Prior to constructing your email, make sure that your message is clear and concise. Develop and refine what you want to say so that readers don't lose interest or get confused about what your call-to-action is. What is your offer? How will reading and clicking through this email help the reader? Make sure they know what's in it for them. Before and during the building process, continually ask yourself, "What would I think if I got this in my inbox? Would I immediately delete it? Or worse, report it as spam?" Rule No. 1 -- don't be spam.
Even the most compelling message can be rendered ineffective if it's presented in an undesirable way to your readers. During this process you may encounter many challenges and obstacles. Your design team may want to create something striking and beautiful, but your audience may not want it. At the same time, don't throw readers for a loop with a design that is off-brand. Your email design should be able to flow well with the look of your website as well as any pieces collateral offered. Consistency is good. Also, design the email around your readers by responding to their personality. Are they tech savvy? Parents? Students?
2. Good looking Emails - Email design 2.0
We all know the basic components of email, but let's face it -- your emails have to be pretty sexy to be read in this day in age.
With the amount of email the average person gets bombarded with, email marketers need to be more targeted and relevant than ever as they continually strive to stand out. In this hectic email marketing landscape, it's very important to send precise emails that resonate strongly with your readers. This means never overlooking any aspect of your campaign.
Try using a campaign checklist to ensure you always send a well-designed, optimized email that will be more likely to get great results.
3. Layout, theme and the "F-technique"
The hierarchy of messaging is your secret weapon to great email design.
First, keep your layout simple and free from complex tables by avoiding unnecessary embedded rows and columns.
Second, make sure that you achieve balance between the amount of text and images your email contains. Non-text content such as videos or background images should not be used as the main focus. Replace them with an attractive call-to-action button that will lead to a landing page with the promised content.
Since many users simply scan emails in lieu of reading them, it's important to make your copy easy to process. There are several ways to ensure your message is easy to scan. Try a light background with dark copy, placed in short, centered lines that read vertically above the fold.
Another effective approach is to make sure that your important content is placed in an F-shaped pattern. Studies show that readers will first view the headline, followed by the text down the side and finally the middle section of text.
5. Who's it from?
World statistics show that 50.98 percent of companies are listing their header as from "the company." Examine how your readers associate their experience with you. Is it on the whole or individually? If you understand how your readers view the company, you can determine how to best send the email.
For example, an organization can use a personalized "from name" (e.g., John Smith) for its sales emails and send them from an individual sales representative. For sales purposes, this can help establish the one-to-one relationship that is crucial to closing deals.
On the other hand, that same organization can use a branded company name as the "from name" (e.g., XYZ Corporation) for its newsletters, as such communications speak to a more general audience.
6. Email navigation or site navigation?
Nearly 30 percent of marketers duplicate their site navigation in email. Of those, 15 percent find it more effective than the main content in driving clicks, while 11 percent of marketers find their navigation converts better than the main content of their email.
Hope you liked it! More tips, tricks and email techniques will be released this week!
Written by:
Paul Shuteyev
