eBook - Silverpop

Life is Hard; Make Your Email
Easy for Your Subscribers
How can I tell whether
Q: my email design needs an
extreme makeover?
Email messages today deliver more
A: value than their 20th-century counterparts
through improved design and content,
images, branding, and integration with websites
and social networks.
However, all those gains can come at a price:
overly complex messages that sacrifice utility
and usability for the latest email fad.
The result is a message with so many
distractions that subscribers can’t easily do
the things they want to do as well as what
we want them to do, such as responding to
promotional offers.
Maybe it’s time to consider that old design
adage “Less is more” and simplify or streamline
messages so that they serve both our subscribers’
and our own needs without sacrificing the value
that drives email’s utility and ROI.
Simplify Without Sacrifice
Rather than continually adding new functionality
as it emerges, consider a redesign of your
template from the ground up. The list of questions
below can give you some places to start:
1. Does your design replicate your Web
navigation or reflect email needs?
Web navigation is designed to direct people
who have already arrived on your site.
Email navigation, on the other hand, while
generally similar, might incorporate fewer or
different links whose purpose is to drive people
to your site.
Perhaps you use a primary and secondary navigation
format or focus navigation just on higher-level
site categories. Do you use the same navigation
approach in all of your emails?
Transactional emails such as order confirmations
probably should have completely different navigation
links that are focused on the most common
service and support questions.
If you’re a B2B company, do you use the same
navigation in your newsletter as you do your lead
nurture or Webinar follow-up emails? Or does each
reflect a recipient’s likely needs and content focus?
For retailers during this holiday time of the year:
Do you add secondary navigation for shipping
deadlines and return policies?
2. Does your email design use a hierarchy that
gives priority to content and functionality
important both to your subscribers and to your
marketing goals?
Offering multiple promotions in a single message
can be good strategy, because if someone isn’t
interested in your primary offer, a secondary offer
might catch his eye.
However, when these offers compete equally for
the reader’s attention, your highest converting
offer or product might get lost in the fray. Your
design should provide a clear movement through
the message, highlighting your most important
content.
3. Is your preheader out of control?
The preheader area of emails (content typically
located above the masthead, navigation or brand
logo) has evolved rapidly from its incarnation as
a single link to aid viewing an email when images
are blocked.
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