An Exercise in Email Design

If you have an email design in place and want to improve results, here is a short exercise that may tell you very quickly what is and what isn’t working for your campaigns.

1. Print out your past email campaigns to actual size.
2. Measure two inches from the top of the email body and draw a line. This is the preview pane area and what the typical recipient might see prior to opening your email.
3. Draw a “fold” line that demarcates the visible area of your email when opened.
4. Overlay the clickthrough rate for each link.
5. Color code all links that perform higher than average for the email. Use different colors for average and below average performing links.  In this example red is high, green is average and blue is below average.

Disconnect from the Internet and print additional copies of your emails. This will show you how your messages will appear if images are blocked.


Now, here are some questions you should ask yourself:

• Does the preview pane area present marketing content? If it consists mainly of your logo and navigation, you are missing an opportunity to drive additional opens and clicks.
• Is the first call to action and link not only above the fold, but also as high up in the email as possible?
• Do your emails have hot spots where you see above-average clicks, and is this consistent across your emails? If you see a pattern, capitalize on this real estate in future campaigns.
• Do you have consistent cold spots? If so, determine how to make these areas work harder for you.
• Is your email compelling and readable without images? If it isn’t, revamp your approach to image size and supporting headlines and text.
 

Here’s an example of how this can be applied.  A marketer has a weekly program.  The emails feature a two-column design, which I like because it allows presentation of main offers and supplemental offers.  (And, it makes for a better user experience, since it’s easier to read on-screen.)  The main column spans two-thirds of the width.  They use the smaller column in the “above the fold” area to feature several alternate headlines and items.