How to Design Your Marketing Email
One of the most important aspects of your successful email marketing campaign is the design of the actual email that you will send out. Let's look at the top design tips for email marketers that can help you make your marketing emails more effective and your campaign more profitable.
Email Design Tips and Strategies- Avoid the overuse of images in your emails, and do not assume that you can address the important points of your email with images alone. Emails that consist of one giant image are a big mistake. Emails with lots of images can also be problematic because some email clients block the display of images upon receipt. For the images that you do use, include the ALT tag so that a text description of the image will still appear. Find a good balance between effective text and minimal images.
- Always include a link to allow those recipients who wish to view your email as web page to do so. Lots of folks prefer looking things over in a browser. Always include a text version with the HTML version of your email. Never rely on HTML emails alone.
- If you plan to use CSS, use inline CSS online for the best results.
- Testing your emails with different email clients is important, so send out test emails to addresses that you have established with all the major email programs like Yahoo, Google, Outlook, MSN, and others. This will give you an exact picture of what your recipients will see when they open your marketing email with their email program.
- Because you are designing your email for various email programs, be considerate of the size of file you are sending. Limit your email width to around 600 pixels.
- Steer clear of flash, java script, and other elements that might slow down the email when it loads. Not all email clients support these types of design aspects.
- Design your email for viewing in the preview pane. Many people read emails in the preview pane - so accommodation of these recipients should be considered in your email design. The most important content of your email should be what they see - so keep that in mind as well. Always have your company's logo situated in the left upper corner to lend visibility (and credibility) to your email.
- In the footer of your email, include an unsubscribe link as required by the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. This footer should also include your physical mailing address. The footer is also the perfect spot for a "permission reminder" that lets the recipient know that they are receiving the email from you because they have opted-in to your email list. Link your privacy policy in the footer as well, for good measure.
