When creating a new email marketing design, we appreciate that the process isn’t always as straightforward as it may seem. If you are looking at how you can design a winning email, then read on for our top ten tips on email marketing design.
1. What does the reader want to know?
Email marketing design will always depend on your objectives for sending the email. It could be you want to communicate news items, promotional offers or new products. Whatever it is you want to talk about, ensure the content is relevant to the target audience, and the key piece of information or ‘take away’, is the most prominent item within the email.
2.The ‘Marmite’ of email marketing design
Unfortunately, design is subjective, thus meaning there is no clear right or wrong answer. One person may love it and another may hate it. Also, personal preference will only get you so far. The most important thing for you to ask yourself is ‘is this right for the customer?’ If you ask yourself this question repeatedly, then your design cannot fail. Make your email marketing design easy with our Maxemail Drag and Drop Email Builder.
3. Build around a table
One of the most proven and most reliable ways to build a new email is through using tables. Not only will your end results look better, but some email clients including Outlook and Gmail will not render modern styling such as margins, padding and floating.
4. Make it clear
Keeping your email marketing design short, the content concise and the call to actions clear, will not only make your email more compelling for the reader, but will also make it easier for them to a). Understand what it is you are telling them, and b). What it is you want them to do.
5. Increase the flow of traffic
Always include clickable links and call to actions within your email marketing design. This will not only give you more options when it comes to tracking the results of your emails, but will also drive additional traffic to your website – giving you another opportunity to engage with your clients and capture data. Always ensure the links work and they take the reader directly to the relevant page. The last thing you want is to provide a bad customer experience and risk a potentially healthy conversion rate.
6. Carefully select your images
Remember, you are essentially telling a story, and the best way to get your story heard is to make it as visually enticing as possible. The best way to do this is to include relevant images. Positioning your images alongside related text will ensure the readers’ eyes are drawn to the message or product you are promoting. That said, less is more, so don’t rely too heavily on images to tell your story, as around 60% of email recipients block images from displaying by default. Always include ALT Tags – a text alternative for images in these instances, so your recipient can gain an idea of what the image is. Additionally, search engine spiders use ALT tags to translate what an image represents.
7. Less is definitely more
Emails are scanned, not read. Therefore, any body of text within the email should not exceed four lines. The more text you include, the less likely it is to get read. Be sure to make all your text easier to read by using a plain font such as;
Top Email Marketing Design Tips
This combined with standard sizes for headings, sub headings, body text and links, will help the reader to navigate their way through the contents more efficiently when scanning.
8. Never be afraid of ‘white space’
White space is underrated. Whilst some view this as another opportunity to squeeze in one more offer or message, it does in fact, act as a natural resting point for your readers’ eyes, again helping them to navigate their way through the email more easily.
9. Don’t risk an email being unopened
With so many potential online threats coming from emails, it is important for your subscribers to instantly know the email has come from you, and only you. Otherwise, you risk them sending it to their ‘trash can’ without a second glance. Use a subject line that uses your brand tone of voice and position your logo and website link consistently across all of your emails – this will also help with brand recognition and build trust.
10. Give them a ‘get out of email free card’
Always make it easy for your subscribers to ‘unsubscribe’ should they wish to. Not only is this a legal requirement, it also makes sense. If your subscriber wishes to go, let them. You can always offer them alternative frequencies and subjects with the use of preference centre, but if they want to leave, let them.