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Tutorial: How to Add Anchor Links in Emails

Beefree team
Beefree team
May 22, 2020
Tutorial: How to Add Anchor Links in Emails
Tutorial: How to Add Anchor Links in Emails

Do you use HTML anchor links in your email campaigns? Anchor links in email are incredibly useful for newsletters that are long and content-rich. They give your subscribers a chance to quickly scroll down and directly skip to where they want to read. And when your emails are easier to navigate, your readers are more likely to stick around and take in the entire message. Let’s take a look at exactly how anchor links can help your marketing and what you need to do to use them.

Anchor links in email are incredibly useful for newsletters that are long and content-rich. They give your subscribers a chance to quickly scroll down and directly skip to where they want to read.

Why use anchor links in emails?

What exactly is an email anchor link? An anchor link is a hyperlink in an email. When that hyperlink is clicked, it takes you to another part of the email instead of opening a separate window. Anchor links are most helpful for long messages, which is why they’re generally used in email newsletters instead of sales emails.You might choose to include just a single anchor link, or add a full anchor menu in your email header. This menu acts like a table of contents so readers can see at a glance what’s included in the message.Anchor links are huge for your email UX (user experience). Keeping your email simple can capture a user’s attention. And adding an anchor menu is a great way to simplify your message.Here's a quick example from Mobile Marketing Watch, a company that adds anchor links at the top of their daily newsletter so readers can use a table of contents to quickly navigate to each section.

mobile marketing watch anchor links in email

The MintLife Blog also uses anchor links (the three bullet points at the top) in its email newsletter. Like Mobile Marketing Watch’s newsletter, this email is plain text. The anchor links are helpful since these messages don’t have any colorful HTML subheadings to aid in navigation. A plain text email can be difficult to scan — anchor links eliminate the problem and make navigating these emails a whole lot easier.

anchor link menu

How to create anchor links in an email

Good news! Adding an anchor link in your email campaign is easier than you might think. All you need is a basic know-how of the HTML link structure of your anchor links. As we'll see, an anchor link is made up of two parts: the URL link and the actual anchor tag that the link is "jumping" to in your email.Let's look at a specific newsletter example and show you how to replicate its anchor links using the BEE email editor. Follow along in this quick video recap or keep reading for a step-by-step tutorial:

Email anchor links example

We've always admired how anchor links were put to good use in Lenny Letter, a newsletter created by actor/director Lena Dunham and her best friend/director Jenni Konner. Lenny focused primarily on long-form content such as thought-provoking essays and stories, providing that content in the email itself. In this one, the header includes colorful anchor links to each corresponding story within the email. Here's how the links look across the top (starting with Jessica Grose and ending with Lena Dunham):

lenny header anchor links

Each color corresponds with the author's story. If a reader wants to read Kaitlyn Greenidge's story first, tapping her name (the orange anchor link) takes the reader directly to her story section (where the title, "I Love Betty," is also in orange). Click here to see the newsletter (trimmed because of its length).

Getting started

Now that you're familiar with the concept of anchor links in emails, let's walk you through how to add them in the BEE editor. Open up the free BEE email editor to follow along.

Step 1: Build the email

To start, we'll recreate the Lenny email in BEE. The header is simple: Using a basic one-column design, drag in the Lenny image and add the text (in Courier) beneath it. Next, drag in a four-column structure to arrange the top anchors.

lenny anchor links in email

Continue to add text and images to recreate the header, intro and first story.

lenny email

Afterformattingthe color of the text, get ready to add the links.

lenny anchor links in email

Step 2: Choose an anchor link name and its position

Now it's time to name and position the first anchor in the correct section of the email. For this step, we'll be using the custom HTML content block in BEE from the Content menu to add our anchor (think of it as a bookmark).

html block

Drag and drop the HTML block to where you want the link to "jump" down to. In this case, it's right above Grose's story, titled "Namaslay."

anchor links in email

This is how the HTML block looks onceit's in position but before we add code:

anchor links in email

To create the anchor, paste in one line of HTML code in the Content Properties field of the custom HTML block on the right:

<a name="grose"></a><br />

anchor link html example

The name in quotes ("grose") can be whatever you want. Just keep it simple and easy to remember — ideally one word — as this is the keyword you’ll use when linking to this anchor tag.

Step 3: Link the anchor

Now that the anchor's position has been specified, the text in the header needs to be linked to it. Simply select "Jessica Grose" and choose the Insert Link selection in the toolbar.

how to add an anchor link

In the menu, link to the anchor by entering #grose in the URL field.

Adding a link to an anchor in your email

For the link to work, it's important to include the hashtag (#) before the name and to make sure the name matches the one you chose earlier. The shorter and simpler the name, the easier it'll be to remember.Now you’ve created the two parts of your anchor links: the anchor text and the link pointing to it.Duplicate that HTML content block, then copy it and drag it to the next section. Update the name that’s within the quotes and link the text at the top to the new anchors you’ve created.

anchor links in email

Step #4: Send a test email to test the anchor links

send test email

Once you receive the email (BEE’s “Send test” feature lets you send a test email to yourself), click on the anchor links and watch the magic happen:

giphy anchor links in email

Voilà! If you’d like, you can add additional anchor links at the bottom of each section with text that says “Top of page” or something similar. This will let readers go back up to your anchor menu with a single click. But otherwise, your anchor links in email are ready to go.

Creating anchor links in email with BEE

Use the BEE email editor to create a table of contents with anchor links in your own emails. Our new Menu feature is the perfect way to add your links! With this feature, you can create an internal email menu that links to either internal or external links.Adding the menu is simple. Open up an email template in the BEE editor and drag a menu block onto the message. Click “Add new item” in the right-hand sidebar; this will allow you to add your text and then hyperlink that text with internal links. Set the link type when you add the URL’s.After you’ve set up your menu and added links, you can customize the layout and text of the menu to make it more visually appealing. You can also turn on the “Mobile menu” to access some additional design options. Mobile menus aren’t compatible with every email client. But for the clients that do support this option, this setting will optimize your menu for mobile viewing.BEE’s new Menu feature makes it easy and fast for you to create an anchor link menu for your email newsletters.

Email client support for anchor links

Anchor links are not supported by all email clients, so keep this in mind when deciding whether to add a table of contents to your newsletters. Here’s a quick report with some of the most popular email clients:Email clientSupport for anchor linksGmail (Web)YESGmail (Android app)YESInbox by Gmail (Android app)YESGmail (iOS app)NOApple Mail (iOS)NOYahoo! Mail (Web)YESOutlook.com (Web)YESOutlook (Android app)NOOutlook (desktop)YESOutlook for MACNOSamsung email app (Android)YESWindows Mail (Windows 10)YES(This table is based on our own data and data from Can I Email.)

Wrap-up: Using anchor links in email? Go Pro!

Email client support issues aside, adding anchor links to your email can be an effective and simple design tactic to help your subscribers read your content. Sign up for a BEE Pro free trial and follow the instructions in the workshop above to easily get this email marketing tactic down!Updated on July 21, 2020.

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Anchor Link in Email Cover

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Excelling in Email Design With The Beefree Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that speed up email design. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further.
Beefree team
Nov 12, 2024

As we continue to celebrate Beefree’s 10-year journey of innovation and creativity, we’re thrilled to mark this milestone with the launch of The Beefree Academy.

Beefree Academy
Visit the Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that make email design faster, smarter, and more impactful. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further by helping users build their expertise in email design and creation.

The inspiration behind the Beefree Academy 

When we envisioned Beefree Academy, we knew it had to be more than a series of product tutorials; it needed to be a resource that you could benefit from at every stage of your journey. 

The Beefree Academy is designed to inspire confidence, foster success, and provide ongoing support as you grow, enabling you and your team to get the most out of our platform – here’s how: 

Smooth and speedy onboarding:

Starting with a new platform can often be overwhelming and the time spent during onboarding is valuable. The Academy fast-tracks the learning process, offering structured, bite-sized lessons suitable for people of varying skill sets, from beginners to seasoned designers. Each lesson is designed to help you get comfortable with Beefree’s tools, so you can dive into projects quickly and with ease.

Explore new possibilities: 

Many users only scratch the surface of Beefree’s capabilities—we aim to change that. The Beefree Academy allows you to familiarize yourself with advanced features you might have been wary of before.

As you and your team grow from casual users to power users, you can gain more control over your email design, find new ways to optimize your workflows, and strengthen the impact of your campaigns. 

Troubleshoot like a pro:

Technical support is most effective when you have tried-and-true resources to solve challenges independently and on your own schedule. With Beefree Academy, you and your team can confidently troubleshoot independently by accessing targeted, step-by-step solutions whenever you need them. 

Advance your email marketing expertise: 

Beyond learning the platform, the Beefree Academy provides a comprehensive learning experience with valuable tips and best practices for email design and marketing. Soon, our lessons will extend far beyond the basics, guiding you through the process of creating visually compelling, high-converting email layouts while ensuring your designs follow proven best practices. 

You and your team will gain insights into crafting effective email marketing strategies that resonate with your audience, along with the skills to harness the power of AI in your campaigns. Additionally, we’ll explore the latest trends shaping the future of email design, empowering you to stay ahead of the curve and continually enhance your campaigns

What’s inside The Beefree Academy: 

Beefree Academy is thoughtfully designed to cater to users at all levels—from beginners just starting their email design journey to experienced designers looking to formalize their expertise in email design.

Courses:

The courses in Beefree Academy help users deepen their knowledge and understanding of the key tools and features within Beefree. As you complete courses, you’ll have the chance to demonstrate your skills through assessments and earn certifications that showcase your proficiency within the platform. To kick things off we have launched two courses: 

1. Beefree 101: If you’re new to Beefree this course is the ideal starting point. We’ll walk you through the basic functions and features through step-by-step guides. Certified team members can then train colleagues, creating a ripple effect of improved productivity and design standards throughout the organization.

Beefree 101 academy course and certification
Take the course

2. HubSpot x Beefree: This course is perfect for HubSpot users looking to supercharge and streamline their email marketing with Beefree. Through this course and certification, you and your team can learn how to design personalized, mobile-optimized, and engaging campaigns in Beefree for HubSpot. 

For organizations, having team members become Beefree certified can standardize email design processes across the company ensuring that all campaigns are consistent in quality and adherence to email design best practices. 

HubSpot and Beefree academy course and certification
Take the course

Tutorials and walkthroughs: 

Our comprehensive tutorials and walkthroughs are designed to help zero in on a particular aspect of Beefree and email design. These step-by-step guides are perfect for users who prefer a hands-on approach to learning. 

By providing these instructional resources, we aim to eliminate confusion or uncertainty, allowing you and your team to realize value from the start and adopt Beefree with confidence.

Beefree academy tutorials
View all tutorials

Enroll now – it’s free! 

The Beefree Academy certification is designed to fit seamlessly into the busy lives of busy professionals, allowing you to learn at your own pace and enhance your skills on a schedule that works for you. Whether you’re aiming to elevate your current expertise or start a new journey in email design, Beefree Academy offers flexible, high-value learning that you can access anytime, anywhere – completely free.

Ready to take your email design skills to the next level? Enroll in the Beefree Academy today and start building the expertise that will set you apart! 

The reality of Gen AI

From streamlining workflows to enhancing creativity, AI offers intriguing opportunities for businesses and individuals alike. Learn how Beefree's Senior Content Marketing Specialist is navigating the world of GenAI and making it their superpower for all things content creation.
Emily Santos
Nov 7, 2024

Through my years in the tech industry, there have been few innovations that have generated as much excitement – and anxiety – as generative AI (GenAI). While AI has changed how I work and create for the better, I will admit that it also came with a period of fear and pushback. I have seen the way new technologies come and go and are quickly forgotten. And, the headlines painting GenAI as a “job-stealing superpower poised to replace us all” did not make me feel any better. 

The turning point for me came on a random weekday when I turned to my now good pal, ChatGPT, to help me write a brief for a blog. It took some back-and-forth, but the final result turned out to be something I was really proud of. Since then, the integration of GenAI into my workflows has been slow, but intentional. 

While I do still believe there are legitimate concerns to have about AI, and not all anxiety is unfounded, some of it is based on fear-mongering. I don’t necessarily believe that we should lean into the dystopian “AI takeover” tropes. While captivating, these arguments often overlook the ways that GenAI can help us to be more imaginative, free us up to do more, and spark creative problem-solving. 

I don’t plan to convince you to use AI (not today at least), but I do hope that you leave today with some insight on the possibilities of AI.

Addressing your concerns: When is fear warranted?

I haven’t been beating around the bush yet and I won’t start now. There’s no denying that GenAI has the potential to reshape certain jobs and industries. The World Economic Forum (WEF) in their “The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” identifies administrative, clerical, and even content-related roles at higher risk due to their structured and repetitive nature. 

AI excels in pattern recognition, data processing, and performing repetitive tasks, which means that roles where predictability is high, creative input is low, and that have clear instructions can be programmed into an AI system and automated. 

While there’s a plethora of other resources on the “negative” impact of AI on the workforce – I want to challenge us to look a bit beyond. What happens when aspects of our jobs are automated or AI-supported? What does that allow us to do more of? What are the limits of AI?  

The reality: AI has nothing on you

Luckily for us, AI struggles to have an intuitive understanding of nuance. The magic of AI lies in what we do with the information it provides us and AI can’t replicate that.  Our superpower lies in our ability to be creative, our ability to feel, and our very unique human experience.

For example, the brief for this article you are reading was written with help from ChatGPT, and the research to put this together was gathered from Perplexity (verified by me afterward, of course). While these tools were quick to pull facts and suggest ideas, they lack the human experience and emotional intelligence to tell a story about why AI may be scary for folks like you and me—regardless of how much prompting.  

As a content creator, I refuse to see GenAI as a replacement for what I do. Rather, I know that my human experience, when paired with AI’s limitless knowledge, can propel my skills to new heights. 

How folks are using GenAI in their everyday 

The reality (I guess, really, in my opinion) is that GenAI works best when used to complement our expertise. Yeah, it can crunch numbers and even make solid recommendations, but it can’t adapt, empathize, or make strategic decisions when the stakes are high like we can. In these roles, AI may help carry the load, but it’s not steering the ship. 

Here’s how the Beefree team is using AI: 

Marketing Program Manager 

"Sometimes I default to being too straight and to the point when giving feedback on a project, or similar things, so I ask AI for help revising my feedback to be more clear and less “blunt.”

Afterwards, I ask it to explain the types of changes it has made so I can learn and internalize the lessons moving forward to improve on delivering feedback.

AI helps me to be more intentional and empathetic in my communication. I don’t just use it to revise, but also to help teach and aid me in growing as a professional."

- Samantha Hoffmann, Marketing Program Manager

CEO 

"What I use the most these days is AI-assisted search. I very rarely use Google search anymore. My go-to is Perplexity Pro, which I use as an assistant when I need to research topics, figure out best practices to follow in certain situations, and overall try to become better at my job."

- Masssimo Arrigoni, CEO

Corporate Communication Specialist 

"I frequently use AI to check my English. For example, I write copy and ask it to verify the accuracy. It often suggests changes, and after some back-and-forth, I work toward creating a polished and more captivating version."

- Elisa Battigelli, Corporate Communication Specialist

Head of Product 

"One way I use AI is for brainstorming. I provide as much context as possible—notes, references, and ideas—to help build a detailed outline for a topic. From there, I request multiple iterations, sometimes adding additional context, asking the AI to be wild and creative with it, or challenging the initial output.

This approach doesn’t give me a finished text I can use directly, but it generates a rich set of ideas and points that I can further research."

- Guille Padilla, Head of Product 

Backend Engineering Associate Manager

"I use AI for my searches and questions on almost every topic, including the more technical around software development."

- Roberto Pomoni, Backend Engineering Associate Manager

Senior Full Stack Developer 

"Aside from brainstorming and summarizing long reads, I use AI on a more technical side to write boilerplate/repetitive code (that always needs to be checked) and manage the time allotment for my working tasks through MotionAi."

- Lica Filice, Senior Full Stack Developer 

Head of People & Culture

"I use AI to help me transform my messy notes more comprehensively to make them easy to share. It also helps me summarize long readings, optimize written communication, get drafts for policy/docs, and get benchmarks and comparisons." 

- Enrica Lipari, Head of People & Culture

What now? Staying relevant and evolving with GenAI

As I said earlier, I’m not here to convince you that AI is right for you, but I will say AI isn’t going anywhere. Instead, it will continue to expand into more areas of work and industries, and its capabilities will only become stronger with time. 

My plan is to lean into this. Dedicate myself to learning and evolving with it. And double down on my expertise. AI makes my job much easier by doing things like helping me write briefs and retrieve data. By letting AI take on my repetitive taks, I gain something even more valuable: time. 

For myself and so many others, this extra time allows us to step away from mundane everyday tasks and spend more time thinking strategically and creatively about the impactful decisions that make a real difference in our work. 

Leaning into AI wasn’t a decision made to stay “relevant” or “head of the curve.” It was about amplifying what makes me and my contributions invaluable. So I ask you: What do you want to do more of? What can you let go of to do this? 

How to Personalize Emails in Mailchimp using Beefree

Step-by-step guide on how to personalize your Mailchimp emails using Beefree.
Zair Ortiz
Oct 30, 2024

In the world of email marketing, personalization is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. According to a study by Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened, while segmented email campaigns can generate up to a 760% increase in revenue. Considering these resounding analytics, it’s clear that sending the right message to the right audience at the right time is critical to your email marketing success.

But how do you go beyond just inserting someone’s first name into an email? 

The answer lies in leveraging tools like conditional merge tags, which are available in sending platforms like Mailchimp, and combining them with tools that can handle sophisticated email logic, like Beefree

These tools allow marketers to create hyper-targeted email experiences that speak directly to each recipient’s needs, preferences, and behaviors. 

Let’s walk through how you can design beautiful, personalized emails for Mailchimp using Beefree.

Understanding Mailchimp’s capabilities and limitations 

With over 11 million users, Mailchimp has established itself as a leading marketing platform that empowers marketers to deliver targeted and timely campaigns effectively. Among its robust features, its automation and segmentation capabilities stand out.

Mailchimp’s advanced segmentation tools allow you to target users based on behaviors, tags, or custom data, ensuring your messages reach the right audience. Meanwhile, its automation features make it easy to set up workflows, enabling you to deliver the right message at the perfect moment.

However, Mailchimp does have some limitations. Many users encounter a steep learning curve, and the platform's higher price point can be a concern. More importantly, users often find its design capabilities somewhat lacking, which can hinder their ability to create visually compelling and truly personalized campaigns.

This is why many choose to use Beefree in conjunction with Mailchimp. This easy integration allows marketers to leverage Mailchimp’s powerful segmentation tools to categorize subscribers based on various criteria such as demographics, purchase history, or engagement levels. They then use Beefree to design personalized emails that align with each group's preferences and behaviors.

Thanks to Beefree’s seamless integration with Mailchimp, users can easily export their emails and utilize Mailchimp’s automation features to trigger these personalized messages. This synergy between Beefree's design capabilities and Mailchimp's automation and segmentation features maximizes engagement and conversion rates while enhancing the overall customer experience.

How to personalize mailchimp emails in Beefree

The foundation of a successful personalized email campaign is a well-designed email that adapts to different audience segments. Beefree makes this process simple with its drag-and-drop editor.

Step #1: Start from a template 

If you’re not sure where to start in creating a personalized campaign, Beefree offers an extensive library of Mailchimp-compatible templates.  

Mailchimp email templates
https://beefree.io/templates/mailchimp

Begin by selecting a template that aligns with your campaign's objective, whether it’s a promotional email, newsletter, or seasonal message. You can then leverage Beefree’s modular editor to infuse your brand into the emails and add content blocks and interactive elements that are specific to different audience segments. 

Within the editor, tailor your email to offer unique experiences for mobile viewing using Mobile Design Mode.

Step #2: Add merge tags 

Merge tags are placeholder text that gets replaced by subscriber-specific data when the email is sent. Here’s how to use them in Beefree:

  1. Choose the section of content where you want to insert a personalized element. For example, you can add a placeholder for the recipient’s first name.

  2. Insert the Merge Tag – In Beefree, select an existing MailChimp merge tag or create a new one. You can select or add the |FNAME| tag for the recipient’s first name. This turns a generic greeting into something more personal. “Hi |FNAME|” becomes “Hi Jane” when Jane receives the email.

You can refer to Mailchimp’s Merge Tag Cheat Sheet to find additional merge tags you can easily copy and paste into Beefree to customize your email.

Step #3: Apply display conditions for personalized rows

You can set up rows of content that display only to certain segments of your audience using Mailchimp’s conditional merge tags.

These tags are snippets of code that control whether a section of content should appear based on specific data, such as whether someone is a VIP or a new subscriber.

Here is an example scenario: You want to show a special offer to VIP customers and a different one to new subscribers. To achieve this, you’ll use the following before and after logic in Beefree for the row containing the content for VIP customers:

*|IF:VIP="yes"|*
Hey *|FNAME|*, as a VIP, you get 20% off!
*|END:IF|*

For new subscribers, you’ll use the following before and after logic in Beefree for the row containing the content for new subscribers:

*|IF:VIP="no"|*
Welcome, *|FNAME|*! Get 10% off your first purchase.
*|END:IF|*

This logic ensures that only VIP customers see the first row, while new subscribers see the second one.

Implementing Display Conditions in Beefree

Display Conditions in Beefree apply to entire rows, allowing you to show different rows to different groups of recipients. This feature is incredibly useful for dynamically personalizing content at scale.

Here’s how to apply this logic in Beefree:

  1. Select the row that contains the personalized content.
  2. Set the Display Conditions – In the settings for that row, click “Display Conditions.” Copy and paste your Mailchimp logic (as shown above) into the condition box to control who will see the content.
  3. Repeat for other rows – If you have multiple rows with different offers or content for different segments, repeat the process, applying the appropriate logic for each row.

Optional: Multilingual designs 

Beefree’s Multilingual Designs enable users to design emails in multiple languages effortlessly. This is particularly beneficial for brands targeting international markets or diverse communities. 

Designing for multiple languages in Beefree:

  1. In the editor, click on the globe icon on the top bar
  2. Select a primary language from the drop-down menu
  3. Select the number of additional language (this varies by plan)

Once you add your Primary and Additional languages to your Multilingual Settings, you can add your translated content to each language design. The fastest way to translate your emails is by using Beefree’s AI Assistant. 

Step #4: Exporting your design to Mailchimp

Now that your email is designed with dynamic and personalized content, it's time to export it to Mailchimp, where you’ll handle audience segmentation and send the email.

  1. In Beefree, click “Export” and choose Mailchimp as the destination.
  2. Link your Mailchimp account – If it’s your first time, you’ll need to link your Mailchimp account to Beefree.
  3. Review in Mailchimp – Once the design is exported, log in to Mailchimp and check the email. Use Mailchimp’s preview tools to ensure your Merge Tags and Display Conditions are functioning correctly.

Ready to create more personalized emails?

Beefree and Mailchimp provide marketers with the perfect blend of design flexibility and powerful automation, enabling them to craft visually stunning emails that resonate with your audience. 

Start harnessing the full potential of your email campaigns today with Beefree

(source)

Excelling in Email Design With The Beefree Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that speed up email design. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further.
Beefree team
Beefree team
12 Nov
2024

As we continue to celebrate Beefree’s 10-year journey of innovation and creativity, we’re thrilled to mark this milestone with the launch of The Beefree Academy.

Beefree Academy
Visit the Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that make email design faster, smarter, and more impactful. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further by helping users build their expertise in email design and creation.

The inspiration behind the Beefree Academy 

When we envisioned Beefree Academy, we knew it had to be more than a series of product tutorials; it needed to be a resource that you could benefit from at every stage of your journey. 

The Beefree Academy is designed to inspire confidence, foster success, and provide ongoing support as you grow, enabling you and your team to get the most out of our platform – here’s how: 

Smooth and speedy onboarding:

Starting with a new platform can often be overwhelming and the time spent during onboarding is valuable. The Academy fast-tracks the learning process, offering structured, bite-sized lessons suitable for people of varying skill sets, from beginners to seasoned designers. Each lesson is designed to help you get comfortable with Beefree’s tools, so you can dive into projects quickly and with ease.

Explore new possibilities: 

Many users only scratch the surface of Beefree’s capabilities—we aim to change that. The Beefree Academy allows you to familiarize yourself with advanced features you might have been wary of before.

As you and your team grow from casual users to power users, you can gain more control over your email design, find new ways to optimize your workflows, and strengthen the impact of your campaigns. 

Troubleshoot like a pro:

Technical support is most effective when you have tried-and-true resources to solve challenges independently and on your own schedule. With Beefree Academy, you and your team can confidently troubleshoot independently by accessing targeted, step-by-step solutions whenever you need them. 

Advance your email marketing expertise: 

Beyond learning the platform, the Beefree Academy provides a comprehensive learning experience with valuable tips and best practices for email design and marketing. Soon, our lessons will extend far beyond the basics, guiding you through the process of creating visually compelling, high-converting email layouts while ensuring your designs follow proven best practices. 

You and your team will gain insights into crafting effective email marketing strategies that resonate with your audience, along with the skills to harness the power of AI in your campaigns. Additionally, we’ll explore the latest trends shaping the future of email design, empowering you to stay ahead of the curve and continually enhance your campaigns

What’s inside The Beefree Academy: 

Beefree Academy is thoughtfully designed to cater to users at all levels—from beginners just starting their email design journey to experienced designers looking to formalize their expertise in email design.

Courses:

The courses in Beefree Academy help users deepen their knowledge and understanding of the key tools and features within Beefree. As you complete courses, you’ll have the chance to demonstrate your skills through assessments and earn certifications that showcase your proficiency within the platform. To kick things off we have launched two courses: 

1. Beefree 101: If you’re new to Beefree this course is the ideal starting point. We’ll walk you through the basic functions and features through step-by-step guides. Certified team members can then train colleagues, creating a ripple effect of improved productivity and design standards throughout the organization.

Beefree 101 academy course and certification
Take the course

2. HubSpot x Beefree: This course is perfect for HubSpot users looking to supercharge and streamline their email marketing with Beefree. Through this course and certification, you and your team can learn how to design personalized, mobile-optimized, and engaging campaigns in Beefree for HubSpot. 

For organizations, having team members become Beefree certified can standardize email design processes across the company ensuring that all campaigns are consistent in quality and adherence to email design best practices. 

HubSpot and Beefree academy course and certification
Take the course

Tutorials and walkthroughs: 

Our comprehensive tutorials and walkthroughs are designed to help zero in on a particular aspect of Beefree and email design. These step-by-step guides are perfect for users who prefer a hands-on approach to learning. 

By providing these instructional resources, we aim to eliminate confusion or uncertainty, allowing you and your team to realize value from the start and adopt Beefree with confidence.

Beefree academy tutorials
View all tutorials

Enroll now – it’s free! 

The Beefree Academy certification is designed to fit seamlessly into the busy lives of busy professionals, allowing you to learn at your own pace and enhance your skills on a schedule that works for you. Whether you’re aiming to elevate your current expertise or start a new journey in email design, Beefree Academy offers flexible, high-value learning that you can access anytime, anywhere – completely free.

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The reality of Gen AI

From streamlining workflows to enhancing creativity, AI offers intriguing opportunities for businesses and individuals alike. Learn how Beefree's Senior Content Marketing Specialist is navigating the world of GenAI and making it their superpower for all things content creation.
Emily Santos
Emily Santos
7 Nov
2024

Through my years in the tech industry, there have been few innovations that have generated as much excitement – and anxiety – as generative AI (GenAI). While AI has changed how I work and create for the better, I will admit that it also came with a period of fear and pushback. I have seen the way new technologies come and go and are quickly forgotten. And, the headlines painting GenAI as a “job-stealing superpower poised to replace us all” did not make me feel any better. 

The turning point for me came on a random weekday when I turned to my now good pal, ChatGPT, to help me write a brief for a blog. It took some back-and-forth, but the final result turned out to be something I was really proud of. Since then, the integration of GenAI into my workflows has been slow, but intentional. 

While I do still believe there are legitimate concerns to have about AI, and not all anxiety is unfounded, some of it is based on fear-mongering. I don’t necessarily believe that we should lean into the dystopian “AI takeover” tropes. While captivating, these arguments often overlook the ways that GenAI can help us to be more imaginative, free us up to do more, and spark creative problem-solving. 

I don’t plan to convince you to use AI (not today at least), but I do hope that you leave today with some insight on the possibilities of AI.

Addressing your concerns: When is fear warranted?

I haven’t been beating around the bush yet and I won’t start now. There’s no denying that GenAI has the potential to reshape certain jobs and industries. The World Economic Forum (WEF) in their “The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” identifies administrative, clerical, and even content-related roles at higher risk due to their structured and repetitive nature. 

AI excels in pattern recognition, data processing, and performing repetitive tasks, which means that roles where predictability is high, creative input is low, and that have clear instructions can be programmed into an AI system and automated. 

While there’s a plethora of other resources on the “negative” impact of AI on the workforce – I want to challenge us to look a bit beyond. What happens when aspects of our jobs are automated or AI-supported? What does that allow us to do more of? What are the limits of AI?  

The reality: AI has nothing on you

Luckily for us, AI struggles to have an intuitive understanding of nuance. The magic of AI lies in what we do with the information it provides us and AI can’t replicate that.  Our superpower lies in our ability to be creative, our ability to feel, and our very unique human experience.

For example, the brief for this article you are reading was written with help from ChatGPT, and the research to put this together was gathered from Perplexity (verified by me afterward, of course). While these tools were quick to pull facts and suggest ideas, they lack the human experience and emotional intelligence to tell a story about why AI may be scary for folks like you and me—regardless of how much prompting.  

As a content creator, I refuse to see GenAI as a replacement for what I do. Rather, I know that my human experience, when paired with AI’s limitless knowledge, can propel my skills to new heights. 

How folks are using GenAI in their everyday 

The reality (I guess, really, in my opinion) is that GenAI works best when used to complement our expertise. Yeah, it can crunch numbers and even make solid recommendations, but it can’t adapt, empathize, or make strategic decisions when the stakes are high like we can. In these roles, AI may help carry the load, but it’s not steering the ship. 

Here’s how the Beefree team is using AI: 

Marketing Program Manager 

"Sometimes I default to being too straight and to the point when giving feedback on a project, or similar things, so I ask AI for help revising my feedback to be more clear and less “blunt.”

Afterwards, I ask it to explain the types of changes it has made so I can learn and internalize the lessons moving forward to improve on delivering feedback.

AI helps me to be more intentional and empathetic in my communication. I don’t just use it to revise, but also to help teach and aid me in growing as a professional."

- Samantha Hoffmann, Marketing Program Manager

CEO 

"What I use the most these days is AI-assisted search. I very rarely use Google search anymore. My go-to is Perplexity Pro, which I use as an assistant when I need to research topics, figure out best practices to follow in certain situations, and overall try to become better at my job."

- Masssimo Arrigoni, CEO

Corporate Communication Specialist 

"I frequently use AI to check my English. For example, I write copy and ask it to verify the accuracy. It often suggests changes, and after some back-and-forth, I work toward creating a polished and more captivating version."

- Elisa Battigelli, Corporate Communication Specialist

Head of Product 

"One way I use AI is for brainstorming. I provide as much context as possible—notes, references, and ideas—to help build a detailed outline for a topic. From there, I request multiple iterations, sometimes adding additional context, asking the AI to be wild and creative with it, or challenging the initial output.

This approach doesn’t give me a finished text I can use directly, but it generates a rich set of ideas and points that I can further research."

- Guille Padilla, Head of Product 

Backend Engineering Associate Manager

"I use AI for my searches and questions on almost every topic, including the more technical around software development."

- Roberto Pomoni, Backend Engineering Associate Manager

Senior Full Stack Developer 

"Aside from brainstorming and summarizing long reads, I use AI on a more technical side to write boilerplate/repetitive code (that always needs to be checked) and manage the time allotment for my working tasks through MotionAi."

- Lica Filice, Senior Full Stack Developer 

Head of People & Culture

"I use AI to help me transform my messy notes more comprehensively to make them easy to share. It also helps me summarize long readings, optimize written communication, get drafts for policy/docs, and get benchmarks and comparisons." 

- Enrica Lipari, Head of People & Culture

What now? Staying relevant and evolving with GenAI

As I said earlier, I’m not here to convince you that AI is right for you, but I will say AI isn’t going anywhere. Instead, it will continue to expand into more areas of work and industries, and its capabilities will only become stronger with time. 

My plan is to lean into this. Dedicate myself to learning and evolving with it. And double down on my expertise. AI makes my job much easier by doing things like helping me write briefs and retrieve data. By letting AI take on my repetitive taks, I gain something even more valuable: time. 

For myself and so many others, this extra time allows us to step away from mundane everyday tasks and spend more time thinking strategically and creatively about the impactful decisions that make a real difference in our work. 

Leaning into AI wasn’t a decision made to stay “relevant” or “head of the curve.” It was about amplifying what makes me and my contributions invaluable. So I ask you: What do you want to do more of? What can you let go of to do this? 

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