You have seconds to wow subscribers with your newsletter, that’s a hard task when you’re already pushed for time and struggling to know what to write. Here’s a short guide on some basics to keep your email top of the ‘I need to read this’ list…
Your subject line is vital
Don’t leave it to the last after thought. Think about it in advance and consider, as the recipient ‘how will this email change my life’, then you might just hit the mark. Remember subject lines shouldn’t be anymore than 35 characters and should include something enticing or actionable.
Use a preheader
This is a short piece of snazzy text that goes at the start of your email above the ‘view in browser’. Its awesome for mobile viewers where they get the first piece of html text alongside the subject line, effectively doubling your subject line word allowance! Don’t just repeat your subject, that’s a sad waste of email real estate!
Preheader text in Looe Music Festival’s email
Keep content consistent
As lovely as it is to mix it up sometimes, it is important to retain some consistency in your tone of voice, design and layout. Failure to do so may make the email more difficult to recognise, and easier to junk in the two seconds it takes to decide what to do with it!
Balance the image : text ratio, I know you’re going to say, “but what about all the emails I receive that are full image, they get through and look so much prettier…?”
Yes, some companies do it, some get away with it, some consider it more important to their brand to use full image to illustrate their products. However, the majority of email clients still turn images off by default and having high image ratio just serves to alienate some recipients and flag up a warning in some spam filters. Aim for 40:60 split.
- Use real images where possible (not stock)
- Pick images that compliment and match the tone and style of your articles and brand.
- Ensure you label alt tags with a short description of the image
Use snippet text
Anything from 25-100 word paragraphs. People scan read emails, dense paragraphs are not scannable. Break up text where possible, keep it on brand with typeface colour and size but don’t be afraid to use bullet points, bold or italic to help sections stand out.
Proof
Get someone else to read your email, double and triple check spelling, grammar and links. Just think how unprofessional it looks to have a typo or broken link in your email.
