E-mail templates. They’re a lifesaver for e-mail advertising campaigns, proper? They’ll prevent a great deal of time whereas protecting your branding acquainted and constant.
However, as many people have discovered alongside the best way, e-mail templates aren’t foolproof. Many issues can throw off a once-beautiful template – new photos or GIFs, interactive components, content material movement, and movies.
Testing your template earlier than each ship may also help discover rendering issues which will pop up after you’ve personalized the design components. However we wished to know extra, so we sat with a number of of our in-house consultants and the template professionals at MailNinja to learn the way e-mail entrepreneurs and builders can use templates successfully.
“There’s a number of schooling concerned round what can and may’t be achieved inside a template and how you can keep away from breaking it.”
Doug Dennison, CEO and founder, MailNinja
Learn on to seek out out seven HTML e-mail template greatest practices and a few normal email-sending practices to set your self up for fulfillment.
1. Edit your photos
It’s necessary to grasp the restrictions of your template and resize photos the place vital. 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 large will probably break your template and derail your complete design.
“A template is actually a format or framework – there are nonetheless restrictions to what you are able to do.”
Doug Dennison, CEO and founder, MailNinja
Understand that some e-mail purchasers can even block your photos, so it’s necessary to ensure you embrace descriptive alt textual content. Alt textual content can also be necessary for customers who could also be utilizing display readers to interpret your e-mail.
2. Watch your content material movement
Will the size of your copy movement into the template? If it’s too lengthy, it could actually throw off the design. In different phrases, guarantee your textual content and fonts will work throughout totally different display codecs. It’s also possible to have fall-backs font stacks in place. It’s additionally necessary to concentrate as to whether the template has a column design. A two-column part might look somewhat unusual should you 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 movement properly? This template from MailNinja has three particular person columns for textual content.
3. Take out the default content material
Don’t neglect concerning 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 take a look at to not reuse the identical picture throughout a number of campaigns. A subscriber will probably be extra more likely to have interaction in the event that they discover one thing totally different about your newest e-mail.
Keep in mind, if you obtain or obtain a template from an company, it’s not prepared for prime time. Your crew will nonetheless have to 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 e-mail template earlier than you ship it to the plenty. Content material adjustments, photos, and branding components – all have the potential to interrupt the format and trigger rendering issues.
Take a look at this template created by MailNinja. Notice how they use default content material to fill out the textual content field. Don’t neglect to vary this!
4. Test your private tags
Dennison says, “When testing your template, double-check your personalization tags.” Make sure the tags pull the precise info and don’t present your subscribers the default code, like “{contact: firstname}.”
5. Construct out modules for the long run
Futureproof your templates so that they’re reusable and versatile. That method, you possibly can depend on them in several eventualities.
“We’ll create one thing that’s seven-plus modules lengthy, so it provides the consumer scope, however ultimately, 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, you’ll want to construct out varied modules which may be helpful sooner or later. Positive, you could not use all seven or eight modules without delay, however it’ll be helpful later. Having the precise module prepared can prevent time and complications from making an attempt to suit content material into the improper format.
6. Make it responsive – mobile-responsive
Keep in mind, a lot of your readers in all probability see your emails on cell units. Don’t alienate them. Use responsive e-mail design to create templates that adapt to totally different display sizes. Enhance readability and enhance your buyer expertise.
As all the time, should you’re uncertain about how your e-mail will look, head over to our E-mail Preview instrument and see your e-mail message on totally different iOS and Android units in real-time.
7. Keep in mind to check
Above all, Dennison says, it’s essential to check each template, each time. Positive, templates are a terrific start line, 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 e-mail e-newsletter 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 necessary to take that step in-between and take a look at to ensure it seems to be proper. To not take a look at your templates is simply loopy.”
Doug Dennison, CEO and founder, MailNinja
Complement your template with a successful e-mail apply
Now that you’ve got a terrific template with a gorgeous e-mail design on your viewers, don’t snooze on good e-mail content material or your sending practices. Listed here are some greatest practices to maintain the great occasions going:
- Create an attractive e-mail topic line that conjures up your readers to open your message. Hold these open charges up! Undecided what works greatest? Strive A/B testing your topic line.
- Use e-mail record segmentation to focus on sections of your viewers. Don’t spam your total mailing record with the identical content material. This type of “spray and pray” methodology by no means works. As a substitute, hit focused segments of your record with tailor-made content material. Then, information them to your touchdown web page with a well-crafted CTA.
- Benefit from e-mail automation and construct higher templates for your entire transactional messages and behavior-based emails. For instance, you possibly can combine the Mailgun by Sinch sending platform along with your software to reap the benefits of the advantages of e-mail automation. Mailgun even has its personal drag-and-drop e-mail template builder.
Wrapping up
And that’s a wrap on e-mail template design. Able to get templating in the present day? No matter the kind of e-mail that you simply’re sending, Mailjet’s template library has one thing on your wants. Or able to jazz up your e-mail much more? Strive utilizing interactive components.
As all the time, earlier than you hit ship, take a look at your emails with our Marketing campaign Precheck instrument to make sure your emails show as you propose! Strive 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.
Writer: The E-mail on Acid Staff
The E-mail on Acid content material crew is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-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 e-mail advertising.
Writer: The E-mail on Acid Staff
The E-mail on Acid content material crew is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-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 e-mail advertising.
