Over the years that we’ve been running Gooey we’ve developed over 7,200 different email templates for different agency clients so we’d like to think we know a thing or two about best practice in this area. In this guide we look at the elements of an email template design that can get the best cut through for this form of communication.
Responsive Template Design
Ensuring the email template is designed to display correctly across all different devices types is a must to ensure the content is delivered effectively and can easily be read across desktop, mobile or tablet.
Subject Line
This may not be part of the design template build itself but is one of the most important parts of an email to ensure the recipient is intrigued enough to want to open up the email and read on. Given the vast quantity of emails that are sent on a daily basis this is really important to make your email stand out from the crowd. Also remember to use a clear web font for your email so that it renders correctly across all email clients.
Personalisation
Again in line with the point above it’s really important to provide a personal touch when sending an email out to your client base or prospects. Adding in a first name can ensure it builds trust with the person you’re sending this to, although you need to be absolutely sure you have the correct data stored in your CRM as getting this wrong can have wider ramifications.
Dynamic Content
The ability to build an email template that can showcase dynamic content for the reader tailored to their specific buying needs can make the results even more powerful, for instance delivering a previously viewed item online or an offer related to their browsing history.
Inverted Pyramid
To draw a readers attention down to the main call to action imagine the email template as inverted pyramid with the top level information used to draw in the readers attention, then learn more as they scroll down and eventually reach the bottom tip of the pyramid where the call to action would lie.
Call to Actions
When building the template and design of your email ensure there is a real clarity to the main call to actions you want the user to take from reading the email. Add in too many CTA’s and you may not get the desired outcome you wanted from sending out the campaign. If the CTA is not clear enough then it can be easily missed and again your results may be effected.
Clarity of Image
After spending hours crafting the perfect email design it can be hugely frustrating to see that all images contained within the email have not been downloaded on delivery to the recipient. This may be due to the person’s email software blocking this but to try and avoid this try the following; always include a web link so it can be viewed online, ensure there is a good mix of images and copy in the body of the email and finally setting the alt attribute for all images to ensure the image is seen as a key part of the content. Also ensure the image size is not too big so that it takes a
long time to download.
There are many different elements to designing the perfect email and we’ve listed just a few of the core principles but for more advice or support on email template design please get in touch with the team on +44 (0)161 398 0303 or email us at [email protected]
