Naysayers! Sorry to burst your bubble, but email marketing is alive and thriving! According to Statista, by the year 2025, the number of email users will cross the 4.73 billion mark! Surely that quells all your doubts?
Where there are eyeballs, marketers will strive to create an impact, and email marketing is a super cool way to do that, not just for small businesses but also for medium and large businesses. Brands can introduce themselves to a fresh target base with witty, cleverly crafted, and interactive emails. This is where email designing comes into the picture. It doesn’t have to be just good, it has to be superlative, and we will help you with that in this blog. Read on to find out!
The Three Main Types of Email Design
Every email campaign has its own set of requirements. When crafting an email to C-suite executives, a plain text email is your safest bet, but when it comes to showcasing your product line’s spring and summer collection, a rich HTML email template will reel in the eyeballs and keep them engaged.
Here are the three main kinds of email design templates you will broadly encounter in your email marketing journey;
Plain Text:
Quite popular among the email fraternity, plain text emails pack the following merits:
- Simple, concise, renders the personal touch
- To the point, reflects only the vital information or message to be conveyed
- Mobile-friendly & responsive
- Probably the easiest to create
Its disadvantages are the lack of a “wow” inducing factor, and you can’t really push your products or services without some additional add-ons.
Rich HTML Email Design:
Curated with HTML and CSS, these emails are replete with awe-inspiring typography, color palettes, structure, and images. They are much like a microsite and may have links to the intended landing page. Check out its pros, though they are very much evident,
- Highly impressive
- Elicits the “wow” response, higher click-throughs!
- Moldable
- Displays multiple elements of the message using GIFs, dynamic elements, videos, images, etc.
The two cons that need to be looked out for and fixed are ensuring consistency across browsers, as bugs may play truant and ruin your otherwise impressive emailer. The second is to stick to HTML structures and CSS styles to ensure responsiveness and compatibility across devices, screen sizes, operating systems, and email readers.
Interactive Email Designs:
The coolest and the youngest kid on the block, it is soon becoming the cynosure of all eyes, and rightfully so! It deploys the power of real JavaScript-based interactive elements such as accordions, countdown timers, animated gifs, flip-in emails, sliders, and the like.
Its only and most solid drawback is the lack of support from email clients. Only a small segment of the market can enjoy its awesomeness. You need to work out a balance between the interactive elements you want to incorporate and the support they receive from email clients.
Salesforce email templates are an awesome pick for sending emails that are replete with data from Salesforce records. You have a range of email template options to choose from, namely ~ text, Visualforce HTML with Classic Letterhead, and custom.
4 Cool Email Design Inspirations To Slay Your Next Campaign
Play with colors!
Let your imagination run riot whilst ensuring that the colors are in tandem with the brand image and the tone of the message to be conveyed. The following sassy and irresistibly worded email by Omsom is absolutely sizzling! The color combination flame passion and the delicious copy, make you want to reach for that bowl of extra spicy noodles. Not to mention, the CTA button is a perfect interplay of design elements and color combinations.
Incorporate Interactive Elements:
The following email by Email Uplers is making news splashes for all the right reasons. The gamified version of the journey through an e-haunted castle decked up especially for Halloween, with the promise of a reward or “treat” toward the end, appeals to the sensibilities of literally every viewer! A perfect treat to the senses, it capitalizes on the innate human proclivity for curiosity and the love of instant gratification.
Everyone loves pop culture references. Try slipping in one or two!
The following t-shirt reveal e-intimation is a simple, effective, yet lovable email, replete with a pop culture and meme reference!
Pay attention to the detailing:
Your campaign’s success lies in the details of every email that you hit “send” on. Right from the color combination to the number and placement of blocks; information to be displayed in the footer, such as links to social media handles and, of course; an Unsubscribe button (yes, that’s downright non-negotiable!)
In the following email example, the soothing color palette, single-column layout; and listicle approach to the content make this spring emailer quite charming.
In summary,
On a conclusive note, all that we can say is that as far as creating awesome email designs is concerned; you are only limited by the scope of your imagination. Salesforce email templates can make the job easier for you. Just remember to put yourself in the shoes of the subscriber. Would you click and engage with the email you are planning to send out?! Need help craftin
Author: Kevin George is the head of marketing at Email Uplers; which specializes in crafting Professional Email Templates, PSD to Email conversion, and Mailchimp Templates. Kevin loves gadgets, bikes & jazz, and he breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on email marketing blog.