Club Leader Resources

Email Best Practices Guide

EMAIL CONTENT/FORMAT

Subject Line

This is in many ways the most important part of the email -- it’s the first impression we make in someone’s inbox and can determine whether someone opens it or ignores it.

Keep it short/to the point:

subject lines past a certain character count (varies from email client/web browser) can get cut off/the message can get lost

Should be action-oriented and/or engaging

Average attention span for someone scrolling/looking through their inbox is only a few seconds, so it has to be something that will stand out from everything else they receive on a daily basis.

Not 100% sure which wording or approach will perform better? A/B test!

Potential things we could try/are currently trying: AMPscript pulling in college/subscriber’s name, adding in emoji, addressing them as a question vs. as a statement, etc.

Preheader

Should be short/directly relate to what’s in the subject line

If they work well together it can increase the likelihood that someone will open and/or perform whatever action we want them to take
Same as with subject lines, if the preheader is too long it can get cut off or not appear at all in certain web browsers/email clients

Template

Three templates for all AAUM emails (1 for transactional, 1 for non-transactional, 1 for clubs)

Consistent branding will make it less likely for our overall mission to be fragmented/help avoid consumer confusion about what exactly the AAUM is/encompasses
The only difference between the transactional and non-transactional templates will be that the transactional template doesn’t include member login

AAUM logo at top

Footer info at bottom

Will match what is currently on the website and include unsubscribe/subscription center info
- Note: transactional sends do not need to include subscription info

Width shouldn’t exceed 700 pixels

In some email clients having a width over 640px can adjust the overall formatting but that’s an exception more than a rule/will not impact this design decision going forward.

Height/Length can vary

see notes below about header images and body copy

Any program/specific area branding will either be incorporated into header image (e.g. LEAD vs Alumni Education vs etc.) or linked to at the bottom of the email between the CTA button and footer (e.g. event sponsors).

Header Image/Images In General

Header image should be 700px wide (same width as template)

Height can vary but shouldn’t exceed 400px

Want to avoid scrolling/taking too long to get to the body copy/CTA

Should avoid being sent as the fully body of the email with no text element

Doing so can trigger more spam/blocks and is less accessible to screen readers and voice assistants
Images can sometimes be turned off in inboxes, result in receiving a blank email
- Possible workaround for sends for which more images are necessary is putting an image in the background with live text on top (further testing needed before implementation on a regular basis)
- Can test if image-heavy emails will cause deliverability issues with the Spam Test feature of Email on Acid (more in General Best Practices section)

Should always be hyperlinked to either:

The same URL as the CTA (if it’s a standalone)
The same URL as whatever’s in the intro copy of the newsletter-style email (e.g. the alumni education gateway home page if it’s an education newsletter, etc.)

Should all include an alt tag and alternative text (created by Email Marketing Coordinator)

Can either be description of whatever the image is or any of the copy that’s included on said image, e.g. a headline on a header image

For images used for newsletter purposes, they can be either 300x250px or 250x250px

Body Copy

Word count should be 100 words or less

Not including the headline/CTA
Avoid semicolons
Keep to 1-2 paragraphs to help break up the copy
- Especially for mobile users, we want to avoid having to do too much scrolling
Can also test for readability with sites such as http://www.hemingwayapp.com/

Should be action-oriented

We got their attention with the subject line/preheader, now let’s get them quickly to the point of the send

Should relate to/expand upon whatever the CTA is

Do we want them to sign up for something, read something, donate to something, etc.? Use the body copy to explain why/how they can do so.
- NOTE: This does not mean explicitly say “click the button below” in the body copy; the subscriber should already be able to determine that based on the CTA copy.

Should be engaging:

We want alumni, trip-goers, LEAD students, etc. to be in the know about what we do and how we can best help them, etc.

NOTE: This does not necessarily apply to newsletter-style emails such as the ones we send for Education or the Go Blue Reward roundups for Membership or any of the sends for Alumnus; for those types of sends/if it makes sense for the context of the email, a word count over 100 would be feasible.

Additional NOTE: for newsletter-style emails, each sub-section should include a CTA button in addition to the usual hyperlinking of the sub-headline and image.

Headlines

Most importantly, whatever the headline ends up being should tie into the rest of the email eg. whatever is in the subject line/preheader relates to the headline which relates to the body copy which relates to the CTA. So depending on what the overall goal of the email is, the headline:

Can continue to include in header images
Keep to 3-6 words
- Err on the shorter side to avoid competing with body copy and CTA
Can continue to be just a logo and/or program area name
- NOTE: Can nix headlines in sends that are text-only and/or don’t include an image (e.g. LEAD offer letters, travel itinerary/follow-ups, etc.).

CTA/Buttons

Keep to four words or less (ideally two or three)
Should be in a separate button at the bottom of related body copy
- Can optionally add an additional CTA button
Should experiment more with what words/phrases we’re using (lots of “Learn More”’s in particular).
Should be action-oriented
- This is what the subject line, preheader and body copy is ultimately leading toward.

GENERAL BEST PRACTICES

Hyperlinks

Current State:

All hyperlinked body copy is:
- Bolded
- #00274C
- Does not include underlining
  - Also applies to sub headlines in newsletter-style emails

Future Best Practices:

For non-newsletter/long-form sends:
- All hyperlinked body copy should continue to be
  - Bolded
  - #00274C
  - Should not include underlining
    - For emails in which copy is also bolded for emphasis/is not hyperlinked, keep that copy the same color as the rest of the body copy and reserve the #00274C for hyperlinked copy only.
- Should avoid hyperlinking more than three portions of body copy, especially if they are going to vastly different areas from the CTA, to avoid fragmenting the message/overall intent of the email
For newsletter/long-form sends:
- All sub-headlines should follow same criteria as above
- All images associated with sub-headlines should be hyperlinked with appropriate alt text/tags added
- All sub headlined sections should also include a CTA button
  - In newsletters/instances where there’s a lot of content being displayed at one time within an email, err on the side of having multiple indicators of where in an email a subscriber can/should click vs not having them immediately know and potentially abandoning the email out of confusion.

A/B Testing

Can currently A/B test the following in Marketing Cloud:
- Subject lines
- Preheaders
- Images/Content Areas
- Entire Email Layouts (e.g. full template, not just a single image/content area)
- Send Time/Date
Can currently evaluate A/B test results based on:
- Unique open rate
- Unique click rate
NOTE: Test one element at a time
- Marketing Cloud will only allow one of the above factors to be tested at a time
- Limiting the changing variable to just one thing will better control the overall results of the test

Email On Acid

Can currently test how emails will render on various email clients, web browsers and mobile devices
- Note: cannot currently click live email links in this view
Can currently conduct spam tests to predict deliverability rate and see which email clients are most likely to trigger a block/spam notification