Even if other people see emails as an obsolete marketing tool, great email design can still help your business. The fact is, an average person checks their email at least 15 times per day. It’s a great venue if you want to promote your business. But doing so without the right techniques is proven to be futile. With the number of company newsletters we receive every day, sending plain or downright boring ones will not win the market. Adding the right design can help because humans naturally process visuals easier than texts. 

Imagine if you receive an email that isn’t unique. Chances are, it will go straight to the trash. And so if you are to design an email for your company, it needs to have the right design elements so that the recipient will likely open your message. 

If your email design is good enough, and the campaign is successful, you can build not just brand awareness. You can even directly generate sales. But creating a great email design is more than just typing texts, adding images, and inserting call-to-action buttons. It is not a task for novice graphic designers. Like all marketing tools, it’s a balance between art and science. Hiring a professional graphic designer can give you that leverage.

 

Elements of a Great Email Design 

Layout 

A great email design starts with a well thought out layout. The most common type is called the inverted pyramid. This style is straightforward and consists of three main parts, the main copy, description, and call to action. It’s an effective way of designing your email because this is easy to read. In just one glance, your recipient can already determine what the email is all about.

Another style is the Z-pattern where you assume that your reader will start their eye movement from the top left, similar to how we usually read books. If you are to use this technique, make sure that the most important details are placed on the top left portion of the email.

 

White Space 

As much as we want to provide a lot of information on our email design, that should not be the case. Providing too much information can be a significant turn off for your readers. Always remember that you only have a couple of seconds to keep them interested. If your email design has too many details and is hard to grasp, they will likely skip it. The trick here is to know your focus message. 

 

Typography and Fonts

Using the right typography and fonts is also an essential part of a great email design. Ideally, it has to be consistent with your branding. However, you also need to consider if the font is widely accepted or common. The reason for this is you want your texts to be readable on all devices. Using special fonts might cause a few challenges. 

 

Color Pallete 

Adding colors to your email design is also necessary so that you can easily capture your reader’s attention. Most companies use bright and striking colors at the upper fold of their design. But this is not always the case as others use the colors associated with their brand. 

If you are not familiar with the right color combination, you can always use the color wheel as a guide. And if you wish to send a specific message to your readers, learning the color psychology can help. 

 

Quality Images 

A great email design also uses images and quality photos. But you have to be careful in adding images in your emails. As always, it needs to be compatible with most devices. In addition, it should load fast. Thus, resizing is necessary. In most cases, 600 to 650 pixels will do you fine. 

 

Call To Action 

For your email to be effective, you should include a call to action (CTAs). Others are using links directed to a landing page where they could learn more, or purchase right away. But what is more effective than links are buttons. 

You can add multiple CTAs to your email design. Just make sure that these are strategically placed where your readers can easily see it. The color should be contrasting to the background so that it is highlighted.  

 

Samples of Great Email Design 

 

Huawei

Let’s begin with a straightforward design from Huawei. They only used a few design elements, but it proved to be effective in sending their message. You can use a similar approach if you want to highlight the benefits of your new product and service.  

 

BlogLovin’

You can also tease your readers with images like what BlogLovin’ did in this newsletter. Instead of writing all the contents in the email, they have created a different link or landing page for it. This is a good technique because we always love to learn more. If you are interested in interior decorating, then clicking the ‘Read More’ would be your natural response.

 

Netflix

Netflix also has a simple approach yet very effective. They use the best previews for their movie list and it pushes you to click ‘Play’ right then and there.

A common mistake of companies when creating emails is that they don’t think about intuitive designs. With these, you still have to figure out what to do next. But with Netflix’s email, you already know what to do just after a few seconds of seeing the message. 

 

Udemy  

Udemy’s approach is a bit different because the text alone has a sense of urgency. This means that when creating a great email design, it’s not just about the layout. You also have to think about the most effective copy. 

In addition, Udemy uses a great color scheme that can make readers stop for a while and check out the email. 

 

Trello 

What we love about Trello is that they follow one of the design trends this year. It’s called abstract illustration. This type of graphics is effective because it’s playful, which most of us are fond of. You can also take this strategy for your next email design. 

 

Conclusion

If you want to send emails right away while giving it a professional touch, there are a lot of free templates available. However, remember that the competition is tough. Your competitors might be using the same templates, and so it is important that you have your own layout for your company emails and newsletters. Fortunately, there are affordable on-demand graphic design services such as Design Doctor. Try Design Doctor’s services now to create the most compelling email designs and beat the competition.