If the success of an email acquisition campaign largely depends on the offer being promoted, design is also a decisive factor if you want to achieve your performance objectives.
Let’s be honest: your restaurant may serve the best pizza in the region, but if your storefront does not make people want to come in, unfortunately no one will try it.
With emails, it is more or less the same. First you look, then you read. Design must serve your layout and the messages you want to convey.
In practical terms: no matter how interesting the message is, if your email design does not meet expectations, the internet user will move on.
Email design is even more important when you are addressing prospects.
A common mistake made by marketers is to think that an email designed for CRM will be just as successful for acquisition. However, the profile of a prospect is very different from that of a customer already won over by your brand. Communication codes must be adapted to this target audience.
So what are the pitfalls to avoid?
Let us guide you.
A quick overview of email acquisition design best practices to boost your KPIs
The Dataventure checklist
- Template
- Offer
- Images
- Call to action
- Responsive
1. Template
Is there a maximum length for email design?
It is a question many of our advertisers have asked at some point.
The answer: there is no predefined length for acquisition emails. However, we have observed that the longer the email creative, the more the message gets buried under too much information and may therefore penalize results.
Our advice is to test short templates, one or two blocks, and long ones, four blocks, to determine which works best for your target audience.
If you opt for a long template, choose a different topic for each block. This increases your chances of capturing their interest and encouraging them to click if the previous message did not convince them.
The key point to remember: the first block of your email creative must contain your offer and your main CTA, Call to action. The prospect must understand the purpose of your email as soon as they see it in their inbox in order to encourage them to scroll further.
2. Offer
When it comes to acquisition emailing, the stronger the offer and the clearer the message, the more your KPIs and conversions will increase.
We regularly observe that conditional discounts, for example 10 percent off when buying three items, lead to a significant drop-off in the conversion funnel. Tiered offers work much better in CRM when the customer is more familiar with your range.
So prioritize discounts on all or some of your products for B2C prospecting.
As mentioned above, your offer must be visible at first glance in the first block of the creative.
You can also consider repeating the message throughout the rest of the email when showcasing your different product categories, for example enjoy 50 percent off our women, men, home and beauty ranges.
Keep in mind that prospects know little or nothing about the breadth of your offer. Displaying your best selling categories will therefore multiply your chances of capturing attention and persuading prospects.
Finally, make sure your offer stands out visually. A discount that is buried in a paragraph of text will not be noticed by a prospect whose reading time is around six seconds and whose clicking time is about four seconds.
3. Images
This year, your brand chose to produce a lifestyle photo shoot to showcase your products or new collections. While this may seem trendy for your customers, who are already attached to your brand universe, this type of imagery does not have the same impact on prospects. On the contrary, it often slows down clicks and conversions.
Keep in mind that this target group needs to see your products in concrete terms in order to consider a purchase.
For example, showing a woman jumping on a skateboard is not useful to illustrate your earring collection.
Similarly, if you are in the fashion sector, choose visuals that allow a complete outfit to be appreciated. A close-up shot of a model’s face will not help illustrate the blouses and tops category.
Finally, it may seem obvious but is often forgotten: prioritize images of your best selling products, not segmented ones, in order to increase click-through rates.
4. Call to action
As mentioned in the Template section, the main CTA, Call to action, must appear in the first block of the email. This is essential if you want to quickly prompt prospects to take action.
As for secondary CTAs, we recommend multiplying them throughout the email. This increases entry points and encourages clicks.
If you have chosen to highlight several product categories, do not forget to add a general CTA that redirects visitors to the full collection or current offer.
Key point to remember: make your CTAs stand out visually in terms of design, size and color to optimize response rates.
5. Responsive
As a reminder, the width of an email is 600 pixels on desktop and 320 pixels on mobile. You must therefore design a layout that ensures easy readability across all devices.
At a time when 8 out of 10 internet users are willing to delete an email that is not mobile-friendly, responsive design is essential for your campaigns.
Many integration techniques are now available that offer greater freedom when building and designing email templates, for example the use of multiple backgrounds.
Do you need help designing your email templates?
Our consultants will advise and support you in creating acquisition emails with effective design.
