Best Bites eDM Guidelines
Thanks for booking an eDM with Best Bites. We aim to provide the best service possible to enable you to get the most from our mailing database. This is a popular service and is usually fully booked, so we’ve put guidelines in place to enable a smooth and efficient process.
Copy required for a solus eDM that Best Bites are designing in-house
Please download and complete the form below.
What's required?
- A suggested subject for the eDM (may be adjusted by Best Bites)
- Copy for an opening statement/introduction (160 words) and an image (16:9 max 1MB)
- Copy for 2, 4 or 6 feature boxes. Word limit for each is 100, including the heading, date, time and price
- One image to support each feature cropped to 5:4 landscape and max 1MB
- The attached images should be named to match the feature
- 1 link for each feature - booking page, social media, or the Best Bites app
- Best Bites reserves the right to amend copy and tone for our audience
DOWNLOAD, COMPLETE AND RETURN THE TEMPLATE HERE
Copy required for a shared eDM
Please download and complete the form below.
What's required?
- A suggested heading for your feature (may be adjusted by Best Bites)
- Copy for your feature: max 100 words including the heading, date, time and price
- One image to support each feature cropped to 5:4 1MB
- The attached images should be named to match the feature
- 1 link for each feature - booking page, social media, or the Best Bites app
- Best Bites reserves the right to amend copy and tone of voice for our audience
DOWNLOAD, COMPLETE AND RETURN THE TEMPLATE HERE
Supplying your own HTML email
If you’d like to provide your own coded email for us to upload into the Best Bites UAE Mailchimp system, please follow the guidelines below.
1. Send the email as an HTML file
Please provide either:
- A complete .html file, or
- The full HTML code pasted into an email or Google Doc
Do not send Word documents, PDFs, screenshots, or partial code.
2. Make sure it’s email-compatible
Your HTML should:
- Use a table-based layout
- Include inline styling
- Avoid JavaScript or unsupported elements
3. Images must be hosted online
All images must use full web URLs (not local file paths or attachments).
4. No footer or unsubscribe links
Please don’t include unsubscribe or compliance footer content — Best Bites UAE will add this.
5. Send only the main email content
Include the header, body, buttons, and images only.
6. How to send it
You can send your final email as:
- A complete .html file (preferred)
- The full HTML code pasted into an email or Google Doc
- Or a single ZIP file containing everything
You cannot design an email in your own Mailchimp account and simply copy/paste the code into ours. Mailchimp templates include account-specific styling, tracking, and footer elements that won’t transfer correctly between systems. This can cause formatting issues, broken links, or missing compliance content when uploaded. Please provide a standalone HTML file (or ZIP) built outside of Mailchimp so it can be properly loaded into the Best Bites UAE account.
7. Tips to get the most value out of this service:
- If you’re describing a promotion, people want to know exactly what is included for food and entertainment and what makes you stand out from the crowd.
- Don’t be vague unless you are doing so intentionally to get people to click through to your website which does detail the full information. eg ‘a bucket of hops’ should be 'a bucket of 6 bottles of Corona', ‘a turkey takeaway with all the trimmings’ is too vague, you need to say 'turkey takeaway includes a 4kg roasted turkey, mashed potatoes …'
- Bullet points work well for people to digest this sort of information
- Images guidelines: Pictures of food are most attractive to our audience. If you do use an interior or view, it must be aesthetically pleasing - no empty, stark restaurant shots.
- Don’t make it too long! If you have to scroll down when you view it on a desktop, then it might be too long and readers won't read until the end.
For examples of previous eDMs, please see the links below
Solus eDM
https://mailchi.mp/ad1f2cbfe024/whats-on-at-craft
https://mailchi.mp/07b2f401656a/celebrate-eid-at-fairmont-bab-al-bahr
Shared eDM
https://mailchi.mp/ba3c15951ab1/is-your-staycay-mode-on
https://mailchi.mp/97c8c8bd0c06/easter-sunday-sorted
Client-designed eDM
https://mailchi.mp/3cef2579aded/discover-seed-bloom-caf-cooking-experiences
https://mailchi.mp/d07a281e87ec/saturday-brunch-at-the-directors-club
Terms & conditions:
- Best Bites will not send out any communication that is not clear and informative and therefore not useful to our audience
- Template forms should be returned at least 7 days before the scheduled eDM send date.
- If the required information and images are not provided in the correct format within this timeframe, the booking may be forfeited. In such cases, Best Bites may be unable to reschedule the eDM, and the full service fee could still apply.
