Anatomy of an email: Structure, layout and content best practices for winning B2B emails

1. Anatomy of an Email
Best Practices
for
Content components, Layout, Design
Gonzalo Mannucci
@GonzaloMannucci
Monday, June 24, 13

2. Contents
Focus & context
Best practices
Other resources
Monday, June 24, 13

3. Messaging &
Content Strategy Deliverability
Best Practices for
Content components
Length
Layout
Focus & Context
Not the focus of this
discussion.
Not the focus of this
discussion.
Focus of this discussion!
X X
There are many determinants of a successful marketing
email. Here is our focus for this brief discussion...
✔
Monday, June 24, 13

4. Best Practices: An Illustration
Subject:
55 characters
or less
Display Sender
Name*:
30 characters or
less
Headline:
2-line headline
in larger font
above the fold
Personalized
Greeting:
First name,
Body:
• 1-sentence opener
• 2-3 bulleted highlights
• Closing sentence
Call to action:
• CTA should appear 2-3x in
body of email
• Graphic above fold / top right
& faux “button” (HTML
colored cell)
Here is an email I created as part of a nurture program I built at Box, which was highly successful.
Monday, June 24, 13

5. Best Practices: An Illustration
Overall BPs to consider
when building and
testing content
• 50-75% of the
content should be
visible above the
fold on any device
(with windows at
maximum size)
• Optimize and test
emails across
desktop, tablet, and
phone clients (i.e.,
responsive design
is key) Same email on 3
different devices.
iPhone
iPad
MacBook Air
(using Gmail)
Monday, June 24, 13

6. Marketing Sherpa
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/#
Which test won?
http://whichtestwon.com/
MarketingProfs
http://marketingprofs.com/
Monday, June 24, 13