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Custom Email Design

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The "getting started" checklist

If you're a designer new to email marketing, the following checklist covers the basics you should consider for yourself and your clients before getting started. Stick to these guidelines and you'll be an email marketing master in no time.

1. Explain permission to your client and capture new subscribers

• Clearly explain the concept of permission

  Sending emails without permission can not only land your client in trouble, you'll go down with them. It doesn't need to be complicated though. As long as you your client can prove they received permission from everyone on their list to contact them about the subject of their email, you're covered. Learn more in our basics of permission article.

• Work out who they can email out of their existing contacts/subscribers

  Work out which of their current contacts comply with our permission requirements and import them into your client's account.

• Add a subscribe form to their site and set expectations

  If your client has a web site, you should add an email subscribe form in a prominent position to capture new subscribers. You might also want to consider adding an opt-in checkbox to any existing forms.You can also specify custom landing pages so the subscriber can be redirected back to a confirmation page on your client's web site. Finally, make sure your subscribe forms set expectations about what your client will be contacting them about and how often.

2. Design your client's email template

• Tell the recipient who your client is and how your client got their details

  It's so important to convey how you got someone's email address when you're contacting them. Add a note at the top of every template you design for this client that clearly explains who your client is and how they obtained their email address. Also, to ensure compliancy with the US CAN-SPAM laws, you need to include your client's street address in every template you design for them.

• Make it easy for them to unsubscribe

  All MailZipper templates require an unsubscribe link, but it's very important not to hide the link in small text at the bottom of your email. A prominent unsubscribe link conveys trust to all recipients and shows you're serious about maintaining permission.

• Link to a web version

  If your recipient is using an older email client that has problems displaying your email, they should always be provided with a web-based version they can view in their browser. Our templates allow you to add this link automatically with a simple tag

• Ask to be added to their contact list

  Add a note to your template asking your recipients to add your sending email address to their address book. Many ISP's allow your recipients to filter emails from unknown senders. Plus, images are displayed by default if you're in the address book for many popular email clients.

• Avoid excessive use of images

  Many of today's popular email clients block images by default. Make sure any important content like headlines, titles and calls to action are text based instead of image based. We've written loads about this topic here.

• Be smart with your CSS

  Deciding whether or not to go for a CSS or table based template depends on a few things, but most important of these is how consistent your client wants their design to be in different email clients. You can download a great sample CSS template to get started and learn more about what CSS is and isn't support in email clients here.

• Test, test, test

  Testing your template design before your client starts sending is absolutely crucial. Almost every email environment will render your client's email differently. We recommend testing in most if not all of the following:Web - Hotmail , Yahoo! Mail and Gmail
  PC - Outlook, AOL 9, Thunderbird and Lotus Notes
  Mac - Mac Mail, Entourage and Eudora

3. Be smart when sending

• Use a consistent from name, email address and subject

  MailZipper remembers the last from name and email address your client used, but make sure you remind them to use the same details for every campaign they send. Legally, this needs to be a valid email address and should contain your client's domain if they have one. Keeping it consistent ties in with our address book recommendation above.

• Set up a small test list

  On top of your client's main lists, you should also add a small test list possibly consisting of yourself and your client's email address. You also want to receive what your recipient's are receiving to ensure you know about any problems that may arise.

4. Measure the results

• Check out your client's opens, clicks and unsubscribes

  Measure and compare results over subsequent campaigns. Test different subject lines and calls to action between campaigns. Work with your client to learn what works and doesn't work for their particular subscribers.

• Tweak the template and newsletter copy based on the results

  Collate your findings and make real changes to your template design or newsletter content. If one particular topic is by far the most popular in the link activity report, considering leading your newsletter with that topic for each email.