2 posts tagged with "Improve Email Deliverability"

You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect email campaign. You carefully designed your email copy and layout to engage your subscribers. You even personalized your emails to appeal to your different audience segments. But when you finally hit send, you discover that your emails are going straight to spam. If you’ve ever experienced this situation, you know how email deliverability affects email marketing performance. Luckily, you can improve email deliverability to reach the right inbox consistently. This article will discuss the significance of email deliverability, help you identify factors that impact your email deliverability rates, and give you actionable tips to improve your performance.

Blocfree's email template builder can help you create high-performing emails that engage your audience and boost your email deliverability rates.

What Is Email Deliverability?​

Email deliverability defines the rate at which your email makes it into recipient inboxes. An email deliverability rate can be lower when an email bounces or gets automatically filtered into a spam folder. Imagine you send mail to a friend with a missing sender name. The post could end up in the trash because of the unknown sender. Similarly, emails may get delivered to the recipient’s email address but in a spam or marketing folder.

Email Delivery vs. Email Deliverability​

Email delivery measures the number of emails delivered successfully, regardless of the folder. It tells if the recipient’s mail server has accepted the email file and offered it to the receiver. It calculates the percentage of emails that didn’t bounce out of the sent emails. Email deliverability is akin to the number of emails that reach the right destination.

Also known as inbox placement, it calculates the percentage of emails that get delivered to the priority inbox. An email deliverability rate of 100 emails, out of which 33 were in the spam folder, is 66%. An accessible summary of this email delivery vs. email deliverability comparison is:

• Email delivery = How many emails were delivered?
• Email deliverability = How many emails were delivered to the recipient?

Delivery issues may be due to faulty email addresses, problems with your infrastructure, or too much negative feedback on the email address. Deliverability issues arise due to:

• Outdated sending and permission practices
• Violating a law
• Receiving too many spam labels by the receivers

Craft Stunning Emails with Blocfree​

Create, share, and publish easily with Blocfree's email template builder. Blocfree is an email HTML editor that allows you to quickly create/edit emails and use it with multiple platforms like:

• Mailgun
• Sendgrid and others

Effortlessly craft email, SMS, and push templates with our intuitive email template builder. Collaborate seamlessly with your team and quickly publish content to your preferred platform.

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Related Reading​

• Email Subject Line Best Practices

Interesting Statistics About Email Deliverability in 2024​

Does Google Still Rule the World?​

Google remains the most dominant email service provider (ESP) in 2024, boasting a solid 37% market share. This figure is down from 41% in late 2023, but Google is still the most popular ESP among GlockApps customers.

Did the Percentage of Senders Using Outlook Increase?​

No, the percentage of senders using Outlook decreased from 13% in late 2023 to 12% in early 2024.

Is Mailgun as Popular as Before?​

Not really. Mailgun's market share has decreased from 13% of senders in late 2023 to 10% in early 2024.

Email Deliverability in 2024: What the Stats Say​

The average email deliverability rate in 2024 across multiple top email marketing platforms is 83%.

• EmailToolTester: More than 10% of emails were in subscribers’ spam folders.
• EmailTooltester: Approximately 1 in 6 marketing emails never reach the subscribers, and 20% of emails fail to reach the recipients' inboxes.
• Returnpath: A 95% or higher delivery rate is considered excellent.
• Omnisend: The industry-accepted benchmark for email bounce rate is 2%.
• MyEmma: Based on the respective engagement levels, 63% of businesses adjust the frequency of emails sent to subscribers.
• Databox: Spam complaints are the second most common reason for inbox placement issues, accounting for 21%.
• ReturnPath: Low mailbox usage is the main reason for a low inbox placement rate, contributing to 19% of such issues.
• ReturnPath: In September 2020, spam emails constituted 47.3% of total email traffic.
• Statista: Approximately 23% of an email list declined in quality each year.
• ZeroBounce: In 2019, the worldwide inbox placement rate was 83%, whereas the spam placement rate was 7%.
• Returnpath: Marketing emails generally exhibit a low engagement rate, with an open rate of 20-25%
• Hubspot: Email delivery rates have steadily increased over the last three years; the overall rate stood at 98.2%
• DotDigital: 17% of emails never reach your subscribers’ inboxes. (EmaillToolTester)

Email Open Rate Statistics​

Global marketers across all industries reported an average email open rate of 46-50%.

• Hubspot: The average email open rate across the industry is 21% or above.
• Mailmunch: Government emails have the highest open rate (28.77%). Hobbies-related industries like photography, writing, and sketching have a 27.74% open rate. On the other hand, marketing and advertisement have an open rate of 17.38%. The average CTOR (click-to-open rate) is 10% or above. Real Estate, Education, and Government & Politics are the top industries with the highest CTOR.

Transactional Email Statistics and Deliverability​

• Transactional emails: They have an average open rate of 40-50%, and the click rate is around 10-2%.
• Innertrends: The average click-through rate on transactional emails was 10% and 30% for top emailers.
• Bizibl: Transactional emails like order confirmations, shipping notifications, and password resets emails generated usually 6x higher revenue than regular marketing emails.

Email Deliverability Across the ISPs​

The following stats were collected from GlockApp and EmailToolTester users, and we’ve compiled them to show how most of the top ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are performing regarding email deliverability.

AOL Average Delivery Rates​

• Inbox: 38.3%
• Spam: 34.2%
• Undelivered: 27.5%

Yahoo Average Delivery Rates​

• Inbox: 38.6%
• Spam: 34.8%
• Undelivered: 26.6%

Gmail Average Delivery Rates​

• Inbox: 70.7%
• Spam: 14.8%
• Undelivered: 14.5%

Outlook Average Delivery Rates​

• Inbox: 39.9%
• Spam: 34.7%
• Undelivered: 25.3%

Hotmail Average Delivery Rates​

• Inbox: 40.6%
• Spam: 33.6%
• Undelivered: 25.8%

Email Platforms for Highest Email Delivery Rate​

According to the data above and user insights, here are the top five email-sending platforms considering email delivery rate.

• Active Campaign: 94.2%
• Constant Contact: 91.7%
• GetResponse: 90.9%
• Moosend: 90.1%
• CleverReach: 90%

Email Platforms for Lowest Email Delivery Rate​

• Aweber: 83.1%
• Hubspot: 77.7%
• Omnisend: 75.1%
• Sendpulse: 62.8%
• Benchmark: 47.1%

Related Reading​

• Email Design Best Practices
• Email Segmentation

Top 15 Email Deliverability Testing Tools​

1. Blocfree​

Blocfree is an email HTML editor that allows you to quickly create and edit emails and use them with multiple platforms like:

• Mailgun
• SendGrid

Effortlessly craft email, SMS, and push templates with our intuitive email template builder. Collaborate seamlessly with your team and quickly publish content to your preferred platform.

Use Blocfree's email template builder for free today!

2. Mail-tester.com​

Mail-tester.com is a no-frills tool that tests email deliverability in one straightforward step. Email software engineers developed this email testing platform to be:

• Cheap
• Simple
• Efficient

All you need to do to obtain an accurate deliverability score is send a message to the provided address. Mail-tester.com will tell you what SpamAssassin, a spam checker developed by the Apache Software Foundation, thinks about your message. You will also learn if your mail account is on a block list or not fully authenticated, among other things.

3. MxToolbox​

MxToolbox is a well-known name in email testing and monitoring. Its tool analyzes the headers, the blocklist reputation of your outbound IP address, and your SPF records. It then generates a comprehensive deliverability report, providing you with a wealth of useful information that you can closely analyze and use to improve the performance of your marketing campaigns. Free users are limited to one free monitor with access to the top 30 blocklists, so consider upgrading to the paid plan if you’re interested in access to multiple monitors and more blocklists.

4. Spam Check by Postmark​

Spam Check by Postmark is an easy-to-use online tool that instantly checks your messages' SpamAssassin spam score. It is an open-source spam checker that uses various spam-detection techniques to separate spam from legitimate emails.

Many service providers use SpamAssassin. So, knowing how it sees your messages is beneficial in determining their deliverability. What’s great about Spam Check by Postmark is that you can simply paste a message, including its full headers and content. No need to send it anywhere.

5. GlockApps​

GlockApps is a full-featured service that offers everything you’ll need to maximize inbox deliverability:

• Email deliverability tester
• Blocklist monitor
• Spoofing detector
• HTML error checker and more

These tools perform virtually all checks marketers use, including sending your IP and domain information against more than 50 industry blocklists and tracking if your content or IP is blocked by:

• Gmail
• Yahoo
• Other ISPs

Thanks to the integration between the two services, all MailChimp users will appreciate that GlockApps can easily test their marketing campaigns directly from its website.

6. SendForensics​

If you’re interested in generating detailed deliverability reports, check out SendForensics. This tried-and-tested email deliverability checker highlights the issues that send your emails to the spam folder by performing pre-emptive email deliverability testing and real-time scoring for live sends.

You can compare your rate with industry and regional benchmarks to know how well you’re doing and set alerts to quickly discover emerging issues before they become huge problems that can potentially ruin your marketing campaign.

7. Mailtrap.io​

Mailtrap is an email testing tool that allows you to run numerous email experiments in a safe testing environment. It captures your test emails and provides options for inspecting and debugging your templates. With Mailtrap, all your email tests are neatly organized in one place and can’t be sent to real subscribers by mistake.

8. Saleshandy​

Saleshandy is your one-stop solution as an automated cold email outreach tool. With its advanced features, it makes sure your emails always reach your prospects’ inboxes. All email deliverability is mainly targeted at ensuring the message reaches the prospects; that is exactly what Saleshandy will do for you.

9. MailGenius​

MailGenius is also a comprehensive email deliverability service that can help you improve your email deliverability score. Its advanced algorithms set It apart from other tools.

Using these algorithms, MailGenius can instantly identify potential issues in your emails that might trigger spam filters or cause emails to be flagged as junk. That means when you leverage MailGenius’s insights, you can optimize your email content and increase your email deliverability rate.

10. Everest -Validity​

Everest is a product of Validity. While Validity provides many tools, we cannot ignore Everest when discussing email deliverability. While all the other tools talk about improving your email deliverability, Everest goes 1 step ahead and shares your competitor’s intelligence. The only catch is that this feature is only available in their most premium plan (Enterprise).

11. Google Postmaster Tools​

If you want to gain valuable insights into how your emails are being received and treated by Gmail’s systems, Google Postmaster is a must-have tool. Using this tool, you can quickly identify potential issues and make informed adjustments to ensure your messages are connecting with recipients’ primary inboxes every time.

Simply put, Google Postmaster can work as a feedback loop to understand how Gmail views your email traffic and what might affect your email deliverability. When you use Google Postmaster Tools before sending emails, you can see many important metrics, such as:

• Spam rates
• Domain reputation
• IP reputation
• Feedback loop results

12. Folderly​

Folderly is the user’s choice for email deliverability due to its features like:

• Advanced detection
• In-depth analysis of DNS records
• Content checkups and more

This works with certified compliance software and customized support according to your campaigns. While searching for free email deliverability tools, users come across these free deliverability tests offered by Folderly that save them bucks. The list includes tests such as:

• Email spam checker
• SPF generator
• DMARC generator
• An email revenue calculator

13. Inboxally​

The last tool on our list of best email deliverability tools is InboxAlly. InboxAlly’s main focus is helping you improve your sender’s reputation and optimize your email delivery strategies so that your email campaigns achieve your desired goals. The tool basically interacts with your email list and stimulates genuine engagement activities. These activities generally include opening your emails, marking them as necessary, and even moving them from the spam folder to the primary inbox.

14. UnSpam.email​

Unspam.email is more like those email testing tools that you can use to test your email deliverability as a part of deliverability services. That means you can find out if your emails will likely be marked as spam or successfully reach primary inboxes, allowing you to make necessary adjustments to improve deliverability.

15. Mailchecker​

We wanted to add Mailchecker, a small tool for checking and testing, for users who do not want full-fledged email deliverability solutions but rather just a few tests. Well, not a small tool. It provides a good list of tests and reports based on email address analysis. It includes blacklist checking, authentication reports status, spam words flagging, and more crucial data points expected out of best email deliverability tools.

39 Ways to Avoid Sending Spam Email & Improve Email Deliverability​

1. Start With a Pristine IP Address​

You can improve your email deliverability by starting with a pristine IP address. Internet service providers (ISPs) use spam filters to protect users from unwanted emails. When you begin sending marketing emails, these filters will check your sender's reputation to determine if your messages are worth delivering to the user’s inbox.

Start Small and Gradually Increase Email Volume​

The best way to boost your reputation with these filters is to send your emails to a small group of subscribers first. Ideally, you want to pick a group of recipients you know will engage with your emails. The ISP will gradually trust your IP address as they open and interact with your messages. Over time, you can increase the volume of your email sending until you reach your goal.

2. Register a Subdomain and Use It Only for Email Activity

Instead of sending your email marketing campaigns from the same domain as your website, consider creating a subdomain exclusively for email marketing purposes. Over time, users will come to trust the subdomain, which is an added benefit.

The real purpose, however, is that this subdomain will allow for domain-specific monitoring of your IP reputation and be able to succeed against some domain-based certification filters.

3. Implement a Sender Policy Framework​

A sender policy framework (SPF) increases your trustworthiness in the eyes of the receiving email server. The server can cross-check the domain name against the associated IP address to ensure it is legitimate. If you don’t have an SPF, your emails might be rejected.

4. Check Your Sender Reputation​

The biggest reason your emails are not delivered is a low sender score. ISPs automatically reject any emails that fall below a certain score. Return Path produces Sender Score, Which assigns a number to every outgoing mail server. The score is calculated using traditional email metrics such as unsubscribes and spam reports.

5. Check Feedback Loops​

Most major ISPs provide feedback loops in which the email sender can gain information from the recipients who have complained about that sender’s email. These are called Complaint Feedback Loops or FBLs. Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft make it easy to get this information. Gmail allows users to set a Feedback Loop header that does not use the traditional ARF format of most FBLs. Only ESPs (email service providers) are allowed entry into Gmail’s FBL program.

6. Stick to a Consistent Send Schedule​

One cause of a lower sender score and IP rejection is random and erratic broadcast activity. If you do not maintain a regular schedule with your emails, this can create sending spikes. Do your best to stick to a consistent email-sending schedule.

7. Use a Double Opt-In or Confirmed Opt-In​

The most popular form of opt-in is the single opt-in, in which the user agrees to receive an email by simply checking a box or leaving the pre-checked box checked. This might seem like a great strategy to harvest email addresses since it’s so easy and automatic. Nevertheless, it can backfire by generating high amounts of spam complaints.

Prevent Spam Complaints with Double Opt-in​

Spam complaints are dangerous. Some ISPs begin to block sending servers after as few as two or three spam reports per one thousand emails. The best way to defend against spam complaints is to use a double opt-in. All you do is send a confirmation email to the new subscriber asking to validate their address and gain their consent. (In some European countries, double opt-in is now mandatory.)

8. Purge Your List​

If you send your marketing emails to non-existent users, you’ll ramp up your bounce rate and destroy your credibility. Now and then, remove all inactive recipients from your list, filtering out all users who have not opened or clicked your emails in a few months. High hard bounce (invalid) rates are the fastest way to trigger filtering and blocking on your IP.

You can use a paid service to clean all hard bounces before you launch a fresh email marketing effort. Most email validation services can catch:

• Duplicates
• Typos
• Outdated domains
• Do-not-email records
• Bogus addresses
• Other common user errors

You won’t lose anything by cutting the dead weight from your list.

9. Filter Contest Entry Email Signups​

The worst email lists are created from giveaways or signups. True to their nature, people will attempt to enter multiple times using invalid or nonexistent email addresses. They don’t care about getting on your email address list but about a chance to win a free iPad mini.

If you use a contest or giveaway to gain email subscribers, you must vet this list thoroughly before dumping it into your subscriber list. It could be a source of hard bounces, landing you on the IP naughty list.

10. Send Emails at Just the Right Frequency​

Too many emails can burn your subscriber list. Too few emails can kill your revenue. So what do you do to maximize deliverability? You send just the right number of emails. You can only find that perfect number by thoroughly testing, which isn’t easy. Plus, it takes a long time, and you might make some mistakes.

Finding the Optimal Email Frequency for Your Audience​

A good benchmark is one email per week. You can try scaling up to twice weekly if you have excellent content. You can even drop back once a month without losing touch with your audience. But if you go anywhere outside of those two boundaries, you’re in dangerous territory.

11. Use Branding in Your “From” Name​

Using your brand’s name in your “from” line will help to reduce spam complaints. It’s also been proven to improve open rates. Increasingly, some companies use a front person, an individual, to head up their email marketing to give it a more personal feel. You can still use this approach. Add “from [business name]” after the individual’s name.

12. Check Blacklists​

If you’re experiencing send problems, or even if you’re not, it’s a good idea to check the blacklists. These DNS-based blacklists are created to protect users from IPs that have received a high volume of spam reports. Make sure that your IP is not on this list.

13. Reengage the Less-Active Contacts​

In evaluating your recipient engagement, you might have identified subscribers who’ve only recently become inactive. For example, people who haven’t opened or clicked on your emails in the last three months. Since this group still has business potential, you should try winning them back.

Win-Back Campaigns: A Last-Ditch Effort​

The most popular way of doing this is to run a win-back campaign. This can be done manually or automatically. Irek Rybinski suggests the following approach:

• Reengagement campaigns should be treated as a Hail Mary pass
• The last attempt to get your recipients back
• If it fails, they’re gone

There are three key factors that you need to take into account here:

• Timing
• Form
• Incentive

Timing depends mainly on your sending schedule. The more often you send, the shorter I should wait with my re-engagement. For example:

• I shouldn’t wait longer than 3 months if I send once a week.
• If I send it once a month, I can wait as long as an entire year.

The ideal option here is a triggered personal email. Using the same example above, the day my inactive contact reaches three months without action, they automatically get a reengagement email. If I can’t set that up, I should run a reengagement campaign every three months for all inactive contacts.

Of course, if they still fail to engage, I should remove them from my list. As for the form, there are several different approaches. I suggest making a big change in the content. This is the one message that should stand out from the rest. It should be unique enough that your contacts automatically see that they received something different from my usual sendout.

Here are some ideas:

• Go with a different email template and ask “were you waiting for a change?”
• Adapt my existing template but send it as a personal email from my staff member.
• Send a message titled “Is this a goodbye?”
• Give my contacts a chance to change their mind.

14. Partner Up with a Reliable Email Service Provider (ESP)​

If you’re serious about improving your sender reputation and email deliverability, you’ll want to partner with a reputable email marketing software provider. If you’re not sure whether your current platform is the right one, check if it:

• Has relationships with all the major Internet Service Providers.
• Feedback loops have been set up with all the key mailbox providers.
• Automatically handles bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complaints.
• Does not allow its users to upload purchased or scraped lists.
• Participates in all major ISP industry initiatives to prevent spam, like MAAWG, EEC, and ESPC.
• Is compliant with all the major regulations such as CanSPAM, CASL, GDPR, and CCPA.
• Lets you authenticate your custom mailing domain.
• Authenticate your emails with SPF and DKIM.
• Has robust Deliverability and Compliance Teams onboard.
• Uses IPs with high reputation.
• Uses AI to identify potential email deliverability issues.
• Provides you with the Data Processing Agreement.
• Has servers in the country you’re most interested in.
• Ensures all your data is safe and secure.
• Regularly updates its tools to adapt to the latest industry standards.
• Has a good and established reputation on the market.

15. Give Your Recipients a Choice​

Here’s another way you can decrease your email list churn and improve email deliverability: Give your subscribers a choice! Marketers have long known they should personalize their customer experience, but they rarely do that regarding the frequency and content of their email campaigns.

Give Subscribers Control with Preference Centers​

If you want a better experience than most email marketers, consider creating a preference center or including extra checkboxes in your web forms that let your contacts express their mailing preferences. You could also include it on your unsubscribe page so that your customers can opt in rather than out of your email subscription.

This step may seem difficult to implement and maintain, but it can help keep your customers engaged longer. Plus, it gives them the sense that they’re in charge, which can, in turn, improve how they perceive your brand.

16. Make Unsubscribing from Your List Easier​

This may sound counterintuitive, but the fact that people are unsubscribing from your list isn’t a big problem. Why? Because that means they’re receiving your emails; they’re just not into them. The problem starts when they’re not unsubscribing but filtering your messages into the spam folder. The situation is slightly more complicated when managing spam complaints because it requires changes in multiple places.

• I should review my subscription process and ensure everything’s transparent and clear. My contacts must fully understand what they’re signing up for and what content I’ll send them. I should add this information to my landing pages, web forms, thank you pages, and email footers. I’ll need to make unsubscribing from my list more manageable. In most cases, it’s enough if the unsubscribe process doesn’t require additional steps, like logging into my platform, and the removal link is easily found in my emails.

Prioritize Unsubscribe Links for Deliverability​

In extreme cases, I may bring my unsubscribe link to the above-the-fold section—maybe even into the preheader. This may not seem ideal from a marketer’s perspective. But if I consider that each spam report affects my deliverability for that specific campaign and in the future, having more unsubscribes doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

17. Implement Double Opt-In​

The debate around double opt-in vs. single opt-in has been ongoing for years. It comes down to this: If you use double opt-in, you’ll get a higher quality list, but it’ll be smaller. From what we’ve seen, you may see roughly 30% fewer subscriptions.

Weighing the Pros and Cons​

While single opt-in leaves you with more contacts to reach out to, the chances are that people signing up won’t be as engaged. So, how should you go about this? Do the math. But keep this in mind: Based on the results we publish in the Email Marketing Benchmarks report, industries where double opt-in is the most popular get the highest email engagement rates.

When to Use Double Opt-In for Your Email List​

Using double opt-in is recommended if you’re experiencing deliverability issues or you’re seeing a significant number of bots signing up through your web forms. Double opt-in will also keep your list clean of:

• Spam traps
• Emails containing typos
• Temporary email addresses

If anyone ever asks how you collect email consents, double opt-in gives you additional proof that your contacts have made a deliberate decision to join my list.

18. Adjust Your Email Frequency​

Email frequency plays a big role in building high customer engagement and deliverability. Here’s why: If you haven’t contacted your subscribers for a long time and suddenly sent them an email blast, they may take your message as irrelevant or unsolicited. And that can lead to high spam complaint rates.

Finding the Right Email Frequency​

If, on the other hand, you’re sending too many emails, your recipients may feel overwhelmed and annoyed. If I’m lucky, they’ll unsubscribe. They’ll filter out my messages or report them as spam if I'm not. In other words, both too-quiet and too-busy communication schedules are bad. So how often should you email your subscribers? Sadly, there are no golden rules for that.

Data-Driven and Customer-Centric Approaches to Email Frequency​

There are a few ways I can find the right email frequency. Some are more scientific and focus on maximizing conversions. Others involve asking your customers for feedback or allowing them to manage their mailing preferences, as discussed in #6.

19. Get a Dedicated IP Address​

You probably use a shared IP solution if you send your marketing emails using email marketing software. While for most marketers, that’s the right approach, there are some downsides to it, too. For marketers with smaller email lists, a shared IP solution gives more flexibility and stable deliverability.

The Risks and Benefits of Shared IP Addresses​

For example, they don’t need to be as careful about their email schedule or engagement rates. That’s because the IP reputation is built by all marketers who use these IPs to send their emails. At the same time, if some inconsiderate marketers also use these IPs, their behavior may affect the deliverability of everyone else using the same IPs to send their emails.

Understanding Dedicated IP Addresses​

Naturally, the platform Compliance and Deliverability Teams are there to prevent and fix things like that. But there’s always a risk and you need to be aware of. An alternative approach is to use a dedicated IP address. This is usually reserved for bigger senders, with substantial email lists (i.e., 100,000+ records) and a regular communication schedule.

Choosing Between Shared and Dedicated IP Addresses​

The main difference is that when you’re using a dedicated IP address, you’re the only one building its reputation. There are also some other differences between shared and dedicated IPs. If you’re a solid sender and know that your email deliverability could improve using a dedicated IP solution, you should look into it.

20. Improve Your Content​

At the beginning of this article, we discussed how subscriber engagement affects your reputation and email deliverability. We suggested re-engaging and removing inactive contacts from your lists. But we didn’t discuss how to prevent my audience, or at least a percentage, from disengaging from my marketing emails.

One way to do this is to keep improving my email content. My emails should be:

• Interesting
• Engaging
• Valuable

Although it’s easier said than done, here are a few ways how I can make sure my email content continues to engage:

• I frequently use A/B tests to pick the most engaging subject lines, headlines, products, and articles in my messages.
• Ask my audience to provide feedback and suggest topics for future communication.
• Analyze the click-through data in my emails to select the best-performing calls to action (CTAs) and topics.
• Analyze the pageview data and time on page in my website’s Google Analytics reports to drive people to the best-performing pages.

Keep in mind that the best way to A/B test my emails is to:

• Test one thing at a time
• Run tests continuously and not ad-hoc
• Think of them as evolution not a revolution

This way, I’ll know what elements of my message made an impact, and I’ll give my recipients enough time to get used to the changes. The last thing you want to do is confuse those actively engaging with your communication.

21. Balance the Text-to-Link Ratio​

You might never encounter this problem, but it’s worth mentioning in this guide. One of the things ISPs look at when evaluating email quality is the balance between the amount of text and the number of links.

Irek Rybinski explains it: “The text to link ratio needs to be reliable and relatable – providing good content value to your contacts. Sending them only clickable links is usually not one of them.”

The Importance of Link Quality for Email Deliverability​

He also points out that link quality plays a role: ISPs will allow fewer links from a domain with a poor reputation that was already associated with abuse mailing than they would for a domain with a good reputation. Moreover, there seems to be a limit even to the good ones! The rules are quite straightforward. Stick to a single link for a short message (a few lines of text) or one per paragraph.

Balancing Links and Calls to Action in Emails​

As I worked out the filters, I noticed they had no issue recognizing blog or site updates (e.g., first paragraph of an article, or just the title with a link to full article). ISPs seem to be rarely punishing senders for these types of links (if they do, it’s usually a domain reputation issue), so if that’s your business, then you don’t have to worry! If I do advertise products to my list, I should take it easy on the calls to action. I would say that two well-placed links will do the job just fine.

22. Balance the Image-to-Text Ratio​

When creating emails, you should also consider how much of your message is images and text. The more text, the better your deliverability. This doesn’t mean my emails shouldn’t contain images. That’s not feasible, and no e-commerce business would allow that. But my message shouldn’t include just one big picture and a footer. Think about this practice both from the ISPs' and the recipients’ perspectives.

The Importance of Text and ALT Text for Email Deliverability​

Many people use mailbox providers that block images by default. People pay attention to their first impression; if all they see is a message with all its content blocked, they’re not encouraged to open that message. That’s why having text in my emails (and ALT text for images) can help me improve my engagement and deliverability rates.

Balancing Images and Text in Emails for Optimal Results​

Here’s what Irek Rybinski suggests: In the same way the link ratio matters, ISPs also look at the ratio between images and text. This seems to be more of a space-ratio kind of thing. The recommended dimensions are usually given in the 60%-40% or 70%-30% ratio (in favor of text). Nevertheless, I’ve seen emails going for 50-50 doing quite well, so I wouldn’t swear by just one value here. This is something that you need to test yourself.

23. Identify Yourself and Your Content​

It all boils down to this: People open emails that seem interesting, valuable, and entertaining. They also look at who the sender is—whether they’re trustworthy, reputable, and knowledgeable. You need to focus on all those things throughout the entire customer journey. You don’t want my subscribers to feel disconnected when jumping from my Facebook page to my website and email subscription.

Maintaining Consistency in Your Email Sender Information​

Here are a few best practices for you to keep in mind: Don’t change the from name and address used to send my emails too often. Have a consistent brand identity across all my marketing channels. Keep my email layout changes subtle so that people recognize it’s me. If I’m a solopreneur, there’s also one more thing I could try: send emails using my own name instead of the brand name.

Building Personal Connections Through Email​

The hypothesis here is that people are more likely to build a bond with a person rather than a fictional brand. This strategy can only work if I follow through with it and don’t just use it on occasion. If I succeed with this step, my audience will engage with my communication more, improving my deliverability.

24. Run a Reconfirmation Campaign​

If all else fails, there’s one more solution called reconfirmation. Reconfirmation campaigns are similar to reengagement programs, with one major exception. After you’ve run a reengagement campaign, you still get to decide what to do about those who haven’t responded to my emails. Although we suggest removing them from your lists entirely, you may try re-engaging them through remarketing ads or even calling them on the phone if you’ve got this kind of data. With reconfirmation campaigns, there’s no going back.

Re-Engaging Inactive Subscribers with a Single Email​

Here’s how they work: You first identify the inactive contacts, then send them a single email asking if they’d like to opt in to my list. You’re not asking them whether they’d like to stay on my list, but instead, you’re asking them if they’d like to re-subscribe. After sending this message, anyone who doesn’t respond should be automatically removed from my database.

The Risks and Rewards of Purging Inactive Subscribers​

I move those who respond to my active contact list and contact them to find out what caused them to become inactive for such a long time. This is by far the best solution for keeping your list clean. Naturally, it’s also risky, which is why so many marketers keep it as their last resort.

• Pro Tip: In your reconfirmation email, add information about how people can re-subscribe to my list after the link in the message expires. This way, if someone opens my message after some time, they’ll know what to do to keep getting my email updates.

25. Don’t Buy or Rent Email Lists​

Yes, you can legally rent and purchase lists of people who have agreed to email communications, but it’s never a good idea. Not only is it a dirty email marketing tactic that goes against the Terms of Service for your email service provider, but these people don‘t actually know you, and it’s likely they won't even want your emails. In other words, there‘s a good chance they’ll mark you as spam.

26. Don’t Use All Caps Anywhere in Your Email or Its Subject Line​

Using caps in email subject lines lowers the response rate by 30%. It looks like you are shouting at your audience, making your email less readable and disinteresting. It's annoying and can seem spammy. Instead of using disruptive tactics like all caps to get people's attention, try personalizing your emails and using catchy and delightful language.

27. Don’t Use Exclamation Points​

Even the smallest of symbols can drastically change the destiny of your email. Using too many exclamation points seems unprofessional and dominating in a way. You don’t need any fillers to get your emails noticed. And when 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line, you'll want to avoid triggers like this as much as possible. Plus, asking for punctuation to do a word's job can really dilute your message. Use this flowchart as a gut check the next time you're tempted to use an exclamation point in an email (or anywhere).

28. Don’t Use Video, Flash, or JavaScript Within Your Email​

Most email clients cannot view rich media like Flash or video embeds by default. As for JavaScript and other dynamic scripts, even if a spam filter allows your email to go through, most email clients won't allow these scripts to function. So, avoid using them altogether. Instead, use an image of your video player (with a play button) that links to the rich media on a website page.

Enhancing Your Video Idea with GIFs and Click-Through Tracking​

If you want to communicate my video idea better, I can incorporate a GIF (with a link) and track the click-through rates afterward. To clear your doubts about embedding videos in emails, read our guide on embedding videos in emails.

29. Don’t Include Attachments to Your Emails​

Yes, the statement sounds vague, but there are better ideas than including the attachments to your cold emails. An email with a short wall of text and all the first-hand information in the attachment could be left unnoticed. Also, the receivers consider the first emails with attachments as spam or malicious.

Avoid Spam and Improve Email Load Time with Attachments​

This worsens the chances of getting your email to the spam folder. Upload the attachment to your website and link to the file location in your email using a practical call-to-action button. This will minimize the chance of being blocked by spam filters and decrease your email's load time.

HubSpot's attachment tool in the email editor automatically does this for you. Simply highlight a bit of text or an image and click the attachment icon, and HubSpot will turn that text or image into a link leading to that attachment.

30. Don’t Use Spam Trigger Words​

One of the easiest ways to avoid spam filters is by carefully choosing the words I use in my email's subject line. A good rule of thumb is this: If it sounds like something a used car salesman would say, it's probably a spam trigger word. Think:

• Free
• Guarantee
• No obligation and so on

Instead of using these trigger words, be creative, interesting, and informative -- without giving too much away.

31. Don’t Forget to Use Spell Check​

Spelling and grammar mistakes are the most embarrassing email offenses. According to a report by Grammarly, around 93% of the respondents made email typos and blunders. Of this 63% committed embarrassing typos, while the recipients misunderstood 50%. To maintain good email etiquette, you must avoid typos. And it‘s easy for little spelling mistakes to slip by, especially when you’re self-editing.

32. Don’t Jam Pack Your Email Copy with Keywords​

Keyword-stuffing your emails means shoving as many keywords into your emails as possible. There‘s a reason Google gives a lower rank to web pages stuffed with keywords, and that’s because it's harmful to user experience.

To make it more likely folks will open my emails and not mark them as spam, write my emails for humans, not robots. Copywriting that makes people want to take action is both simple and compelling. To make my writing sound more personable and relatable, I can use:

• Casual language
• Colloquial expressions
• Personal anecdotes

33. Ask Your Subscribers to Add You to Their Address Book​

Spam filters are more aggressive than ever, so much so that sometimes, the emails people value and want to read still end up in their spam boxes. Ensure your emails get delivered by telling the subscriber’s email server that your email is safe enough to end up in their inbox. Thrivecart does an excellent job of making this happen. They specify why adding their email address is essential for the subscribers.

34. Offer Recipients Both an HTML and a Plain Text Version of Your Emails​

Plain text emails are simply emails void of any formatting, while HTML (HyperText Markup Language) emails use formatting that lets you design more beautiful emails with attractive visual components. By offering both a plain text and HTML version of a single email, you‘re indicating my legitimacy to ISPs and making my emails more reader-friendly.

Most email marketing tools will let you easily create plain-text versions within their email editor, so take those five extra minutes to make and optimize the plain-text version of your email.

• HubSpot customers: Learn how to create a plain-text email in HubSpot here. Also, ensure the HTML version is properly coded: If there are broken tags in my HTML, the email provider and users might mark it as spam.

35. Allow People to View Your Email in a Web Browser​

Even after every step is taken to ensure proper email design, an email client can still display an email poorly. Each client displays emails differently. Every email client has certain features that may render only partially in other email clients.

How an email looks in Gmail might differ from how it looks in Yahoo or Outlook. Hence, it is crucial to view a link in every email as a web page.

36. Include Alt Text in Your Email Images​

Many email clients block images by default. When someone opens my email, the images won't load unless they click a button to show them or change their default settings. Adding alt text to my images helps recipients understand my message even if they can't see the pictures.

This is especially bad if I use an image as a call to action. Without alt text, a “turned off” image will look like this: When I add alt text to the image, recipients will still know where to click to complete the action.

37. Keep Your Emails Short and Sweet​

Too much copy is another red flag for spam filters. People generally like concise emails better. Everyone's busy, and their inbox is full, so why worsen things?

Writing like a human is one of the best ways to keep things short and sweet. Writing my email like I was talking to someone in real life makes it feel much more approachable and relevant. If I have to write a lengthier email, then break it into multiple paragraphs. Giving visual breaks and composing the email with a clear introduction, middle, and conclusion will make it much easier for your reader.

38. Test Your Emails Before Sending Them​

There are many email clients out there these days that email marketers have to consider when creating emails. We also have to consider mobile users. After all, 41% of people read email on their mobile devices.

A/B Testing for Optimal Email Rendering Across Clients​

Since different email clients view emails differently, I use the A/B testing technique to test my email copies. While it may be time-consuming to test my emails for all email clients, I'll want to test them for the ones my audience uses the most. If my email marketing tool allows me to preview what my email looks like in different email clients and devices that are popular with my audience.

39. Get an Email Sender Accreditation from a Third Party​

Sender accreditation is a third-party process of verifying email senders and requiring them to follow certain usage guidelines. This badge of trust adds your company email address to a trusted listing that ISPs refer to allow certain emails to bypass email filters.

Related Reading​

• How to Avoid Spam Filters

Use Our Email Template Builder for Free Today​

Email marketing is a collaborative endeavor. Yes, the process starts with one person creating a strategy and drafting a message. But from there, it often involves multiple team members reviewing and approving content before it’s sent.

Blocfree makes this collaborative process more efficient by allowing teams to create and edit email templates. Users can easily share email templates with others to get feedback and make revisions so the process can go smoothly without hiccups.

You finish writing your email and can't wait to send it off. But before you do, you pause. What if it doesn't look good when it reaches my subscribers? What if half my subscribers can't even see the email because they read on mobile, and my designs are too complex for their device to render? What if my carefully crafted email copy is buried under an avalanche of code? These email design worries are common, and for good reason. A few simple tweaks to your email's design and structure could mean the difference between your subscribers enjoying your email or opening it only to be disappointed and confused. Following email design, best practices can help you avoid the scenario above and create visually appealing, highly engaging emails that effectively capture your subscribers' attention and drive conversions. This blog will explore email design best practices and offer valuable insights to help your improve email deliverability.

Email design best practices don’t just make your emails look pretty. They help you ensure your emails render correctly so subscribers can enjoy your created content instead of getting stuck in a maze of confusing code. Blocfree’s email template builder can help you easily implement these design best practices so you can focus on what matters: creating engaging email copy that converts.

Why Email Design Matters​

In 2023, approximately 347 billion emails were sent and received daily worldwide. This figure will increase to over 408 billion daily emails in 2027. With email users expected to reach 4.7 billion by 2026, mastering email design is crucial for achieving and converting your target audience. Email recipients often scan information and abandon emails that don’t offer them value or appear too dense. That’s why having excellent email design is so critical; it’ll help you capture the attention of and engage your email recipients.

Visual Email Design Improves Engagement​

Human beings are visual creatures. We are hard-wired to respond better to information when it is represented using visual media than plain text. Good content is worth its weight in gold, but when accompanied by mediocre design, it doesn’t leave even half of the impact it was destined to.

The same holds in the area of email marketing. No matter how many hours you spend poring over your email subject lines, copy, and CTA phrases, you’ll never get the desired results unless you dial up your design game.

Email Design Affects Performance Metrics​

What are you hoping to achieve if you’re not tracking your metrics? If you don’t know how your target market is responding to your efforts to engage with them, then you’ll have no way to refine your approach iteratively.

Plain text emails don’t allow you to track the open rate of your email campaign, which means you’ll be none the wiser about your performance. Take the time to build metrics into your campaign, and you’ll soon be able to make the tweaks and adjustments that will prove pivotal to your success.

Here are some KPIs and other metrics that you should be tracking:

• Open Rates
• Clicks
• Email Sharing And Forwarding
• List Growth
• Subscriber Engagement
• Conversions

Many of these cannot be tracked if you aren’t unless you are using HTML-based emails, a necessity for good email design. To set your email metrics, consider the overall goals of your campaign. Then, choose what to track based on those goals.

Good Email Design Optimizes Information Uptake​

Did you know people’s brains can recognize images in as little as 13 milliseconds? Your brain has evolved to respond far faster to imagery than text, which a well-designed email should consider. It’s all about figuring out how your customers’ brains work; imagery is significant.

If you lead with a strong hero image, it will instantly catch the eye and ensure far more people stay engaged, just what you’re looking for if you want recipients to read through your email copy. HTML emails can help you create an appealing email design to visualize your content best. There are even many great visual email template builders that you can use for free.

Responsive Email Design Presents Information Clearly​

Mobile browsing rates now exceed desktop browsing, but both are still common. You must create email campaigns that adjust to the user’s device type and screen size. Get it right, and you can present your products and services in the palm of your hand.

If you get it wrong with an email that doesn’t display correctly, your email will quickly be deleted. Responsive email design has a huge impact on click-through rates. A responsive email template builder will help you create emails that render perfectly on all devices.

Related Reading​

• Email Subject Line Best Practices

25 Email Design Best Practices To Boost Engagement and Performance​

1. Specify Your Sender Name​

Your sender name is an essential element of email design. It massively influences your open rates. As the first thing your contacts see, it’s arguably more important than your subject line. Why? It establishes trust from the get-go.

Choosing the Right Sender Name for Your Emails​

Frequent email users know how to sort out the good from the bad. It’s a subconscious thing they do to filter hundreds of emails daily. Your contacts look at the sender's name to determine whether or not an email is spam. Incorporate your brand name into your sender name. This helps establish trust and separates you from spammy content.

Personalizing Your Sender Name for Better Engagement​

Use your company name alone to reinforce brand recognition, or personalize it with an employee’s first name. For example, using ‘Sarah at Brevo’ is an effective way to engage your contacts on a more personal level. Many larger companies use a sender name to differentiate departments, products, and services.

For example, ‘Brevo News’ or ‘Brevo Customer Service’ reveals key information about the message. The most important thing is that your sender name displays a real name, not an email address.

2. Grab Attention With Your Subject Line​

Your email subject lines should be short, informative, and catch the reader's attention. Make sure to highlight the most important message.

Be upfront. Most users will only take a glance, so you need to grab their attention within the first few words. The average character limit set by various email providers is 50 characters. Aim to keep it or your subject line will be cut short. And remember that mobile users see even less of the message.

Tip: Avoid overdoing it with excessive capitalization, special characters, or punctuation. This kind of messaging makes your brand seem less trustworthy, and the email could also be classified as spam.

3. Customize Your Preheader Text​

Preheader text is a short snippet of text. It immediately follows the subject line when viewing an email in the inbox. Preheaders add valuable context to your subject line and boost your open rates. The subject line and preheader text should go hand in hand. Together they tell your readers a story.

The Importance of Email Preheaders​

Without customizing, it will read as the first text in your email. Your preheader could be "View this email in your browser.” Now that wouldn't give the best first impression, would it? Data shows that messages with preheaders have average open rates of around 32.95%. That’s over 7% more than emails without preheaders. Yet surprisingly, only 34.23% of messages have one.

Creating Effective Preheaders for Your Emails​

While this could only be a correlation, we believe subheaders work and are worth a try. Adding a “view this message online” link to your preheader won’t take too long, and it can help your audience view the newsletter, even if the images have been automatically blocked by their email client.

Preheaders on Open Rates​

The impact of including a preheader in emails based on the Email Marketing Benchmarks report data. Impact of email preheader on open rates. Source: Email Marketing Benchmarks How to create a good preheader Think of the preheader as the extension of your subject line. Your additional chance to provide more value or something else interesting that you couldn’t fit into your subject line.

Inspiring Preheader Examples​

The best approach is to create these two elements in pair so that the preheader builds upon and enhances your subject line. Let’s check them out again here:

• Email subject line: Drop Everything. Sitewide Sale. Now.
• Preheader text: It’s our birthday 🎉 Sitewide Sale + Free Shipping & Returns to celebrate!
• Subject line: It’s now or never!
• Preheader: Only 8 hours left on these Cyber Monday deals

Preheader Length​

One thing to keep in mind is that it may be difficult to estimate how much of your preheader will be visible in the email client, as you can observe in the image below. This image shows emails with different preheader lengths visible in the mailbox preview.

4. Get Personal With Your Content​

This year we expect to hear less and less about B2B and B2C marketing. 2024 is about human-to-human marketing. We are seeing a shift away from sending generic, one-to-many emails. Instead, personalization is trending.

Personalizing Your Emails for Maximum Impact​

Email design best practices favor sending one-to-one emails tailored to customer behavior. Features like email automation, lead scoring, and segmentation help tailor content to individuals, leading to dynamic, innovative, and relevant emails.

Using Dynamic Content to Enhance Email Engagement​

Take your emails beyond first-name greetings. Adapting content based on user interests and behavior truly personalizes them. For example, you can send personalized product recommendations, offers, and abandoned cart emails. Take a look at this example. It incorporates a live countdown timer leading up to an event.

The Power of Personalized Emails in Building Customer Relationships​

Animations like this create a sense of urgency and inspire customers to commit to purchasing. Make your emails count. Personalized emails with dynamic content will not only set your brand apart, but also forge stronger connections with your customers.

5. Design Your Emails Using Visual Hierarchy​

As consumers, we tend to follow predictable patterns when engaging with content. Visual hierarchy helps to guide readers' attention in emails, directing readers to the most important elements. Visual hierarchy is an email design best practice, allowing people to scan content easily.

Let’s take a look at two email layouts using a visual hierarchy:

The Z Pattern​

The Z pattern (or zig-zag) effectively gets subscribers to read through all your email content. This strategy plays on patterns of eye movement. Reading left to right, we tend to jump ahead when engaging with content. Keep users interested by spreading eye-catching content throughout the message. This reduces the chance of them getting bored halfway through.

The Inverted Pyramid​

Another strategy to consider is the inverted pyramid email layout. The top of the pyramid catches the reader's attention. Then, you narrow their focus to the primary goal of your email, which might be a:

• Call to action
• Product feature
• Special offer

Some final tips on email layout:

• People tend to place more value in larger objects.
• Highlight important information with larger text, blocks, or bolder fonts.
• People also perceive elements higher up on the page as more important. Start your email with your key points.
• White space helps to separate different parts of your content. Use it to communicate information in a clear, organized and attractive way.

6. Use an Email Template​

You don't have to be a graphic design expert to craft beautiful emails. Using an email newsletter template is a great way to get started. Email templates help speed up the design process. They also give your content a professional-looking structure.

Ready-Made HTML Email Templates​

The first option is to use ready-made templates. Many hand-crafted email templates can be used for personal and commercial purposes. They fit various occasions and can benefit any campaign. They are an excellent option for those not picky about the design and ready to mess with code to change dummy content and introduce some adjustments to fit the brand identity.

Drag-and-Drop Email Builders​

The second way is more progressive. Drag-and-drop email builders are lifesavers. You do not need design and coding skills since you have a collection of hand-crafted modules and an intuitive playground to let your imagination run wild. You can create any email design by choosing the desired component from the collection and arranging it how you see it. You can alter all details, including:

• Color
• Background
• Typography
• Images

It is handy, cost-effective, and time-efficient. Drag-and-drop builders can be found in ESPs.

Exploring Third-Party Email Builders​

Almost every popular provider offers customers a playground for building a template from scratch by dragging and dropping elements. However, there are some flaws.

• They are limited in terms of modules and functionality.
• They need full compatibility.
• They are pretty generic since there are no stylish features or interactive elements.

To overcome these issues, you can try third-party email builders like Postcards. Postcards comes with 100 stylish field-tested modules:

• Menus
• Call to actions
• E-commerce elements
• Hero area
• Footers
• Transactional components
• Lists, etc.

It also offers:

• Direct preview
• Cloud image hosting
• Project management
• Version history

You can export the result right into:

• Mailchimp email templates
• HubSpot
• HTML/ZIP

7. Stay Consistent With Brand Identity​

Don’t feel obligated to stick to a template’s design features. Templates are a great foundation for effective email design. But they’re also an opportunity for your brand image to shine through. We recommend changing anything inconsistent with your brand image.

Ensure your email templates match your visual identity to help your recipients form a stronger relationship with your brand. This means that your logo, imagery, typography, colors, and call-to-action buttons need to be consistent with what you’re presenting on your website and other marketing channels.

If you’re still working on an established visual identity, consider these pointers:

• Create a color scheme using interesting, complementary colors. If you don’t know how, you can generate them using Coolors (free) tool. That means you’ll have specific colors for individual elements like headers, CTAs, and copy.
• Choose up to two fonts that work well together and use them throughout your emails: one for the headlines and one for the main text and CTAs.
• Don’t overcomplicate your email templates. Make sure that they’re simple, aesthetically pleasing, and recognizable.
• Look for inspiration in articles like this on best email marketing examples and sites like ReallyGoodEmails or Email Love.

Your Company Logo​

Adding your company logo to your emails can help you distinguish your brand from all the other businesses your recipients will see in their inboxes. In the email template itself, you’ll want to add the logo at the very top of your message, either in the middle or the left corner. Some email marketers also like to put their logo in the footer, right above the disclaimer section and the unsubscribe links.

You may have also noticed that in some email clients, the logo appears next to the sender name.

• Emails with the company logo are displayed next to their sender's name. All email mailbox providers don’t fully support this feature, but some bigger ones have already started to roll it out. To show your logo in the Gmail email apps, your domain needs to be hosted by GSuite.
• If you’re sending your emails through an external service (such as email newsletter software like GetResponse), you must ensure your domain is authenticated with a custom DKIM.

The logo should be visible in the Gmail environment when these two requirements are met. You can also now show your logo in the Oath email providers (Yahoo!, AOL, etc.). This is due to the new authentication method, Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI). This method is still in the beta phase, so it’s only supported by certain email providers, but it’s likely to be picked up by other such services shortly.

8. Write Engaging Copy​

Remember that people will be skimming your content when writing your email copy.

• Long chunks of text will lose your readers’ attention very quickly. Using short, concise sentences, bulleted lists, and headlines will keep your writing digestible.
• An easy layout ensures that no one gets lost in your content. Your tone of voice is also important to nail. You want your writing to appeal to and make sense to your target audience.
• Emojis might work for some, but not for an older, more traditional demographic. Being creative with your design elements is always encouraged.
• Some email servers might only appear to have super artistic and complicated font styles. Stick to email-friendly fonts instead.

9. Add Images Where They Add Value​

Photos are a great way to break up your email message and make your content a bit easier to digest. However, sending emails with too much visual content can result in a few scenarios:

Emails take a long time to load. Issues in displaying the content include a vague, unfocused message to your audience. To avoid these pitfalls, be sure to:

• Always ask yourself what value an image adds to your content.
• Use clear product photos, introduce team members, or add infographics.
• Using irrelevant stock images or very large files will only win you unsubscribers.

When choosing graphics for your email campaigns, you’ll need to decide on the following:

• Where are you going to source my images from? (stock, custom-made, open license)
• What format will I use? (.jpg, .png, .gif)
• How much space will my images take in the email?
• What will I do when images get blocked in my recipient’s mailbox?

Using Stock vs. Custom-made Images​

There’s no right or wrong way to choose between stock and custom-made images. Make sure the approach you choose fits your overall visual identity and helps you create the right feel for your brand.

• Pro tip: GetResponse Email Creator comes with over 2 million free high-quality stock images from Shutterstock that you can easily customize and use in your email campaigns.

10. Feature User-generated Content​

According to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Report, 81% of consumers make buying decisions based on brand trust. People trust peer recommendations more often than brands.

• So why not let your customers have a say in your email content?
• What is user-generated content?

User-generated content is anything that people create and share online about a brand. This includes:

• Product reviews
• Customer feedback
• Photo
• Social media posts

It provides social proof and reinforces your brand's credibility. Using real-life examples humanizes my brand. It makes my storytelling more relatable and starts conversations through my emails. Through targeting and segmentation practices, you can tailor your user-generated content to individuals. For instance, a sports equipment store might segment and target its customers by preferred sport. Including relevant buyer reviews in your email is a powerful conversion method.

11. Use Interactive Content in Your Email Design​

Interactive email design allows users to interact with content without leaving the email. It’s a powerful way to boost engagement. Interactive elements create a sort of gaming experience within the email. It not only improves engagement but also provides a better user experience. Why? Because users interact with email content without the need to follow links.

An example of email design using interactive blocks Here are some exciting interactive email elements to consider:

• Animated buttons and call-to-actions
• Product carousels
• Rollover effects to showcase products and offerings
• Accordion features to make your emails more compact
• Add-to-cart functionality
• Polls and surveys

Much of this content requires skills in HTML and CSS to create. Not all email clients may display interactive design elements correctly, so consider creating segments for email clients (Gmail, Apple Mail, etc.).

12. Ensure Emails are Accessible​

Great email layout is vital for accessibility. It’s essential to make your email easily readable for all contacts, including visually impaired people. Alt texts describe your images for those who cannot see them.

Make sure the background color of your emails allows for easy reading. Programs such as the KNFB Reader scan content and read it out loud for visually impaired, dyslexic, and other print-disabled users. That's why it's essential to lay out your content clearly and optimize its readability.

13. Experiment With A/B Tests​

A/B testing compares two versions of an email.

• Change one thing between versions A and B. This can be a headline, subject line, or a call to action.
• Measure which performs better. For example, you can measure which subject line results in higher open rates.

Here are some ideas of opposites you might want to test:

• Emojis vs. no emojis
• Question vs. exclamation marks
• Discount vs. urgency
• Capitalization vs no capitalization
• Fun vs. serious
• Images vs. no images
• Colorful vs. monochrome
• One CTA vs. more in the email body

A/B testing is a great best practice for email design. It helps you improve your marketing strategy and make data-driven decisions about which elements work best for your campaigns.

14. Drive Action With CTAs​

A call-to-action (CTA) is a button or link that encourages you to do something. A CTA (an action button) might lead users to a landing page, subscription form, or download page. This practice helps boost CTR. Laying out your email to guide your contacts to a call to action is like giving them a gentle nudge.

The text on your CTA buttons should be specific and to the point. For example:

• For a new product line, you could say, "Explore our new collection."
• For a promotion, you might use "Save 20% on shoes."
• Phrases like “read more” or “learn more” are better suited for lower-level CTAs.

15. Include an Unsubscribe Button​

Making your emails user-friendly means including an unsubscribe button in your emails. Allowing readers to opt out easily shows you’re operating in good faith. What’s more, the new anti-spam regulations by Gmail and Yahoo require you to make it easy for users to unsubscribe.

You need to do so to avoid losing you brownie points with email servers. If your unsubscribe button isn't easy to find, they'll mark your email as spam, leading to poor email deliverability. Always have an unsubscribe button at the top of your emails. In Brevo, it’s enabled by default. Adding an unsubscribe link in the email footer is optional. We recommend this as a best practice for user experience.

16. Choose an Appropriate Email Layout​

A poorly structured email can make it easier for users to read and understand your emails. The structure helps you to prioritize which content you want to include in the email. For example, if I am sending an email to promote your product but put the photos below the text, it won't make sense to the readers.

If I had started the email by showcasing the picture, followed by a description and CTA button, it would have provided better conversion. Also, a single-column email can be easier to read and more responsive across devices. It's up to you to choose the type of layout appropriate for your email. It can be:

• Inverted pyramid layout
• Zigzag layout
• Two-column layout

If you are choosing a more complex design, thoroughly test the emails across devices to prevent any possible responsiveness issues.

17. Avoid Sending All-image Emails​

Avoid sending emails that contain only images. This practice can confuse readers if the images fail to load. It also makes the emails unaccessible for people with disabilities and who use screen readers.

Try to keep the image-to-text ratio at 40:60 and avoid image-based text. If you can't, provide a fallback with alt text so the email is clear if the images don’t load. An email with a width of 600-640 px is optimal to ensure it looks good on all devices, so keep this in mind when adding images and creating the template.

18. White Space​

White space is around your sentences, images, and CTA buttons. It is a crucial component of design. It helps separate elements visually from other elements in your email. It also helps increase the legibility of your email and improves the reader’s ability to look over the email as a whole.

Ensure your email copy and CTA button are separated, but close enough to know they’re related.

19. Prominent CTA Buttons​

Use distinct colors and whitespace around the call-to-action button so the viewer can easily see and click on it. Depending on the email length, you can use the CTA in the header or at the end.

20. Use GIFs Rather Than Videos​

When you have a choice between video and GIFs, always choose GIFs. Because only a few email clients allow embedded videos you are more likely to end up in the spam. So it's better to use GIFs in the email instead of videos as they are short, expressive, and take less time to load. Make sure the GIF you use is compressed and is not a large file; this will help with the deliverability.

21. Dark Mode​

Almost 80% of people use dark mode on their devices. So it's important your email design work well with it. Ensure that the font is shifting to a light color on the dark background and that all the visual components are properly visible for a dark or light background.

22. Keep the Overall Email Design Minimal​

When you review the email's final review, make sure you remove any redundant or unnecessary information or design elements. When designing the email stick to the concept of less is more as a long and cluttered email only discourages the readers from taking time to read your content.

23. Make Your Emails Mobile-responsive​

With over half of your recipients opening your emails on mobile devices, you can’t build your email templates just thinking about big desktop screens. The best way to ensure that all your recipients have the most optimal experience is to build mobile-responsive emails. A mobile-responsive email will look good, both on smaller and larger devices.

Since you’re building and sending just one email (that’s optimized for both types of devices), it won’t be a problem if my subscriber chooses to open my message using different tools. Email builders, like the GetResponse email creator, let you create email templates that look good on all types of devices without having to write a single line of code. Mobile email design best practices

You should keep several best practices in mind when designing your emails for mobile devices:

• Ensure your copy is legible, even when someone reads my message while on the go.
• Consider increasing my line spacing and font size to 14-16 px for regular text and 22 px for headlines.
• Make sure my links and CTAs can be easily clicked when using a thumb. In most cases, you’ll want my buttons to have approximately 44 x 44 px (minimum 29 x 44 px)
• Include extra breathing room between CTAs to make clicking easier.
• Add 10-20 px of extra space around clickable areas and avoid adding several text links next to each other.
• Make sure your landing page is also optimized for mobile devices.
• Sending people off to a page that doesn’t look good on their device would be a loss of money and could cause a lot of frustration.

Consider using deep links in your emails. Always test and check what your email template looks like on different devices before sending it out to the world. As we mentioned and it’s worth reiterating, what might look good on a desktop might not look the same on a mobile device.

• Consider hiding any sections that can’t be viewed or don’t add value to my mobile recipients’ experience
• If the message is long, consider repeating the main CTA further down in my email to save recipients’ scrolling time
• To ensure the subject line doesn’t lose its meaning, keep it short (30-40 characters) or ensure the most important information is placed at the beginning
• To avoid my brand name being cut off in the inbox, keep my “from name” short (below 30 characters)

24. A/B Test Your Design​

Similar to most marketing efforts, email design is an iterative process. You might determine you need to make changes and updates to get the most out of your email design. But what elements should you focus on when A/B testing?

Here Busleiman shares her insights once more: CTAs placed above the fold (visible without scrolling) generally see higher click-through rates. I recommend trying to talk as your audience talks, understanding their customer journey, and showing them familiar images.

You can also A/B test attributes such as voice and tone. Don't make assumptions, just experiments!” Busleiman’s advice highlights several key areas for A/B testing:

• CTA placement: Testing the position of your call-to-action, especially above the fold, can significantly improve click-through rates.
• Language and tone: Experimenting with different ways of speaking to your audience can help you find the most effective communication style.
• Imagery: Testing various images that resonate with your audience's experiences can improve engagement.
• Voice and tone: Even subtle changes in how you express my message can make a big difference.

Pro tip: Remember, the goal of A/B testing is to let data guide your decisions rather than relying on assumptions. By consistently testing these elements, you can continually refine your email design for maximum impact.

25. Design an Email Signature​

A great email signature design is another way to establish a professional and personal feel over email. Email signatures shouldn't just include your name, they should contain other defining and memorable characteristics:

• About you
• Your role
• Contact information
• Company

Here are some specifics you can include in your email signature:

• First and last name
• Contact information (and secondary contact information)
• Job Title / Role
• Company Name Link to my meeting calendar
• Social media links (e.g. LinkedIn profile)
• Pronouns
• Photo
• Industry disclaimer or legal requirements

Related Reading​

• Email Segmentation

14 of the Best Examples of Beautiful Email Design​

Email Newsletter Design Examples​

1. Collaborative Fund​

Collaborative Fund’s email newsletter powerfully uses bright red and yellow. The colors convey energy and passion, creating a compelling first impression for readers. They don't stop there, either. Throughout the entire email, the newsletter features colorful bursts of these hues in a unique way.

Instead of using a big block of color at the top to draw readers in, they combine bright tones throughout the email. Color aside, they leverage clean divides to separate these blocks while incorporating different textures, like that crumpled paper, to create a really compelling experience.

2. Domino​

This newsletter from Domino covers a lot of information:

• Design with storage restrictions
• Giveaways
• Profile piece with Chelsea Handler
• Bathroom and bedroom design tips
• Call-to-action

Domino paired these short descriptions with high-quality images to make this more easily scannable. Like the Collaborative Fund example, they separated each topic through clear, horizontal divides.

3. InVision LABS​

This is a much more concise email from InVision, which includes a clean design and an eye-catching color. The blue background commands attention, both the call-to-action and the white box near the bottom of the email. The fanned-out product images help the recipient understand the announcement before diving into the explainer copy.

The colorful experience doesn't stop with the email. The bright blue is carried through to the corresponding website, making this a strong example of seamless branding.

4. GrubHub​

This email from GrubHub is an excellent example of product promotion ... because it doesn't sound or feel like product promotion at all. Instead of saying, "Hey, you like food. You should order it using our service!", the email tells a story with the help of a really cool piece of interactive content: a quiz to see what you should serve at your party (see what they did there?). We especially love the saturated GIF they used to promote the piece of content, as it commands the recipient's attention.

Nurturing Email Design Examples​

5. Handy​

We love this simple welcome email from Handy. The color scheme is consistent, relying on gray for the base and bright blue to draw attention to the logo and CTA. There's a nice balance between text and visuals here, and the tile design makes it easy to skim through. We love that they used non-cheesy stock photos to represent their brand, which makes them more genuine and lovable from a consumer perspective.

6. Litmus​

You might expect a beautiful email from a company announcing an email design conference, and Litmus doesn't disappoint. The email starts out with a bold burst of color, which grabs readers' attention. Below this, you'll find a clean design that includes:

• Concise copy
• Whimsical illustrations
• Great use of white space

At the bottom of the email, you'll see a live Twitter feed showing tweets that use the conference's official hashtag. That social media factor is a cool touch that we're willing to bet increased engagement while informing folks about how to stay connected at the event.

7. Uber​

As marketers, we know that charts and graphs can effectively illustrate information. But what about incorporating graphs into emails? This email design from Uber skillfully demonstrates the power of data visualization through simple graphs.

Rather than relying on words to explain their lowered rates, Uber created a few comparative visuals. Thanks to the bright blue color choice, recipients can easily understand how the rates have shifted with a glance.

8. Cuyana​

Here's a product promotion email Cuyana sent to people who signed up for a new product's "early access" list. The email is centered entirely around showcasing the new product, but in this case, that's exactly what the folks who opted in to the "early access" list were looking for. The design of the email is clean and sophisticated, thanks to a brilliant use of negative space and attractive fonts.

This approach is very true to brand for a women's apparel and accessories company. We love the consistent coloring, especially the signature orange hue they chose for the call-to-action button at the bottom.

E-commerce Email Design Examples​

9. J.Crew​

Sometimes, words can be overrated. Why not let a picture tell the story for you? That's what J.Crew did in this email, anyway. The email promotes a sale, but you wouldn't know it right away: All you see is the copy, "This is worth the scroll," and a long, high-definition picture of an ice cream cone.

10. Apple​

This holiday email from Apple balances white space with product displays to create an exciting experience. While the products all share a similar color scheme, what's compelling is their positioning. By strategically arranging the products, Apple created visual patterns that alternate throughout the email.

This approach is among the best for displaying a brand's confidence in its products. It allows the products themselves to be the focus of the message and the means through which the messaging is conveyed.

11. Union Made Goods​

Consumers receive many emails from e-commerce businesses showcasing holiday gift ideas from their websites, and this is an example of one of these emails do well. They opted for a simple design here, which includes a nice use of color and white space, making the copy and images pop a little more.

I enjoy how the simplicity allows the reader's mind to focus less on distracting elements within the message. Instead, they can fill in the negative space with imaginings of how the products displayed or others sold by the company could bring about the desired reaction from the mothers in their lives.

12. Casper​

This welcome email from Casper does a stellar job of providing an overview of what joining their 1+ million member community will get you. From their community numbers, they have put a lot of time and work into creating a product and reputation so you can rest assured. They list a few perks you get from membership and immediately jump into establishing educational value, offering tips for sleeping.

It needs to be more compelling to make someone a loyally attentive Casper email subscriber, but it further connects the brand and products to consumers' experiences. We love how they use simple graphics and concise messaging to subtly associate themselves with the solution to sleep challenges.

13. Shwood x Stanley​

In the e-commerce world, the quality of the visuals in your emails can greatly impact whether recipients stick around to look through the whole email or quickly hit the "delete" button. This email from Shwood x Stanley emphasizes those high-quality visuals. We especially adore the textured backgrounds and how they play with light and shadows.

14. Harry's​

For seasonal emails like this one from Harry's, consider using color schemes that go with the season. To promote their winter gift set, the folks at Harry's cooled down their color scheme with traditional winter colors like green, blue, and brown.

They also struck a nice balance between text and visuals and made their email easier to skim by using a simple tile design. Another thing we love is those bright red calls to action; they look pretty clickable.

Use Our Email Template Builder for Free Today​

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• Easily craft email, SMS, and push templates to use across multiple platforms like Mailgun and SendGrid.
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