Email Design Mega No-Nos

Did you know? Your design choices impact deliverability. The truth is out – when it comes to email marketing, your inbox DOES judge a book by its cover. Sending email initiatives through Daxko Engage allows your team to strengthen your community outside of the walls of your facility. However, if your design or content is off, your emails may not be as effective as they could be.Your messaging should clearly show who the email is coming from and what action the reader is expected to take – all while making connections and establishing trusting relationships.It is easy to make a mistake. Not only are your readers able to see those mistakes, Internet Service Providers are actively looking for any slip-ups to protect their readers. Stay alert when designing, and avoid these five frequently made mistakes that tend to send emails to junk folders.

1. NOT ASKING PERMISSION

Before emailing anyone, you are responsible for getting their consent.  It may be considered “implied consent” when members give you their email addresses; however, it is still better to ask. In the case that they do not want to receive emails from you, they could mark your IP as spam, which affects your overall reputation and deliverability.

2. LACKING PERSONALIZATION

Remembers to always ask yourself, “Would all recipients care about this content now?” Additionally, if you are using merge tags, make sure your source data is correct. For example, if you’re using the First Name field to document a preferred name, a member could potentially receive an email that says, “Hey Robert ‘Bob’!” – not an ideal experience.It also helps to put a face to the content you’re sending out. Using a generic “noreply@domain.com” from address implies that the conversation is one-sided. Similarly, it tends to be better to use personalization in the From Name field. An email coming from the Daxko Family Center is relatively generic, but if it is coming from Daxko Family Aquatics or from a person’s name they recognize, the recipient will have a much better idea of what to expect within the email.

3. OVERDOING IT WITH IMAGES

While the poster you created for an event may be perfect to hang on the bulletin board, there are three reasons you shouldn’t use that poster image in an email.

1. Spam filters will see a single image with no text and presume the content you are sending to your subscribers is spam.
2. When viewed on a mobile device, text may be difficult to read due to mobile responsiveness.
3. If the recipient does receive your message, images may be turned off by default leading to the message being ignored or unsubscribed from.

Similarly, you wouldn’t want to have an email with a whole lot of images and little text. Keep it as simple as you can.

4. USING SPAMMY LANGUAGE

There are three things to watch out for in the Subject Line and Body content of your email.

• Certain words can trigger spam filters including: hurry, free, lifetime, risk-free, and many more. Hubspot has an all-inclusive list of words to avoid that we encourage you to check out.
• USING ALL CAPS IS DANGEROUS.
• Finally, it is best to avoid exclamation points!!!

5. NON-COMPLIANCE WITH CAN-SPAM REGULATION

If you’re an email marketer, you’re likely familiar with CAN-SPAM or, most recently, GDPR – which only affects customers in the EU. But, what if you’re a program director who occasionally sends out emails? While I encourage you to review email regulations if you are sending out emails, a good rule of thumb is to include an unsubscribe link and mailing address on all email communications.Take this opportunity to BE PROACTIVE with your email deliverability. This includes asking members to opt-in; being thoughtful about email formatting, volume, and content; and reducing bounces by cleaning up member data.Check your communication tool’s analytics to ensure you do not have a high number of bounces or unsubscribes, and when in doubt, do not hesitate to reach out to your support team for guidance!