The Email Blueprint

Essential elements for your email marketing campaign. An insightful approach for deciding the From and Subject lines.

1Decide on your From line

The #1 factor that influences success. What recipients see in their inbox. Options: Company Name, Brand, Market, Newsletter Name Once you establish a "from" line, stick with it throughout your campaign!

2Focus on Subject lines

This is the headline seen prior to opening the message that gives a brief description of what the Email is about.

A good subject line convinces the recipient to open the email. Concentrate on first 45 to 50 characters since some email readers have limited display.

3Create a template

Develop the overall look and feel of your primary email program. You may want to create several variations.

Preview pane

Seen by recipients who are able to see the first few lines of a message. Can contribute to getting the recipient to open the message. Pay attention to the top 2 inches. Might include an offer statement, a table of contents summary and other elements. Roughly 50% of recipients have a preview pane enabled.

Header

Standard design elements or text messagin seen at the top of a message. Many marketers will mirror a version of their site's top navigation in their header - this extends the usefulness of your email efforts in driving traffic.

Footer

Standard language at the bottom of a message that might include instructions on how to remove your name, a suggestion to forward the message to a friend, how long a promotion will be available, contact information, etc.

HTML and text

Most marketers create their email programs in both formats. The majority of recipients are able to receive HTML but their preference may be to receive text - particularly if they use a PDA to read email.