Compatibility: Email Design and Email Service Providers

The Email Service Provider (ESP) arena is booming, with more than $10 billion in deals within the industry and a host of new capabilities that allow today's ESPs to do a lot more than send emails. For email marketers, ESPs have a number of beneficial features that can help streamline your email marketing process, helping you create more impact in less time. Let's take a look at some must-know tips for email design when using an ESP.

What is an ESP?

ESPs, or email service providers, are platforms that allow you to send bulk emails. These tools often include other features, too, such as the ability to track your engagement or set up trigger campaigns. Mailchimp, Constant Contact and Active Campaign are all examples of ESPs. Benefits of ESPs include:

• Batch sending
• Spam regulations compliance
• Building subscriber lists
• Segmenting subscriber lists
• Sending automated trigger email campaigns
• Whitelisting services
• Monitoring analytics and engagement
• A/B testing

Email design for ESP

Before you can start sending out batch emails using your favorite ESP, you need to have your marketing emails ready to go. Email design for ESP is about more than making your messages look pretty: the design decisions you make can help inbox filters recognize that the messages you're sending aren't spam, and the look of your email campaigns can build and reinforce the brand awareness you need to create conversions.

Select on-brand fonts

Choose fonts to use in your email that are on-brand and easy to read. If your email is off-brand, it has a higher likelihood of being marked as spam. We recommend selecting one font to use for headings and another to use for body text. Picking the perfect font won't do you any good if your subscribers can't see it on their devices — use web safe fonts, default fonts installed on virtually every device, including Arial, Courier, Georgia, Times New Roman and Verdana.

Choose the best layout

Your email should be as easy as possible for people to navigate and read. The structure of your message will depend on what type of email you're sending. Try choosing from these popular email layouts for your next message:

Inverted pyramid

An inverted pyramid email layout looks like an upside-down triangle. It does three things: first, it grabs your reader's attention with a bold header. Second, it builds anticipation using supporting copy or other design elements. And finally, it narrows in on the CTA.

Zig zag

The zig zag email layout is a good choice for text-heavy messages. Since we naturally skim in a zig-zag pattern, this email structure helps readers take it all in.

One column

A simple single-column email is easy to design and equally as easy to read.

Create an attractive header

Your email header helps people get oriented before they read the rest of your email. Use this space strategically to set the tone for your brand. If relevant, your header can also include a navigation menu to help readers navigate the email.

Add powerful visual content

Your visual content — photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations — will help define the look of your email. GIFs are a good way to increase email engagement; in some cases, they can actually increase email conversion rates by 103%! Videos increase engagement too, but many email clients don't support videos embedded in email, so you'll want to add the video thumbnail to your email and link it to the actual video elsewhere.

Pick a complementary color scheme

Your color scheme needs to be on-brand and eye-catching while still ensuring the email is easy to read. We recommend using a pale background color so your text stands out and then choosing a couple of accent colors that line up with your branding and give the email a pop of color.

Design a strong CTA

It's not an understatement to say your CTA, or call to action, is the most important part of your email. There are three primary elements of a strong CTA: design, placement and copy. Select a shape and size and use a contrasting color with empty space around it to help it stand out. CTA placement is important too — including your main CTA above the fold gives readers a direct way to get what they're looking for. Don't forget the copy! Use descriptive language that spells out the benefit(s) readers will get by tapping or clicking on that button.

Include a well-designed footer

Your email footer needs to include a visible unsubscribe link and your company information to comply with privacy regulations like the GDPR. This is also a good place to add your social media links, and you can strategically use that space to promote something too.

Wrap-up: Email design for ESP compatibility

Once your customer clicks on your CTA, where will they go? A landing page designer can help you convert your email design into a campaign-specific landing page for your website.