There’s more to writing (and designing) a effective email campaign that meets the eye. I got a few “a-ha’s” from a document I downloaded from Lyris.com today I thought I’d share with you:
- Realize most recipients won’ t ever see your beautiful graphics
Most browsers default to “images off”. Make sure your email looks good without the graphics - Don’t have a call to action as a graphic
Sure, the cute little graphic of a telephone asking views to “Call Now for your 50% discount” looks cool, but it’s worthless if people don’t see it. Make sure your calls to action are text-based links! - Use the top of your email for the most important information
Forget your company logo and the “unsubscribe” link! Most people only see the top few lines of your email – make sure this precious real estate contains the meat of your message. - Use your Subject Line, Sender Name and From address to your best advantage:
- The Sender Name should be the name of your company or brand, not an individual: “My Company” is better than “Jane Doe.”
- Some email clients like AOL don’t display the “From” name, so make sure your email address is meaningful, like “newsletter@mycompany.com” rather than “jane.doe@mycompany.com.”
- Use the subject line to reinforce your brand. Put the name of your brand in [brackets] at the beginning of the subject so readers get used to seeing it there.
- Make sure the first line of your email is meaningful, as it’s usually the source of the “snippet” text when the email is viewed in auto-preview mode.
- It is vital to test your email campaigns in different email clients before you send. Emails that look fine in Gmail may be horrible in Yahoo. Get yourself a free account in all of these services and send to all of these accounts for your email campaign tests.
Read the full white paper “Email Design No-No’s Guide for Designers” from Lyris HQ by subscribing here.
