Skip to main content

Best Practices for Email Content

Creating content for emails is not the same as creating content for print purposes. You need to consider not only what you are putting out there but also how your audience will be obtaining and consuming your content. These tips can help you make sure that what you are sending via email is received and understood.  

Subject Lines

Your subject line is what will grab your reader’s attention and make them open your email. It needs to be short and descriptive and give the user a good idea of what they will be reading.  

  • Limit to 30-50 characters 
  • Use sentence case 
  • Start with a verb 
  • Limit punctuation and emojis 
  • Add personalization (if you can) 

Preheaders

Preheaders are the additional line of text that is shown in your inbox after the subject. It should be used to give the user additional information about the email.  

  • Limit to 100 characters 
  • Don’t repeat the subject line 
  • Include a call to action (if possible) 
  • Make it work with your subject line 
  • Use the preheader to build curiosity 

Content

Your email should always have a basic, singular purpose (newsletters may be a slight exception.) Write simply and directly to your audience and keep your copy succinct, as your user is most likely just going to be scanning your email for relevant information.

  • Break your content down into 1-2 sentence sections and include a header for each section, keeping your most important information towards the top.
  • If there is more information you need to include, place that information on your website and provide a link to it.
  • Include a call to action (just one!) This should be the main purpose of your email.
  • Make sure you are following our brand's voice and tone and styleguide.

Images/Videos

You can use relevant photos but always assume your images will be blocked by your audience's email client. This is why it is important to make sure important information is built as plain text and not part of the design. Always include alt-text on your images and graphics. If you are embedding a video, make sure you also include a link to the video at its source (i.e. YouTube, Vimeo). 

Newsletters

If you are creating a regular newsletter to your audience, it may have more than one purpose or call to action but the above tips still apply.