Eblast Best Practices: Crafting Emails That Drive Success
When it comes to email marketing, making your eblasts stand out requires a thoughtful balance of creativity and strategy. At Wilson Creative Group, we’ve seen what works, and we’re always refining our approach to ensure every eblast we send looks polished and adds real engagement. Here are some best practices we follow to make sure each email resonates with its audience and achieves its intended impact.
Design Best Practices
- Mobile-First Design:
With so many emails being opened on mobile devices these days, designing for mobile is a non-negotiable. We always start with mobile-first designs and then slice them to ensure they’re just as compelling on larger screens. This way, the content is easy to read and visually appealing, no matter what device it’s viewed on. - Keep It Fresh and Eye-Catching:
One thing we prioritize is making sure no two eblasts look the same. The top section of every email should be eye-catching and set the tone for what’s inside. After all, this is your first chance to grab the reader’s attention, and a fresh design does just that—inviting them to scroll further and engage with the content. - Consistency with Adobe Creative Cloud Library:
When you have multiple designers working on a project, maintaining consistency is crucial. We use the Adobe Creative Cloud Library to ensure everyone is using the same assets, keeping our branding consistent across all campaigns. This makes our workflow more efficient and ensures a cohesive design. - Bring it to Life with GIFs:
Static images are great, but adding some motion can make all the difference. That’s why we like to incorporate animated GIFs in our eblasts. These dynamic visuals draw attention without overwhelming the overall design, adding a touch of movement that enhances the reader’s experience. - Clear, Distinct Call-to-Actions (CTAs):
Every eblast needs a strong call-to-action. We typically use two distinct CTAs: a larger, more prominent one for the primary action we want the reader to take, and a smaller, secondary CTA for additional information. This helps guide the reader through the email and makes it easy for them to take the next step. - Stepping Away from Templates:
We’ve found that forcing a rigid, templated design often results in a cookie-cutter feel with minimal benefits. Instead, we focus on custom designs that prioritize user experience and allow for more creativity. By slicing the design to fit within email clients, we can maintain a fresh, non-template look that keeps things engaging and unique.
Marketing Best Practices
- Staying Compliant with Google and Yahoo’s DMARC Requirements:
Deliverability is everything when it comes to eblasts. Recent updates from Google and Yahoo have made adhering to DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) protocols more important than ever. This means ensuring your email authentication is set up correctly. Not only does this improve your sender reputation, but it also helps keep your emails out of spam folders and in front of your audience. - Personalization Through Segmentation:
Sending the same email to everyone on your list just doesn’t cut it anymore. We recommend segmenting your audience based on their behaviors, interests or demographics. Tailoring your content to different segments leads to more personalized emails, which in turn results in better open rates, click-through rates and engagement. - Digging into the Metrics:
Tracking your performance metrics is crucial. Beyond the basics like open and click-through rates, we dig deeper into things like which links performed best and how long readers stayed engaged. This level of detail helps us refine our approach and improve future campaigns. - Test, Test, Test:
We’re big believers in A/B testing. Whether it’s subject lines, CTA placement or design elements, testing helps us determine what resonates best with the audience. This allows us to continually optimize our eblasts and drive better results over time. - Timing Matters:
When you send your eblast can make a big difference in its performance. We analyze our audience’s behavior to determine the best time to send emails, whether that’s a specific day of the week or a particular time of day. By sending emails when people are most likely to engage, we maximize our chances of success.
Conclusion
Crafting an effective eblast is part art, part science. It requires a mix of creative design, attention to detail and smart marketing strategies. By focusing on mobile-first designs, adhering to the latest email provider stipulations and adding dynamic elements like GIFs, we create eblasts that are both visually appealing and highly effective. Combine this with data-driven marketing practices like segmentation and A/B testing, and you’ll have an eblast that not only lands in inboxes but also makes an impact.
