How to Design Effective Email Newsletter Layouts
Whether you run an online or a physical store, there’s no doubt that email newsletters are an effective marketing tool for your business. Not only is email the most reliable platform for building your audience (you can take your email list with you wherever you want, but not your Instagram following), but it’s also the most popular, with email users set to grow to 4.73 billion users by the end of 2026.
So, if you want to engage your readers, increase your conversions, and build your brand, having the optimal email newsletter design in place is incredibly important. Depending on the type of content you produce, however, the formatting practices for your email newsletters can differ.
If email newsletter formatting has got you scratching your head, don’t fret. In this article, we reveal everything you need to know about designing effective email newsletters across various content types, from fashion and beauty to product releases, real estate marketing, link roundups, and more!
What Is an Email Campaign?
Before we delve into the top email formatting practices, let’s first take a look at exactly what an email campaign is.
An email campaign is simply a marketing strategy that involves sending a series of emails to a targeted audience to achieve specific objectives. These objectives can include promoting a product or service, driving traffic to a website, generating leads, or nurturing customer relationships, for example. Email campaigns are typically designed to deliver relevant and personalized content to recipients, encouraging them to take the desired action. They can be automated or manually created, and may include welcome emails, newsletters, promotional offers, follow-up emails, and more.
The success of an email campaign is often measured by metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.
Email Newsletter Format Tips According to Your Content Focus
Here’s our blueprint for designing effective email newsletters based on some of the most popular forms of content.
Fashion
When promoting clothing in an email newsletter, it’s crucial to have a visually appealing design that effectively showcases your products and motivates recipients to take action. To achieve this, you should use large, eye-catching, and high-quality images that clearly display the clothing items. Additionally, consider incorporating interactive elements like slideshows, image carousels, or GIFs to make the newsletter more engaging.
Another effective strategy is to showcase real people wearing your clothing, as this helps build trust with your audience. To provide a comprehensive view, include different angles and close-up details of the garment.
Furthermore, it’s important to include clear and enticing call-to-action (CTA) buttons that direct users to your online store. Use enticing language such as "Shop Now" or "Discover New Arrivals" to encourage immediate action. Lastly, be sure to maintain consistent branding with your logo, color scheme, and fonts to reinforce brand identity and enhance recognition.
Beauty and Skincare
For beauty and skincare-related email newsletters, visual appeal is crucial. Use vibrant and attractive visuals that showcase the products, including before-and-after images to showcase how effective the product being advertised really is.
You can also benefit from including beauty tips, tutorials, or how-to guides to provide even more value to your subscribers. Align the content with seasonal trends and introduce limited-edition or seasonal products.
Finally, consider showcasing user-generated content like customer reviews and testimonials to serve as social proof and further build trust.
Link Round-Ups
When designing an email newsletter containing a roundup of links, it's important to present the information visually appealing and organized. Start with a compelling headline to grab the reader’s attention, then follow up with a concise and engaging introduction that provides context for the roundup.
Be sure to use sections, headings, and subheadings to group related links and create a visual hierarchy within your email design. Additionally, you should accompany your content with relevant visuals to make it more engaging and provide readers with a quick preview of the content you’re sharing. This might include thumbnails or images related to each link.
Finally, be sure to use ample whitespace to avoid a cluttered design. Providing enough breathing room around each link also allows for better readability.
Studies, Research, or Statistical Content
Designing an email newsletter that contains more complex information (like the results of a study, for example) requires a balance between professionalism, trustworthiness, and effective communication.
Use clear headings and bullet points to present the information in a concise and easily digestible way. Also, be mindful of using too much technical jargon that may overwhelm the reader.
In terms of visuals, you should aim to portray important data using eye-catching charts or graphs. This helps you to present the information in an aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-understand format.
Product Releases
Creating an effective email newsletter about a new product involves a combination of compelling visuals, persuasive copy, and a user-friendly design. Be sure to include an eye-catching header with a visually appealing image or graphic related to the product. Additionally, aim to use consistent branding elements, such as your logo and color scheme.
You’ll need to strike a good balance between visuals and text in order to avoid overwhelming your reader. Keep the content focused on the product you’re promoting and use your email to highlight key features, benefits, and unique selling points (USPs). Use high-quality images or graphics that showcase the product from different angles, and where possible, include close-ups to highlight details and textures. You might even consider including product demonstrations through videos or GIFs.
If you need to emphasize urgency – for example, if it’s a limited-time product release or pre-sale – include a countdown timer within your email.
Finally, think of any ways you can humanize the product to make it more relatable to your readers. This might include sharing the product’s intriguing origin story, or even user-generated content relating to the product.
Real Estate
Designing an effective email newsletter for real estate involves creating a visually appealing layout that showcases properties, provides valuable information, and encourages engagement. Use a professional and consistent color scheme that aligns with your brand, and aim to capture your reader’s attention by including large, professional photography of featured properties. You want these images to highlight the key features of each property (such as price, location, size, and amenities), while symbols or dot points can summarize these key features at a glance.
To boost engagement, you can even incorporate virtual tours of properties and use interactive maps to showcase property locations.
Finally, be sure to place clear and prominent CTAs that encourage recipients to take specific actions, like scheduling a viewing, inquiring about a property, or visiting your website.
Services
When designing email newsletters for a services-based business, it is important to take a slightly different approach compared to product-based businesses. First, feature your key services prominently in the email. This allows readers to quickly understand what you offer and how you can help them. Next, use concise and compelling copy to describe each service. Clearly articulate the benefits and value that your services provide, highlighting what sets you apart from competitors. Additionally, including client testimonials or case studies can help build credibility.
To encourage further engagement, include a clear call-to-action that directs readers to contact you, request a consultation, or learn more about your services. Use high-quality images to provide examples of your services and showcase how readers can benefit. Additionally, including images of your team members, along with their expertise, certifications, or relevant credentials, can help humanize your services and build trust. If your business has received any awards or recognitions, be sure also to highlight these in your newsletter.
Start Your Successful Email Newsletter Design
By following these guidelines, you can create visually appealing newsletters that not only reflect your brand, but also cater to your target audience. Be sure to regularly analyze the performance of your email newsletters using metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to continuously optimize the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
Remember, effective email newsletter design is centered on high-quality, professional, and eye-catching imagery. Thankfully, BeFunky has everything you need to edit your photos and create email newsletter graphics in just minutes.
Check out BeFunky’s creative suite today to see how it can help you perfect your email newsletter design!
