Want to build a customer base that stays with you throughout the years? How exactly can you develop a solid marketing strategy that focuses on retaining customers and building brand loyalty? While there are plenty of answers, one of our favorite tactics is email marketing – yes, the marketing messages that find their way into your inboxes every day.
Email is one of the only two channels that let you step into people’s personal zones. Leverage this power; reach out to your audience consistently, attract them to your sales funnel, and turn them into paying customers. If they have already bought from you before, retain them through email marketing.
But, of course, there are certain things to keep in mind to truly enjoy the sheer power of a strong email marketing campaign. Content matters, but the design itself is just as important. Your emails must not only provide value but be visually appealing to look at.
Why so? Simply because the human brain can process visual information 60,000 times faster than just plain text. Amazing, isn’t it? So, rather than losing recipients through hordes and hordes of text that they may not even want, why don’t you catch their attention with a stunning email design? Let them open the message, and bang! Your design should be this good!
How do you ensure this? Simply follow our advice given below. If you still have concerns, reach out to email marketing services for help.
How ‘Responsive’ Can You Be?
A whopping 66% of emails are opened on a mobile device. And so, your emails must be based on responsive design. Though pre-designed templates are already available on the internet, your emails should be branded, and hence, it would be better if you can take help from an email marketing agency at this step. What if you can code? Try it out, but can you seriously be better than the pros? Unless you are one, of course!
Stick to Simplicity
This is a principle that we just can’t stop emphasizing. Keep it simple and keep it short. Your emails must be clean and free from clutter so they can be visually appealing. Generally, a single column layout works best because it’s easy to read especially on small screens, but of course, there can be variations in certain cases.
Just be sure to include a pre-header that is adorned with your logo and suitable campaign hashtag. Then begin the message with a large header image, designed to garner attention. Add some text, a call-to-action (CTA). Use the footer space for providing your contact details.
Fonts Do Matter
Typefaces are an important aspect of email designing and your brand identity as well. Choose something that reflects the nature of your business, but is readable as well. And then stick to the same font styles and colors throughout. Generally, 22pt headings and 11pt body text are the most suitable.
Break It Up!
Reading lines and lines of text in emails is a pain, especially when being viewed on a mobile device. So break down lengthy details into smaller chunks that are easy on the eyes and can quickly be skimmed through.
Avoid adding too much content. Do provide value but don’t be too verbose, or you may end up driving leads away.
What Goes Where?
80% of the e-mail recipient’s time is spent reading content above the fold.
Arrange all the email elements so that the most important information is viewed first and foremost. That means keeping the content at the top of the email. The CTAs should be above the fold. All key pieces of information go above the CTAs. Whether you’ve chosen predesigned templates or come up with a layout of your own, you generally have an area that is 350 pixels high and 650 pixels wide to work with, which is visible on most devices without the need to scroll down.
Remember that we all follow an F pattern when reading information online, including emails. So keep your USPs and CTAs at the very top, ensuring that they aren’t missed out.
Additionally, you should also place your logo, a preview link, and a compelling illustration above the fold as well. Don’t forget to use the alt text tag with all images in case they don’t open up properly.
Cool Down With Colors
Color is an important factor that influences a person’s selection, somehow affecting their purchasing decisions as well. So play around with the hues to convey your messages. Like we’ve said, your design should be clean, so don’t pour out all the colors on the layout. Stick to only some of them, preferably aligned with your branding. But if your campaigns are based on seasonality, then you can deviate. For instance, if you’re launching an email campaign for promoting your summer wardrobe, you should go with pale and cool shades even if your brand color is a fiery red.
That being said, how do you pair up multiple colors? Shades that are completely opposite to each other on the color wheel look the best together. Colors that are next to each other may also work well, soothing the eyes as well as the mind.
What if you want to work with three colors together? Choose shades that are equidistant from each other. The same rule applies when you want to choose four colors. Don’t put in more colors now. Four shades are almost always enough.
And Lastly, Temp and Urge!
How can we talk about effective marketing campaigns without discussing CTAs at length? Your call-to-action should stand out and be prominent on the screen, directing users to act as you want them to. Ensure they are sized appropriately. Going with dimensions of 44 x 44 pixels for CTAs is what any reputed email marketing agency would recommend.
Which tip do you like best? Get in touch with reliable email marketing services to find out how you can utilize the advice presented in this blog post. Good luck with your next strong… and attractive email campaign!
