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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsBenchmark’s Claude Skill can draft a branded marketing email as email-oriented HTML, but it is not a built-in Benchmark Email editor feature. Download the skill from Benchmark’s HTML Email Agent page, install it in Claude, refine the generated code, then paste or upload that code in Benchmark Email under Emails > Create New Email > Custom HTML. Add your account’s merge tags in Benchmark, test the finished message in real clients and on a phone, and only then send it.
The official how-to was published September 9, 2026. Claude’s labels can change, so use the current wording shown in your account while following the workflow below.
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What Benchmark’s Claude Skill does
The skill is a downloadable resource that you install in your Claude account. It gives Claude instructions for producing custom HTML intended for marketing email. Benchmark Email remains the place where you import the result, add account-specific personalization, run the final checks, and send the campaign.
This division matters: the skill does not automatically connect Claude to your contact lists or campaign account. It also cannot know the merge-tag syntax configured for your Benchmark account. Treat its output as a draft that needs human review, not as a promise of identical rendering in every inbox.
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Benchmark’s separate HTML Email Agent page also offers a reusable prompt. That prompt can be used with an assistant by copying the instructions and requesting HTML for Benchmark’s editor. The same page says the prompt works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot; the Claude Skill is the option for keeping the instructions installed in Claude for repeated use. A ChatGPT custom GPT is described there as “Coming soon,” so check the page before relying on that option.
What you need before starting
- A Claude account. The reviewed official material confirms the account requirement but does not establish which current subscription plans include Skills.
- Access to Benchmark Email with permission to create or edit an email.
- Your campaign brief: objective, audience, offer or story, call to action, destination URLs, approved images, logo location, brand colors, and the order of sections.
- The final sender details, recipient list, subject line, preview text, and any fallback wording needed when a contact field is empty.
You do not need specialist GitHub knowledge. Benchmark’s download is hosted through GitHub, but the practical task is downloading the provided skill file and uploading it in Claude.
Step 1: Download the Claude Skill
- Open Benchmark Email’s HTML Email Agent page.
- Choose the download labeled for the Claude Skill. The page also displays the portable prompt, so confirm that you are downloading the skill rather than merely copying the prompt.
- Save the downloaded file somewhere you can find it. Benchmark’s guide says the download is hosted through GitHub; you can use the normal browser download controls without editing the files.
The download is a one-time setup for your Claude account. Keep the original file if your team may need to reinstall the skill later.
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Step 2: Install the skill in Claude
- Open Claude in either the desktop application or the web version.
- Open Settings, then choose Skills. Interface labels may change, so look for the account area where skills are uploaded or managed.
- Upload the skill file you downloaded from Benchmark.
- Wait for the upload to finish and confirm that the skill appears in your available skills.
Benchmark describes this as a one-time installation. Afterward, the skill should be available in new conversations. Start a fresh conversation for each campaign so the brief and revisions stay focused; if Claude does not show the skill, check that you are signed into the account where you installed it and repeat the upload using the current Settings interface.
Step 3: Write a brief Claude can turn into useful email HTML
The quality of the first draft depends on the specificity of your brief. Give Claude the decisions a designer and email developer would otherwise have to infer.
Define the campaign job
State whether the message is a promotion, newsletter, product announcement, welcome email, event invitation, or another purpose. Explain the action you want the recipient to take and who the audience is. A discount email for existing customers needs different copy and emphasis from a welcome message for new subscribers.
Supply the content and links
- Offer details, dates, eligibility rules, and any required disclaimer.
- Headline, supporting copy, button label, and the exact destination URL for every call to action.
- Links for navigation, social profiles, preference management, or other footer elements that must appear.
- Image files or stable image URLs, plus alternative text and the intended role of each image.
Ask Claude to preserve the URLs exactly as supplied. After generation, open each link yourself; a plausible-looking button is not evidence that its destination is correct.
Describe the visual system
- Brand colors as hex values, including background, text, button, and accent colors.
- Logo location and any constraints on its width or placement.
- Preferred typography, hierarchy, spacing, border treatment, and image proportions.
- Existing brand guidelines or a reference template that Claude should follow.
Also specify the section order, such as preheader, logo, hero, offer, supporting benefits, testimonial, secondary call to action, and footer. If a section is optional, say so rather than allowing it to be invented.
Example of a complete brief
Use the Benchmark email skill to create a responsive marketing email for our existing subscribers.Goal: announce a 20% spring sale, ending April 30.
Primary CTA: “Shop the spring sale” linking to https://example.com/spring-sale
Secondary CTA: “See the new arrivals” linking to https://example.com/new
Brand colors: navy #12345A, coral #F26B5B, cream #FFF8EE, body text #202020.
Logo: use the supplied logo at the top, centered, with descriptive alt text.
Sections in order: preheader, logo, hero image, headline, offer copy, primary button, three benefit cards, secondary button, footer.
Keep copy concise, use a table-based email layout, include meaningful alt text, and avoid inventing claims or links.
Return complete HTML suitable for Benchmark Email’s Custom HTML editor.Replace the example values with your approved content. If you have a brand guide, tell Claude where it applies instead of assuming the model will infer your standards from a logo alone.
Step 4: Generate, inspect, and iterate in the same conversation
- Start a new Claude conversation and explicitly ask it to use the Benchmark email skill.
- Paste the complete brief and request the full HTML output.
- Review the rendered preview and the source. Check the section order, wording, hierarchy, colors, image references, button labels, and every URL.
- Send targeted revision requests in that conversation. For example, ask for a smaller headline, a shorter hero paragraph, higher button contrast, a simpler footer, or a different mobile stacking order.
- After each revision, recheck the code rather than assuming a narrow request changed only one element.
The workflow also supports creating variations and subject-line options. Ask for those as separate, clearly labeled alternatives so your team can choose deliberately instead of replacing approved copy accidentally.
What to check in the HTML draft
- Content: spelling, offer terms, dates, legal copy, and calls to action match the approved brief.
- Links: buttons, images, logo links, navigation, and footer links point to the intended destinations.
- Images: sources are available to recipients, alternative text is useful, and the layout still communicates when images are blocked.
- Branding: colors, logo treatment, spacing, and type hierarchy are consistent with your guidelines.
- Accessibility: heading order is understandable, link text is descriptive, contrast is readable, and important information is not conveyed only by an image.
- Responsive behavior: columns, buttons, and text remain usable at a narrow phone width.
Claude may produce email-oriented markup, but no generated file can guarantee perfect behavior in every client. Keep a human approval step before import.
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Step 5: Move the HTML into Benchmark Email
- Sign in to Benchmark Email.
- Go to Emails > Create New Email > Custom HTML.
- Choose whether to paste Claude’s generated HTML into the editor or upload the HTML file.
- Save the message, then inspect the editor’s preview and any available desktop or mobile views.
Benchmark’s guide notes that a logo can look broken in Claude’s preview yet display correctly in Benchmark’s editor. Conversely, a clean preview is not proof that an inbox will render it identically. Verify the imported result in Benchmark and continue with real-client tests.
Step 6: Add Benchmark merge tags yourself
Merge tags vary by account and contact-field configuration, so the skill cannot safely insert the correct syntax for you. Add personalization in Benchmark’s HTML editor after importing the draft.
- Identify the fields you actually have populated, such as a first name or company name.
- Insert the corresponding merge tag using Benchmark’s editor controls or documented account syntax.
- Write fallback text for an empty field. For example, ensure the greeting remains natural when a first name is missing rather than leaving a blank space or raw tag.
- Preview the message with a contact record that contains the field and another that does not.
Do not ask Claude to guess your account’s merge-tag format. A tag that looks reasonable in the source can appear as literal text or fail during sending if it does not match your account.
Step 7: Complete the sending checklist and test
- Confirm the recipient list and suppression or exclusion rules.
- Enter the final subject line and preview text.
- Check the sender name and sender address.
- Send a test message to yourself and to other reviewers.
- Inspect the test in Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail, and open it on a phone. Check both a wide desktop view and a narrow mobile view.
- Click every important button and link, verify images and alt text, and confirm that merge tags and fallback text display correctly.
- Return to the editor to fix any issue, send another test, and repeat until the approved version is the one queued for delivery.
Testing is essential even when the generated HTML looks “email-safe.” Email clients implement HTML and CSS differently, and the official guide recommends checking actual clients rather than promising universal compatibility.
Prompt versus installed Skill: which workflow fits?
Benchmark’s agent page presents two supported ways to use its instructions. Choose based on how often you create emails and which assistant your team uses.
| Aspect | Portable prompt | Claude Skill |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Copy the prompt and provide it when you request an email. | Download once and upload it through Claude’s Settings > Skills. |
| Where instructions live | In the prompt you supply for each conversation. | In the installed skill available to new Claude conversations. |
| Best fit | Occasional work or teams using different assistants. | Repeated email production in Claude. |
| Assistant choice | Benchmark says the prompt works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot. | Designed for use within Claude after installation. |
| Output destination | HTML you paste into Benchmark Email’s editor. | HTML you paste or upload into Benchmark Email’s Custom HTML editor. |
Neither route removes the review, merge-tag, import, or testing steps. The practical difference is whether you carry the instructions into each request or keep them installed for repeated Claude work.
Common problems and fixes
The skill does not appear in Claude
Confirm that the upload completed in the account you are currently using, then start a new conversation. Claude’s interface may use updated labels, so look again under the current Settings area for Skills. If the problem persists, download a fresh copy from Benchmark’s agent page and upload it again.
The logo is missing in a preview
Check the imported message in Benchmark before discarding the draft. Benchmark specifically notes that a logo may look broken in Claude’s preview but display in its editor. If it is still missing after import, verify the image source, accessibility text, dimensions, and whether the host permits retrieval by email clients.
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A merge tag appears as text
Remove the guessed tag and insert the account-specific version from Benchmark’s editor. Test with both populated and empty contact fields, and add fallback wording for the empty case.
The email looks different across clients
Compare the actual test messages in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and a phone. Simplify fragile layout or styling, keep critical information in live text, and retest after every change. Generated HTML is a starting point; it is not a rendering guarantee.
You want to edit an existing template
Provide Claude with the existing HTML or a clearly described template, identify the sections that must remain unchanged, and list the exact edits you want. Ask it to return the complete revised file, then inspect the source for accidental changes to links, tracking attributes, images, and footer content before importing it into Custom HTML.
A repeatable production checklist
- Download the Claude Skill from Benchmark’s HTML Email Agent page and install it in Claude.
- Brief the campaign goal, audience, content, links, assets, colors, logo, and section order.
- Generate the HTML and request focused revisions in the same conversation.
- Review copy, URLs, images, accessibility, branding, and mobile structure.
- Paste or upload the approved HTML at Emails > Create New Email > Custom HTML.
- Insert Benchmark account merge tags and configure fallback text.
- Complete recipient, subject, preview-text, and sender checks.
- Test in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and on a phone before sending.
Final recommendation
Use the Claude Skill when you regularly build branded emails and want Benchmark’s instructions available in new Claude conversations. Keep the portable prompt as an alternative for occasional work or teams using multiple assistants. In either case, the reliable process is brief, generate, inspect, import, personalize in Benchmark, and test in real inboxes before delivery. The official workflow and download are documented by Benchmark at How to Create an HTML Email Using Benchmark’s Claude Skill.
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