As Adcuda’s Email Marketer, my New Year’s Resolution is to design not only the most enticing and beautiful inbox fillers, but the most clickable. Usually the latter is possible by simply packing the email with links (12 or more is standard), however I wanted to investigate how to do this with style. Below are a number of wonderfully designed emails with consumer allure and click power. Enjoy!
Pulled from the Email Blog Smith-Harmon : www.smith-harmon.com/blog
Victoria’s Secret
The layout of this Victoria’s Secret newsletter is mirroring that of the website – the navigation on top already provides 10 links, and each of the boxes below are links as well. Although this email is image heavy (so if the recipient doesn’t click ‘Show Images’, they’ll be stuck with a bunch of text-links), it’s pleasing to the eye because of color, texture, and a strong grid.
Obama Holiday Card
Almost opposite of the Victoria’s Secret newsletter in terms of the number of links, is this Holiday Video Card sent to Obama campaigners. It’s a beautiful card with a clear message: click on this button to view something special. The sender knew the recipient would want to click, so they didn’t need to burden the layout with links. If you’re confident in the click-through, you can have fun with the design.
Martin + Osa
Martin + Osa used the Website Layout tactic to include a huge number of links in this newsletter – 13 in all. Nicely designed is the fact that there is only one major picture, so if the images are turned off, the recipient is still receiving the big message. I love the subtle color and texture and the bold type.
Papyrus
12 links in this Website Layout. Beautiful photography and type, and one or two bold messages. It only takes a second to read but you want to look at it for much longer. The newsletter promises for more on the website (the advantage of providing the top navigation), but if you don’t have time at the moment you can still enjoy the email.
Mod Cloth
This newsletter for Mod Cloth could have taken advantage of each of the images to have a whopping 26 links – instead they just used the ‘Shop the Outfit’ buttons as the click-through and the top navigation to provide 12 links. The beautiful catalog-style layout with striking images makes you want to click for more.
Pulled from Email Marketing Voodoo : www.emailmarketingvoodoo.com
Crate & Barrel
14 links in the navigation alone, 10 in the body. Crate & Barrel is known for their simplistic catalogs, and this newsletter mirrors that perfectly. The grid and cool colors keep your eye on the email and make you want to shop.
In Conclusion: People have grown accustomed to the look and feel of web navigation and expect it when receiving emails. Web conventions are created because of usability and experience, and should be worked with instead of against. The best way to get click-throughs is to layout the email similar to the landing website: it will reinforce the brand and promise at least one click.
