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  No-Image Email Design Experiment

  emarti 10:44 am on May 25, 2010 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  

  Are you tired of hearing about the limitations of HTML email design - specifically, how email browsers display (or don’t display) images? What’s a designer to do if you can’t rely on images to provide that hook to grab people’s attention? How do you create visual interest or a branded look and feel?

  Of course, images can be used, but the majority of email clients need to actively turn these images on. But I want people to see my email design instantly, and have my design go to work attracting attention and directing the viewer’s eye. After all, isn’t that the point of designing and creating HTML email in the first place?

  The Challenge

  So, I gave myself a challenge: design a visually engaging HTML email without using a single image. The biggest challenge of any designer is to work within the limitations of the project at hand. Fine, if images are a problem, I’ll do without them. It’s an extreme solution to the problem of blocked images, but one that is well worth investigating.

  Design

  Since this was just an exercise I wanted to keep it simple. So I needed a design “theme” that would be easy to implement. Since tables are the primary tool for HTML email layout, I decided to work with a grid of squares that could be combined and colored to break up the space and create visual interest. This grid layout would translate perfectly to the rigid structure of HTML tables.

  

  I created a fake company name (PixelMania) which helps make sense of the design elements. Maybe they sell old Atari games…

  Once I was happy with the design mock-up, and fairly confident I could create it solely with HTML, I was on to the next step.

  HTML

  For the sake of time – and just in case this experiment was doomed to fail anyway – I decided to build just a portion of the whole email. My thinking was, if it works for this one section of the email design, it will work for the entire layout and the hypothesis will be confirmed.

  I created a table that matched the 20-pixel x 20-pixel grid of the image layout. Then, I brought in an image of the design as a background of the table to use as a guide. The image was tinted so that when adding color to the table cells (described below), I could see the difference between colored and uncolored cells.

  

  I then combined cells where I needed to have space for text. Next, I added color to each individual table cell <td> tag, matching the layout of the image I placed in the background.

  

  Once all of the cells were colored, I removed the background image from the table. I then added all of the text into the layout and styled everything to match the design.

  

  Testing

  Of course, as I built this email design I followed “best practices“, and coded it in a way that shouldn’t break in email browsers. But, as I’ve learned through trial and lots of error, never assume it’s going to work as envisioned. I sent a test to myself so I could see the results of the email in multiple browsers.

  Unfortunately my fears were realized. The grid I created did not hold its width in any of the email browsers tested. Even though I had set each <td> width to 20px the layout was squeezed when the preview pane was smaller than the total width of the email. This definitely won’t do.

  

  The only solution I could come up with was to use spacer images to hold the table cells in place. Rats, I had to use images after all. I created another row at the bottom of the table and inserted clear 20px wide gifs in each <td>. Time to retest.

  

  Success!

  Yes, images had to be used in the end, but only to maintain the HTML structure and not as a design element. I can live with that. I challenged myself to create a visually interesting and engaging email design without using graphics, and I’m happy with the end result.

  Implementing the above email design was a time consuming process, and may be difficult when working within the real world of deadlines and budgets. But, what this experiment hopefully demonstrates is that designers can always find graceful solutions to big problems by using their greatest asset: creativity.

  This email design experiment also opens up a number of other possibilities, such as:

  • Creating images from photographic sources using this HTML grid technique and coloring cells to match the sources
  • Creating images from colored X’s
  • Creating HTML text layouts – lots of words in different sizes, colors, and Web safe fonts

  From lyrishq.com

   

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  Leading Options for Free Online Photo Editing

  emarti 9:48 am on April 13, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  From Vandelay Design Blog: Designers and photographers have a number of options when it comes to photo editing. Of course, Photoshop is the most popular software, but there are a number of websites that allow you to edit photos online. Depending on your needs, the full version of Photoshop may not be necessary. In this post we’ll look at 31 options for editing photos online. (More …)

   
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  Take Email Marketing to the Next Level

  emarti 8:36 am on April 5, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: best practices (2), email marketing (2), HTML email

  

  My fellow Webmasters: Will you join with me in proclaiming that this is the year we will take our email marketing to the next level?

  Let’s banish the days of the endlessly long email! No more will listeners receive messages filled with only images, resulting in a completely blank email that will more than likely be moved to the trash immediately!

  For all the time, money and effort put into our Email Marketing, we are doing a major disservice to ourselves and to our databases by not following Best Practices. (More …)

   
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  9 Social Media Topics that Need to Die

  emarti 2:13 pm on March 25, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: social media (2)

  1. Getting More Followers and Fans

  Unless you can tell me what the hell they’re going to do for you, how you’re going to mobilize them, and what you’re going to give back to them that makes it worth their while to grant you their attention and continue to give it, who cares? People aren’t marbles, and you don’t get any points for collecting a bunch of staring eyeballs that are waiting for you to do something significant. Attention only matters if can move people beyond noticing, and into investing their time and energy. (More …)

   
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  Permission Must Be Re-earned with Every Message

  emarti 12:30 pm on March 10, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  Some marketers might regard an opt-in subscription as the end of the permission process—but it’s just the beginning, says Stephanie Miller in a post at the Daily Fix blog.

  “Permission does not give marketers a license to just send whatever, whenever,” she argues. “In fact, more than just a one-time exercise, permission must be re-earned with every message.”

  Here’s how to implement a strategy that continues to request permission from a subscriber long past the initial “yes”:

  Send relevant content only when a subscriber needs it. It’s fine, Miller notes, to remain visible with a newsletter sent on the third Thursday of every month. But the frequency of promotions and offers should reflect a customer’s apparent readiness to buy—for instance, if he or she has made a recent purchase or is up for renewal.

  Re-engage non-active subscribers sooner rather than later. “If the messages are not resonating,” she says, “stop them, or offer to change frequency or content type.”

  Miller concedes that an email program oriented to strong value propositions will likely result in smaller subscriber files and more work for fewer records. But, she says, it’s worth it: “On the surface, it might sound like poor marketing strategy, but actually, it results in a better situation. Subscribers who really want to be on your file are always going to be more engaged and return higher response and revenue.”

  The Po!nt: It doesn’t end with “I Do.” Like any human relationship, an email-customer relationship requires work over time.

  Source: The Daily Fix. Read the full post.

   
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  Five Ways to Break the Rules of Email Marketing and Still Win the Game

  emarti 10:12 am on March 9, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: best practices (2), email, email marketing (2)

  From Marketing Profs:

  One of the most common questions I’m asked starts with, “What is the best-practice for…?” For example, “What is the best-practice for subject-line length?” or “What is the best-practice for day or time to send?” or “What is the best-practice for copy/creative length?” The answer inevitably goes something like this:

  “Well, the ideal subject-line length is between [insert range] characters but that really depends on what delivers the highest number of opens/clicks/conversions… for you.”

  In other words, we can find and spit back best-practices for most email-marketing-related questions; however, I nearly always find marketers who “break the rules” with tremendous success.

  Why? Often they have tested and found that their subscribers respond better to a practice that is not considered “best.” When I think of not following industry best-practices, five examples come to mind.

  1. Overstock.com: ALL CAPS IN THE SUBJECT LINE

  If you’ve ever received an email from Overstock, one thing jumps out.

  

  The subject lines are, often, IN ALL CAPS. Some subject lines read “BEDDING BLOWOUT” or “CLOSEOUTS” or “FREE SHIPPING COUPON.”

  Now, industry best-practices would tell you not only to never use all caps but also to avoid the word “free” (that is now a bit more debatable). However, it works for Overstock.

  I had the chance to meet a member of the Overstock email-marketing team, and he informed me that they have done (and continue to do) extensive subject-line testing. Those types of subject lines you see above outperform the others… by far!

  Will that technique work for you? It depends.

  2. Chris Brogan’s Newsletter: A Whole Bunch of Text, Few Links, and No Clear Call to Action

  (Disclosure: Blue Sky Factory designed Chris Brogan’s template, and Brogan is a client of BSF.)

  Chris Brogan sends out a newsletter that, with the exception of a few call-to-action buttons and logos, and the Share With Your Network (SWYN) feature, is all text.

  

  Although industry best-practices say that email copy should include opportunities for people to click,

  Brogan’s open rate is far north of 50%, and he consistently extends his reach by double digits through SWYN; moreover, he often gets hundreds of replies thanking him and asking follow-up questions.

  If that isn’t engagement, I’m not sure what is. So, again, the practice of sending mostly text emails works… for Brogan and his subscribers.

  Will it also work for you? It could.

  3. Marketing Over Coffee: Ugly vs. Pretty Template Test

  In September of 2009, Blue Sky Factory Client Service Manager Joanna Lawson-Matthew ran an experiment to see how a text-heavy, design-light (i.e., ugly) template would perform against a Blue Sky Factory–designed, polished, professional, industry-best-practice (pretty) template.

  The client was Marketing Over Coffee, a weekly podcast that discusses both classic and new marketing, hosted by John Wall and Chris Penn. (No longer a client, Penn recently became the VP of Strategy and Innovation for Blue Sky Factory.)

  Original (Ugly) Template:

  

  New (Pretty) Template:

  

  Suffice it to say, holding subject line, from name, email content, and date/time of send constant, the open rate and click-through rates of both the old and the new template were nearly identical. (For the full details on the results of the experiment, see “Marketing Over Coffee: And The Winner Is…“)

  Should you be sending a text-heavy (ugly) template? Maybe.

  4. Apple: One Big Image

  Apple fans are everywhere. Many would argue that Apple can do no wrong when it comes to innovation, design, product launches, and marketing.

  I’ll let you be the judge of that; however, I can tell you that one of Apple’s email-marketing tactics that does not follow industry best-practices is its use of images.

  Nearly all its emails lead with a big image. Best-practices would tell you that is bad. (I’ll leave the deliverability side of this conversation out for now.) Far too many email clients (and users) have images off by default. So, when the Apple email lands in your inbox, it looks like this:

  

  See the problem? The entire top of the message is blank. To make matters worse, Apple does not even include alt text (alternative text) or the ability to click on a link. When you view the message with images on, below, you see a nice picture of a MacBook Pro as well as a call to action to “Shop Mac.” With images off, Apple loses the potential click (and conversion).

  

  So, what gives? How does Apple get away with that?

  At the Email Evolution Conference in Miami in February, I was fortunate to meet two of the gentlemen who are responsible for email marketing at Apple. They said they’re aware of the “one big image” issue and are looking to make some tweaks.

  However, as they told me, their emails work. Why? Probably because Apple is such a trusted brand that subscribers are more likely to auto-enable images.

  Does that mean you model your creative after Apple and include a big image at the top? Possibly.

  5. Publishers Clearing House: Breaks So Many Rules (but Gets Killer Results)

  In February 2010, Chad White, research director at Smith-Harmon, wrote “It’s Not That There Aren’t Best Practices…” in which he referenced my displeasure with the design of the Publishers’ Clearing House (PCH) emails.

  Here’s an example. Below is the top section of a recent PCH email. (I’ve shown only the top portion, as the entire email would be seven times as long—another no-no.)

  

  Yikes! The subject line includes my name (bad) and makes little sense (bad). The top portion is littered with big images (bad). There are too many flashing gifs(bad), caps (bad), and the letter O instead of zeros  (bad). Overall, it makes me dizzy. It breaks just about every rule I can think of.

  But here’s the rub: It works. In fact, PCH emails do more than work. They have open, click-through, and conversion rates that would make any email marketer salivate.

  I know because I spent a significant amount of time with Sal Tripi, PCH’s senior director of operations and compliance. He agreed that PCH emails are not pretty and don’t follow industry best-practices. However, they perform. They knock it out of the park. Sal’s team has tested and retested—and these emails win, hands down.

  So, should your emails look like PCH’s? Yes—assuming you are getting the killer results PCH is.

  * * *

  Remember: The next time you hear “best-practice,” ask yourself whether that practice is best for you and for your audience. Have you tested to confirm that the industry norm is really the best option? What does the data tell you? Are you maximizing your goals? Have you performed some split (A/B) testing to see whether the “anti” best-practice works better? Try it. I dare you.

  From http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2010/3450

   
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  4 Tips for Tweeting: Get Zen + Get Productive!

  emarti 12:41 pm on January 19, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: tips, twitter (3)

  4 Quick, Easy Tips that even a seasoned Tweeter should take a look at. Or if you’re just beginning, these are great points to start with!
  
   http://mashable.com/2010/01/12/zen-socia...

  1. Approach With a Beginner’s Mind

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  “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert’s, there are few.” – Zen Master Suzuki Roshi

  It seems that more and more people are claiming to be experts of one kind or another, and many of them are using social media. In fact, recent reports suggest that there are now over 15,700 people claiming to be social media experts on Twitter.

  There is nothing wrong with experts. I am sure many who claim to be are quite skilled and knowledgeable. However, the question is not only how much we know, but how much are we willing to learn from our time on social media?

  The person who thinks he “knows” or is an “expert” is often less open to new learning. In the age of social media, things change so fast that what we knew about a subject yesterday may not apply to today. What matters is less about what we knew in the past, and much more about how open we are to learning today. This applies especially to social media.

  Lesson: Rather than focus on what you know when engaging in social media, focus on what you can learn.

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  2. Give What You Want to Receive

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  Zen student asks, “I am very discouraged. What should I do?”” Zen teacher responds, “encourage others.”

  There are countless ways that social media can help us with everything from our business to our social life. However, while there is much to gain from social media, we could also say there is much to give to social media too. From a Zen perspective, it is important to give what we wish to receive. Want to find more customers for your business on Twitter () or Facebook ()? Help others find customers for their business. Feel like you deserve more praise online? Praise others more. Want more people responding to your tweets? Respond to their tweets more. Tired of reading meaningless tweets? Make the effort to post meaningful ones yourself.

  If we approach social media focused exclusively on what we can gain or what we think we should get, we set up a division in our relationships, one that often ends up preventing us from receiving the very thing we seek. When we give what we want to receive, it changes the dynamic such that, ironically, we are more likely to get what we seek.

  Lesson: Focus not only what you can gain but also what you can give.

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  3. Only Add Useful Content

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  “Do not speak unless you can improve on silence.” — Zen saying

  The tools of social media give us countless ways to share content with people across the world. They do very little, however, to ensure that content is useful or purposeful. There is often the belief that to be active and effective on social media one has to post consistently, letting people know throughout the day what we are doing and thinking.

  However, just as great music is in part the relationship between sound and silence, we could say that for Twitter and Facebook updates, what matters is not just the content of our posts, but also the amount of space between them. I am sure we all likely follow people on Twitter who may not tweet everyday, but when they do, we are excited to read what they post. It is the quality of their tweets that matters more than the quantity of them.

  Lesson: Post not to fill empty space, but to add value.

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  4. See Differently

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  “Look out from the frameless window of a long pause. Let the images come to you rather than chasing outward after them…. If you want to see differently, you’ll have to look differently.” — Ji Aoi Isshi

  A key element to Zen is to focus not only what exists in the external world, but to also be attentive to the internal lens from which we view it. If a cup is filled half way with water, one person could see it as half empty, another as half full. The cup, however, is what it is.

  In the same way, we can have a million followers on Twitter, then look at Ashton Kutcher who has over 4 million, and think, “I am way behind” and approach the service with the desire to “catch up.” Or we can have 20 followers, and think, “Cool, twenty people want to read my tweets,” and engage with Twitter from a positive state of mind. The number of followers we have often has little to do with the positive or negative attitude with which we approach the service. What matters is less about our number of followers, and much more about how we “see” or “look” — the mental approach we take.

  Lesson: Focus more on the mental approach you take, and less on comparing yourself with others.