Email Marketing Guides & Best Practices

User Experience in Email Design 2023

Dmytro Sokhach

• 10 min read

Nobody wants to scroll through a confusing website or test out a clunky app. People, in general, want things to be easy, intuitive, and as uncomplicated as possible. In fact, according to Antonio Perini, the CEO of Milkman Technologies:

“Human beings are designed to generally choose the more convenient option when making intuitive decisions.”

And while user experience and convenience are not exactly the same things, they carry many similarities that can guide you in making the best choices for your customers. After all, as a consumer yourself, you would want only the most convenient options where they are possible.

Defining User Experience in Email Design

User experience is not a new term. First published in 1988 in Donald Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things,” the phrase UX has been in circulation for nearly 40 years. Still, it remains one of the most impactful concepts of modern, everyday design.

It’s a bit of a misnomer to associate UX with aesthetic design because that simply isn’t the case. Sure, good design typically results in a good user experience, but UX generally focuses more on how users experience and interact with objects rather than the design itself.

UX is popularly used in areas like web design or app development but rarely talked about in email design, such as the following:

  • Newsletters;
  • Welcome emails;
  • Promotional emails;
  • Transactional emails;

No matter where UX best practices are applied, the goal is the same: provide users with an intuitive, enjoyable experience. Depending on the situation, UX specialists may also branch out to seek increased conversion rates, improved customer retention, and other similar benchmarks.

Importance of UX in Email Design

If you’re reading this, it’s almost a 100% guarantee that you’ve received some form of an email. It is also very likely that you have received a marketing email. Let’s go through a simulation of how important UX is in email design.

Picture yourself opening two emails from two different brands that you’ve tried and loved. One of them was pixelated, and difficult to read, and a call-to-action was nowhere to be found. On the other hand, the other email was clear and concise, had a great flow, and had a clear CTA at the end.

Which one would you take action on?

In this case, it’s a no-brainer. Of course, you’re going to go with the option that gives you a better experience—the one with legible text, a clear goal, and from a brand that made an obvious effort to improve your experience as a user.

Whether you make the decision consciously thinking of UX or not, it’s clear that user experience has a massive impact on the choices you make as a customer.

The research from TemplateMonster.com, says that good UX can make the difference between a successful email marketing campaign and a failed one.

If you want to write effective emails that convert, then putting user experience at the top of your list is a must.

Key Components of UX in Email Design

With that, let’s talk about some critical components that make UX so essential in email design. Our list is by no means exhaustive, but it provides a great starting point for your email UX journey.

Concise Content Selection / Creative Writing

Writing concise content is difficult. Even when speaking, we tend to talk a lot and veer off course. And while saying a lot of stuff might sound like a good thing in your head, it has the opposite effect on recipients.

If you’ve ever heard someone go on long-winded speeches without actually saying anything, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Quantity does not always equate to quality, especially when it comes to writing emails.

As tempting as it is to write a two-paragraph email about your topic (especially if it’s something you love talking about), absolutely resist the urge to do so. With email design, the best approach will always be writing concisely and clearly.

Take note of the following:

  1. Start barebones. Write a “barebones” version of your content where you’re laying out everything you need to get the point across—that’s it.
  2. Build from your barebones content. Once you’ve prepared an adequate piece, try to add to it where applicable without making it too long or too short.
  3. Make it easy to understand. Even if the topic of your email requires additional context, keep it as easy to understand as possible, making sure that your readers can clearly understand the message.

Regardless, writing concisely doesn’t have to mean your content should lack creativity! In many scenarios (although not all), emails will require personality, branding, and a little bit of charm. Knowing when to dispense these personal touches will be a game-changer for your emails.

Strategic Link Placement

Links are a fantastic way to drive traffic to your website and increase engagement. But make sure to use them wisely and sparingly—you don’t want an email full of links that may distract the reader from the main point of the email.

If you want to link to a website or social media page, ensure it’s relevant to the topic. Let’s say, for example, that you’re an apparel brand releasing a Spring collection, and you want to tell your subscribers about the new promotion. In this case, it would be practical to link to a specific product in the collection somewhere in the email.

Inmost cases, the best place to place links is somewhere in the header or at the top of the body of the email. Doing this will help maximize your reader’s attention and encourage them to click and take the desired action before they get to the bottom half of your email. 

At the same time, including the link in the email footer can ensure that users can easily find your CTA, even if they have scrolled through the main content.

Content Order and Priority

User experience is all about cues and guidance. Your role is to ensure that the user is able to go through the email in a smooth, orderly manner.

One way to achieve this is to prioritize content order. While that might seem vague in theory, it’s actually pretty easy to apply. Begin by asking yourself these questions:

  1. What is the most important thing you want to say? This has to be the main point of your email and the one takeaway you want your user to have.
  2. What supporting information will convert the user? You have to support your main idea with some context or additional information to help the user understand what’s actually happening in the email.
  3. What action do you want the user to take? This will facilitate the CTA at the end of your email. Your CTA should clearly define the action steps the recipient should do (e.g., book a meeting, or subscribe to a newsletter).

Once you’ve answered those questions, it’s time to assemble your email according to priority.

Of course, you want the most important part to sit at the very top—serving as the heading. Then, strategically place the body of your email, ensuring that all the elements align and complement each other.

To make sure this works, you have to utilize both design and content. The heading, body, and CTA must be clearly identifiable as separate from the others and should clearly signify their roles in the email. In other words, create a hierarchy of font sizes and styles.

Finally, make sure your CTA is as visible as possible. Here are some things to note when placing your call to action:

  • Use a filled button for the CTA;
  • Make the button a different color;
  • Come up with an engaging line.

It’s also important to use only one CTA as much as possible. Remember, we want our emails to be concise—we don’t want to dilute the message by adding two or three CTAs. Plus, that would add more mental load to the reader, making them less likely to take action.

Subject Lines and “From” Addresses

About half of all emails sent every day are spam. If you’ve been on the Internet for some time, you’ve likely had your share of spam emails blasting your inbox.

When sending out emails, especially if they’re promotional, there is a chance that your message will end up in the spam folder—which is the last thing you want. And even if your email does make it to the inbox, you still have to convince the recipient that your email is legit and worth reading.

One of the most critical things to consider in writing a UX-optimized email is the subject line. Without a good subject, the recipient won’t even think of opening your email in the first place. Here are some tips for writing the best subject lines with high open rates:

  • Avoid spammy titles at ALL costs;
  • Be honest about your intention;
  • Keep it short;
  • Make it intriguing and personalized.

Regardless of what you write, the subject should always be interesting enough to capture the recipient’s attention without being overtly spammy or invasive. It should also feel special and offer good motivation for users to want to open the email.

Here are just a few ideas to draw inspiration from:

  • My offer to you!
  • A discount gift for you
  • What is your top priority?

Moreover, always make sure you’re sending emails with a legitimate address—preferably a business email. Doing so will give you a lot more credibility, and you will be perceived as a legitimate source.

UX Email and Design Best Practices

One of the best applications of UX is in marketing—especially with emails.

Typically, email marketing aims to get a reader to make a purchase or pay for a service. If you want this to happen, you can take advantage of user experience to block unwanted emails and facilitate scrolling. You want to write and format content in a way that makes it easier for users to scroll through and get to the bottom of the content.

A popular way UX is applied in email marketing is by facilitating scrolling. You want to write and format content in a way that makes it easier for users to scroll through and get to the bottom of the content.

You can use alternating blocks of text and photos to take advantage of people’s natural reading tendencies—and before you know it, they’re at the end of the email.

But user experience in marketing is useful for so many other reasons:

  • It signals that you care enough about potential customers to create an email with excellent UX;
  • It cements your legitimacy and quality as a brand;
  • It makes it easier for your company to spread brand awareness;
  • And so much more.

The Importance of UX in Recent Times

At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a sharp increase in total email engagement for many reasons, one of which was a need for more information. Although email engagement has now tapered down to normal levels, events over the last couple of years have changed email design for the better.

Generally, customers are more technologically-savvy, competition is high, and people want convenience more than anything else. Because of these, recent global events have only highlighted the value of user experience—even in something as seemingly simple as email marketing.

Brands Leading the Way in Email UX

Brands like Apple and Nike are excellent at capturing their reader’s attention with fantastic UX. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

Let’s take a look at this events announcement newsletter from Apple. It has a clear heading, a CTA at the top, and a nice flow of photos and text that make the entire email easy to read and comprehend.

Plus, the photos are all on-brand!

Here’s another email from Nike. From the beginning, you can already tell that the content is eye-catching, straight to the point, and facilitates good user flow. The email provides plenty of helpful information without adding much fluff.

Could these two marketing emails be improved, though? As the famous saying goes, there’s no limit to perfection, so let’s quickly go over a few details that could spice up these newsletters a bit. 

  • Personalization

Leading brands should focus on personalizing their emails. However, as you can see from the examples above, neither Apple nor Nike included the subscriber’s name in the body of the email. While it isn’t critical in the grand scheme of things, in most cases, adding a name helps increase engagement with subscribers. 

  • Clear and Concise Messaging

Both emails have a clear and concise structure that is easy to scan. That said, their call-to-action buttons could certainly use some improvement. For example, instead of just using bare links, Apple could put them on neat buttons, while Nike could add more buttons to each product section, making them more visible to users.  

  • A reminder of Exclusive Benefits

The reason people subscribe to newsletters is that it entitles them to exclusive benefits that other users cannot get. Knowing this, it never hurts to remind your users of their special perks, as free services come with subscriptions, or discounts, which neither Apple nor Nike has done. 

Of course, you could go on improving emails – even the most successful ones – more and more. However, it’s important not to overdo it and integrate changes after careful analysis of engagement metrics and A/B testing. 

Increasing Revenue with UX

According to a McKinsey study, design-led companies obtain 56% higher total returns and 32% more revenue than their contemporaries. This happens due to a handful of interrelated factors and considerations.

  1. Cohesive branding;
  2. User-focused design;
  3. Consistent messaging;
  4. Storytelling;
  5. And more.

If you’re a consumer, of course, you’re more likely to buy from a brand with excellent branding—creating authentic connections with storytelling.

Spending a little bit more on UX-centered email design will have many positive financial and non-financial returns downstream.

Final Thoughts on UX in Email Design

Good user experience in email design should no longer be optional. As brands devise more involved and improved marketing strategies, a powerful UX should be at the top of your list.

People’s consumption patterns are complex, personal, and sometimes unpredictable. By creating a user experience that is tailored to your customer, you’re giving your brand a much better chance at connection—and, by extension, success.

Overall, just remember to focus on the following:

  1. Highlight what is the most important;
  2. Use an attention-grabbing subject line;
  3. Facilitate content flow and scrolling;
  4. Keep it simple;
  5. Avoid too much fluff.

At the end of the day, to deliver a good user experience, you have to understand your readers. Without a fundamental understanding of what they want, you’ll be stuck creating and designing content that doesn’t resonate with your audience.