by Zoe Fisher 
For several years Pardot has been integrated with Litmus Email Analytics in order to assist marketers with their email campaigns. Litmus is a rendering test tool which offers previews of how your email will look across different email clients, browsers and screen sizes. The Litmus 2020 State of Email Report has recently come out – keep reading to find out more!
Using Litmus in Pardot
To use Litmus’s powerful software in Pardot, simply navigate to the Testing tab when editing an email, and click ‘+ New Render’.
This will send the current version of your email to Litmus’s software and generate your renders. You can wait for this to complete or Pardot will email you when your test is ready.
Once this is generated, you can browse through versions of Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Apple Mail etc. to see how your email content displays in different email clients, browsers and screen sizes.
2020 State of Email Report
The Litmus 2020 State of Email Report details industry trends, data and client changes and what the future of email marketing looks like. We had a look and noted some of the key takeaways for those using Litmus through Pardot…
Dark mode
Dark mode is a feature providing users with a darker themed interface which is more suitable for working in low light environments and at night. As more operating systems and apps allow it, email rendering in dark mode is something you should review for your templates. Optimise your Emails For Dark Mode.
Google joins BIMI
“Gmail joined AuthIndicators, the group working on the Brand Indicators for Message Identification standard. BIMI-approved brands can have custom logos appear next to their messages in subscribers’ inboxes, which helps them stand out against unauthenticated brands, personal messages, and potentially unwanted email. Only commercial messages, not one-to-one communications, will display the brand’s custom logo.”
The report states how brands must meet several conditions before they can have custom logos next to their emails. That includes successfully authenticated commercial sending domains, a good sender reputation and any other specifications from a mailbox provider.
While this is more of a B2C feature, marketers should still consider authenticating their email sending domains in Pardot. Read more about Pardot Email Authentication and Getting Your Emails Delivered.
Email marketing in a post-GDPR world
Since GDPR came into effect in May 2018, email marketing hasn’t diminished at all, in many cases the opposite has happened. However, the EU has handed out some hefty fines to many organisations. How can Pardot be leveraged in the post-GDPR world you ask? Pardot email preference centres and enabling prospect resubscribe are two things you can use to stay GDPR compliant. In addition, it’s the perfect way to cut out any is-it-or-isn’t-it processes you may be using to keep on top of your prospect preferences. Make sure you’re getting your communication preferences right.
Personalised emails
“Personalization is quickly being overtaken by hyper-personalization, not only in email messaging but in touch points far beyond the inbox. Brands that have resisted the personalization wave will find their reliance on one-size-fits-all email might shut them out of the inbox as customers grow more apathetic to their messages—and ISPs use that apathy to give preferential treatment to brands more in tune with their customers.”
Pardot understands the need for personalisation, hence the release of Handlebars Merge Language (HML) last year. One of the really cool things about HML is the ability to use conditional merge fields! Learn more here.
Automation
“Automation as the key to streamlining workflows… Don’t let obsolete workflows turn into painful bottlenecks. Tackle them today to accommodate all the changes your email program needs to stay productive.”
Pardot is, at its heart, a marketing automation tool. With completion actions and automated prospect journeys, Pardot has the features to support automation in marketing campaigns. One of the latest Pardot features automates prospect nurtures from Salesforce, closing the gap between the teams. Find out more.
Want to know more about how your Pardot account can be leveraged for your business marketing needs? Get in touch with us for strategic or technical support with Pardot!