E-mail templates. They’re a lifesaver for electronic mail advertising campaigns, proper? They will prevent a great deal of time whereas protecting your branding acquainted and constant.
However, as many people have discovered alongside the best way, electronic mail templates aren’t foolproof. Many issues can throw off a once-beautiful template – new photographs or GIFs, interactive components, content material stream, and movies.
Testing your template earlier than each ship may also help discover rendering issues that will pop up after you’ve custom-made the design components. However we needed to know extra, so we sat with a number of of our in-house consultants and the template execs at MailNinja to find out how electronic mail entrepreneurs and builders can use templates successfully.
“There’s plenty of training concerned round what can and may’t be accomplished inside a template and the best way to keep away from breaking it.”
Doug Dennison, CEO and founder, MailNinja
Learn on to search out out seven HTML electronic mail template greatest practices and a few basic email-sending practices to set your self up for fulfillment.
1. Edit your photographs
It’s vital to know the restrictions of your template and resize photographs the place needed. Keep away from copying and pasting a picture with out adjusting it. As well as, don’t attempt to crop the picture or resize it earlier than including it to your template. Dropping in a picture that’s 3,000 pixels huge will doubtless break your template and derail your complete design.
“A template is basically a format or framework – there are nonetheless restrictions to what you are able to do.”
Doug Dennison, CEO and founder, MailNinja
Understand that some electronic mail purchasers will even block your photographs, so it’s vital to be sure you embody descriptive alt textual content. Alt textual content can be vital for customers who could also be utilizing display readers to interpret your electronic mail.
2. Watch your content material stream
Will the size of your copy stream into the template? If it’s too lengthy, it may well throw off the design. In different phrases, guarantee your textual content and fonts will work throughout completely different display codecs. You may as well have fall-backs font stacks in place. It’s additionally vital to concentrate as to whether the template has a column design. A two-column part could look somewhat unusual if you happen to solely have a number of traces of textual content.
Take a look at how the content material is organized within the template – will your content material stream properly? This template from MailNinja has three particular person columns for textual content.
3. Take out the default content material
Don’t neglect in regards to the filler textual content. Loads of templates come loaded with some placeholder content material (like “lorem ipsum” or “add header textual content”) or buttons that say, “add your Name-to-Motion (CTA) right here.” Make sure you’re scanning by way of the template and changing all default content material with your individual or eradicating any default content material you don’t want.
Checking default content material additionally applies to photographs. Keep away from reusing the default picture that got here with the template, and check out to not reuse the identical picture throughout a number of campaigns. A subscriber shall be extra more likely to interact in the event that they discover one thing completely different about your newest electronic mail.
Bear in mind, while you obtain or obtain a template from an company, it’s not prepared for prime time. Your staff will nonetheless must customise the e-mail format and content material earlier than it’s able to ship. These customizations are why it’s essential to check your HTML electronic mail template earlier than you ship it to the lots. Content material modifications, photographs, and branding components – all have the potential to interrupt the format and trigger rendering issues.
Take a look at this template created by MailNinja. Observe how they use default content material to fill out the textual content field. Don’t neglect to vary this!
4. Verify your private tags
Dennison says, “When testing your template, double-check your personalization tags.” Make sure the tags pull the suitable data and don’t present your subscribers the default code, like “{contact: firstname}.”
5. Construct out modules for the longer term
Futureproof your templates so that they’re reusable and versatile. That means, you may depend on them in several situations.
“We’ll create one thing that’s seven-plus modules lengthy, so it offers the shopper scope, however in the long run, they’ll in all probability solely use two or three modules.”
Doug Dennison, CEO and founder, MailNinja
Whether or not you’re making a template your self or hiring an company to create it for you, make sure you construct out numerous modules that could be helpful sooner or later. Positive, you could not use all seven or eight modules directly, however it’ll be helpful later. Having the suitable module prepared can prevent time and complications from attempting to suit content material into the incorrect format.
6. Make it responsive – mobile-responsive
Bear in mind, a lot of your readers in all probability see your emails on cellular units. Don’t alienate them. Use responsive electronic mail design to create templates that adapt to completely different display sizes. Enhance readability and enhance your buyer expertise.
As all the time, if you happen to’re not sure about how your electronic mail will look, head over to our E-mail Preview software and see your electronic mail message on completely different iOS and Android units in real-time.
7. Bear in mind to check
Above all, Dennison says, it’s essential to check each template, each time. Positive, templates are an awesome place to begin, however any change to the content material within the template may throw off rendering.
Take a look at your template, even when it’s one you’ve used earlier than. We do it with our electronic mail publication each month. We do it with virtually each marketing campaign we ship.
“Testing is usually secondary to the significance of getting the e-mail out [of] the door, however it’s so vital to take that step in-between and check to verify it seems to be proper. To not check your templates is simply loopy.”
Doug Dennison, CEO and founder, MailNinja
Complement your template with a successful electronic mail apply
Now that you’ve got an awesome template with an exquisite electronic mail design in your viewers, don’t snooze on good electronic mail content material or your sending practices. Listed here are some greatest practices to maintain the great instances going:
- Create an interesting electronic mail topic line that conjures up your readers to open your message. Preserve these open charges up! Undecided what works greatest? Attempt A/B testing your topic line.
- Use electronic mail record segmentation to focus on sections of your viewers. Don’t spam your complete mailing record with the identical content material. This kind of “spray and pray” technique by no means works. As an alternative, hit focused segments of your record with tailor-made content material. Then, information them to your touchdown web page with a well-crafted CTA.
- Reap the benefits of electronic mail automation and construct higher templates for your whole transactional messages and behavior-based emails. For instance, you may combine the Mailgun by Sinch sending platform together with your utility to reap the benefits of the advantages of electronic mail automation. Mailgun even has its personal drag-and-drop electronic mail template builder.
Wrapping up
And that’s a wrap on electronic mail template design. Able to get templating at present? No matter the kind of electronic mail that you just’re sending, Mailjet’s template library has one thing in your wants. Or able to jazz up your electronic mail much more? Attempt utilizing interactive components.
As all the time, earlier than you hit ship, check your emails with our Marketing campaign Precheck software to make sure your emails show as you plan! Attempt us out free of charge for seven days.
This text was up to date on October 28, 2022. It was first printed in October of 2018.
Creator: The E-mail on Acid Workforce
The E-mail on Acid content material staff is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up electronic mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on electronic mail advertising.
Creator: The E-mail on Acid Workforce
The E-mail on Acid content material staff is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up electronic mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on electronic mail advertising.
