Submit a enquiry






    Back to all posts

    How important is design in email marketing?

    Guide
    by Iain Thomson Project Lead

    Good design isn’t an additional option in email marketing – it should be baked into every touch point the customer has along the conversion path. Nothing says you’re a reputable company that has an eye for detail like having a well designed, easily navigable email, whatever app or browser the recipient is using.

    But it doesn’t stop there. Your sales, inquiries, subscriptions or downloads are never going to happen within the context of an email message.

    The email is just the carrier pigeon – the landing page is another essential part of that conversion. That means that the two components should have a consistent message and design to create a seamless flow from email to web page that leave the customer in no doubt that they’re dealing with the same people.

    And needless to say, if that landing page links on to another page, be it a checkout, a download or a form, the consistent messaging needs to be continued.

    Conversion Rate Optimisation

    Digital marketers use conversion rate optimisation (CRO) to measure the efficacy of their campaigns against a set of desired endpoints.

    It differs from SEO in that SEO is more concerned with getting customers from search to site by maximising the chances of a site or page being found via search.

    CRO deals with already aware customers, and measures the number of customers who go on to fulfil the campaign’s objectives, taking note of the points at which they fall off the trail.

    With email marketing, there is no search as such – you’re injecting yourself right into customers’ consciousnesses via their inboxes, so the path to conversion starts at that point. If you see zero engagement at the email stage, there’s something wrong with the email. That can only really be three things: the offer, the message or the design. All three help to amplify each other, so improving or simplifying the design makes the message and the offer more credible and clickable.

    As we said before, though, that’s when consistency counts. If you’ve won a click thanks to great email design, it’s frustrating and wasteful to lose the customer because of poor or inconsistent web design.

    Achieving consistency between email and web page

    The best way to achieve consistency is to start with your business’s overall branding, and base your website upon it. There’s always room for flexibility, but there should be a certain grammar that lasts throughout.

    If you’re making a custom landing page for your email, make sure it follows this consistent pattern. Then, base the email design on that same look and feel.

    Don’t forget, a single landing page might be re-used over several campaigns, whereas each email is unique. It’s much easier to let the email design be influenced by the landing page than the other way round.

    Gooey can help

    At Gooey, we have great expertise in both HTML email coding and web development, so handing both tasks to us with your design specs can guarantee the consistency you need.

    It means that if your emails are performing well but your website isn’t converting, you can rule out design since they’re consistent, and focus on other aspects of the conversion funnel to help boost your CRO.