Write like a human
Think about writing an email as if you’re talking to a friend or family member — be conversational, and eliminate any jargon or inside-baseball terms. Remember, emails are generally going out to a wide number of people, so it’s best to keep your copy as simple and easy-to-understand as possible.

Scannable content for quick, easy reading
Emails are now read on a variety of devices, such as mobiles and tablets, and now they even can be previewed on smartwatches. Hello, year 3000!

Use headers to break up your content for your audience, so it’s easier to scan the copy. Also, consider using bullets and incorporating other multimedia elements — such as photography, videos and graphics — to help separate your content.

Write a compelling, call-to-action
Your email copy should be a teaser and encourage the reader to take action or be inspired. Make sure to have a clear button that denotes what action to take. For instance, if your email is intended to drive registration, include a button that says, “Register now” or “RSVP online.” Avoid any instances of “click here,” since that doesn’t tell the reader outright they need to do.

Don’t make your subject line an afterthought
A subject line is like what a headline is for a story — it’s the first thing your reader will see and what they’ll use to quickly determine whether or not to open your email. Avoid long subject lines, and cut the fluff. Think about what ways you shorten your subject line and what will incentivize your reader to open your email.

Put the most important information up top
Save the cliffhanger for the movies: Get to the point when it comes to your content in an email. Most readers will read the first paragraph in your email before moving on. For instance, if you’re sending an email about an event, make sure to include the event’s name, date and time first, followed by speakers and an event description.

Think about what device your reader is using
Emails are now easily accessible over mobile and tablets. Make sure to consider the content’s formatting and to test your email to see how it would look not only on a desktop, but on different devices.

Show, don’t tell
Consider how you can use a visual element to communicate an idea. Think about places where you can use bullets, icons, images or videos.

Avoid attachments
Did you know emails with attached files often are marked as spam or junk mail? They can slow down an email’s load time and alert a spam filter to immediately move it away from someone’s primary inbox. Avoid attachments and include links, where possible.

Establish goals
Before starting an email marketing campaign, think about what you’re looking to achieve. Is it to drive attendance to an event? Or perhaps you’re looking to nurture existing subscribers and to provide content they’ll value, such as a monthly newsletter. Below are common goals in setting up an email marketing campaign:

• Welcoming new subscribers and building a relationship with them by sharing your values as an organization
• Boosting engagement with your content, such as a webinar
• Re-engaging inactive subscribers
• Segmenting your subscribers, so you can send more targeted emails

Target your audience
Once you determine the goals of your email marketing campaign, decide who your audience is. Personalization is key, and not everyone should receive the same message. While it’s certainly tempting to send an email to your entire subscriber list, sending a mass email is simply not the cure: it increases the likelihood you’ll see lower click-to-open and unsubscribe rates, because it’s not relevant to your entire audience. Send your email to those who would be most receptive to your content, and protect the health of your email lists.  

List segmentation: Keeping your data clean
It’s important to keep your email lists accurate and updated to help improve your email campaign’s performance. A couple of easy ways to dust off your lists is to exclude those whose email addresses have hard bounced or those who haven’t been opening up your emails — this will help with your email deliverability and opens.

Prevent email fatigue.
Think about other resources you have at your disposal. Sometimes, sending out another email isn’t always the best route to take. Could your content be better received over social media or in a blog post? Another option is to consider referrals: Reach out to colleagues in other departments/organizations to help spread the word.

After you’ve sent out a couple of emails, it’s important to measure how they’re performing. Metrics that are worthwhile to track include: clickthrough rates, conversion rates, bounce rates, list growth rate and email sharing/forwarding rate. Read HubSpot’s article, “Email Analytics: The 8 Email Marketing Metrics & KPIs You Should Be Tracking,” for more about email data and analytics.

Please use this form to request a branded email header for speaker series, repeat events or conferences.

Production times may take up to two weeks.

Sure! Reallygoodemails.com is a wonderful source to look to for inspiration on email design and layout. They feature emails from a wide range of industries — from higher education to nonprofits — that send out different types of email. The website is managed by Campaign Monitor, an email marketing provider. Explore our Resources page for more email resources.

Yes! Emma has a great online resource center to help navigate their system. Online Strategy also has virtual office hours every day.