Brand Optimization

• A. From Name:
  • Include the brand name in the from Name

• B. From Address:
  • Use an identifiable From Address.

• C. To Field:
  • To field of your email should be personalized to the recipients name, not their email address.

• D. Subject Line:
  • Use an Informative, short and recognizable subject line. Limit the words to 35 characters or less. Don't use ALL CAPS or spammy words, though the most important factor for spam filter is domain reputation. However, subject lines play a role when reputation is low.
    
    Use UTF 8 special character symbols in subject lines only if it is highly relevant.
    • Avoid phrases and wording spammers commonly use
    • Do Not Repeat words in subject line.
    • Keep punctuation to minimum (avoid %,!, $)
    • Use multiple subject lines.
    • Never put a toll-free number in the subject line.
    

Pre header and Header

• A. Online Version
  • Include a link to an online version of your email.

• B. Snippet Test
  • Few email clients like Gmail/outlook/iphone etc show snippet or preview text (usually limit to 100 characters or less}. Here the text is pulled out from the first few lines of email content. Use this valuable property to built on subject line.

Email Layout

• 650px or less design width
  • The general rule for email size is to keep it 650px or less in width. This allows the email to display correctly (overall) in most of the email clients and display configurations.

• Use basic HTML tables
  • To create the overall layout you will need to use standard HTML tables. CSS floating and layout techniques will not render properly across all the email clients.

• Organize for quick reading
  • Most people spend less than 15 seconds reading marketing emails, so keep it short and sweet, prioritizing your content from top to bottom.

• Align your content
  • Centering can work if your content is minimal, like one large photo and just a few sentences. If you have more content, left align it to make it more legible. Always keep alignment consistent across the entire email to maintain harmony.

• Use 4-5 panels of area for visual emphasis that offers specific eye path for key offerings.

• Text and images should be used in a right proportion.

Visual Impact

• Use absolute image source URLs
  • Instead of including an image such as( <img src="img.gif"> ) you must include the absolute URL to the file such as ( <img src="http://site.com/img.gif"> ) Always give an true absolute path to the mailers images and the links.

• Always use alt tags (<img src="http://site.com/img.gif" alt="Company ABC">)
  • Whenever an image is used, it's important to provide fallback color and alt-text for an image.

• Do Not Embed Videos and/or Flash
  • Rather than embedding videos into emails, use a still image linked to a landing page containg the video.

• Animated GIFs are not fully supported
  • While most email clients support animated GIFs, Outlook 2007 does not.

• Giant images can get your emails flagged as SPAM
  • Display bock tag should be used on the images to avoid unnecessary spacing between the images. Gmail and outlook has default padding and margin.

• Remove the width and height of the images displayed in the mailers as that will helps in landing the mailer into primary box in gmail.

• Test your email with images disabled
  • Since most email clients show emails with images disabled by default it is very important you check to see how your email looks with images disabled.

• Display style block tag should be used on the images to avoid unnecessary spacing between the images as Gmail has default padding and margin.
  • • Text and background color should not be same otherwise it will blocked by Gmail also the text won’t be viewable.
    • Never use images for important content like headlines, links and any calls to action.
    • Do not use mapping at all.

DETERMINE YOUR CONTENT

• Be concise. Use short Sentences and paragraphs.

• Use design element like spacing and dividing lines to distinguish the content sections from one another

• Use bold typeface and subheaders to make certain words stand out.

• Use bulleted points to showcase benefits

• Choose your fonts as default fonts
  • Use web- safe standard fonts. For eg. Arial, Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Comic Sans, Courier New, Georgia, Impact, Tahoma, Times New Roman, and Verdana.

• Ideal font size for body copy is 14 pixels and title is minimum 22 pixels which provides a decent readability on mobile phones.

COLOR

• Pick a palette
  • Choose just one or two colors for your emails. The fewer colors you use, the cleaner your design will look, which means the reader won’t be distracted from your message. Pick colors that your brand uses elsewhere.

• Use your brand assets
  • Include your company's logo or mark at the top or bottom of the email, so people know where it's coming from.

CSS

• Do not use external style-sheets
  • They will not work in a lot of the email clients and you should be including all of your CSS using inline CSS within your HTML.

• Do not use CSS classes - always use inline CSS
  • Many email clients do not support CSS classes. Instead of declaring CSS classes you should use inline CSS. An example would be <div style="color:#cccccc;"> content </div>instead of <div class="cssclassa"> content </div>

• Don't use CSS shortcuts
  • CSS allows you to normally set properties in groups. Such as style="font: 12px, Arial" Instead of grouping such attributes you should set each part individually. Such as style="font-size:12px; font-family:Arial"

• Avoid using CSS float or position options
  • Some email clients will disregard both the float and position CSS options. Try to use tables instead.

Backgrounds

• Background images are not fully supported
  • If you are using a background image keep in mind that some email clients will not show them. If you still wish to use a background image use the HTML background options instead of using CSS to declare a background.Outlook 2007 has no support for background images.
    
    Do not embed large block of text within images – use standard HTML text.

• Full body background colors
  • Many email clients (such as Gmail) do not show a background color that you set for the main body ( tag). We suggest if you are setting a background color in the body tag to also have a wrapping div with a background color that surrounds your content. This way even if the body background color is not supported you will have something pretty similar shown.

What to Avoid

• Do not write in CAPITALS.
  • IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response in the form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.
    
    Don’t forget to test, test and test.

• Do not include javascript
  • It is likely that it would be stripped in most email clients and some spam filters may detect it as malicious code.

• Avoid sending attachments

• Keep your lists as clean as possible
  • Remove the width and height of the images displayed in the mailers as that will help in landing the mailer into primary box in gmail Text and background color should not be same otherwise it will blocked by Google Avoid using the word span and div tag in the HTML. Make alternate use like <b> <p> etc.
    Never use images for important content like headlines, links and any calls to action.
    Do not use mapping at all.

Call to action

• Use min hyperlinks.
  • A maximum of 8.

• Know your CTAs
  • CTAs (Calls to Action) link readers to external content or ask them to do something. You can link images, buttons, or text. Choose whichever suits your purpose, but don't include too many CTAs in one email or readers won't know what to click.

• Be clear
  • Write short and clear CTAs that motivate people to act (for example: Buy Now or Sign Up). Tell your subscribers exactly what you want them to do, using active language.

• Make it obvious
  • Size your CTAs by importance. The larger they are, the more important they'll feel to the reader. Make your links and buttons are obvious by using a different color or style, and position them so they stand out. Use white space around CTAs, and give them a prominent spot in your emails.
    Make sure unsubscribe link should be present in the footer of the mailer

What to include in your email footer

Most email service providers will require you to include certain information in your footer, such as a physical address for your business and a link to unsubscribe to comply with anti-spam laws.

• Contact Information
  • This could include:
    
    • A link back to your site. This could be a linked logo or a shortlist of a few other areas of your site, like your blog, homepage, or even jobs listings. Give readers a way to get more information in a single tap, should they want it.
    • Your mailing address. We live in a digital age, but it’s nice to know where in the world messages are coming from.
    • Contact email address. This information can be required along with the mailing address. It’s a way for readers to “reply” to the message or get in touch if they have questions or concerns.
    If you are sending commercial emails (i.e. messages that sell or promote a product or a service), these pieces of information are typically required by anti-spam laws

• Social media buttons
  • As secondary calls to action, social media buttons often find a home in the footer where they aren’t interruptive to the body of your message and your main CTA. Focus on which platforms are most important to your brand and selectively include the valuable ones. Read our post on How to use social media buttons in email for best practices and inspiration.

Backend Support

• Is your domain's IP address blacklisted?
  • The first thing you should check if you feel there’s something suspicious about your deliverability rates is your domain’s IP address against spam black list databases.
    
    Honor all unsubscribe requests (email marketing software should generate an unsubscribe link for all emails you send) and process bounced emails frequently. Sending to email addresses that have bounced repeatedly can result in a blacklisted IP address. You want to make sure that each bulk email you send does go out to legitimate, working email addresses.

• Always use Double Opt-in
  • Always make your mailing lists double opt-in. This means that when a user subscribes to your mailing list, they will be sent an email with a link that they must click on to confirm their subscription. This is very important because many people can accidentally enter an incorrect email address, or even the email address of someone else on purpose. When that person receives a newsletter they did not subscribe to, they will assume they have been spammed, and your newsletter (and possibly your web server) will be reported as spam

List of Common Spam Words

• • Accept credit cards Act Now! Advises All New Amazing Apply Online Be your own boss Billing address Brand new page Call now Call now! Cash Claims not to be selling anything Claims you are a winner Click below Click Here Click here link Click to remove Click to remove mailto Collect Compare Congratulations Consultation Dear email Dear friend Dear somebody Different reply to Direct email Disclaimer Discount Discount! Discreet Dispatch Do it today Don't delete Earn $ Easy terms Fantastic deal Favorable Find out anything For free For instant access Free Great offer Guarantee

    Guarantee, Guaranteed Guaranteed Get it now Get started now Home employment If only it were that easy Increase It's effective It’s Junk Join millions Madam Mass email Message contains disclaimer Million Dollars No purchase No selling No catch No cost No cost, No fees No disappointment No fees Offer Offer expires Offers free (often stolen) passwords Once in lifetime One hundred percent free One hundred percent guaranteed One time Online Online biz opportunity Online marketing Online pharmacy Only $ Free access Free consultation Free membership Free offer Free! Free net You have been selected You're a Winner! You've been selected Opportunity Opt in Outstanding values

    Pharmacy Please read Poised Poker-chip Price Prize Promise You Promise you...! Pure profit Qualifies Real thing Recharge Remove Removes Replica Reply remove subject Required Reserves the right Round the world Rupees ` Satisfaction guaranteed Serious only Sign up free today Strive "Stop" or "Stops" Subscribe Sweepstakes Take action now Terms and conditions This isn't spam Top-e-site Top-site Unclaimed Unconditionally Unlimited Urgent Visit our web site What are you waiting for? Who really wins? Win Winner Winning Work at home