• Does html e-mail work?
  
  
• How can you design graphical email for maximum response?
  
  
• What about file size?
  
  
• Can this method accidentally set off spam filters?
  
  

These are good questions! In this article, we’ll give you some basic design guidelines, and share a few techniques to increase your clicks and conversion.

Why use graphical html mail?

Last month, we revealed a great trick to make an html message look like a text message. The advantage is you can use a copy-intensive teaser that looks like a normal message, and you can track your open rate.

This is critical since the open rate of a message tells you how good your subject line is, and is the first thing you want to test when using e-mail marketing.

Today, we are going to talk about a different kind of html message, one that’s graphical in nature, and uses pictures, animation, buttons, forms, and more!

Something like this:

Now why would you want to send a large graphic ad to your prospects instead of a text message?

Here are four reasons:

1. Attract a different kind prospect: Some people are extremely motivated by copy heavy, benefit-laden, text-type teaser ads. They love to read stories, benefits, and testimonials, and tend to be analytical types who want to make sure they have all the information about a product or service before making a decision, even clicking through to a sales letter.
   
   However, a different segment of the population is more motivated by colors and images, rather than words! Believe it or not, there are probably many of these types of prospects on your list. They are often creative types and other left brainers like artists, musicians and designers.
   
   We have discovered occasionally sending graphical ads to your list will help you capture a totally different prospect base. This is a good way to get certain people on your list to stand up and buy when they haven’t before.
   
   It’s part of the regular “milking of the database” that needs to occur for maximum profitability. At the very least, it’s worthy of a test to see if you can engage a part of your market normally unresponsive to text email.
   
   
   
2. Increased clickthrough: Mix the two primary advertising styles, great graphics with great copy, and you can really increase clicks to an offer, especially the first 2 – 3 times you mail a list. If you rent commercial lists, you’ll find some are extremely responsive to graphical ads, much more so than text. That’s largely because commercial lists receive a lot of html mail, and these users are used to it, even expect it.
   

   Note: If you are working with super affiliate list owners, many insist on mailing html since it generates more clicks.

   
   
3. You avoid keyword based spam triggers: The truth is html e-mail is sometimes filtered, just like all mail. However, it’s filtered for a different reason than a text message, which can actually work to your advantage. While many providers slightly penalize html mail due to it’s obvious commercial nature, there are times when using a graphic allows you to use keywords in your copy that would definitely get you blocked if you were using text.
   
   For example, using the word Vioxx, spyware, of even free can set off keyword alarms that send your e-mail down the dark hole of oblivion. But use those words in a graphical ad, and all the filters see is an image tag (which it can’t read), giving you a better shot at getting into the user’s mailbox.
   

   Note: Even the Bulk Folder is better than getting totally blocked! A few of our subscribers in the pharmaceutical industry for instance, have improved click-through rates by switching to a graphical ad from their usual text message, in which their primary product was previously called something to the effect of "vΣK£q£q."

   
   
4. Advanced tracking: A major benefit to using html email is you can track open rate, which is important for testing subject lines to determine which are most interesting to your readers. The more people who open your mail, the more who click-through and buy.
   
   Open rate tracking is one of the most important aspects of e-mail marketing, akin to headline testing, in that your subject line is essentially an “ad for your ad.”
   
   

Design guidelines

Let’s get something straight, we can’t teach you how to use Photoshop in this newsletter;) So if you aren’t proficient at making graphics, give this article to your designer or Webmaster so you can write the copy and they can create the profitable ads for you, OK?

Banners vs. email

Graphical e-mail design is a lot like banner design, but with a few notable exceptions, mainly because it will be sent by e-mail instead of showing up on a Web site.

• Dimensions of the graphic(s): E-mail readers, including those built into Web interfaces (hotmail, yahoo, gmail, etc.) don’t do well with super large graphics. That’s why most mailers keep their maximum file dimensions at 600x400. Other popular sizes are 500x350 and 300x250, but anything under the maximum (that looks good) is acceptable.
  
  
• Weight of the message: Because graphics must be downloaded into the users e-mail reader, keep your messages small in file size. Shoot for less than 35K, including the image. We never recommend sending a message over 100K, unless you know the recipients have broadband, or you are prepared to deal with a lower click through rate.
  

2. Headline: One reason to use a text based ad is it looks like it’s from a person, rather than a company. In a text (or text-type) ad, the first sentence acts as the headline, hoping to grab the attention of the reader. But in a graphical message, which is obviously commercial in nature, you need a formal headline! It’s best if the headline matches, or is similar to, the headline on the landing page. This adds continuity to the user’s experience, making them more likely to continue.

3. Graphics: We’ve tested many different graphical ads, and have found a few things that consistently work; we recommend:

• Match the look of your landing page: In addition to matching the headline, the color scheme, and the graphics, the look of the page should be similar creating visual continuity and setting an expectation.
  
  
• Use photos: Pictures of people, either using the product, or enjoying the end-results it provides, generally increase clickthrough.
  

4. Bullets: Graphical ads are a bit like billboards along the roadway. You don’t have a lot of time to distinguish yourself from the hundreds of other messages people sort through when they check their e-mail. Brevity and clarity are key.

The easiest way to summarize an offer in a few short words is with bullets. Bullets outline benefits, create curiosity, reveal hot buttons, even qualify the prospect.

Listen, writing hot, juicy bullets that get people to act is an art, and we could not presume to teach you in a few short paragraphs. Besides, nobody does it better than the master Gary Halbert. Take a look at what we feel is the single best “How to write bullets” article ever written by clicking here.

5. Response zone: There is a section of every successful graphic ad, a visual zone, that the eye focuses in on, looking for a reason to act. It literally forces people to put their mouse over it and click. Here are three ways to fortify and strengthen that zone:

• Strong call to action copy: Face it; people need to be told what to do (and where to click). Even people who like to think for themselves would rather be led through a clear sales process when they decide to buy something.
  
  Some ads, like this one, use fairly straightforward copy that leads to a click. The response zone is the blinking area that says Find Out More About This Position.
  
  Other examples might include calls to action like these:
  
  • Click here now
    
  • See if you qualify
    
  • Search the database
    
  • Find your size
    
  • Get your free quote
    
    
• Button: One of our favorite ways to get users to click is to use a button with call-to-action copy. People like buttons, and even more important, they are used to clicking on them! Here’s a relevant, and effective example:
  

• Form: Another great way to engage people is with a form, even a fake one! Other features that get people motivated to click are drop-down boxes and search buttons. People naturally gravitate to filling out forms since they are interactive.
  

6. Motion: Motion and movement are critical to the goal of generating more clicks, especially within the response zone since it’s a visual hot spot. But what file format to use?

Despite the lower weight and increased animation options offered by Flash, it’s not practical in an e-mail environment since it’s not universally supported. For now, use animated GIFs, which are readable by nearly all browsers and e-mail programs. Two great examples of e-mail pieces that incorporate motion can be found here:

• Animated e-mail ad for printer ink
  
• Animated e-mail ad life insurance
  

7. Text link: When we use a graphical message, we also put an additional text link below it that summarizes the offer. That way, if for some reason the graphic is not available (server down, images blocked, etc.), the user can still visit the site. This increases clickthrough by 10% to 20%. See an example here.

8. Branding/identity component: Direct response ads are designed to generate a trackable action so costs can be measured and profits calculated. Many direct response veterans ignore, even scoff at, the idea of branding.

Since “mindshare” isn’t trackable, they assume it doesn’t matter. They couldn’t be more wrong!

After a customer decides to make a purchase, whether it’s a refrigerator, automobile, or an eBook, they must decide whom to make that purchase from. People naturally gravitate towards the familiar, i.e. the brand. If you are selling a weight-loss eBook, and Weight-Watchers is selling a weight-loss eBook, Weight Watchers will probably win the sale.

Two elements you should consider including in your graphical ads, even banners and pop-ups:

Conclusion

In the old days of e-mail marketing, we used text because people couldn’t read html messages. Of those who could, a large portion didn’t due to the extra download time (remember 14.4k modems;).

Today, 95% of users can easily receive html email, and with increasing broadband usage (59% of US users at last count), it makes sense to test graphical messages to your lists.

The tracking benefits, increased clickthrough, and potential to reach a “different” segment of your list is reason enough to try this out now!


Respectfully Submitted,

Jonathan Mizel