People get very picky when going through their email. Some people pore over dozens or even hundreds of emails every morning, and at that point they just don't have the time to be absorbed by every email. The messages they do read have to be attention grabbing. They have to stand out. They have to have... a really solid email template. If you're sending emails every day, you should have confidence that they will look great every time you send them, on every platform, for everyone. Here are some important things to make sure you've factored in to your business's email templates:
Nowadays, mobile email is taking over. In fact, 49% of people are using their phones as their primary email device. With that sort of audience behind it, you’d better be planning ahead. Standard emails may look ugly, or even not work at all. A responsively designed email can tell the resolution of the screen it’s being viewed on and adjust accordingly. This way, your emails are legible no matter how they’re being read - on mobile, desktop, or web client.
You want to make sure your emails are neat, tidy, and totally readable. The best way to do this is by working with tables. Keeping all of the elements of your email aligned with tables means you’ll have a beautiful email that guides the eye to the information you’re presenting. If you're finding email templates without a grid structure, you're going to want to keep looking.
You want to make sure the first thing your readers see is the most important. Putting important graphics or content “above the fold” means making sure your readers don’t have to scroll down to view it. This way, anyone opening your emails get to see your primary message immediately, and will drastically improve your click rate.
Coding is hard enough before you have to factor in all the different email clients, display sizes, and other variables that can mess up your emails. In order to avoid this, make sure any coding is done long form. No shortcuts, no assumptions. Yes, it’s annoying, but it ensures the most possible markup is read by email clients. Even include image heights and widths to make sure they display correctly.
You can make the most beautiful email templates, with great images, hand-designed, with body text that could make a lion purr. But then your client is at the airport working off of free Wifi that’s slower than dial-up. Make sure you cater to all possible situations by including a plain text version of your email. By putting a link to it at the top of your email, everyone has access to your message.
Finally, a footer at the bottom is always important for your emails. It looks professional, gives alternative methods to contact you, and can promote your social media. All of this in one inconspicuous spot means your message doesn’t get muddled, but the option is there.