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Let’s be honest — email development is complicated. Thanks to emerging technology, we now have multiple email clients to choose from, tons of devices to consider, and an endless list of configurations and features associated with each. But what if there was a one hub that brought all the aspects of email development together with tools that automated code generation and ensured compatibility across every client and device?Well, that’s exactly what our developers did. Introducing Build-a-Mail (BAM) tool. Here’s a little peek into the cool stuff it’s helping us do.
The Motivation Behind the Build
From Outlook and Gmail to Android and iPhone iOS, sending an email to your target audience means having to consider all of these technologies and lots more. And unfortunately for developers, the latest tools aren’t’ conditioned for development based on any specific standards for setting these emails up to ensure flawless delivery. So what may render beautifully in Thunderbird, could be delivered completely distorted in a Yahoo inbox. Add on newer features like dark mode and animations, and the opportunity for error is higher than ever.So development teams would have to uniquely code every component to meet the standards of dozens of clients and devices. And the smartest ones would keep a collection of these code snippets in their reservoir to prevent having to start from scratch with every variation.So our developers decided to take that a step further and create a whole interface full of mini tools that allow you to generate pre-tested code in just a click.
What is BAM?
BAM is a game-changing solution aimed at streamlining email development. As a cloud-based live IDE (Integrated Development Environment) interface, it offers a smart text editor tailored for coding. The code behind each component has already been tested across a combination of several clients and devices with several ways to generate the code based on the developer’s specific needs. The developer can simply enter the specific item they want into the component field and BAM will create the code automatically to be dropped into the email. And it has every component you can think of — from spacers and dividers, colors, images, tables, buttons, subject line builders, … really, everything. So instead of having to remember all the generic codes for various text elements like bullets and trademark symbols, it’s all ready to go for you. For example, if a developer is creating an email for Outlook and needs to insert an image, they can go to the Image field, and enter the specific image and the size that their email requires. BAM then automatically generates the specific code required by Outlook for that image to render properly in the right size. All they then have to do is copy and paste into the email.
The Key Benefits
- It helps accelerate the process drastically, helping our developers meet even the quickest of client deadlines (we’re talking half the amount of time).
- It eliminates the need for additional testing, ensuring compatibility across the necessary clients and devices
- It runs directly in your browser so you can work from anywhere without the hassle of installing software.
- The compatibility with VEEVA emails and tokens opens up new possibilities for presentations and emails.
What’s Next?
As the Assemble team continues to utilize the BAM interface for faster email development, we’re constantly taking notes and delivering feedback on how to make it even better. We’ve already got Version 2.0 in the works, which will make its tools even simpler and more robust. We would love to challenge your internal email team’s processes by pitting BAM against them — if you’re up for it. Our team at Assemble not only loves discovering new solutions to make our processes better and faster, but we also love creating them ourselves. If you want to learn more about our Build-a-Mail interface, as well as other new tools we have in the works, and how they can help elevate your production process, contact us today.