Jun 05 2018

Keep Customers in the Loop: How to Craft an Engaging Email Newsletter

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

We're all familiar with the typical email marketer's arsenal; you have the standard set of transactional emails, as well as the odd sales or promotional email, but there's one more thing which often goes overlooked - the email newsletter.

Although widely accepted as a key part of email marketing, the email newsletter is not something which is utilised by every business. This is a mistake! An engaging email newsletter is the perfect way to keep your customers up to date and informed about what is going on in your business. Unlike a generic sales or transactional email, the newsletter gives you the opportunity to combine multiple marketing elements into one email and, at the same time, provide your customers with interesting content about your field of business. Here are our top tips for crafting engaging email newsletters.

The eye-catcher

To kick off your newsletter, it's a good idea to include an eye-catching graphic or header image to set the tone of the email, and, most importantly, grab your reader's attention. This could be an image, text style, or a GIF, but the main thing to think about is whether it is fitting to your email message and on brand for your business. Don't forget to prominently position your logo at the top of the email design so that your readers know straight away the email is from you. In this Valentine's Day themed email from Philosophy, the brand's logo takes center stage at the top of the page, followed by a dazzling pink graphic which conveys the theme of the email straight away.

The colors in this vibrant design are great at generating attention

Introduce the theme

In an email newsletter, it can be beneficial to include a short and friendly introduction to give readers overview of the theme of your newsletter. This should get them on board from the get go. Make your introduction snappy, engaging and, most of all, interesting enough that customers will want to read more. In this example from Boots, the reader receives a nice welcome to the newsletter, giving them a quick overview about the theme of the email and enticing them to read on for more information.

Include a welcome message like this one from Boots to introduce your theme

Layout

The layout of your newsletter is important, as it determines whether or not your reader will be able to clearly follow the information you have provided. Too much text is long and boring, and too many images make the email difficult to load and may cause viewing problems in some email clients. Try to include a healthy balance of text and images in your email layouts. We would always recommend including at least one main text block so recipients who have disabled images in their email client can still see the main message of your email.

Try out the combi layout blocks in Mail Designer 365 to create a clear and stylish design.

Great content

Of course, the most important aspect of your email newsletter is the content you include. If this content does not interest your readers, they will be less likely to open your emails, and could even choose to unsubscribe. There are three key things you can work on to make sure your content is engaging for your email newsletter:

1. Relevance: Is this content relevant to my field of business and to my target audience? Your customers have most likely chosen to subscribe to your newsletter as they have an interest in the industry you are in and want to hear more about it. It is good practice to consider how relevant your newsletter content really is before deciding to include it in the final draft.

2. Variety: Is this content unique and interesting? There's nothing worse than sending dull and repetitive emails, your customers will soon get bored and lose interest. Try to make sure you have a good amount of variation when it comes to your newsletter. You can try switching between factual articles, review-style blog posts, featured product launches, news about your business, or other media such as gifs and videos, to keep things vibrant and interesting.

We like the variety included in this newsletter by Typeform.

3. Promotion: Is this content helpful in promoting my product or service? Although email newsletters go further than the standard sales email, the main goal is still to market your business. Make sure that your content always works to promote your product or service. You could include product reviews, customer testimonials, example of how your product could help solve a common problem in the industry, useful tips or tutorials, and more, to paint your business in the best possible light.

Call-to-Action

Your email newsletter goes way beyond the email itself. As with any marketing material, your newsletter should contain at least one CTA (call-to-action) to direct customers towards your website, online store, blog, or whatever it is you are trying to promote. This post will tell you more about how to create CTA buttons that shine, but the main thing is to remember to make them stand out amongst the rest of your content. The bright pink CTA buttons in this design from Oasis are standout and work great with the summery theme of the email.

Vibrant CTAs like these ones from Oasis are super effective

Don't forget the footer

Last but certainly not least, the footer. As well as giving you the chance to leave a lasting impression on your readers, this is also the most common place to insert any useful company information, disclaimers, and contact details, as well as the super important unsubscribe link.

We recommend that you always use a standard footer and only edit the information when absolutely necessary. That way, your designs remain consistent for your readers and you can be sure that you have all of the necessary information. Use the footer to link to your social media sites, your blog, or your customer support system.

Make sure your design footer contains relevant and essential information

This footer by H&M is informative and provides readers with all important links such as social media sites and the sign up page for a customer loyalty card. In addition, the company also protect themselves by including a legal disclaimer and an unsubscribe link.

Final thoughts

If you stick to these tips, you should be well on the way to crafting amazing email newsletters full of engaging content that your recipients will want to read. To go one step further, it's great practice to also stick to a regular sending schedule (i.e. once a week every Tuesday or the first of each month.) This will help to get your customers used to your email newsletter and look forward to your emails, and also helps you to provide consistent content and plan better. Happy Designing!

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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May 25 2018

GDPR Damage Control: How to Rebuild Your Email Lists

By Uncategorized

It was inevitable, something we all saw coming. Following months of updating data protection and privacy policy, and not to mention frantically sending out opt in campaigns, GDPR came, saw and, well... conquered. As a result, many of you have probably seen a significant drop in your email subscribers, but don't worry, there's still hope! Here are some tips and tricks to help get you back on track and rebuild your email lists.

Out with the old and in with the new

In some ways, GDPR has actually done you all a favour. It's a known fact that quantity does not equal quality, and having a large list of email subscribers isn't necessarily a good thing for your email marketing campaigns. In fact, it can almost be quite detrimental if a large proportion of your list is made up of inactive, disengaged subscribers. Inactive subscribers negatively impact upon your open rates and click-through rates and prevent you from seeing how effective your email campaign really is. In removing such subscribers from your lists, you'll have an email list made up of customers who want to receive your emails and are much more likely to actively engage. Great news, right?

With this in mind, you can now go forward with a more positive outlook. Focus your efforts on gaining new, interested email subscribers who have actively chosen to opt in to receiving your content.

Promotion is key

The first way to ensure people will sign up to your email lists is by promoting your email newsletter wherever you can. There are many opportunities to do this, but one of the most effective ways is to include a prominent sign up box on your website or blog. If a potential customer is already looking through your website or reading your blog, they're most likely interested in your content. Make the most of this opportunity by pointing out your newsletter as a way for them to stay in touch with you. This cooking blog has a prominent sign up box in the sidebar, prompting readers to subscribe for even more content.

Include a sign up box on your website or blog

If you don't have a blog, make one!

A blog is a great way for you to show your customers what kind of content they can expect from your business. It is also another way for you to promote your product or service without having to invest too much time, energy, or money. The more engaging your blog content is, the more likely your readers are to want to sign up. You can encourage blog visitors to subscribe to your email list to receive updates whenever you publish a new blog post. This is enticing, as they will already know that the content they will receive emails about will be of interest to them and won't be spam. 1Life make sure their subscribers will never miss out on a new blog post:

Create a blog to get customers interested in your content

Use social media

Social media is a quick and instant way to communicate shorter blasts of information to your customers. It's possible that many of your social media followers may not be aware of the fact you have an email newsletter. Take this chance to inform them that more detailed news about your business, promotions, or releases is available in your email newsletter. It's likely that many of your followers will take interest, because, again, they are following you for your interesting content. Check out this example from Hydrogen, which could have been made even better with a link!

Use social media to promote your email newsletter

Upload older newsletters to your website

Just like with the blog, by uploading previous newsletters, you're showing potential subscribers what they are in store for if they sign up to receive your newsletter. Although you may be concerned that making your newsletter available online might deter people from subscribing, it's actually a lot more effort for them to have to search for it online than it is to conveniently receive it in your inbox. You can also choose to not post your latest newsletters until the next one is sent out. It's a good idea to show that you include exclusive special offers, promotions, and current news to generate FOMO (fear of missing out) and push customers to subscribe. reallygoodemails.com have an archive of their old newsletters to encourage new customers to sign up:

Archive older newsletters so customers know what to expect when they sign up

With these tips in mind, it should be easy for you to get back up on your feet after the initial GDPR shock. As the saying goes, keep calm and carry on and you should be fine!

Until next time!

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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Mail Designer 365 helps you create stylish, professional HTML emails on your Mac. Download for free to see what you can achieve.

May 15 2018

5 Ways You Can Create Sizzling Memorial Day Email Campaigns

By Uncategorized

For your American customers, May means it's almost time for Memorial Day. This holiday gives consumers a three day weekend, and there's nothing quite like a long weekend to get business booming!

Before you fire up the grill, or pour yourself a drink, check out our 5 tips for creating a sizzling Memorial Weekend email campaign.

Go stars and stripes crazy

As this is a super patriotic holiday, you should do your best to try and represent this in your email design. This makes the theme of your email clear from the get go, as well as making things a bit more fun and interesting for your email subscribers. Try to incorporate red, white and blue into your color scheme, and bonus points for you if you can include some American flag imagery in there, too!

In this example, Ralph Lauren have got their color scheme down to a T and the inclusion of the stars and stripes flag is a great way to get the theme across to customers.

The stars and stripes in this Ralph Lauren email are super patriotic

Use a sense of urgency

As one of the oldest tricks in the marketing playbook, the sense of urgency is always a good way to engage your customers into participating with your sale or special offer. As the Memorial Day holiday is only spread across a couple of days, it provides your business with the perfect opportunity to have a quick-fire sale or event.

This bright design from Aldo definitely creates a sense of urgency with its "Today only" graphic. Try something similar in your designs to get customers rushing to check out your sale.

Including the "ends tonight" line adds a sense of urgency to this email

Inspire subscribers to make the most of their time off

Remember your email campaign does not have to begin on Memorial Day weekend, you can get started right away! Encourage your subscribers to start planning their backyard BBQ in advance, or suggest fun activities to do at home over the family weekend.

There's loads of ways to get involved and it doesn't have to be a themed sale. Get creative and it will pay off. Your customers will definitely thank you for the inspiration! Check out this example made with Mail Designer 365.

Give your customers ideas for things to do to celebrate the holiday

Use a summery theme

For many of your customers, Memorial Day weekend is the start of their summer. The weather is getting warmer and many of them will not have to go to school or work. Your subscribers will have summer and sun on the brain, so the more you highlight this in your email campaign using a summery theme, the more likely they are to click.

This cute and summery design from Revolve is a clever way to inspire your customers to start shopping for the summer.

This packing theme from Revolve gets customers in the mood for a vacation

Don't forget what the day is all about

As with all holidays and special occasions, it's easy to forget the true meaning of the celebration. It's good to include a reference to what the day is all about. This will not only make your business come across more genuine, it's also a sign of respect to your customers who may have lost loved ones fighting in the military. You could do this by inserting a short but heartfelt message or by hosting a special event and donating to a veteran's charity.

This design from Alex and Ani has got the balance just right. We love the patriotic heart!

A heartfelt design saying thanks to American troops for all they've done

Tip: Don't forget to segment your email lists for this one! It may seem obvious, but it is important you only send your Memorial Campaign out to your US customers.

Until next time!

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Give Mail Designer 365 a try today for free...

Mail Designer 365 helps you create stylish, professional HTML emails on your Mac. Download for free to see what you can achieve.

May 08 2018

Types of color schemes and how they affect your email design

By Uncategorized

Research shows that it takes just 0.05 seconds for a web page to make an impression on the average person; whether this is a good or bad impression is up to you. The visual appearance of your email is crucial in determining how readers will respond to your campaign. Here's how you can effectively use color schemes to optimise your email designs...

Monochromatic color schemes

A monochromatic design is made up of the different shades of just one main color. It's particularly effective if it highlights something within your email design and indicates a clear theme. Try this out for colors which are seasonal (e.g. red at Christmas or orange at Halloween) or for targeted product promotion.

This example from Morphe is highly effective. Not only does the hot pink stand out to readers, it also does a great job of promoting their lipgloss of the same color:

Monochromatic color schemes are a brilliant way to highlight the vibrant, colorful nature of your product.

Complementary color schemes

Complementary color schemes are made up of colors which are directly opposite each other in the color wheel. Some complementary pairing examples are red and blue, yellow and purple, and pink and green.

These colors create a strong contrast, but, when pulled off correctly, can add something special to your design. For example, this design from Cotton On utilises a complementary color scheme by clashing red and teal together to create an interesting effect for their otherwise ordinary sale advertisement.

Use a vibrant complementary color scheme to bring an otherwise simple design to life.

Achromatic color schemes

For a particularly sleek and serious design, you should consider using an achromatic color scheme. This refers to color schemes made up of shades of black and white. In terms of branding, this is a sleek and stylish option for those of you striving to maintain a more sophisticated look in your emails.

Hudson Jeans are looking chic as ever in this achromatic welcome email. This design does a great job of introducing subscribers to the fashionable nature of the brand and remaining interesting at the same time.

Achromatic color schemes add an element of style and edge - particularly for fashion brands.

Analagous color schemes

An analagous color scheme is made up of one main color and then the two colors either side of it on the color wheel. For example, red paired with deep orange and hot pink or blue paired with indigo and turquoise. This is a great color scheme to try out on a more standard design like a transactional email, where you don't want to be too experimental.

This brand have created a soft, yet effective color scheme for this design. The red paired with pink and orange is a nice way to incorporate color without going overboard.

An analogous color scheme is a subtle yet stylish way to introduce different colors into your email designs.

We hope you take these color schemes into consideration for your next email campaign. Together with an understanding of seasonal trends and the effect of different colors, this is a great way to make sure your email design is effective as possible.

Until next time!

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Give Mail Designer 365 a try today for free...

Mail Designer 365 helps you create stylish, professional HTML emails on your Mac. Download for free to see what you can achieve.

May 01 2018

Our Top Tips for Magnificent Mother's Day Email Campaigns

By Uncategorized

Mother's Day is a great marketing opportunity for your business, as it's a day which practically all of your customers will find relevant in some way. Here are some of our top ideas for how you can build an effective Mother's Day email campaign.

Give moms the reward they deserve!

One fairly straightforward way to kick off your Mother's Day marketing campaign is by giving Moms a special treat to show your appreciation. Not only does this show the compassionate side of your business, it will also help to build up a customer relationship and entice all the mothers you rewarded to come back to your business throughout the rest of the year.

Whether it's a discount code for your store, or a free drink or dessert in your restaurant, try to include a kind gesture in your email campaign. Check out this example we made in Mail Designer 365:

Offer moms an exclusive reward to show them your appreciation.

Think floral

Flowers are often associated with Mother's Day, as they are a popular way to show someone your love and appreciation. Try to incorporate a floral theme into your email design to help readers make the clear association with Mother's Day.

Moreover, if your business happens to sell flowers of any kind, make sure to come up with an eye-catching, unique design to stand out from your many competitors on the day. We love this colorful GIF from Terrain inspiring customers to be creative and put together a custom plant pot for their moms.

Incorporate flowers into your design for a traditional Mother's Day vibe.

Create a gift guide

Help your customers show their moms how much they are loved by creating an inspiring gift guide full of products from your store. This is super effective, as it directly shows your customers why your business is relevant for Mother's Day.

Whether you sell clothing, make up, garden accessories, or electronics, you're bound to have the perfect gift for a deserving mother. This example from Apple shows that Mother's Day gifts can take many shapes and sizes.

Invite moms to a special event

One way to get customers to come to your physical store is by holding a special Mother's Day event. Something simple will do the trick like a bake sale or a mini cocktail for each customer. Depending on the nature of your business, there's many different opportunities which you can use to attract moms to your store.

This clever tea party example from J Crew is a sure fire way to get customers to stop by and look around.

Hold a special Mother's Day event to build on your customer relationships.

Don't let your subscribers forget!

With so much going on around us, it's understandable that the date may slip some customers' minds. Send out a reminder to your subscribers and encourage them to browse your store for the perfect gift. Chances are they'll be so anxious not to forget, they'll click straight on your CTA and start shopping. Bonus points if you provide them with free delivery!

Chocolatier Thorntons did a great job in this email of reminding customers when their last chance to order is:

Send out last minute reminder emails to create an extra sense of urgency and get customers clicking.

Get personal

Often, the email campaigns which work the best are those with a more personal touch. It's great when customers can relate to you on a more one-to-one level. We found this campaign from Shopbop inspiring where individual employees paid tribute to their moms by doing a feature on the fashion from their generations.

Add a personalised, sentimental touch to your emails to make them Mother's Day appropriate.

You could try something similar by doing a mini-feature on your team's moms. Do you have a cooking blog? Share your mom's best tips and secrets for the perfect apple pie! After all, moms know best!

Spread the love

Whether it's supporting disadvantaged mothers in your local area, or children who have lost their mothers, working for a good cause is a great way to build on your CSR and gain support from customers, as well as being a genuinely good thing to do.

In this email campaign, Charity Water had the clever idea to use the big day as a fundraising opportunity for those less fortunate.

Use Mother's Day as a chance to spread the love and give back to those in the community who may be struggling.

We hope you found these tips for Mother's Day email design useful for creating your Mother's Day email campaigns. Remember to be positive and spread the love, and your customers will be more than happy to share this special day with you!

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Apr 25 2018

Your Checklist for the Perfect GDPR Compliance Campaign

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

The newly-updated EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), set to be put in place on May 25th 2018, means all firms are now required to make some key updates to their privacy policy, as well as important changes to the email consent process.

To quickly recap, some of the most important changes are:

More user-friendly language in privacy policy/terms & conditions
New laws on how users can access their personal data which you possess
Tighter regulation of what constitutes consent

For those of you in the midst of creating a GDPR campaign, we've pulled together some of our best tips on how to communicate these important new changes with your customers; and what better way to do so than by email!

Checklist for GDPR Compliance Emails

1. Craft a clear subject Line

To improve the chances of your recipient opening your email, you need to make sure your subject line has the correct tone - a balance between clarity and seriousness is what you should be aiming for. You want to inform your customers that the message is important, but at the same time, you need to stand out and remain interesting. We recommend you address the topic head on in your subject line; this way, your customer will know exactly what to expect from the email. Here is a good example from Hotjar:

"Important Updates to Hotjar’s Terms and Privacy Policy"

This subject line gets straight to the point and using the word "important" is a great way to direct readers' attention towards the serious nature of the email.

2. Keep it short and sweet

Data legislation is a complicated topic, so it's a good idea to keep your email as short as you can. Again, it is advisable that you keep the tone serious, yet engaging, to ensure that your customers understand what they are reading. For an email such as this one, we would recommend taking a very simple approach in terms of layout and design, so as not to distract from the key message. In this case, images and extravagant graphics are definitely not necessary. Stick to the basics: lots of white space, short paragraphs, and clear, legible text, as shown in the below example:

3. Highlight key points and dates

Because the majority of us tend to skim read things, it's a good idea to try and highlight the most important points within the email - a few examples could be the date the changes are taking place, which changes will affect your customers most, or useful contact details. As shown in the above example, you can use a bold font and a color or style which stands out from the rest of your email text to provide extra emphasis.

4. Give your readers a reason to re-subscribe

This point applies for those of you who need to orchestrate a re-permission campaign. Because consent laws have been updated, many of you will need to re-obtain customer consent in order to keep sending emails. Don't panic! The majority of your customers are subscribed to you because they are interested in your content and want to stay up to date. A friendly message, such as this one from ASOS, gives users the chance to update their preferences, as well as confirm their wish to opt in to your mailing list. It also subtly provides the reader with the benefits of remaining subscribed.

5. Make your call-to-action very clear

The call-to-action is always the most important part of any email you send, but in this case, it's especially significant, as it signifies to the reader which steps they need to take in response to the information you've given them. If you need your customers to accept something, it's important they know what it is. This is particularly relevant when you need to re-obtain customer consent, or if your customers need to review and accept your new terms to continue using your service.

In this email from Instagram, it is made clear from the prominent CTA that users need to review the updates and agree to the new changes in order to continue using the platform.

6. Link to the updated policies

This is also essential, as it ensures that your customers have access to your updated policies. Be sure to provide a link to your new policy which is clearly visible and not buried in text. This makes it easy to find so that your readers can go back and access it any time. For those customers who are particularly interested in the legislation and want to know more about the subject, it could be beneficial to build a landing page on your website where they can read more. This way, you can keep your email concise, and still provide a link to more detailed information for those who want to know more.

Tip: In Mail Designer 365, you can format your links to make them stand out even more from your email text:

We hope you found our checklist for creating a GDPR email useful. If you remember these key points, your emails will be clear, informative, and, most importantly, you'll be confident in the knowledge that you've taken the necessary steps to keep your customers up to date.

Until next time!

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Until next time,
Your Mail Designer 365 team

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Apr 17 2018

GIF Ideas for Your Email Campaigns

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy, Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy, Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy, Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy, Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

All hail the GIF! This week we're getting animated at Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy. GIFs and animations are taking over the world and we've scoured the web to find you 10 of the very best examples of GIFs in email...

Quick tips for GIFs

Before we get started, here's a brief overview with some useful tips to keep in mind when using animated GIFs in your email designs:

- - In Mail Designer 365 you can only use one GIF per image area. In general, we would recommend not going overboard with GIFs (less is definitely more in this case), but if you do want to include more than one animation, be sure to add an image area for each one.
  - Keep it short and snappy. As customers, we have short attention spans. If your GIF is too long and tries to say too much, the recipient will soon get bored and confused. Make sure your GIF is no more than a few seconds long and visually exciting for it to have maximum effect.
- Stay on brand. GIFs are great, but if your target audience doesn't think so, you're setting yourself up to fail. When choosing an animation, be sure that it is relevant to your brand and that your audience will receive it well. If your brand image is generally professional, steer clear of extravagant, over-the-top style GIFs and go for something more subtle.
- TEST TEST TEST. There's nothing worse than putting the effort in to finding a great GIF only to have your hard work ruined by compatibility issues. Use the test send feature to preview your email design with the GIF before sending to your entire mailing list!

GIF-tastic emails we love!

1. Fun fall sale

This fabulous email design by Loeffler Randall includes a clever play on words as well as a seasonal color scheme for the autumn sale. Although the concept is simple, this GIF is highly effective and leads the reader straight to the CTA button.

2. A touch of magic

Mommut have done a great job in this more abstract email design. Although a more subtle concept, this is a fun and friendly way to advertise a sale, and quite frankly, the unicorn sold it to us straight away! This simple GIF style is a great choice for beginners as it provides an extra element to your email design without being too complicated to apply.

3. SMS-merising messenger GIF

We love this GIF idea from Hollister. The inventive instant-messaging-style animation keeps us hooked and grabs our attention - helping readers focus on the email's true message. Very clever indeed! This is a fitting choice for a more modern business with a younger target audience, and will definitely pay off if you're willing to take the creative risk.

4. This GIF is serving bags of fun

This fun and colorful GIF from Kate Spade is a simple, yet captivating way to promote a special product. There is also a subtle sense of urgency included with the tagline "catch them while you can" - implying that the bags are going fast. We love the way every element of the design works together to encourage readers to shop this product while they still have the chance.

5. Time for you to try out this GIF idea

Continuing with the sense of urgency theme, this countdown GIF from Lou & Grey is a brilliantly playful way to add a sense of urgency to an email campaign. The ticking clock alongside the bold tagline both work well to encourage customers to check out the big sale.

6. The mega colorful one

What better way to advertise your wide product range than with this colorful GIF concept from River Island. This animation is super cool, as it almost shows the products flying off the shelf (again creating a sense of urgency.) On top of this, the range of color is eye-catching and intriguing and definitely makes this email stand out from the crowd.

7. Make your GIFS count

What would this post be without a good old countdown GIF? Ann Taylor are showing us all how to create that essential time pressure and have fun at the same time. Countdown GIFs are a classic, and they can be used in practically any situation. Use this style to build up to a sale, a product launch, a milestone, or any other major event!

8. Who says rain means doom and gloom?

Email design champions Boden have hit the nail on the head again with this cute and kitsch design. The creative GIF puts a fun and cheerful twist on what would usually be perceived as miserable, and somehow makes a rainy day seem appealing. The positive vibe of this email will almost certainly encourage customers to hit that CTA button.

9. Let your product do all the talking

This GIF from Estee Lauder may be simple, but it's also super clever and relevant to the product's USP. The refresh motion ties in nicely with the anti-ageing/rewind concept of the campaign, and therefore does a great job of promoting the product's best feature. It's also another very unique way to catch readers' attention by going the extra mile instead of just including a static image.

10. The ultimate sweet treat for all

Last but not least, we have a super sweet design from J Crew Factory. One lesson we've learnt when looking at endless designs online is that, if in doubt, you should always go for a theme people love... and who doesn't love candy? This GIF has many great qualities: the color scheme is vibrant and fun, the concept is simple yet effective, and again, the disappearing bon bons do a great job of creating a sense of urgency. The only downside? It's made us really hungry! ?

We hope you're feeling inspired from these 10 GIF-tastic email designs. If you're hungry for more email inspiration, you can check out our Pinterest page, where we're always on the lookout for flawless emails.

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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Apr 03 2018

Commonly Overlooked Aspects of Email Marketing You Shouldn't Forget

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

When it comes to email marketing, there is a LOT to think about. Graphics, layout, text, CTAs - the list goes on. With so much happening, it can be easy to overlook things which seem less crucial; especially if you're under time pressure.

Here's a quick reminder of some commonly overlooked aspects of email marketing which you should try to keep in mind for your email campaigns.

Important Links

Spam law dictates that every email you send must contain a visible unsubscribe link. If you don't include this in your design, you could land your business in legal trouble and even end up with a hefty fine.

Other important links you may not want to forget are contact links to your customer service team, links to social media sites, view in browser links, and links to your website. These are all things that your customers will potentially search for in your emails, so it's vital to make sure they are visible.

One way to make sure you never forget another link is by building and saving a footer in Mail Designer 365. Insert all the relevant links and text into a layout block, and then save it to the My Layout Blocks tab to use over and over again in future designs:

Save your most important links in a ready made layout block to quickly drag into all your email designs whenever you need.

The Inbox Snippet

The inbox snippet is the perfect chance to make your email stand out in an overcrowded inbox. Much like the subject line, the snippet gives you the opportunity to provide readers with a tantalising sneak peek that's bound to make them want to open your email.

In Mail Designer 365, it's easy to insert; you'll find the snippet editor right underneath the subject line editor. No excuses! ?

The Plain Text Version

We are strong supporters of HTML email design - after all, we built a whole business around it! However, there are some circumstances where HTML email isn't supported.

In order to keep your email campaigns accessible for every one of your customers, be sure to create a plain text version of your email design. Make sure to only include the key points of the email and keep the text brief. It will be super effective.

Include a plain text version of your email to make sure it will be accessible for everyone.

Fallback Fonts

While it may be tempting to go for the coolest and most visually effective web fonts, some email clients do not support them; resulting in missing text and a frankly ineffective email design.

In Mail Designer 365, you have the option to include multiple fallback fonts, as well as "email-safe" fonts which are universally supported. When creating your designs, don't forget to quickly choose at least one email-safe option for your own peace of mind.

For more advice on fonts, check out our recent article on the best fonts for email marketing.

Alt Text and Image Links

Many email clients will not automatically display your images in the reader's inbox. This can happen for a number of reasons: some people choose to configure their inbox preferences that way, your image may be too large to load properly, or you may be marked as an unknown sender.

Including alt text and a link for every image is an effective way to combat this issue. This way, instead of seeing a huge blank space, your reader will see your chosen text to describe the image (e.g. Yasmin Scalloped Skater Dress Black) and a link to view the image on your website.

You can click on any image in Mail Designer 365 to edit the link and alt text:

These five aspects of email design may not stand out to you as being an essential part of your email marketing campaign; however, if you take the time to remember to include them all every time, your emails are guaranteed to be better than ever.

Until next time!

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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Mar 27 2018

5 Things You Should Definitely NOT Include in Your Email Campaigns

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

When it comes to email marketing, we hear a lot about best practice and what makes a great email design, but what are the things that can make an email particularly bad?

There are many common errors that can often lead to unsuccessful email campaigns, but they're usually things which can quite easily be avoided. Here are 5 things which you should definitely NOT include in your email campaigns...

1. Spam words and phrases

With email spam laws tightening, it is crucial for email marketers to be clued up on what actually constitutes spam. If used in the wrong context, certain words and phrases may land you in the spam folder, meaning your email won't be seen at all.

Here is a very useful list of current spam "trigger words" which you should try your best to avoid where possible. Particularly with subject lines, it is often much more effective to come up with something original and creative than to rely on clickbait.

Spam messages like this are an email marketing no no

2. Patronizing or negative unsubscribe links

By law, it is required that you include an unsubscribe link somewhere in your email. Of course we don't want our customers to unsubscribe, but if they choose to, we must respect this choice. Negative unsubscribe buttons such as "No, I don't want to receive helpful information" are incredibly rude to the customer and reflect poorly on your brand.

The below image is a prime example of how NOT to phrase your opt out!

An example of a very passive aggressive CTA

3. Impossible-to-find unsubscribe links

Trying to get around the law by hiding your unsubscribe link somewhere at the very end of your email is also a massive no no. This is likely to aggravate your customers and ultimately get you blacklisted and even reported for sending spam - not ideal.

In general, we recommend you aim to put your unsubscribe link in a place where it's clearly visible to prevent your subscribers getting frustrated and marking your emails as spam.

Remember, if you're worried about customers wanting to unsubscribe, think about positive ways to improve your email marketing strategy. This could include sending out fewer emails, segmenting content or making your content more interesting.

The unsubscribe link is barely visible at the bottom of the design

The unsubscribe link is much easier to spot at the top of the email

4. Spelling mistakes

Try to remember that your email campaign is representative of you and your brand. With this in mind, it's important that you carefully spellcheck everything you send out. It might not be enough to make them unsubscribe, but spelling and grammatical errors make you look bad and instantly devalue your email.

To combat this, be sure you use the spellcheck tool and the test send feature in Mail Designer 365. This allows you and your colleagues to proofread all material before sending to customers.

Always spellcheck your design in Mail Designer 365 before sending

5. Invalid links or promo codes

As well as testing all links in emails, remember to also test discount codes, CTAs, and vouchers too. Many companies have made this mistake in the past and have been forced to respond by sending out an embarrassing apology email which could have easily been avoided with some simple testing. Don't let this happen to you!

Awkward... Make sure all of your links and discount codes work

So there you have it. These five simple mistakes might not seem like much, but can cost your business a lot. Whether it's your reputation, your subscribers, or your money, make sure you don't lose out and stick to our advice when you're putting together your next email campaign.

Until next time!

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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Mail Designer 365 helps you create stylish, professional HTML emails on your Mac. Download for free to see what you can achieve.

Mar 06 2018

The Best Fonts for Email Marketing

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

We love fonts here at Mail Designer 365. However, with so many different fonts to choose from and so many styles and sizes, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your design. This week we're going to take you through some of our favorite fonts and show you how you can use them effectively in your email designs. Let's get started!

Email-safe font options

When designing an email newsletter, you have two main font options for your design: "Email-safe fonts" and web fonts.

Email-safe fonts are the standard font types which are supported universally in every email client. Some examples of common email-safe fonts are: Arial, Georgia, and Times New Roman.

With Mail Designer 365, you have the option to always include an email safe "fallback" font in all of your text areas to ensure your text will always be displayed.

Email-safe font choices

This being said, you are by no means restricted to these nine fonts in your designs.

Web fonts are fonts which are designed for use online and can be downloaded from the internet and installed in Mail Designer 365. We always source ours from Google Fonts, because they are free to download and open source, so you don't need a license to use them in your designs.

Web fonts are a great way to make your design unique, eye-catching, and most importantly, well-suited to your brand.

Google Fonts are also fully supported in some of the most popular email service providers including, Apple Mail, AOL Mail, iOS Mail, Android's native mail app, Lotus Notes, and most versions of Microsoft Outlook.

Here are some more great benefits of web fonts:

Displayed regardless of whether images are supported.
Quick to load.
Crisp and sharp in designs in comparison to images, which can sometimes be out of focus, or low resolution.
Super easy to import into Mail Designer 365. Here's how!

Here are some ideas on how you can use web fonts in your designs. For even more font inspiration, you can check out our font infographics on Pinterest!

Fonts for Headlines

The job of a headline is to catch the reader's eye and alert them towards the most important parts of your email. This means a good headline should be able to stand out in your design. In terms of email-safe fonts, both Impact and Arial Black offer a HD effect to your headline, but if you want to be more adventurous, try one of these three Google fonts:

Molle

Full of character and style, Molle has a slight retro vibe and looks great in a fun, informal newsletter design.

Julius Sans One

This ultra light font is a great choice for a more fashionable and modern headline. Try it out for your online clothing store.

Abril Fatface

This smart font is perfect for a more professional design. It's a great eye-catcher and stays classy at the same time.

Fonts for Body Text

The main body of your email needs to be a font that's clear and easy to read, so that your email subscribers really pay attention to what you're saying. A serif font is usually a more traditional typeface which is normally used for lengthier and more formal text such as newspapers, academic writing, etc. In terms of serif email-safe font options, Times New Roman and Georgia are both good and reliable options. However, when it comes to web fonts, there is a lot more choice. For a sophisticated effect, we particularly like:

Antic Didone

Cormorant Garamond

Sans serif fonts are a lot more informal and work really well for blogs, generic email text (i.e. welcome messages) or statistics. Email-safe sans serif fonts include Arial and Tahoma. As for web fonts, the Mail Designer 365 brand always uses Open Sans, but for a cool and modern look, we especially like:

Roboto Light

Didact Gothic

Other Font Styles

Perhaps you want your font to stand out from the crowd. No problem! The great thing about web fonts is that there is a font available for every possible use case. Here are some ideas of font styles you may want to use in your designs:

Handwriting Style

A handwriting style font can really add a personal touch to your email design. You can this style of font to sign off an email and give the illusion of a signature, or to make your subscribers feel extra special when inviting them to an exclusive event.

Brush style

Brush fonts are glamorous and sophisticated and work really well for headlines if you're looking for something a bit more artistic and outside of the box. The right brush font can work wonders on a standard design and transform it into an elegant masterpiece.

Typewriter style

Typewriter fonts are a classic and perfect for adding a vintage vibe to your design. Think murder mystery night or exclusive first look at your new book draft. Typewriter typefaces are here to stay!

Alternative

This covers everything from festive font types, to flower power, to artistic typography. In Mail Designer 365 you can find an alternative font for practically anything. Here are some of our most abstract examples...

We hope you were able to take some inspiration from these font styles. The most important thing is that your font effectively reflects your brand and the message you are trying to communicate in your email design. Sign up free and try some of these unique and eye-catching web fonts out in Mail Designer 365 today!

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

The eye-catcher

Introduce the theme

Layout

Great content

Call-to-Action

Don't forget the footer

Final thoughts

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Out with the old and in with the new

Promotion is key

If you don't have a blog, make one!

Use social media

Upload older newsletters to your website

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Go stars and stripes crazy

Use a sense of urgency

Inspire subscribers to make the most of their time off

Use a summery theme

Don't forget what the day is all about

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Monochromatic color schemes

Complementary color schemes

Achromatic color schemes

Analagous color schemes

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Give moms the reward they deserve!

Think floral

Create a gift guide

Invite moms to a special event

Don't let your subscribers forget!

Get personal

Spread the love

Checklist for GDPR Compliance Emails

1. Craft a clear subject Line

2. Keep it short and sweet

3. Highlight key points and dates

4. Give your readers a reason to re-subscribe

5. Make your call-to-action very clear

6. Link to the updated policies

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Quick tips for GIFs

GIF-tastic emails we love!

1. Fun fall sale

2. A touch of magic

3. SMS-merising messenger GIF

4. This GIF is serving bags of fun

5. Time for you to try out this GIF idea

6. The mega colorful one

7. Make your GIFS count

8. Who says rain means doom and gloom?

9. Let your product do all the talking

10. The ultimate sweet treat for all

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Important Links

The Inbox Snippet

The Plain Text Version

Fallback Fonts

Alt Text and Image Links

Give Mail Designer 365 a try today for free...

1. Spam words and phrases

2. Patronizing or negative unsubscribe links

3. Impossible-to-find unsubscribe links

4. Spelling mistakes

5. Invalid links or promo codes

Give Mail Designer 365 a try today for free...

Email-safe font options

Fonts for Headlines

Fonts for Body Text

Other Font Styles

Handwriting Style

Brush style

Typewriter style

Alternative

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