Optimizing Email Marketing

Content
Best Practices, Trade Secrets, & Trends in Email Design and Copy

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Course Overview:

1. Anatomy of an Email
2. Accessibility in Email Design
3. Rich Media in Email Design
4. Trends to Try
The Anatomy of an Email

2010 2020
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The Anatomy of an Email
2
1. Subject Line
3
2. Pre-header
3. Branded graphic header 4

4. Main message
5

5. Call-to-Action
6. Supporting Message 6

7. Footer 7

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Keep it Skimmable (not necessarily Short)
✔ Clear
✔ Concise
✔ Clickable

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Clarity Trumps Cleverness in Email Design/Copy
We marketers looooove clever, but not
at the expense of making it perfectly
clear (1) what the offer is and (2) how
to use it.

What do we want them to do?

✔ Download Your Brochure
✔ Read More
✔ Watch the 3-min Video
✔ Find a Dealer Near You

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Email Design/Style Should Fit the Message
Text-only emails
can work better in
sales automation,
and B2B or
nonprofit
marketing
automation.

Source: NextAfter (2017)

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Email Marketing design must consider
accessibility for all readers & devices

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Make Design Accessible… With Images Off
Up to 25% of email subscribers can have images turned off by
default (including versions of Android and Outlook). IKEA in 2015:

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Make Design Accessible… With Images Off
IKEA in 2019:

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 Make Design Accessible… With Images Off

DESKTOP DEFAULTS Images WEBMAIL MOBILE DEFAULTS Images

Apple Mail on DEFAULTS Images Android Native Email App off
Lotus Notes 8.5 off AOL off BlackBerry off
Outlook 2000-2003 off Gmail on Gmail App on
G Suite / Inbox by Gmail on
Outlook 2007/2010/
Inbox by Gmail on iOS 11 Native App on
2013/2016 off
Outlook.com depends Mailbox (iOS) on
Office 365 depends Outlook.com browser depends
Outlook 2016 (Windows) off Yahoo! Mail off Windows Mobile off
Windows 10 Mail on Yahoo! Mail App off
Outlook 2011 Yahoo! Mail (Android
(Outlook for Mac) off browser) off
Outlook 2016 (OS X) off Yahoo! Mail (iOS browser) on
Thunderbird on

Source: Litmus’ Ultimate Guide to Image Blocking, 2017 @bestofjess

Make Design Accessible… With Images Off
In order to blend images and text, we need to design on a “grid.”

Header/Top Navigation Header/Top Navigation

Promo #1 – image Image

Copy copy copy copy copy on background color

Promo #2 image Promo #2 copy on a Copy copy copy copy copy on background color
background color

Promo #3 - image
Footer
Footer

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The Email Grid
Think in terms of cutting images
– we have to use straight lines to
cut and don’t want to “split” an
image if we don’t have to.

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The Email Grid
Think in terms of cutting images
– we have to use straight lines to
cut and don’t want to “split” an
image if we don’t have to.

Background images are finally

ok,* but also should be avoided if
possible.

*Thanks to a jenky work around

just for Microsoft Outlook.
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The Email Grid
Litmus emails are the gold
standard. LOTS of white space &
fully responsive. On a phone, the
only thing that needs to change
here is font size.

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 Make Design Accessible… on Mobile Devices
In 2018, up to 60% of subscribers read email on a phone or tablet.

Source: Adestra Consumer Adoption & Usage Study (2016) @bestofjess

Make Design Accessible… on Mobile Devices
Up to 60% of subscribers open email on a phone or tablet.

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Mobile-Friendly Email Design Quick Tips

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Mobile-Friendly Email Design Quick Tips

✔ Lots of white space between

headlines, body copy, and calls to
action

✔ At least 40px tall/wide buttons

✔ Bigger font: Minimum 14pt font

size for body copy that sizes up on
mobile devices (25-30pt)

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Mobile-Friendly Email Design
Quick Tips
✔ Limit words in images
(which don’t resize well).
Think “headlines” only.

✔ Better yet: If possible,

keep text out of images
so they can be “true text”
which solves for the
images off version, too.

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Example: Noodlegram

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Email Design Should be Tested on Various
Devices Before Launch

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Email Marketing design can – and
should! – incorporate rich media

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Make It Move with Animation

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Make It Move with Animation
Warning: large image sizes will load
slowly on poor internet connections
and even a fraction of a second delay
can make an empty email too easy to
delete.

In fact, in some email platforms,

images can’t be largely than a few
hundred KB file size!

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Make It Move with Animation
TIPS for keeping file size down:
✔ Vector art tends to be easier to
keep to smaller file size than
photo.
✔ Fewer colors mean simpler files,
which saves on file size
✔ Trim your GIF to ONLY the portion
of the image that is animated,
keeping pixel width/height lower
✔ Fewer slides/frames and/or layers
can save file size

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Make It Move with Animation
Warning #2: Outlook doesn’t
show any animation in the
inbox. It will default to the first
“slide” in an animated GIF, so
be sure to think of that as your
“default” slide for those that
won’t see the animation.

For example, if your image

“builds,” you’ll want to start with
a quick .5 second “slide” that is
complete, then loop back to the
first slide in the build. @bestofjess
Make It Move with “Video in Email”
Video can drive engagement
rates through the roof… IF:

❑ You use accompanying copy

to tell readers why to watch

❑ The “freeze frame” is alluring

❑ The CTA is clear

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Make It Move with “Video in Email”
Most inbox providers won’t play
video inline in the body of the
email, so most often, we “fake” it
with:
✔ A still shot from the video
✔ A play button (like the
thumbnails that YouTube
creates)
✔ A link to the video on
YouTube/Vimeo/Facebook
or our website.
Though for a cool trick, try “faux” video (Litmus 2019)
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Make It Move with
“Video in Email”
TIPS on video in email:
✔ Some inboxes (Gmail/Hotmail)
will find any YouTube links in
your email and bring the video
to the top/bottom of the email
in the reader’s inbox, so they
don’t have to leave their inbox
to play it.

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Make It Move with “Video in Email”
TIPS on video in email:

✔ You can also try using an

animated GIF as a “silent
video” teaser of the content…

but don’t cut into a dizzying

“flipbook” style GIF (and
remember the limitations of
GIFs in Outlook etc!)
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A few other fun tricks to try…

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Own Your Voice in Email

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Own Your Voice in Email (even if you’re B2B)

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1 Team. 1 Dream. 1 Content Calendar.

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1 Team. 1 Dream. 1 Content Calendar.

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1 Team. 1 Dream. 1 Content Calendar.

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Personalization in Text

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Personalization in Text

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Personalization in Text & Images

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Countdown Timers to Add Urgency

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Real-Time or Dynamic Content

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Pop Quiz
Which Subject Line Drove the Most Opens?

A. I Spy a Winner

B. Be a Hallo-Winner
C. Trick or $5000 Treat?

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Pop Quiz
Which Subject Line Won?

A. All the New School Happenings

B. How Are Ping Pong Balls Like Student
Debt? Buzzfeed Helps Us Explain.

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Test & Learn
Most email platforms allow easy testing. Measure the right metrics!

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Email Outline - Brainstorm/Workshop
Two potential ways to put this to use for you today:

1. Start to outline your Content Calendar and/or update it with

specific ideas for email campaigns
a. How can email support other channels and vice versa?
b. When does new content “drop” that might inform an email
campaign?

2. Reimagine your current email look and feel based on what

you’ve learned in this course:
a. How does the layout/architecture need to change?
b. What movement or motion is the most relevant to your brand,
product or upcoming campaign?
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Optimizing Email Marketing
Content
Best Practices, Trade Secrets, & Trends in Email Design and Copy

@bestofjess