Are you looking to step up your email marketing game? Here are some basic email design guidelines to make your emails prettier and more effective.
1. Declutter Your Call to Action
Since this is the entire point of your email, make sure that your call to action – promotion, coupon, webinar, industry news, or what have you – is clear. Many industry insiders say that the very best way to do this is to not use graphics or images for your call to action. Instead, focus on intriguing titles or headers that simply and quickly get to the point. If you make it difficult for your clients to understand your point, then you've already lost them even before you've started.
Top Email Design Guidelines Tip: Always reiterate your call to action in your subject line.
2. Watch Your Images
Understand that many email programs (e.g. Hotmail) don't always properly load your graphics or images. Though images very well spruce up any campaign, ensure that your email isn't overloaded with them. Use sparingly, and with intent. Remember: the more graphics and images you use in a campaign, directly influences load rate and opens.
Top Email Design Guidelines Tip: Ensure that your images are able to be "turned off" or disabled at your clients' discretion.
3. Include an HTML Link
Give your clients the opportunity to read your email in the format that is more comfortable and convenient for them. Include a simple link at the top of the email that allows your clients to view the email either as a webpage link or in an HTML version.
Top Email Design Guidelines Tip: Regardless of how mobile or email friendly your email is (or how friendly you think your email is), sometimes problems happen. Provide multiple formats to cover all of your bases.
4. Keep it Simple
Similar to decluttering your call to action, by keeping the rest of your email message streamlined and easy-to-navigate, you're making it easier for your clients' to "act" on what you're asking. Keep the overall email design guidelines similar to that of a magazine article, where the important information is highlighted and little extra tidbits (say, a promotion or a link to your Facebook page) are easily accessible but not prominent.
Top Email Design Guidelines Tip: Design your email with a basic format: ¾ of your email dedicated to your main message, and ¼ is a column set on one side that has all secondary information.
5. Check and Then Check Some More!
Before even hitting "Send" on your next marketing campaign, look at your email from every single angle. If it's designed to be mobile-ready, then view it internally to ensure that all of the components work as they should.
Beyond just looking at it on a static screen or on your personal mobile device, make sure that every link works, every image loads properly and that your message loads on different platforms and email accounts.
Ready to use these email design guidelines?
To build the best emails for marketing campaigns, you'll want an email editor that's easy to use and comes with a boatload of features. In this case, the SimplyCast Email Editor might be just what you need! With a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, image uploading, call-to-action buttons, and other features, you'll be implementing these email design guidelines into your campaigns in no time. Contact our sales team for more information!
