Clever email marketers are not afraid to try new things and analyse their campaigns to look for ways to improve. The turn of the calendar is a good time to toss that tired old email template and begin the new year with a refreshed look for your communications. If you start 2012 by giving your emails a good pruning this January, your business will reap the rewards. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just a few tweaks to your email template can go a long way toward making sure your customers and prospects pay more attention to your messages. 1) Polish your Design Is your email newsletter professional and inviting? It’s time to put a critical eye on it. Just ask yourself: is it easy for readers to scan the newsletter to find what they want? Do your newsletter colours and fonts match your website? Are you using fonts that are easy to read and that will display in any email client? Does your email newsletter contain calls to action with functional links that redirect to your website? If not, then it might be time for an overhaul. Examine your template and, using these criteria, consider how you can improve on its looks. 2) Try a different Layout One of the easiest ways to refresh your template is to try a different layout. You might want to consider cutting back on elements before you think about adding more, as simpler layouts give you the opportunity to cut back on content and focus on a single, compelling message. On the other hand you can also try a multi-column layout if you do have a lot of information to fill your newsletter with that you want to organise into more easily readable blocks. But remember - single column layouts have the best readability on mobile devices. 3) Revitalise your Content The new year is a great time to re-think your writing and to start focusing on what your customers want to read more about. If you’re not sure how to do this, but really want to work to keep your finger on the pulse of your industry; conduct surveys asking readers what they want to learn more about in future issues or provide a list of potential topics from which they can choose. You can also invite subscribers to contribute content (such as testimonials or success stories) submit questions about your business or ask industry experts for permission to feature some of their content in your newsletters. 4) Change the Scenery Images are a powerful way to grab your readers’ attention, but not if they’ve been seen over and over and over again. One of the most important things you can do to give your email template a fresh look is to opt for new images. Would different photos or graphics make your newsletter more visually appealing? For sure! As long as you keep your messages’ branding consistent with your website and other marketing materials, you can freely experiment with adding new images or replacing old ones. If you like to create your own graphics, take the time to put together a library of new images in January that you can draw from throughout the year. If you’re using photographs from an online stock, keep an eye out for new uploads or search for new resources. source: GraphicMail edit: I left out way #5 as it was "use us" - figured linking to them was sufficient.
