Keep it Short

The average email reader is more likely to skim content than to read it all from beginning to end. Keep your message concise and to the point. Use headings, bulleted lists and boldface to break up longer sections of text and draw attention to the most important parts of your message. Remember that around 40 percent of all emails are read on mobile devices, which have much less real estate for content. The more scrolling a user has to do to read your message, the less likely they are to stay engaged for the entire piece.

Craft Subject Lines With Care

Subject lines are the first point of engagement for readers and can dramatically alter campaign success rates. A good subject line can encourage a user to open the email, while a bad one may cause a message to be ignored, deleted or flagged as spam. A study by ReturnPath found no correlation between subject line length and open rates, but keep in mind that the more mobile users you have among your readers, the shorter your subject lines will need to be. For fundraising-themed emails, shorter subject lines increase both opens and responses. No matter how long your subject line is, use strong, interesting, clear language that is obviously related to the topic of the email. Subject lines that are consistently interesting across multiple campaigns can help to establish your brand within the user’s inbox.

Use an Email Preview

An email preview is a line of text that typically appears next to or below the subject line in some email clients. Email previews should work in concert with the subject line to convey a cohesive message. If a preview is omitted, the email client will automatically display the first line of text it can find, although this is usually not optimal content — for example, “View in web browser” or the alt text for an image in the message. Each email client displays previews a bit differently, but a good rule of thumb is to limit preview text to 40-50 characters.

Use a Single Call to Action

Emails should include one call-to-action link that lets the reader know what to do next. Typically this is text such as “Find out how you can help” or “Learn how we Think and Do” that links to a page with more information about the email’s subject. It’s usually less effective to present multiple calls to action in the same email because users who click one of them rarely return to the email to investigate the others.

Use Images

Images in your message can increase visual interest for your reader and make the content more easily readable by breaking up sections of text. When using images, be sure to resize the image to the proper dimensions — typically a maximum of 600px wide, though height can be variable. Also be sure to use alt text, which is a word or phrase that describes what the image depicts. Accessibility software uses alt text to help make images more accessible to vision-impaired readers; in addition, the email client uses alt text when the image can’t be displayed due to user settings or a poor network connection.

Proofread

Be sure to proofread all parts of your message, including the subject line and pre-title. Our team will review and proof your message as well, but another pair of eyes never hurts. Be sure that all names are spelled correctly and that your email accurately conveys the intended information.

Additional Resources

Email marketing is a vast, continuously changing subject. Check out the information at the links below to keep learning.