Anatomy of an Email
Well, since I’m writing on the topic of email marketing yet again this week, I guess this just might be a start to a series. Call this entry part two.
Using email as a marketing tool is becoming more and more popular. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), marketers spent approximately $500 million on commercial email marketing in 2007. That figure is projected to rise to $1.2 billion in 2012-a statistic that hints to the importance and effectiveness of email marketing.
So, for some of you marketers that are just starting to integrate emails into marketing campaigns, I thought I would go over the basics of good and effective email design. For those already using email as a marketing tool, call this a refresher course.
WHY EMAIL DESIGN MATTERS
Any communication from a business, including emails, is an extension of brand. The tone set by email design represents part of the brand’s story. Furthermore, design conveys a great deal about you, the email’s sender, and the email’s purpose before the recipient reads any content.
Another reason to consider-effective email design is not necessarily a subjective element. Design affects how email platforms filter, categorize and display messages. Understanding design in these terms will help you improve deliverability and ROI.
We’ll get into the subject of email content filters later. For now, let’s talk about the five parts of an email that could use some focus.
ANATOMY OF AN EMAIL
Email design is not solely confined within the main body of a message. Good design starts before a recipient even opens and views the content contained within an email message. Following are the five parts on an email as viewed by the recipient:
THE ‘FROM’ NAME
The ‘From’ of an email tells the recipient about the sender. Typically, it’s also the first field recipients see when viewing all the emails collected in their inbox. Having a clear and recognizable name will prevent an email from being immediately deleted by the recipient.
SUBJECT LINE
The subject line of an email is the second chance for marketers to make an impression on email recipients. It’s also the second chance recipients have to decide whether they want to open or report an email as spam. So, use this space to brief the readers about the content that they can expect to find within the email body. Be clear and to the point.
PREVIEW PANE
Many email platforms, like Microsoft’s Outlook® and Google’s GmailTM, display messages for recipients in preview panes. A preview pane allows recipients to take a sneak peek look at the email’s contents. Often, only a portion of an email is visible via the preview pane-a few inches of the email’s top portion when viewed in a horizontal preview pane or a few inches of the left side of an email when viewed via a vertical preview pane. Therefore, critical information such as a company logo, offer or call-to-action button should be placed as close to the top left of an email as possible to accommodate preview panes.
AN OPENED EMAIL
Once a recipient opens a message, they are presented with the content that makes up the body of the email. However, many recipients do not immediately see the entire contents of the email message. Initially, recipients see content that resides above the fold. The term ‘above the fold’ refers to the content seen before viewers need to scroll. This area’s dimensions depend upon the viewer’s screen resolution, which varies. According to ClickZ, 60% of people viewing emails only see or read 50% of the message. Some of this is due to much of an email’s content residing below the fold.
THE FULL EMAIL
Marketer’s that have guided viewers beyond the four steps as listed above are ahead of the curve. The real test is in how viewers engage with the full email. First and foremost, marketers should make the full body of the email easy to navigate and include relevant content. Remember that there is usually a limited amount of time that a reader will spend with an email, so be to the point and relevant.
So, when thinking of what you will say or how you will design your email message, give each of these five parts equal consideration. Think of how you open and view emails. You can learn from other marketer’s mistakes and good choices.
That’s it for now. I’ll be back soon with more eMarketng tips and tricks. Have a wonderful day!
Best,
Steve