Drive Results with Impactful Email Design
Now that you've set your goals and have a clear expectation of what you're working towards, it's time for Week 2 of Constant Contact's Ready, Set, Send Challenge! This week, we're turning our attention to the ins-and-outs of crafting the perfect email. A well-written and designed email can make all the difference in engaging with your audience and driving the results you want. Watch the video below, and then share an email you created – either in the past, or a brand new email with BrandKit, to earn your badge and get feedback from our community and coaches.
I’m Aaron Wesley Means, founder of ACTIVATE Business Solutions, based in Asheville, North Carolina. For more than 12 years, ACTIVATE has served clients of all shapes and sizes from local to national, has trained thousands of businesses through seminars, webinars, and conferences, and is a recurring award-winning solution provider.
In this week’s Ready. Set. Send Challenge, we will tackle a true cornerstone of successful marketing: your emails. The inbox is easily the most powerful and visible strategy in your marketing lineup, so it has to be great! What does that mean? Designing the perfect email starts with the basics of a great subject line, stellar branding, and a handful of critical components ranging from a featured image, font size, a call to action, or social media integrations. Be sure to plug in for Week 2 of Ready, Set, Send for a breakdown of how to execute the perfect email.
The 7 Essential Design Elements
Behind most successful projects, careful planning keeps everything on track and makes sure the results have impact (we love using the word ‘impact’). Crafting an effective email campaign is no different. Check out our 7-step checklist below and try implementing the strategies that make sense to rise above the inbox clutter.
- Header: This is your From address, your Reply-to address, and your Subject line. These three elements work together to build trust and get those opens. So make sure the email is coming from an expected address - whether it’s your company name or an individual person - then hook your audience with an email subject worthy of being opened! Don’t be afraid to get creative, use a play on words, include any recent trends, or seasonal identifiers. This is also a great spot to release your inner child and include emojis.
- Preheader: You’ll want to stand out from the rest with a preheader that’s unique, eye-catching, and intriguing. The preheader and the subject of the email are like the perfect couple. They have to work hand in hand, but one needs to be funnier for the relationship to last. Choose which one has the spice, but know they both equally contribute to the success of the overall email message.
- Your Brand’s logo & color: To continue to build trust with your subscribers, your emails should match your brand or aesthetic. So make sure to include your logo front and center, and leverage the same colors you are using across your website, socials, or store. Leverage our BrandKit tool to save yourself time and create consistency across all your campaigns.
- Image: Ask yourself if it makes sense to include an image in your email. More often than not, it always makes sense to do this. Include a photo, GIF, or video that caters to your audience best! Did you know, that if you are crafting images in Canva, you can save them directly to your Constant Contact image library to help save you time?
- Text: You don’t need to be a Nobel-prize winning author to compose the perfect email. Be yourself – and write what your recipients would expect to read from you, or your brand. The goal is simply to convey the main reason for your message.
- Call to action: After determining what the reason for sending your email is, ask yourself: “What would I like my audience to get out of this email?” Is it to click a link to your website, schedule an appointment, or discover something new? Including a call to action button directs your audience to the next step!
- Footer: Think of your footer like your signature. You want to include any necessary information to ensure recipients can continue to engage with you or your company, whether it’s your socials, your website, or contact details!
🗒 Feeling overwhelmed? Download our PDF cheat sheet on The Anatomy of a Perfect Email to design the perfect email faster.
How well do you know Constant Contact's hack to better emails? Take the quiz!
You can spend hours crafting the perfect communications, or you can use Constant Contact tools to cheat your way to more opens, more clicks, and more time saved. Click to see if you know these shortcuts:
- How do you get branded emails in an instant?
Click to see moreUse the BrandKit feature under Tools to ensure consistent application of your brand. BrandKit acts like a library for your logo, colors and even images, and applies them to our special Layout Templates.
To take advantage of BrandKit, enter your URL or upload colors and images, make any tweaks you want, then click Create choose Email, and choose Layout templates. Your aesthetic will be instantly added to emails.
- How do you optimize your subject lines?
Click to see moreThere are several easy ways to make your subject lines pop. When editing your subject line in Constant Contact, check out the “recommend subject line” options to see if AI has any better ideas.
To really catch a subscriber’s attention, click on the Personalize button to include a subscriber’s first name. Adding emojis might also do the trick.
Finally, when you’re scheduling your email, check that A/B Test toggle under Campaign Info and try testing one subject line against another.
- How can I make an impression with images?
Click to see more
We recommend using the free graphic design tool Canva to craft crisp, bold, and eye-catching images. Once you're satisfied with your creations, you can save your graphics, photos, and more directly to your Constant Contact library, making it easy to incorporate them into your emails.
Have a lot of Instagram-worthy photos on your phone? Download our mobile app, and save those photos directly to your image library.
- How can I save myself time writing if I don’t know what to say?
Click to see moreUse the AI Content Generator in the email editor toolbar to turn your ideas into a full-fledged email. If you’ve already used BrandKit, it will automatically pick up your voice and tone from your website.
Your Assignment:
- Use BrandKit to upload your assets, either by scanning your website or manually adding your logo/color/images.
- Review the 7 Essential Design Elements from the Anatomy of a Perfect Email handout.
- Want extra credit? Challenge yourself to try something new, like using a new pre-built block layout or including a new image that best captures the message of your email.
- Build an email using your assets and the tips outlined in the handout and share it with the Community using the permanent URL. Not sending an email this week? Take a screenshot of your draft and include it in your reply. We'd love to see your hard work and what you’ve learned!
How you’ll earn your badge:
Resources:
- Handout: Anatomy of a Perfect Email
- Blog: Email Design Best Practices
- Community: Creating Your First Email
TL;DR
Design the perfect email by following the 7 Essential Design Elements from the Anatomy of a Perfect Email handout and dip your toes into BrandKit. Watch the video, follow the tips, and crank out those emails for greater inbox visibility, improved open rates, and increased click rates galore!
Not yet a Constant Contact customer but want to start creating beautiful-looking emails? Start a free trial.
We’re excited to see what cool templates you come up with!
Aaron Wesley Means ACTIVATE Business Solutions Help others find this post by giving it kudos. Note: I am not a Constant Contact employee. |  |
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Hi @DavidT!
Thank you for sharing, Cristina. I loved when I first clicked the link I was greeted by an arresting and visually compelling image. It definitely makes me curious!
What I might suggest is that you separate the Zikr Dance Ensemble logo from the image of the dancer and put it right at the top, above the "Catch Our Opening Weekend!!!" Most of the time we're always going to recommend having your logo at the top so that there is consistent branding every time you send an email. The call-to-action "Catch Our Opening Weekend" can go below it. It would still be visible before someone starts to scroll.
That was actually my big takeaway is that nothing is actually clickable (except for the social icons at the bottom). Even the "Let's Connect" button at the bottom isn't linked to anything, so it just reopens the email again in another tab. So, I would make the logo clickable, the image of the dancer clickable, and anywhere else that makes sense to link back to your website or another relevant page. I might also suggest formatting the locations of the event so it's in its own section, and you could link to the Google Maps page for the address. Check out this tutorial on creating hyperlinks for more information.
Best of luck with opening weekend!
Content Manager Elevate your marketing with Constant Contact's Professional Design Services! From eye-catching email templates to custom branding and social media graphics, our professional design services are tailored to boost your business's impact and engagement. |  |
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@poochy30318 nice email! Here are some suggestions to help nail down the 7 critical components focused on in the challenge:
- Brand Logo and color - nice job on this as I can see you make your headline and call to action button with the phone number your blue. Be sure that the logo is linked to your website and the phone number is a clickable button that calls the number. As far as the black border, it's totally a preference call but I think it comes across a little heavy. Not necessarily suggesting you change it, but maybe try a few lighter shades to see if one comes across better - maybe a light blue I the scheme of your branded blue? or light grey?
-Image - nailed it!
-Text - it's a little full text wise but not over the top. One set of suggestions for this would be to change your call to action at the end of the text to a button or buttons rather than a list of text options with links. Even though that is technically what you want them to do, it seems to get lost a little bit since it matches the preceding multiple blocks of text in the same size and layout.
Footer - Your social buttons are there, great job on that, but I notice a similar dynamic above this are which is that you have a lot of your social links listed manually there. You don't need those if you have the social buttons below. Simply click that and edit and then add your other Channels and the links to them. Then add a small text blurb about following and connecting on social to reference the lineup of buttons. The other things missing in your footer is more detail and contact info about your business, but again, you are already close to a solution - the text block above the social buttons has a few things that would be perfect for this: The speaking/merchandise link, the website link, the book a consult link. I would add address as well if you are comfortable with that, and restate your phone.... also. some of this is above as well in the area after your main content - the tag line would be super in the footer!
To recap: You have the right components present and are working in the right direction, just make some adjustments and a few small additions to what you already have, be sure your "from" is recognizable, your subject line and preheater are irresistible, and you are in great shape!
Aaron Wesley Means ACTIVATE Business Solutions Help others find this post by giving it kudos. Note: I am not a Constant Contact employee. | |
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Thanks for posting @poochy30318! You have some pretty solid information here! My first piece of advice would be to go through and look at any content you see as duplicated. Refer to your socials, website, and personal business information.
What stands out to me is how you utilize social blocks, but you also include the URLs to your social channels. There is no need to do this, as people can click right on the social icon and it will bring them exactly where they need to go! Be sure to properly link to your social channels when creating your email in order for this to work successfully!
You also link to your website and your phone number throughout your email, so no need to add it in there twice.
Lastly, I would also suggest using a Call to Action block to have people book an appointment with you! This is a great way to gain attraction and have that piece stand out.
Awesome job & keep up the good work! We can't wait to see what you do in week 3!
Abigail St Jean Community Program ManagerHelp others find this post by giving it kudos. | |
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This is an AWESOME email @user93539! It is eye catching, it is sleek, it has a call to action, it links to your social channels, it has images- you nailed it! I can't wait to see what else you come up with in the coming weeks!
Abigail St Jean Community Program ManagerHelp others find this post by giving it kudos. | |
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Great, thanks for contributing @OAGDStaff!
The first thing I noticed was that all of your title text is in caps. I would play around with this and see how it looks without capitalizing all of your titles. You may need to select another template to see this. Once you see both, determine which one looks more inviting! This is totally up to you and what you think your audience would like best.
I love that you have your call to action front and center for your courses. I see that you also include it later in your email as well. I think one place is fine, so I would stick with at the top. It's also great that you use your social share buttons. They seem to have a lot of space between them, so I think you can eliminate that space between them and have them side by side.
I would play with your layout a little more to make it seem less like a list, and more interactive, especially with all of your action blocks. When you think of signing up for something, the first thing that comes to mind is: when is it? What do I need to know? And why should I sign up?
I'd love to see your version 2.0 with all of the same information just with a new layout! Feel free to play around and let me know what you come up with. Let your creativity run free and spend 20 minutes creating something a little more out of the box!
Abigail St Jean Community Program ManagerHelp others find this post by giving it kudos. | |
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Hi @user9827124,
Thank you for sharing! The email is short and to the point and has a great looking call-to-action at the top that is clickable to the registration page.
I do think the black background might be overpowering the aesthetic, though. I looked at the website and it seems white and a navy-ish blue are the more dominant color schemes with black on the navigation menu text and as a background for some call-outs lower down. With that in mind, I'd say black might make a more effective accent, such as the background for a header block, but keep the meaty parts black text on white background.
It might also be nice to include additional images that highlight activities at this youth event (presumably from previous years, if this isn't the first time).
Also, the logo at the bottom for the church is hard to read because of the black background against the black text. On your website, at the very bottom, you have a logo with white text that looks great on a darker background. I would recommend swapping them out, and make it clickable to the main website. You did mention that different users for the church have their own branding, so that might have been intentional, but just wanted to point it out, just in case!
Content Manager Elevate your marketing with Constant Contact's Professional Design Services! From eye-catching email templates to custom branding and social media graphics, our professional design services are tailored to boost your business's impact and engagement. | |
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Hi @MollyB870,
Thank you for sharing! I actually love that the background is the floor of a dance studio. Your logo is clickable to your website. And the overall structure and presentation of the email is great!
I would avoid highlighted text (like -GLO STICKS ENCOURAGED -). It's only used in a couple of places in the email, so it's not overpowering, but I think just the red text would be enough, or you could put the text insider a header block to make sure it stands out more.
I also love the punch card idea.
Content Manager Elevate your marketing with Constant Contact's Professional Design Services! From eye-catching email templates to custom branding and social media graphics, our professional design services are tailored to boost your business's impact and engagement. | |
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