10 of the Most Effective Email Design Tips for eCommerce Brands

Emails give brands the opportunity to inform and update shoppers about their products and services, and can also be used to increase revenue by driving conversions. Additionally, second only to social media, 80% of retail professionals indicate that email marketing is their greatest source of customer retention. In fact, customers who make purchases through email spend 138% more than those who don’t receive email offers!

As a cost-effective and quantifiable solution to your customer-relation needs, there’s a place for email marketing in every business’ digital strategy. This blog post will walk you through the 10 most effective email design tips for eCommerce brands that will help your content stand out from the rest.

1. Personalization

It’s no secret that personalization will be the future of marketing. Learning how to make your customers feel special on a large scale may be a bit of a challenge, but email marketing helps make it possible. For example, your brand can create different templates for different personas to make each email more specific to the individual.

You can also organize your mailing lists by correlating certain content to different sections of your eCommerce store. If some users are more interested in electronics over clothing, send those users an electronics-oriented marketing email, and vice versa.

2. Cohesive messaging

After you’ve decided on what the overall subject of your email will be, the next step is to figure out what it is you want your customers to do. This is where you determine your call-to-action. Do you want your users to learn more about a new products or services? Do you want them to head over to your website and shop now because your brand is running a sale? Once you’ve decided on a clear message to share, that message should be apparent throughout the entirety of your email.

In the end, you want your message to be cohesive because it helps give your users clarity, and it also shows brand consistency. Pia Silva at Worstofall Design also notes that

3. Informative and concise copy

It’s definitely important to keep your message cohesive, but it’s also important to keep it short. Don’t give your users too much information by trying to tell them a million things at once. Instead, follow the best practice by keeping your copy under 20 lines of text. This format has the best click-through rate and ensures your emails have a lower chance of getting lost in your audience’s inbox.

4. Intentional layout

The layout of an email is just as, if not more, important than your email copy because users need to be able to visually identify the email’s objective fast. Certain elements of your email, like your call-to-action or navigation links, should never be buried in the corner; they should be intentionally placed somewhere that makes sense for your readers.

You want to make your audience’s experience as seamless as possible. This includes making it easy for your audience to determine what you want from them in a visual format. Overall, your layout should support and enhance your copy, not detract from it.

5. Mobile-friendly emails

Mobile optimization for any website is a necessity. Users want to be able to access content anywhere, at any time, and this includes their inbox. In order to get the most ROI for your eCommerce business, your emails need to be mobile friendly. Do this by following the previous tips of keeping your copy concise and making your layout intentional, but ensure it’s compatible with a smaller screen. 

6. Abandoned shopping cart

While it may be a little discouraging to see your users abandon their shopping carts, those abandoned carts make for excellent retargeting opportunities. You can send your users who have abandoned their carts an email prompting them to pick up where they left off. Engage with these users and reopen that channel of communication.

7. Rewards

Rewards programs are great eCommerce marketing tools that help brands build a followership and gain loyalty from its customers. These programs also act as great incentives for users to continue engaging with your brand. Your business gets more engagement from users, and users get discounts on products and merchandise — it’s a win-win situation.

8. Vibrant colors

When it comes to digital design, one the best ways to ensure your emails will grab your user’s attention is by using a bold color palette. Similar to how the creative agency Appnova uses contrast in its imagery to enhance UX, you want to bring that level of quality to your email marketing strategy. Create a color palette that coincides with your branding by using secondary or tertiary colors that complement the colors in your logo. After you’ve determined what those colors are, contrast them to create a fun and playful aesthetic, just in time for summer.

9. Typography

Typography is like a digital handshake; it helps set the tone for a user’s first impression. When creating your email marketing strategy, you want to think about what your typography says about your business. Do you want your emails to be viewed in a more formal way? Are you looking to come across as more professional? If so, go for a traditional serif font like Times New Roman or Garamond.

If, on the other hand, you want your users to see your brand as more cutting edge, new age or technologically savvy, use sans serif fonts like Calibri or Roboto. Think about how you want your audience to view your overall brand and incorporate that into your typographic choices.

10. Enticing imagery and videographic elements

To really enhance your email marketing strategy, use high-quality images or videography. Include fun GIFs and infographics as well to help entice your users. Stray away from stock photography and use homemade images that show users your authenticity. If you’re keeping your copy short, you may also want to compensate in some way. For example, fill it with images. Neil Patel, founder of KISSMetrics and Crazy Egg says, “showing is better than explaining in many cases,” so give your users something to look at.

Final Thoughts

Running an eCommerce business is all about learning where and how to drive conversions. That’s why email marketing is such a powerful business tool; it kills two birds with one stone. These 10 tips will help your team write and design an email marketing strategy that will attract your customers and drive revenue. Let’s take a look at them one more time:

1. Segment your emails to deliver relevant content to the right users
2. Be consistent with your messaging for better cohesion
3. Keep your copy concise and to a maximum of 20 lines
4. Plan out your layout so it enhances your copy and doesn’t detract from it
5. Ensure your emails are mobile friendly
6. Reopen channels of communication through retargeting
7. Reward your loyal customers to build a solid followership
8. Use vibrant colors to attract user attention
9. Make intentional typographic choices that coincide with your branding
10. Show, don’t explain your point and use imagery in your emails