightPadding-LeftPadding-Bottom, and Padding-Top of each column. This will create a space of 10px between each column (5+5=10). If you want to But you are welcome to add more of less depending on your preferences. The key here is you want them all to match. 

If you want Borders I found that a 3px Border looks nice if it is added to Border-Left of all Columns, and only the Border-Right of the last Column. What this does is place one 3px line to both the right and left of all Columns. If you were to add 3px to both Border-Right and Border-Left of all Columns then some of your Columns will have 6px lines between them (3+3=6). 

For a greater deep-dive into the many joys of Borders and Padding please check out this article (coming soon).

Then Save to return to your Template.

Adding an OFFER to an Promo/Offer Element

I decided to go with two Offers showcasing some of the yogurt treats I have available. Notice below each Offer it states the dates during which that Offer is valid. The description below the Offer tells your customers a little bit about the product and/or the brand. The images associated with the Offers were chosen by the brand. 
You are able to Edit the Text Description by clicking on it. We don't recommend that you remove any text that is already there since the brand manufacturers put a lot of thought into those statements, but you are more than welcome to add to them. 

You are able to Replace the Image with another one by clicking on it. If you change the image be sure that you are replacing it with another square image, if you are uploading your own replacement make sure that the image is 400x400 pixels. 


Changing an Image on a Promo/Offer Element

I decided that I wanted to change the image associated with the Boss Dog Offer. 
Manufacturers upload additional promotional images that you may find useful to their MFG Image Libraries. You can find these images easily by clicking on any image located on an Element. 
To change the image I clicked on the image that is currently associated with the Boss Dog Offer I had selected. Now I have access to all of the image Libraries. I'm going to start with MFG Program Library to see what options I have there. 



Once inside this Library I can filter the giant list of options before me according to the Manufacturer (red box) so I am just looking at Boss Dog Promotional Images. I can also filter further so I can only see images that pertain to this particular Offer (green box). I like the image in the middle so I am going to select that one. 



Now all I need to do is click Save.


Adding Additional Promo/Offer Elements

As you saw in my drop-down menu above I have a ton of Offers going on right now. There are a couple more that I wanted to add to this Template, but in order to do that I need to add another Promo/Offer Element. To do this I am going to apply one of the same methods that we use to add any of the Element options to a Template. When you mouse over a grey Element it will tell you the methods you can use to add it to your Template. There is also a 3rd method that I like to use as well. 


Method 1 | Double Click the Element to add it to the Template

If you double-click on any of the grey Elements listed at the right of your Template you will immediately be greeted by the pop-up that will allow you to choose what Offers/Promotions you wish to add to it. You can either select them now, or save it and leave it blank and add them later. 

Then it will add that Element to the very bottom of your Template. Once it has been placed onto your Template you can drag it where you want it by clicking and holding your cursor on it. Then while not lifting up on your mouse or track pad finger start to drag your cursor up.
Tip: Let's say you are trying to drag an Element to the very top of your Template, that most likely means you are having to move it over a lot of other Elements. Don't feel like you have to move it to its final destination all at once. You can make little pit stops along the way. If you have to drop it all you need to do is click and hold it again and drag it some more until you are able to drop it where you want it. 

Method 2 | Click and Drag the Element over to the Template

Click and hold your cursor over the Element, then while not lifting up on your mouse or track pad finger start to drag your cursor over to your Template so the Element is now hovering over it. Then release your cursor. Now you will be greeted with the pop-up that will allow you to choose what Offers/Promotions you wish to add to your Element. 

Then the Element will be added to the bottom of your Template. You can then drag it (as explained above) to where you would like it to lie on your Template. 

Method 3 | Clone Element

If you are not a fan of dragging and dropping Elements around on your Template then this is the method for you. All Elements have an icon located in the top right corner that will allow you to Clone Element. What this does is add another Element that is exactly like the original right below the original. In the image below I had cloned the Element shown above (see it just peeking out at the top) and created the Element below. See how the clone of the original (bottom) currently contain the same My Promotion and Offer as the original Element (top). 
Clone Element
Then all you need to do is Edit the Element to add your other Offers/Promos. This is done in the same manner as editing a blank Element, which is clicking the Edit Element Programs Icon also located at the top right of the Element. 
Edit Element Programs

Adding a My Promotion to a Promo/Offer Element

This technique is exactly the same as described above for adding an Offer to a Promo/Offer Element, the only difference being that you are selecting your My Promotion from the drop-down menu instead of an Offer. 

Start by clicking the icon mentioned in the image that is located to the top right of the Element. 
If you want to change the Offer/Promotion that you added previously clicking this icon will allow allow you to choose something else. 



Now select your My Promotion from the drop-down menu. In this example, the My Promotion that I made is for 10% Off One Dog Toy.


To accompany My Dog Toy Promo I decided to choose the Yeti Dog Chew Offer. 


If I wanted to, I could keep going and add more Promo/Offer Elements until I was able to add to them all of the Offers/Promos that I wished to showcase on this Template. If you have an odd number of Offers/Promos to add you may need to incorporate the Single Column Promo/Offer Elements. 

Saving & Previewing your Template

Once you have all of your Elements added and edited how you like them you can Save your Template. You are able to edit the Title of your Template to anything you like. Whatever you change it to will be for your eyes only and will not be shown in any Subject Line or Body of the Campaign that you send. The Title that you give it will be how you identify it in order to add it to a Campaign

Send Preview

Now, if you like you can send yourself a Preview by selecting the blue Send Preview button. This will give you an idea of what your customers will see when you send it as a Campaign.
You will only be able to preview the Email version of the Template this way, but the Template style will adjust itself if you send it to your customers as a Push Notification or an SMS Text Message. 
If you notice anything odd, like an Image missing that you know you added go back to your Template in the editor, then find the image that was not showing up in the preview. Click on the Image to open up its Edit pop-up, then click Save. This should restore the image to your Template allowing it to show up in your Preview. 

Saving your Template

Selecting Save & Finished will both Save your Template and exit you from your Template builder. 
Selecting Save As will make a copy of the Template you were working on, preserving the Original version. 
Selecting Cancel Changes will revert it back to how it looked the last time you saved it. 

Astro will periodically save your Template for you while you are working on it. 


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