Note: These instructions are written for migrating an email template from WhatCounts to Vertical Response. Depending on the systems in question this information might vary slightly.

Assuming that you're not doing any sort of redesign and simply want to move your email template from one system to another, here are some guidelines to keep in mind to make it succussful:

Images

Take stock of where your images are hosted. If they are hosted with your existing Email Service Provider (ESP) you will need to move the images either to your website or to the new ESP.

The best way to determine where images are hosted is to look at the URL in the source code of the template. In WhatCounts all image URLs start with:

http://media.whatcounts.com/

Any images with a URL this this will need to either be moved to your website or to the new ESP. In practice, storing image on your website works out better in the long run.

After moving the image files, you will then need to change the image URLs in your template to reflect their new location.

Links

Take a look at any links that are in your tempalte and see if they don't also need to be changed. In particular look for:

• Forward to a Friend
• View in a Web Browser
• Mail merge fields or links
• Unsubscribe link
• Profile management link

These links almost certainly point back to your old ESP and will have to be updated for your new ESP

Footer

In Vertical Response, and many other ESPs, the service itself will create a footer for you containing:

• The unsubscribe link
• Profile management link
• Postal address

If these items are in your template, remove them as they will be provided automatically for you.