Email may be a copy-driven medium, but the design considerations of your marketing email campaigns are just as important as their message. A well-designed email enhances a campaign\’s message by engaging recipients; leading to more opens, more clicks and a potentially higher ROI. Here are a few tips on designing engaging marketing emails.

Content and Links are Key

Recipients don\’t have hours to sift through your marketing email. As they likely have a full inbox waiting for them each morning, stick to the point of what you\’re trying to accomplish – and do it quickly. If this is a one-day sale, for example, don\’t go into details about what you had for breakfast: encourage the recipient to take action right away! Only include easily digested, highly relevant and valuable content in your marketing email.

As content of marketing emails is usually just skimmed over by readers, putting important lines of text in bold/italics effectively draws the eye to that information. As the eye is also drawn to images, use them appropriately to enhance your email. Include links within copy and images as well. After all, what\’s the point of a sales pitch if you don\’t show them where they can take advantage of an offer/sale or read more about a product?

Optimize for Mobile Devices and Computers

Statistics tell us that a majority of business professionals who own mobile devices like smartphones and tablets use these devices to frequently check and/or read emails. Therefore, optimizing emails for view on the vast, rapidly growing number of such devices is a necessity. With this in mind, use an email template that is suitable for that purpose. Additionally, optimize graphics that are used in your marketing email for web view. As internet speed changes depending on location, optimization keeps loading times – and your recipients frustration – at a minimum. Consider investing in third party photo editing/manipulation software such as Photoshop to optimize graphics for the web.

Include a Text Only Version

Many email providers frequently prevent images from loading when an email is opened unless they\’re specified to do so. Other times, images are blocked altogether. Obviously, if your marketing email consists of one graphic containing all the vital information of a sale/offer, you have a big problem. Consider a text-only version the \”fail safe\” of a marketing email. Usually, it\’s simply a carbon-copy of a marketing email – just without graphics. Though it may not be as attractive as your carefully designed email, it may still be opened and read at the very least.

Will you Follow Me?

If you haven\’t already, consider opening up accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites before launching an marketing email campaign. Once established, include icons and links to each in your design. The purpose is to show that you have an online presence and invite recipients to \”follow\” you on these social networking sites. Once they begin following you, you can then continue marketing to them through additional news, sales or other offers.

Author Bio: Trevor Richards writes for Extravision, a leading UK email marketing company.

Category: Advice
Keywords: email marketing, email campaign, ecommerce, internet marketing, e-commerce, sales, business