A faster way to create and update email agendas with Stripo’s widget

An email agenda may look like a simple list of sessions, but building one involves quite a bit of repetitive work.

Imagine you’re preparing an agenda for a webinar with six speakers. For each speaker, you need to add their name, a photo, and the time, title, and description of the presentation. Then you have to place each element in the right container, adjust the spacing and alignment, and repeat the process for every session. When details change, you also need to update the relevant elements and check that the layout still looks right.

In this article, we’ll look at how to build agendas manually and with reusable modules, where these methods fall short, and how Stripo’s Agenda widget can make agenda creation and updates easier. We’ll also explore three examples that demonstrate how you can use the widget in different email scenarios.

Why email agendas take more time than they should

An agenda presents a schedule or any step-by-step process in an easy-to-follow format. Recipients can quickly see what happens next and when each step takes place.

Agendas can be useful across industries. Event organizers can share programs for webinars and conferences. Education companies can list classes or workshops, while HR teams can outline employee training or onboarding. Travel companies can present tour itineraries, and SaaS businesses can guide customers through product onboarding steps. In each case, an agenda helps recipients understand what to expect and gives marketers a clear way to organize information in email campaigns.

An agenda is a set of repeating items that can change frequently. It needs a clear structure and layout so readers can follow the order of events or steps.

What makes an agenda difficult to work with?

1. The same structure repeats several times. Each agenda item may include the speaker’s name, a photo, and the talk’s time, title, and description. Marketers have to create and format each entry, then make sure all elements are aligned and follow the same layout. 
2. Changes can happen at the last minute. A speaker, talk time, or session order may change shortly before an email goes out. Depending on the layout, even a small edit can require additional formatting to keep the agenda consistent.
3. The layout can break on mobile devices. Columns may stack differently on smaller screens, and text or other elements may no longer line up as intended. Marketers need to check and adjust the layout to make sure the agenda remains easy to read on mobile devices.

Agendas can also be useful beyond multiple-speaker event schedules and conference programs. Let’s look at three examples and the problems marketers may face when working with agendas in their emails.

Webinar agenda with multiple speakers

The webinar agenda helps recipients see who is speaking, what each talk covers, and when each session takes place.

If a webinar has three speakers, each entry needs a time, speaker name, talk title, short description, and photo. That makes three entries with five elements each. The marketer needs to arrange these elements consistently and make sure the layout works on both desktop and mobile devices.

When building the email manually, marketers may encounter problems during layout adjustments. On mobile devices, photos may shift out of place, and the talk time and title may no longer fit on the same line. Each block then needs individual adjustments.

Suppose that, a day before an event, one speaker changes their talk time. This shifts the other speakers’ schedules, so the marketer has to rework the entire agenda section.

(Source: Email from Miro)

Onboarding plan for a new client or employee 

An agenda block can also come in handy for onboarding a new client or employee. The process usually involves several steps, and an agenda gives recipients a clear overview of what happens at each stage.

A client who is still learning how your agency works needs details about what happens, when, how, and who is responsible for each step. You could explain everything in a text message: a call on Tuesday, a brief by Thursday, the first draft a week later, and a results presentation two weeks after that. Still, the client might email you to ask, “When is our call?”

An agenda gives marketers a way to organize this information. Add the date, title, and description for each step. Replace the speaker’s name with the name of the project manager or another person responsible for that stage. Use the description to explain what the client can expect. A structured layout makes it easier to find the information and save you a few follow-ups.

The same approach works for HR onboarding. Use the agenda to outline a new employee’s first day, including a document review, a team meeting, and an introduction to their mentor.

(Source: Email from Apollo.io)

Delivery timeline template

An agenda can help customers understand what happens after they place an order. A company can use it to outline the typical stages of the delivery process, explain what happens at each stage, and set expectations.

For example, an email can include a timeline covering order confirmation, processing, shipping, and delivery. Each stage can have a title and a short description explaining what it involves.

This type of agenda works as a reusable informational template. It helps customers understand the process before their order arrives, while the actual order status and delivery updates can be shared through separate transactional emails.

(Source: Email from flora&fauna)

Ways to build an agenda in the Stripo editor

As you can see, an agenda can be useful in many situations, so you don’t have to rule it out just because your company doesn’t host webinars or other training events.

In the Stripo editor, you can build an agenda in two ways.

1. The first option is to build the agenda manually.

Choose a layout, fill each container with content, and adjust image sizes, spacing, and fonts. You’ll also need to align the elements and set the font colors.

2. The second option is to use modules.

This method is a little easier than building manually. Choose a ready-made module from the shared library, or use your own module if you’ve created one before. Replace the existing content and adjust the other details, such as fonts, colors, the number of speakers, and buttons.

Both methods have their limitations. Building an agenda manually takes time, especially when you need to arrange several elements consistently. You have to copy and paste content repeatedly, adjust the layout, and make sure everything looks right.

A ready-made module gives you a starting point, but editing it can still cause layout issues. Moving or changing one element may affect others in unexpected ways. Whenever the agenda changes, you may need to adjust the layout and check it again.

Accessibility adds another layer of work. Text should remain readable when enlarged; screen reader users should be able to follow a logical reading order; colors should provide sufficient contrast; and images that contain important information should have alt text. These details need to be set up and checked when you create an agenda, and reviewed again after you change its content or design.

Meet the Agenda widget

Stripo widgets are ready-made content blocks designed to simplify repetitive editing tasks. You can add them to emails and customize their content and layout using simple AI prompts.

The Agenda widget is a reusable email component that combines the agenda layout, content, and customization options into a single module. Its AI Assistant lets you make changes by describing what you need, without manually adjusting dozens of settings.

Drag the widget into the spot you want, and the magic begins. Well, not exactly magic, but it’s much easier than copying and pasting the same elements six times.

Back to our six-speaker webinar. When building it manually, you have to add each speaker’s details, place them in the right containers, and check that everything lines up. If the schedule changes and two speakers swap places, you’ll need to move their information and check the layout again.

With the Agenda widget, you can give the AI Assistant your session details and tell it how to arrange the content. For example, enter the time, speaker, and title, and the widget will add the information to the right containers and align the elements for you. You can also type, “Swap speakers 2 and 3,” and the widget will do it in one step, without any manual adjustments.

If your instructions are unclear or incomplete, the AI Assistant asks follow-up questions and flags missing information.

You can even ask the AI Assistant, “What can I change?” It will list the available options and point out anything you’ve missed, such as speaker photos. It may suggest adding those.

The widget also helps meet several accessibility requirements:

• alt text: The widget uses image file names as the default alt text for speaker photos and other images. Use descriptive file names to provide meaningful alt text, or update the alt text through the AI Assistant chat;
• reading order: The time, session title, speaker details, and description follow a logical sequence within each agenda item, allowing screen readers to present the information in that order;
• color contrast: The widget provides color combinations designed to maintain sufficient text contrast in light and dark modes;
• mobile layout: The content remains readable on mobile screens;
• HTML heading structure: The agenda title and session headings use appropriate HTML heading elements;
• list semantics: The widget uses role="list" and role="listitem" attributes to help screen readers identify the event entries as a list.

These features support accessible email design, but they don’t replace checking the final email. Review the email after making changes, especially if you adjust colors or the layout.

What you can change in the widget with the AI Assistant 

The AI Assistant chat lets you adjust the agenda layout; add, remove, or reorder sessions; insert images; hide elements on mobile devices; and change colors, spacing, and typography. It can also edit and translate text.

Within each agenda session, you can add, edit, or remove individual elements, including the time, title, speaker name, description, photo, and alt text. These changes don't require rebuilding the entire agenda.

Here are a few prompts you can try:

• “Change the agenda layout”;
• “Translate the agenda into German”;
• “Add the speaker’s name [first and last name] and photo to the agenda. They will be the fourth speaker. Indicate that this speaker’s presentation will be online”;
• “Swap speakers 2 and 3, along with their presentation topics and descriptions”;
• “Adjust the speakers’ presentation times so that they follow in order. Set each speaker’s presentation to one hour and schedule the sessions back to back”.

 

Once you’re happy with the content and design, save the agenda as a new module so you can reuse it in future email campaigns.

Wrapping up

An agenda can serve many purposes across industries, from conference schedules to client onboarding and delivery timelines. Creating one manually takes time, especially when you need to add multiple items or update the content as plans change. The Agenda widget helps you handle these tasks through AI prompts, so you can spend less time adjusting individual elements.

Start by looking at your email campaigns. Where have you used agendas, and how often do you need to create or update them? Campaigns where you create or update agendas are good places to try the widget and see how it fits into your workflow.