How to create a well constructed e-mail

The art of creating the right e-mail communication with your customers is called "E-mail marketing". It covers the rules of composition, design and sending E-mail letters. In this article, we will share with you some of the basic knowledge you need to be successful in this area.

If you want to Create an E-mail layout online, go to this page.
How to create a well constructed e-mail

Types of e-mail newsletters

There are several types of e-mail correspondence, the most popular of which is sales focused. In fact, they are similar to traditional commercial offers, which you can find advice on in the relevant Article. In addition, there are letters-notifications, whose main task is to inform the client about some events e.g. a change of office address, opening a new branch, or starting new products or services, etc.

Another category is e-mail newsletters which highlight new promotions and special offers. This is perhaps the best way to tell a large number of your customers about the beginning of a new season of promotions, discounts and sales.

How to structure e-mail correspondence

A traditional e-mail correspondence has the following structure:

Preheader

Preheader – the text above the Header. An optional but desirable element of the email. It is used, as a rule, for more detailed disclosure of the e-mail's subject. This may reflect the basic need of the recipient. For example, "How to write if you are not a writer." We recommend that you you align the Preheader on the left edge and use simple fonts to make it easily identifiable.

Header

The Header contains contact information about the sender: company Logo, address, phone number.

Message body

May consist of one or more thematic screens. If there are several screens then make sure that the first one grabs the reader's attention, so that they continue reading on. Here it makes sense to use the main Title and introductory paragraph, supplemented with an image. This may be an advertising banner that notifies the recipient about the beginning of a discount period or some special offers.

Typically, each screen has a title, image, and text description. There are quite a lot of variants and combinations:

  • Image-top, text-bottom;
  • Image-right, text-left and vice versa;
  • Text-top, image-bottom etc.

Images or texts may be linked to relevant pages on your website. We recommend that you use an image in a smaller size to increase the speed of that the email can be downloaded and enabling it to pass through spam filters.

Footer

In the Footer there is usually contact information: address, opening hours, phone number, a link to website, social networks. In addition, in the Footer you can also place a link to the web version of the e-mail and offer the ability to unsubscribe.

Link to the web version of the email

A link to the web version of the email is needed for the recipients, who are uanble to see the images in your mail, due to the settings of their mail program. Recipients must be able to get acquainted with the correct version of your mail, published on the Internet, by clicking on the link. Example text for reference: "Images are not displayed? Click here!"

Also, we recommend you to use image Alt tags with a description of the image content. In the case that the image is blocked by the mail program of your addressee, they will be able to understand the meaning of your message before switching to the web version of the e-mail. Alt tags are easy to register. This feature is available in professional programs for sending mails and in popular mail programs such as Mozilla Thunderbird.

Link to unsubscribe

The link to unsubscribe is a necessary element of any client or customer e-mail. Otherwise, you are going to be heading into the spam folder! The process of unsubscribing must be as simple as possible. The ideal choice is a link to a special page where the e-mail address of the user is automatically removed from the database by a special script. This feature is available in almost all specialized mail programs. If you do not use such programs, you can suggest to the client that they decline to receive future correspondence by simply replying "Unsubscribe". In this case, you will have to manually delete the e-mail addresses of recipients from your database.

In the footer you should write about why the user received your email. For example, because they subscribed to the newsletter on the website or bought something in your store.

Rules of structuring a correspondence

When composing a text to a customer or client, you need to remember that it must be of interest to them or you are heading for the spam folder. Therefore, it needs to be presented in a simple and effective way. You will get better results if you highlight the benefit they are going to receive!

  • Title. The title should be simple, clear and answer the client's question: "why do I need to continue reading?”
  • After the title, write the main advantages of your offer in the context of the benefits for the client. For example, not just about moving to a new office, but stress the convenience of its location e.g. more parking spaces, more operators, next to the metro etc. Not just sales, but an opportunity for the client to buy cheaper and save 30-40%, etc.
  • Use more images for clarity, because too much text is off putting. Present all the texts very briefly and concisely.
  • Avoid writing headings and words in capital letters, as well as using an excessive number of exclamation marks.
  • Check the text for grammar and spelling mistakes.
  • Links in the e-mail newsletter should lead to the corresponding pages on your website, where more detailed information can be found. For example, to your special Offers page, if the correspondence is devoted to informing the customer about discounts and promotions. Alternatively, the link could be to the Registration page, if the purpose of the e-mail was to attract new customers. It is best to attach the link to the text or a button with a call to the desired action e.g. Register, Learn more, See, etc.

E-mail design

  • Create e-mails with a width of 600 px, up to a maximum of 700 px. This is necessary to ensure that your email is correctly displayed on the screens of mobile devices.
  • Choose the most easy-to-read fonts. The recommended font size is 12-14 px. Prefer sans-serif fonts such as Verdana, Calibri, etc.
  • The preferred alignment of text and headings left – aligned, or center. Headings can be in bold or bold italics, color or larger font.
  • Use corporate colors in the design of letters, but remember that the type of text should remain the same and be easy to understand! The preferred option is black text on white (light) background.

How to avoid ending up in the spam box

Once you have compiled the e-mail and are ready to send it out you need to think about getting past spam filters! Here we assume that you are sending e-mails from your e-mail account, so our advice would be to not attempt to bypass spam filters using manipulation or the use of special software, but simply to compose the correct structure to your emails.

Let's start with the fact that the algorithms for determining the e-mail as spam are not really known to anyone, but there are several basic criteria that we know need to be observed when structuring an e-mail correspondence.

Avoid the following words: fast, affordable, investment, do not delete, easy, earn, win a million, dear friend, right now, work join, confidential, credit, purchase, special order, guarantee, secret, novelty, limited, deal, price, price, bill, buy, urgent, today only, access, money, benefit, congratulations, freedom, cheap, dollar, $$$, 50%, 100% free, one hundred percent free, advertising, affordable, gift, bonus, commercial offer, discount, exclusive offer, increased sales, savings, earnings, income.

Tip: If you still need to use these words, you can make a newsletter as a Jpeg image on the Wilda online builder.

Dear User!

Some of Wilda online editor's core features are not supported by your mobile device. To create and edit documents, use a computer with a screen resolution at least 1200 pixels. Enjoy your work!