Email Marketing – Instructions (GD&M)

Overview

Companies use email marketing blasts to reach customers directly with product announcements, sales, specials, educational information, how to use a product, and recipes.

For this project, you’ll design one email marketing blast on MailChimp.com for the same client you did your packaging for.

These email marketing blasts will communicate a message similar to your packaging.

Grading Checklist

  • Design one email marketing blast on MailChimp.com for the same client as your packaging. Create an email message that your want to share with your customer regarding your packaged product.
  • Size: use the Mail Chimp template titled Graphic Design – Main Template or create your own design from scratch
  • Photos from unsplash.com, pexels.com, or pixabay.com
  • Write your own headlines as needed
  • Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use the same type, photos, colors, design elements, etc. from your packaging.

Example of a student’s packaging email

This email communicates the same message that the packaging does. It also uses the same brand identity (colors, type, layout, photos, design elements, etc.)

Thank you to Lynn P. for allowing me to use her design work.

Email marketing best practices

  • Use a managed service like Mail Chimp or Constant Contact
  • Focus on one main message per email blast
  • Use buttons for call-to-actions
  • Send one email per week
  • Use a responsive template
  • Schedule to send when your recipient will most need it (food = dinner time)
  • Why do people sign up for email newsletters?
    • Want more info on the subject or topic
    • Want a focused message delivered to them
    • Sales, coupons, deals

MailChimp email tutorial

Creating an E-mail Blast with Mail Chimp

  1. Open a Mail Chimp email marketing account.
  2. Next, I create a campaign and use Mail Chimp’s web interface to design it. I’ll demonstrate the Mail Chimp design interface during class. We’ll do this together.
  3. Mail Chimps templates use certain file sizes. Here’s a link to their specs web page: 
    Mail Chimp Image requirements for Templates
  4. Here’s a sample email I use and the image sizes. Note that most templates and emails are set at a standard 600px wide. The length is flexible.

5. I place a call-to-action on my website to get customers to sign up for emails. This is the form that mail Chimp provides.

After a customer signs up, Mail Chimp manages my email list. They track who opens my emails, who clicks on links inside my emails, who bounces, and who unsubscribes.

Below are several real email marketing examples from various companies. Notice how each delivers the company’s brand and focuses on one main message. Most use one main image and headline to draw the viewer in and show them where to start.

Examples

These examples also benefit from:

  • Logo to identify the company
  • Brand colors throughout
  • Consistent design style and layout
  • Consistent typeface
  • Lots of artwork

Emails with and without images

Many browsers initially block images from loading. You must click on a “View Images” button to get them to appear. To avoid this, simply add more HTML text to your email body.

Here is an example of an email that relies heavily on images to deliver its message. The first email does a poor job of delivering the message. I would suggest using more HTML text (like $5 Mugs – Offer Ends Soon!). This text displays immediately, it catches the viewer’s eye, and it engages them.

Student Examples

For this project, my students designed one email marketing blast for a company. Each blast focused on one specific message. Students researched, developed, designed, and created these blasts using Mail Chimp’s online web interface.