Email design best practices

At first glance, email feels like a simple marketing channel. We all send emails every day, so we know how it works, right?

Wrong. You'd be surprised how many companies are missing the mark when it comes to best practices.

But the good news is that a few small tweaks can make a huge difference to your results.

Here's our roundup of the best practices for email design:

• Focus on one clear message: People have very low attention spans when it comes to email. So keep your message short, sharp, and single-minded. If you have a lot to say, break it up over a sequence of emails for maximum impact.
• Create a layout with clear hierarchy: Think about what you want your readers to look at first. Is it the image, the heading, or your logo? People generally read from left to right and top to bottom, so organize the information in your email accordingly.
• Use web safe fonts: Email clients like Gmail and Outlook only support a handful of fonts, so it's best to use web safe fonts to maintain control of your design. Learn more about which fonts to use in your emails.
• Make your call to action (CTA) stand out: 9 times out of 10, you're sending an email because you want your users to take action. So use a big, bold, and colorful button for your CTA that stands out from the background. And if you're including a secondary CTA, make the color softer so there's a clear hierarchy for your users.
• Check your email for accessibility: Your email audience and user base will be a diverse crowd, so keep your content as clear and easy to read as possible. Use high contrast between your text and background colors, and test your email in dark mode to make sure it still looks the part.
• Consider mobile in your design: 70% of users read their emails in a mobile app, so test your designs on mobile too. Learn more about designing mobile friendly emails.