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Take a look at what great email marketing looks like in 2014, from length to copy to video in emails. Presented by emfluence Digital Marketing Evangelist, Jessica Best.
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Email Marketing Creative That Works
Jessica Best, Digital Marketing Evangelist
@bestofjess or @emfluence
Email Creative – Best Practices
• Content vs. Reputation
• Common Spam Words
• Pre-Flight review
• Technical Guidelines
• Anatomy of an email
• Designing for Mobile
• Background images
• Alternate text
• Image/Text ratio
• Bullet-proof Buttons
• Planning for Horizontal & Vertical Preview Panes
• Planning for vertical stretch
• Video in Email
• National Geographic’s Creative Challenge
• The secret sauce…
Content v. Reputation
Content v. Reputation
Your reputation is based on many factors and always in a state of flux. If you develop a bad reputation, it’s difficult (but not impossible) to fix.
Content v. Reputation
A daily search result for a single IP address showing scoring for many reputation factors.
Common Spam Words & Phrases
50% off! Discount Offer expires Save $
Accept credit cards Discount! Offers coupon Save big money
Act Now! Drastically reduced One hundred percent guaranteed Shop
Act now! Don't hesitate! Fantastic deal One time Shopping spree
All Natural For free Only $ Special Promotion
All New Free offer Opportunity Subscribe
Amazing Free sample Order Supplies are limited
Cannot be combined with other offer Free! Order Now Take action now
Click below Full refund Order status Talks about prizes
Click Here Great offer Orders shipped by priority mail Time limited
Click here link Guarantee Outstanding values Visit our web site
Click to remove Guarantee, Guaranteed Please Read What are you waiting for?
Click to remove mailto Lucky You Price While Supplies last
Congratulations Money Prices Why pay more?
Credit Name brand Removal instructions Win, Winner, Winning
Dear email No catch Reserves the right You're a Winner!
Dear friend No cost Risk free Offer expires
Dear somebody No purchase necessary Satisfaction Guaranteed Offers coupon
Different reply to Different reply to Save Save $
Common Spam Words & Phrases
If you are getting filtered, the Pre-Flight Check is a good way to determine how the combination of words in your campaign are adding up.
Pre-Flight Toolset: Spam Score
A total SPAM score of 5 or above is a pretty good indicator that you are going to have a deliverability problem.
A Balanced Image to Text ratio
Some Technical Guidelines
• Go old-school HTML
• Use inline CSS, rather than top-down
• Use universal system fonts where possible
• Keep total size under 100kb
• Don’t make your unsubscribe link a graphic
Anatomy of an Email in 2010
• Pre-header
• Header
• Navigation
• Table of Contents
• Primary Message
• Submessage(s)
• Siderail
• Recovery Module
• Footer
*Graphic by Smith Harmon
Anatomy of an Email in 2014
Pre-header
Header
Body:1-3 Articles
Recovery Module
Footer
Ideal Email Width
500-700 pixels wide
for desktop
Designing for Mobile
• Consider subject line length—put info in first 4-5 words
• Max width of about 640 pixels
• Space your links out by 45 px or more, so fat fingers don’t click the wrong one.
Designing for Mobile
• Single column layouts are mobile friendlier.
• Keep your info in the first 230 pixels.
• Keep emails under 20K to accommodate internet speeds
– Email-sized images
– Snippets link to content
Responsive Design for Mobile
Use true-to-size images
Avoid Background Images
Avoid background images that won’t render in some email clients (Outlook, Hotmail).
Avoid Background Images
NOTE: Solid background colors are ok!
Avoid One Big Image/Use Alternate Text
Stylized Alternate Text
Bullet-proof Buttons
Pre-Flight: Campaign Preview
Preview: iPhone 5
Pre-Flight: Campaign Preview
Pre-Flight: Campaign Preview
Design for Horizontal Preview
Design for Vertical Preview
Planning for vertical stretch
Text renders in different fonts in different browsers, so plan for vertical stretch of any text field.
Video in Email?
Creative Challenge – Nat Geo Kids
The Challenge: Three of the top email design firms were pitted against one another to create a campaign with the same goal as the original pictured here. The list was then segmented randomly and an actual test was performed.
*credit Scott Harmon
Creative Challenge – Nat Geo Kids
Go ahead. Pick a winner…
Creative Challenge – Nat Geo Kids
eROI 114 clicks 96 opt-outs 100 orders
Mighty 111 clicks 101 opt-outs 72 orders
Smith-Harmon 121 clicks 105 opt-outs 85 orders
Control 100 clicks 100 opt-outs 100 orders
Test to determine what will truly work for your audience. Challenge your strategy and tactics on an ongoing basis.
The Secret Sauce…
The secret to great email creative…
TEST!
Measure
Track
Some fun ideas from others: CAH
Indigo Wild has a strong brand voice and supports causes related to their brand, not necessarily their products.
Some fun ideas from others: ESPN
ESPN has a little fun with their birthday emails. They lean on social memes for creative partnership ideas like this one.
Some fun ideas: Rent the Runway
Don’t just show product, show benefit, uses, tips…
Give your readers content, not just products and offers.
(Plus, use of bold graphics doesn’t hurt.)
Some fun ideas: Animated GIFs
IF your audience can see them, this can lift open rates! TIP: Be sure your “default slide” is intentionally set.
Some fun ideas: Downtown Council
DTC uses short blurbs and links to event information on full websites
Some fun ideas: Hostess
Hostess scores 3 points: creative personalization, directional graphics and friendly white list request.
Some fun ideas: image mosiac
Email Marketing Creative That Works
Jessica Best, Digital Marketing Evangelist
@bestofjess or @emfluence
