Well-written, attention-grabbing email text is not the only characteristic that makes up a cutting-edge email marketing campaign. A well-designed email template must accompany the text. Some may wonder why experts place as much emphasis on design as they do on the text. The reason that the design is just as important as the written portion of an email campaign is that it will make or break marketing success. There are three reasons email marketers use templates, and these are to grab the attention of their readers, target their audiences and automate the email sending process.

Can Grab the Readers’ Attention

Visually appealing imagery is often enough to compel readers to take action. Emotional responses can be evoked in viewers depending on how graphics are designed. For example, an email campaign advertising a book that provides suggestions to sleep-deprived parents on how they can get their babies to sleep through the night will use templates that feature images of parents looking rejuvenated and babies sleeping peacefully.

A campaign promoting a course on quickly earning money by selling PLR articles will likely feature templates containing imagery that portrays the kind of life that can be enjoyed upon success, such as images of stacks of dollar bills, relaxing on the beach, and owning a fancy yacht. There may even be imagery of a family spending more time together, suggesting that a successful PLR business will facilitate this by being largely automated. It is the marketers’ job to get their customers to visualize solutions to problems that are plaguing them, and it is also their job to make prospective customers feel like they are only a mouse click away from having their desires fulfilled.

Targeting Audiences

Creating a solid consumer mailing list is key to the success of your email marketing campaign. The reason email marketing is so effective is that it is targeted at a specific person. Building this list can be time-consuming, but the return on investment (ROI) will be significantly higher. Once you have your list, you need to create a template.

Email templates are an excellent way for marketers to target specific audiences. Templates designed to appear in the inboxes of executives will look far different from those intended for college students. The template designed for a high-level business professional will likely feature Arial font, basic coloring, and limited use of graphics. The template that markets a product or service to college students will likely feature a stylish type of font, use bright colors, and incorporate eye-catching graphics. Marketers spend a considerable amount of time studying their audiences so they can design well-targeted templates that yield the best outcomes.

Automate the Email Sending Process

Templates are an excellent way to automate the email sending process. After designing the templates and loading them into an autoresponder, the campaigning process is almost completely automated from that point. The only time marketers will have to step in is if there are technical problems, and that is not often at all.

Examples of Good and Bad Email Marketing Templates

When designing templates, it is crucial to avoid common mistakes that can lead to lost time and productivity. An example of a template that can use significant improvement is the one put out by Liaison Technologies. This template has a clear call to action, is neatly designed, and strategically uses imagery; however, it also has some significant problems. For one thing, the Liaison Technologies email template features only a single call to action, which is to download a white paper. There is no content featured that will engage people at different stages of the decision-making process.

Another problem is that there is not enough information about what the white paper will do for its readers. Prospective customers will likely want more details on this white paper before downloading it. Few people will choose to do so without knowing why there is a need to do so. A thumbnail of this particular asset will also be beneficial in providing a concrete illustration of what is being featured.

An example of an excellent email template is the one used by Forrester. This template has a clean and neat design, properly uses images, and contains an outstanding sidebar layout. Additionally, content is segmented based on the subscription preferences of various prospects.

Email marketers who take care to follow best practices for designing their templates will undoubtedly experience immense success. The pool of clientele will grow significantly, resulting in a substantial increase in profits and business expansion within a relatively short period.