Email Design Guide (With Examples)

What is email design?

Email design is the strategic process of planning and creating messages for your email marketing campaigns. Effective email design helps your message resonate with marketing list subscribers and allows you to target audience segments. Well-designed emails, sent at the right times, can help increase conversions and improve your digital marketing ROI.

Presentation is a crucial element of email marketing. Excellent email design can be powerful, grabbing recipients’ attention via best practices and carefully crafted content. 

Email design best practices

Businesses must consider numerous formatting and presentation factors when creating email templates for new, established or potential customers. Everything from the color scheme to the subject line must be crafted carefully. Consider the following email design best practices that can help set up your campaigns for success. 

Craft a strategic email subject line.

An email’s subject line is the first thing recipients see when they receive an email notification. In fact, if the recipient is using a mobile device, the subject line may be the only thing they see aside from the sender’s name. It must capture the recipient’s attention and inspire them to open the email, or else your campaign will fail before it ever has a chance. 

A marketing email’s subject line must convey the message’s value and motivate the recipient to open it. However, it can’t be a random, interesting phrase — it must be pertinent to the content of the message and give the reader an idea of its intent.  

Use an enticing preheader.

Much like the subject line, preheaders are among the first things subscribers see when they receive an email notification. On mobile devices, email notifications often show only the first few dozen characters of an email’s body, so the preheader is crucial.

A preheader should not restate the subject line. Instead, it should provide insight into the email’s content, highlight the message’s offer and benefits, and use eye-catching language. 

Create concise email marketing messages.

Getting subscribers to open your email is only half the battle. You also need them to complete your call to action (CTA), such as making a purchase, downloading a whitepaper, or signing up for your email newsletter.  

People have short attention spans, so you only have seconds to inspire recipients to complete your CTA. If your message is concise and has straightforward instructions, subscribers will be more likely to follow through. Another way to keep emails short and to the point is to include a link to an FAQ page and product descriptions on your website to avoid cluttering the message with extra text. 

Natalie Dolphin, co-founder and managing director at HLTH Communications, emphasized the importance of straightforward, concise email messages. 

“I’ve worked on countless campaigns, and I have found that an email design is most effective when it is simple, mobile-friendly, and oriented toward action to improve the engagement and conversion rate,” Dolphin explained. “Emails should be easy to read, with paragraphs that are relatively short, headings that are easy to understand, and one single primary CTA.”

Stay on brand when you design emails. 

Every email your business sends should be consistent in its theme and presentation because brand recognition breeds customer loyalty. Current and potential customers should immediately recognize your brand’s aesthetic. If your brand, website and social media presence have a playful theme, keep your emails light and fun. If your brand is more serious, your emails should appear professional, sophisticated and exclusive. 

Additionally, color schemes and fonts in marketing emails should align with the business’s logo and social media presence. The logo should always be bold, visible and recognizable. 

Create an intentional layout.

A marketing email’s layout is as important as its colors and content. The right formatting will direct the recipient’s gaze to the most enticing and essential information. Be sure to leave plenty of white space so recipients can absorb your message. A compelling image in the right context can also inspire engagement. 

The organization of your visual content is vital to conversion rates. The placement of specific words, colors and images can strongly influence subscriber engagement. Strategic design elements, such as the ideal CTA button placement, can make a significant difference in conversion rates. The CTA button should be easy to spot and relevant to your business. 

Successful digital marketing campaigns never overwhelm customers with information, and good email design always considers the user experience.  

Be likable and friendly — but not annoying. 

When done correctly, email personalization and customization can boost conversion rates and customer retention. Email recipients are more likely to engage with your business if they perceive your brand as customer-oriented and committed to a positive, genuine relationship. Even if your brand has a more serious or professional tone, being likable and friendly is essential. 

However, marketers should tread carefully before overdoing personalization, emoji and other “friendly” elements, which can backfire and turn off customers. Consider the following: 

• Subject line personalization: According to the GetResponse 2024 Email Marketing Benchmarks report, subject line personalization — for example, using a recipient’s name — can actually lower your open rate and click-through rate (CTR). Non-personalized subject lines saw a 41.87 percent open rate, compared with a 35.78 percent open rate for personalized subject lines.
• Message body personalization: In contrast, message body personalization can improve open rates (44.30 percent for personalized messages versus 39.13 percent for generic messages). The main takeaway is that marketers must walk a fine line between personalization and friendliness to avoid creating an annoying email campaign that backfires.

Use the same caution when you consider emoji and humor in your email marketing messages. 

• Emoji in subject lines: GetResponse found that emoji usage in subject lines does not necessarily improve open rates or CTRs, but the difference was small — a 42.23 percent open rate without emoji versus a 37.5 percent open rate with emoji, and a 4.16 percent CTR without emoji versus a 3.32 percent CTR with emoji. Your audience and brand image will be the primary determinants of whether this strategy is right for you. 
• Humor: Humor is also a popular strategy that can help you connect with your audience and humanize your brand. Although humor can work for certain brands that know their audiences well, Dr. Robert Applebaum, CEO of ApplebaumMD, cautioned that humor isn’t universal and a more professional tone is a safer bet. “Though you may think something is amusing, it does not mean everyone else will, and that is why you should be direct but not include humor or sarcasm in your emails to better maintain effectiveness,” Applebaum advised. 

To connect with customers through email marketing, you must appeal to shared values, express appreciation for customers’ business, be authentic and share content tailored to unique customer segments. Tornike Asatiani, CEO of Edumentors, agreed that authenticity is key. 

“I believe emails build trust or break it in seconds,” Asatiani cautioned. “What doesn’t work is clutter, clickbait or design that looks like spam. … Real engagement comes from writing like a human, not a machine.”

Use responsive email design. 

Business users and consumers routinely view emails on smartphones or tablets. If your emails aren’t optimized for mobile devices, engagement and results will suffer. Like responsive web design, responsive email design is crucial today. Ensure that your content is optimized for different viewing platforms.

Marketing emails that are designed to fit different screens enhance the user experience and demonstrate a brand’s ability to produce high-quality content and products. 

Optimize CTAs.

CTAs are used to initiate engagement from email recipients. A CTA often appears as a big button that provides a direct link to a sign-up form, coupon code, special offer or personalized content. CTAs should be consistent with your brand’s aesthetic and stand out from the rest of the email’s content. When you’re designing a CTA, keep in mind its visibility, clarity and how it entices the recipient. In addition to assisting with strategic placement, email marketing software can help you personalize CTAs for segmented audiences. 

Establish an email signature.

An email signature can increase conversion rates by humanizing a company and creating a sense of connection with customers. A well-crafted email signature should include the company name and the email’s author. It also may be beneficial to include contact information, pronouns, job titles and a photo of the employee sending the email. 

In addition, consider including a link to an event calendar, links to the brand’s social media accounts, or industry-related disclaimers that highlight a brand’s dedication to corporate social responsibility.

Include an unsubscribe button.

Opt-in email marketing best practices state that if an email recipient wants to unsubscribe from your business’s mailing list, the process must be clear and simple. 

This is also a legal matter. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law established by the European Union to grant individuals more control over their personal data. In the United States, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act protects individuals from email spam and regulates email marketing practices. Failure to provide a clear unsubscribe option could result in noncompliance with these regulations and lead to fines or other penalties. 

To ensure compliance and maintain customer trust, include an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every marketing email.

Run A/B tests. 

Email marketing campaigns are constantly evolving and should be monitored and adjusted to improve results. A/B testing is an email marketing strategy that allows marketers to send nearly identical emails to different audience segments, varying only one element at a time — such as the subject line, colors, layout, images or CTA placement. The results of these tests can help you fine-tune all aspects of your emails and improve your campaign’s overall performance.

The importance of well-designed emails

Strategically designed email marketing campaigns can help you maximize success in the following ways: 

• Drastically improving conversion rates: Poorly designed emails are rarely clicked on, while well-designed emails have a higher CTR.
• Driving website traffic: A well-designed email can compel subscribers to visit your website for information, shopping or other brand interactions.
• Supporting strong customer relationships: Attractive and informative emails can help you sustain and grow customer relationships through consistent communication.
• Humanizing your brand: Tailored content that showcases your brand’s personality with photos, employee names, business history and anecdotes can help personalize and humanize the company and elicit more positive responses from recipients.
• Standing out from competitors: Consistent, relevant email messages can help you stand out from the competition, especially if your rivals send generic campaigns.
• Targeting audience segments: Emails crafted for specific audience segments — for example, new customers or people who have purchased specific items — can be incredibly effective because they address specific needs. The best CRM software can help you establish audience segments and then integrate them with your email marketing platform to send targeted messages.
• Building customer trust: Relevant emails with personalized information and offers show customers that you understand their needs, thereby increasing their confidence and trust in your brand.
• Boosting professionalism: Your beautifully designed emails demonstrate your business’s professionalism and competence. They also show that your brand is well established and that you value attention to detail — a plus in any industry.
• Enhancing your brand image: All customer-facing communications, including email, are part of your branding. Thoughtfully crafted email marketing messages reinforce a consistent brand image and highlight its values and promises.

Examples of fantastic email designs

Hungryroot

Hungryroot expertly places its CTA buttons at the top and bottom of this email and uses the space to reiterate the offered deal. The brand is prominently displayed in the white space at the top of the email, which ensures that the recipient sees the company’s logo first. The placement of a beautifully stocked refrigerator visually reinforces what the customer can achieve by completing the email’s CTA.

 Source: Hungryroot

DoorDash

This DoorDash email is a great example of a likable, approachable and playful advertisement. The colors and images in the design match the content: DoorDash is now bringing the party to your doorstep. The cheeky rhyme at the top of the email, paired with the message directly below, appeals to recipients’ shared values: “DoorDash now has alcohol. That’s it. That’s the email.” No one likes a ton of promotional emails in their inbox, and if a business chooses to send a message, it should provide clear value to the recipient.

Source: DoorDash

Yelp

Yelp provides a great example of how digital marketing can build customer trust and deliver personalized content. Based on the recipient’s searches on Yelp, the website provides geographically relevant, taste-specific dining options. Yelp asks nothing of its audience in this email. Instead, it offers a personalized experience with no time commitment or fee. Effective digital marketing always centers on the customer experience and provides value to those who share their email addresses with the company.

Source: Yelp

Adobe

Adobe demonstrates the power of simplicity and clarity in this marketing email. The message contains few words and almost no images, but the benefit offered is abundantly clear. The subtext, while small, is almost certain to be seen due to the minimalist design. There is only one CTA button, and it stands out from the rest of the content. The message also appeals to a shared value between Adobe’s customers and the brand itself: creativity.

Source: Adobe

Chewy

Chewy does a beautiful job with personalized product advertisements in this marketing email for a cat owner. The message presents visuals of Chewy’s cat-related products and offers a discount on a product that can improve the recipient’s experience as a pet owner. All cat owners know the litter box is smelly and unpleasant to clean, so they are primed to consider a better option for their pet’s bathroom. Each product displayed in the email also provides a direct link to the product on Chewy.com, which streamlines the purchasing process to encourage customer engagement.

Source: Chewy

Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster uses an effective preheader in this personalized marketing message and reinforces exclusivity throughout the email’s content. This offer is not only exclusive but also available for a limited time. By creating a sense of urgency, the email inspires the recipient to take immediate action. The bold links at the bottom of the message are also a good example of a business working to comply with digital marketing regulations. The recipient can easily spot where they can unsubscribe, review the terms of use, access privacy policies, and learn more about the company. These options are not the first thing the recipient sees when they open the email, but they are clearly visible if the recipient is looking for that information.

Source: Ticketmaster