Tailored or off the shelf?

But what basic elements does a reusable email template need? Anyone who has known us for a long time is familiar with our studies and knows that we like to be systematic. So instead of just looking at our own templates, we also included newsletter templates from the most well-known companies in our investigation. In total, we analyzed several hundred B2C and B2B newsletters, as well as promotional and lifecycle emails.

The result of our structural analysis was a list of the most frequently used elements, sorted by occurrence and popularity in B2B and B2C mailings.

What elements does an email template need?

B2C newsletters and mailings particularly often contain:

• a menu bar whose menu items are arranged in several lines in the mobile view
• large image banner areas combined with headings that are also displayed when the image display is disabled
• Elements with image and text, possibly with pricing and call-to-action. On mobile devices, these elements should be arranged one below the other instead of next to each other so that texts and images remain easily visible and readable
• color-backed — sometimes centered text elements
• Text elements with images in different sizes
• two, three, and four-column elements for texts and images with color accents or frames
• Attention-grabbing buttons that are also easy to type on mobile devices

B2B mailings are often more text-heavy and use fewer disruptors in return. Classic components of B2B mailings are:

• Text-image combinations that provide space for an easy-to-read article abstract.
• Tables of contents
• Editorials with photo and signature
• Tables to clearly display dates and document downloads

Of course, there are also structural elements that are equally important for all newsletter variants:

• a pre-header (the first few characters of text that appear in the inbox), often with a link to the online version
• Header logos
• Social media bars with linked icons of active channels
• Service and interaction links area
• An indispensable and legally required element is also the link to unsubscribe from the newsletter (opt-out). It is often placed in the footer together with sender information

Responsive or mobile-aware?

Based on the results of our analysis, we first developed two template kits: the responsive B2C template and the responsive B2B template. Our third type of template, the universal template, was created in response to the change in the email client that came with Android. Up to Android version 5.0 (also known as Lollipop), the operating system was delivered with the generic “Mail” app. He interpreted CSS3 media queries and adapted emails to the screen size. From then on, the Gmail app was preferred. This can certainly do a lot of things, but not CSS3 media queries.

Since most smartphone owners use the pre-installed email app, our universal template focuses on mobile optimization. The universal template is not responsive, but “mobile-aware” and only contains structural elements that are equally easy to recognize and use on all clients. The template is narrower than the responsive template and is well suited for B2C campaigns and B2B campaigns with a high graphics content.

The “Mobile Aware” standard is looking for the greatest common denominator — both creatively and technically. Due to the smaller width, horizontal scrolling is not necessary on mobile phones. The large buttons on smartphones and on the desktop ensure that links are always clickable.

The fact that the uniform font sizes are easy to recognize on desktop and smartphone also makes the universal template interesting for target groups with impaired vision. The text/image elements of a maximum of two columns on all devices and the three-columns without text with relaxing white space fit this.

There are still good reasons to use a “responsive” template: With the information from the media queries and the other options of the cascading style sheets (CSS), you can enlarge the font on small screens and dynamically change it as needed.

Images that act as eye-catchers on the desktop sometimes look too expansive on smartphones. With CSS3, they can be hidden on small screens, texts and image elements can be flexibly rearranged, etc. (more about the possibilities of CSS3 in our blog post on the topic Mobile email design).

Template builder with tailor-made service

We occasionally hear: “There are already newsletter templates on the internet/in my email tool, even free ones! All I have to do is enter the logo and colors and my individual newsletter is ready with just a few clicks!” Yes, such free tools Is there, for example from Responsive email patterns or Bee free And much more, we have experimented with many ready-made kits ourselves to see whether we could improve our templates or completely save ourselves the work. So far, however, we have not yet found a construction kit that

• meets our display requirements so that emails look just as good on standard (business) desktop email programs as on tablets, smartphones or in the browser
• provides the necessary flexibility for structural elements
• allows all elements to be adapted to the wishes of our customers without much additional programming effort

In addition, we must always consider who will fill the newsletter with content (users with or without HTML knowledge?) and in which email tool the customer works (does the ESP editor allow all HTML elements?). Information about our Modular test results can be found here.

Which email marketing platform? Everyone!

Publicare was founded in 1994 and specialized in email marketing in 2001. Over the past 15 years, we have developed campaigns for virtually every email marketing platform and know their specific characteristics and framework conditions.

That is why we can our Not only can you adapt template kits to a wide variety of clients, but also transfer them to almost all common email marketing platforms — find out more here.

You are also welcome to contact us via our contact form or by phoneto find out more in a personal conversation without obligation!