When subscribers receive an email or newsletter, the chance that the receiver will immediately hit delete is unfortunately always there. As a company that relies on email marketing, how do you stop this from happening? The answer to drawing in subscribers and keeping them engaged lies heavily in email design.

While an email’s text remains important, the visual elements should be emphasized just as much — sometimes even more. Below are some email design concepts, suggested by our South Florida digital marketing and graphic design experts, that should earn a place in your email marketing.

SIMPLE AND CONSISTENT LAYOUTS

An email that is easy to read and understand is less likely to be ignored. Therefore, using an email layout that is highly scannable is recommended. Email layouts that utilize flat design are popular for this reason, as they provide continuity and order with simple fonts and white or neutral backgrounds. To accommodate declining attention spans, you may want to decrease text even more with a minimalistic design. Grab subscribers’ attention by focusing on one bold graphic that leads them to a call to action. Finally, if your brand is designing an email series, utilize master templates to ensure consistent design throughout your emails.

MOVING IMAGES

Since layouts should be kept simple, your email design has to elicit excitement and drive engagement with other elements, like moving images. Here are some options to consider:

• GIFs — The use of GIFs within emails gained mass popularity in 2016; if you haven’t incorporated these images into your email marketing, now is the time to try. GIFs are not as resource-heavy as videos and are far more interesting than static JPEGs.
• Cinemagraph — An often more aesthetically pleasing alternative to GIFs is the cinemagraph, a cross between a still image and video. Only a portion of the image is animated, while the rest is static. One cinemagraph can encompass an entire email.
• Keyframe Animation — Available with CSS, Keyframe animation allows for smoother moving images and it is supported on Apple and Android devices.
• Embedded Video — Embedded video remains an interactive element in emails that drives high engagement.
• Live Backgrounds — An ambitious trend that is gaining momentum is the implementation of live backgrounds in your emails. Backgrounds either change over time or are looped videos.

One person can be subscribed to a wide array of company emails and newsletters. Make sure yours aren’t ignored by embracing creative email design. If you need help designing an eye-catching email marketing campaign, our South Florida digital marketing experts and graphic designers can help. Call Keenability today.

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