Best Email Marketing Design Practices: How to

1. Best Email Marketing Design Practices: How to By: Savey Cathey

2. Step 1: Keep the Design Simple • Nicely designed, but somewhat basic • Main header image followed by the main content • The cleaner the design, the easier it will be to code and open in various browsers

3. Step 2: Avoid Background Images • Use block colors when you have a lot of text • Use funky gradients • Only uses images as backgrounds when no text is involved

4. Step 3: Stick to 3 Typefaces or Fewer • Simple design, less clutter • Easy to read fonts • Don’t junk up your email with more than 2, or at max, 3 typefaces

5. Step 4: Use tables • Email clients live in the past, so all emails must be built using tables for layout • In regards to coding and CSS code

6. Step 5: Keep Main Message and Call-to-Action Above the Fold • If your main call-to-action button falls below the fold, then as many as 70% of recipients won’t see it • Any call-to-action button should be repeated at least 3 times throughout the email

7. Step 6: Put Your Logo in the Upper Left- Hand Side of the Email • Eye tracking studies have found that people instinctively look for logos in the upper left-hand side of emails • Put your logo in the upper left-hand side to ensure it gets more visibility

8. Step 7: Minimize Copy and Text • Don’t overwhelm users with more text than they can read • Do not include so much text that the email is at risk going to a spam folder or a junk folder • Use shorter text blocks that link back to full articles or product pages on your website or to landing pages

9. Step 8: No Wider than 600px • On average the smallest preview panel is around 600px • If you go wider than 650 pixels, then you’re asking users to scroll horizontally to read your entire message

10. Step 9: Minimize the Use of Images • Always remember that in the vast majority of your subscribers email service providers inboxes images will not load • Do not rely on images alone to sell your product or convey your message

11. Step 10: Give All Images Alt Tags • Always use alt and title text behind images to ensure that there is still a copy appearing even when your images do not load • Styling the <td> for which images are in, with font types, size and color, will allow for your email to degrade gracefully when images are off by default

12. Step 11: Do Not Set Widths or Heights to Images • Again, this is a further step to take in order for a lovely gracefully degraded email • If images are off by default, there dimensions will be present, leaving a lot of unnecessary white space throughout

13. Step 12: Users Want Options • Consider, at the top of the email, to have a link which points to the email on a web server somewhere, so the user can view the email in all its glory

14. Step 13: Use Incentives to Increase Open Rates • When you include an incentive in your subject line, you can increase open rates by as much as 50% • “Free shipping when you spend $25 or more” • “Receive a free iPod with Demo”

15. Step 14: Closely Tie Emails to Landing Pages • Your landing page should match the email in terms of headline, copy, and content. • Make sure to use tracking tools to see which emails and landing pages performed the best

16. Step 15: Be CAN-SPAM Compliant • It’s the law • Make sure your physical mailing address is in the email • Make sure users can unsubscribe from your email with either a single click or by replying to the email • Make sure the email conveys that it is an advertisement

17. Step 16: Make it Easy to Unsubscribe • The risk of making it difficult for users to find a way to unsubscribe from your email is that they will instead mark it as spam • Make it easy and simple for users to find a way to unsubscribe

18. Step 17: Test it Out! • Always test your email on various email platforms to ensure that it is successful

19. Work Cited • Comm100 • Net. Tuts +