Effective E-mail Design
Designing effective e-mail campaigns is easier when you follow a structure and remind yourself why you are designing and sending the e-mail. At the end of the day, you want to engage with your customers and get them to complete an action, whether that is making contact, purchasing a product, or downloading information. It is all about getting that return on investment. Below are a few points we follow at Piranha when designing your e-mailer.
- We ensure we stay within the boundaries! Keeping the email content within 600px wide ensures the user does not have to scroll left to right to read the e-mail.
- We ensure Calls-to-Action are prominent! Many of your subscribers are likely only view the very top section of their email, so we want to catch that action!
- We let the email tell a story. The most effective emails weave a compelling and cohesive story between the subject line, the header, and the content.
- We use HTML text/fonts. Many fonts do not make it to an inbox. Sticking to the basics – Arial, Verdana and Georgia for example ensures safe delivery of your email.
- We anticipate image-blocking. Most email clients block images in emails unless the recipient chooses to see them, so we design emails that work with or without images.
- We design prominent calls-to-action. Clear calls-to-action are essential for practically every form of email. We ensure they are noticeable encourage engagement!
- We make it clear who is sending the message. People are generally suspicious of contacts who they do not know or recognise, and email is no different – we ensure that from the outset, your subscribers know who the e-mail has come from, to consolidate brand confidence.
- We treat the email like a homepage. The main aim of an email is to get recipients directed away as soon as possible. Concise, simple messages that get straight to the point will encourage users to click through – in this case, less is definitely more!
- We keep the message focused and direct. Emails are purposeful messaging channels meaning that the most effective content is limited in scope. We limit our e-mails to no more than 3 messages to keep everyone focused.
- We make the buttons enticing, encouraging clicks. A call-to-action in an email is key to getting conversions, and with this in mind, we ensure that the call-to-action button is enticing, clear and clickable!