How many unread emails do you have in your mailbox? Well, to be honest, most of us have hundreds of them waiting to be opened and actioned upon, for that matter. Just to remind that someone somewhere made efforts for us as a target group to open them and click. But here they are! Forever forgotten. Problem? Well, there is a big one.
A picture is worth a thousand words: One of the most underrated statements of all time, especially when it comes to Email Marketing. As the content preference moved to video from reading, the prominence of visuals in marketing, be it static (images and stills) or dynamic (videos, GIFs, animations etc.), has shot through the roof.
With more and more content mediums on the rise, the attention span of the users is shrinking. Hence, it becomes imperative to hit the right chord once the content is delivered. Visual content plays an indispensable role in generating prospects into leads and leads into clients. So, here are some of the most prominent aspects of visuals that you need to consider while making that perfect Email Marketing campaign.
Types of Visuals
Videos
A study from Forbes says that featuring videos in your Email Marketing campaign can boost the email click-through rates by up to 500%. Mind-boggling, right? Well, it’s just the beginning. Videos make your statement more interactive and hence, more believable.
The higher conversion rates of video content is a testimony to the impact that good informative video content can have on influencing the target audience. Be it success stories or an upcoming product launch, a well-executed video campaign is bound to give you results.
GIFs
We all love GIFs, isn’t it? From Facebook comments to WhatsApp chats, everyone must have sent or received one at some point in time. So, why not leverage them for your campaign? They would not only amplify the otherwise ‘bland’ messaging but would also give your email a distinctive (and much-needed) appeal.
A GIF quickly captures the user’s attention and can elevate the click-through and conversion rates if used appropriately.
Here are a few messages a GIF can deliver in an interactive format:
- A demonstration of the product
- A small how-to tutorial of the product
- A step-by-step flowchart
Images in CTAs
Well, the most crucial bit of a campaign is the CTA. It’s really tricky to make someone click by just sending an email but if the content is well-packaged, the battle is already half-won. Talking about CTAs, buttons have now become mainstream. If you want to stand out, you can experiment a bit by adding images.
Image-based CTAs boast a higher conversion rate than just simple text buttons or links. Not only are they more prominent, but images also communicate better to the reader and hence, the higher conversion rate for your Email Marketing campaign.
Behind-the-scenes Footage
Customers really feel important and more importantly, special, when a brand gives them a sneak peek to what goes into the making of a product or service. The behind-the-scenes footages in Email Marketing campaigns build trust by creating a sense of transparency between a brand and their target audience.
Gamification
Gamification has a diverse implementation in the form of quizzes, tests, and surveys. It might not have a direct impact on the sale, but gamification ups the user experience quotient by quite a few notches. User engagement is one of the most important attributes of gamification in an Email Marketing campaign. It has immense potential to keep the users entertained and hence, engaged to achieve hype about a product, customer anticipation, subscribers and much more.
Some of the elementary elements of Visual Hierarchy
Pattern
As per many studies pertaining to eye-tracking, readers consume text-heavy content in an F-pattern. A typical reader scans the top line first then moving on to the second line, and then down the left column. However, in the digital space of web content, the Z-pattern is followed by the readers where the text isn’t presented in a paragraph format. Starting across the top, then moving down and back to the left, and ending up across the lower portion. This pattern is repeated with every web page.
White space
It may sound simple, but white space is one of the most crucial yet underrated aspects of visual content creation. It is important to deliver the messaging of the content and white space distinguishes where one element ends and the next begins, thereby making it easier for the reader to comprehend. This concept is called chunking.
Minimalism
By now, it has been established that visuals are indispensable for an effective Email Marketing campaign in today’s world. But it’s important to know where to stop. Loading all your designing skills in one email won’t do you any good. Rather, it might ruin your one shot that could have turned a reader into your client.
Say hello to Minimalism – the new ‘cool’ thing that is as important as all the above-mentioned points you just read. To put it precisely, Minimalism is the concept of sticking to the point or rather, cutting the crap.
Having a clean yet communicative design is what separates a read email from an unread one. Clearing the clutter would not only emphasize your messaging but would also enhance your overall UX.
So, these were some of the most crucial points that we mostly miss out while creating Email Marketing campaigns. Adopt them today and you can send us a thank you email later. (but this time with some really nice visuals!)
Author Bio:
Kevin George is the head of marketing at Email Uplers, that specializes in crafting Professional Email Templates, PSD to Email coding, and Salesforce Email Templates. Kevin loves gadgets, bikes & jazz, and he breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on email marketing blog.