Regardless of the goal whether you are testing a new email template or trying to increase conversion using conversion design tools (Conversion Centered Design, or CCD) , your emails need to be both beautiful and effective. Since a design system visually unites all the elements of an email, there are many factors to consider at once. In this article, we will look at the best email design practices that you should know and use. What role does design play in your email campaigns? Developing an email newsletter design is part of the strategy development process, where a design layout for the letter that will be used in the email campaign is developed and tested. Design is responsible for more than just visual appeal, because it is not enough for letters to be simply beautiful. A competent email design should be understandable and convenient, should correspond to the target audience, and should also encourage the user to perform the target action. For example, a visually pleasing letter, but with low-quality images inside, is unlikely to leave a good impression on the user. And the message you put into the letter may not be conveyed at all if the design uses an unreadable font or a questionable color scheme. Email design is important because it primarily affects the impressions of readers, and impressions affect engagement, desire to buy, and customer loyalty in general. Key Elements of Email Design The design covers all visual elements of the letter without exception: Header: A visual introduction to an email, often containing a company logo; Main content: font and layout options; Call to action (CTA): sizes, shapes, colors and placement of buttons in the email; Images and other attachments: what attachments you choose, how you design them, and where you place them in the email; Footer: social media links, unsubscribe button, and other legal information at the bottom of the message; Interaction options: use and design of interaction elements (polls, accordions, etc.); Mobile usability: What does the email look like on mobile devices? 16 Best Practices for Effective Email Design for Email Marketing Email design depends on many factors, and trends tend to change constantly, so we suggest not to delay and jump straight to the recommendations. Tip 1: Create a modular design system with common elements The design of an email always starts with defining the content, namely what the structure will be and what elements will be used. The design should not just look good, it should be functional. Functionality can be achieved by implementing a modular design system for creating emails. Instead of creating each email from scratch, place frequently used elements and even entire sections of the email into a design system and combine them depending on the structure and purpose of the email.

Although it will take a lot of time to create such a modular system, using it will save a lot of resources in the long run.

But before you start selecting modules, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are there sections that are repeated in all emails? If it is, for example, the footer, create separate elements that will form it, or place it in the system as a whole.
• What branding principles should you follow? Determine the colors, fonts, and spacing between elements that you will use. 
• Will your emails contain videos? If so, create a library of them.
• Will you be conducting surveys in emails?

If so decide on the tools you will use to create them.

“The way we work is I ask as many questions as I can about the project and try to scope it out to understand what content to use in the email, what job function email database requests we have. Especially if it’s new email templates, I want to make sure I know all the details before I start working.” – Hannah Tyner, UX designer, Marketing at Litmus

Tip 2: Use Responsive Design

Adaptive email design is called that because it adapts to the device on which the user opens the email. Ideally, the email design should look good on all platforms. To create an adaptive design, you can use CSS media queries. They determine the screen size and change the design accordingly. You can create such media attributes for each email yourself or use ready-made adaptive templates that can be found freely available on the Internet.

Tip 3: Don’t be controversial, stick to one style

Try to match the brand style already in use. Define general style rules and put them in a guide. Ask questions: do the elements of the letters correspond to the general tone and corporate style of the brand? Are the principles of letter construction observed? It is worth paying attention to the uniformity of templates so as not to cause contradictions.

Tip 4: Create a flexible framework

Our ideas about how an email will look often don’t match who is suitable for training up with how the email actually looks. It’s important to be flexible here. Create templates that allow you to add or remove elements, such as a banner here or a button there, so that you can quickly adapt the email to the customer’s requirements and vision.

An example of an email built using a flexible framework

Tip 5: Pay attention to restrictions

Creating quality writing is very much a team effort, and knowing what is and isn’t possible in a design will allow you to identify limitations and discuss necessary changes early in the project.

Marketing UX designer Hannah Tyner shares:

“In our emails about upcoming events, we can b2b phone list only add 3-5 blocks to keep the email readable. So I object if we try to include more than 5. In that case, it’s worth thinking about a more dynamic way to show them, and if that doesn’t work, then put them off until the next email.”

Set limits on details such as the number or type of images, clickable elements, and the overall length of the email.