Remember reading picture books as a child and the happy, warm and enjoyable emotions that usually accompanied the process? Whether it's reading a picture book to yourself, to your child, or to a group of eager 2nd graders, it's hard to feel anything but positive emotions while projecting playful sentences or turning the book to display the vibrant images. And it's usually those positive emotions that keep everyone interested, entertained and captivated.
We know what you're thinking...how do picture books relate to email marketing? Well, much like a picture book is designed to gather and keep readers' attention, emails should also be crafted to enthrall their audience. This is not to say that your recipients are equivalent to a group of 2nd graders, but with busy schedules and workdays their attention spans certainly may be. Below are suggestions for designing your email to captivate your audience.
Keep it positive! - No one likes to read a sad story or see unattractive images whether they come from a picture book or an email. Likewise, we certainly don't want any of that negativity associated with our company or brand. To avoid this, insert images that include smiling faces, vibrant colors or appealing scenery to your emails and use positive language wherever possible.
Example: Use conversational language within your emails or include a joke! It will not only make your messages more digestible but it may even give your customers a reason to smile.
Appeal to aesthetics - Much like a picture book appeals to its audience with a healthy balance of pictures to text, an email should include about 20% images and 80% text. Rather than overwhelm readers with an all text email, include images to draw-in your recipients' attention and encourage them to read the accompanying text.
Example: Include a complimentary image for each headline, title or section of your monthly newsletter.
A picture still tells 1,000 words - A reader's eyes will usually be drawn to an image first and then look to your text for an explanation. Make sure the pictures in your emails are relevant to your text in order to keep your message consistent. Similarly, relevant images can help to quickly convey the purpose of your email to recipients.
Example: Include a coupon or image that displays the total savings in promotional emails.
Credit the Author - After doing the work to create aesthetically appealing, positive and relevant messages you'll certainly want to your company to reap the benefits! Make sure the from label in your messages clearly references your company name or company owner and include a company logo in the header of each email message.
Example: To avoid entering the information in "Set Up" each time you create an email, you can save your company name, logo and address under the "Account Information" link in upper right hand corner of the "VR Email" tab.
Want more? Check out the Image Library section of our help site for more information on how to easily find, edit and add images or attend our weekly VR for Salesforce live demonstration.
Posted by Savannah Stewart
Savannah Stewart is the Partner Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse and blogs here about all things related to marketing and B2B communication. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.
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