Now is a good time to go for a redesign of your marketing emails. We have a new year, a new decade, a new relationship with Europe and the world. There’s enough reasons there for everyone.
You could farm out the redesign. I would not criticise you for doing so. It’s a great method of taking weight off your shoulders, albeit an expensive one. Or, you could pick one of the many free email marketing templates and put your own spin on it. Not only is it the cheaper option, but one that can be both fun and satisfying.
You will have one significant advantage over the professional graphic designer. You know your subscribers and can design for them specifically. Don’t feel tempted to go for something that appeals to you. In this case, your tastes are insignificant.
The problem for you is that you have to work out what they will find reassuring, refreshing and enticing. It’s not easy without a little work.
Firstly, don’t copy your competitors. If you are after something new, someone else’s old won’t cut it. But what not to do is of limited help. You need a pointer, a source of ideas that you can compare, reject and then choose. There is one available near you.
Printed magazines spend a significant sum on graphic design, with layouts, colours, typefaces and heading styles checked with focus groups. They will conduct post-change studies to look for tweaks to improve its effectiveness. The cost of this will probably be prohibitive for you, so it is refreshing to learn that the results of their research is available for a few pounds.
On the shelves of newsagents near you there will a selection of magazines aimed at a demographic more or less representative of the subscribers on your email marketing list. If the publishers think the design is just what they like, who are you to disagree?
You probably will disagree, to a limited extent, and that’s great. Fine tuning is what you should be good at. A different typeface, a slightly brighter colour and subtler headings and you’ve cracked it. And all for the price of a magazine.
