Have you ever opened an email and been instantly drawn in by how great it looks? Maybe you never even needed what was being sold, but the design was so good that you couldn’t help but admire it.
Effective email marketing campaigns are not just built on good copy but also great email design. From color schemes to typography and logo design, every visual element captures attention and reinforces brand identity.
In this article, we’ll cover five email design tips and best practices to help you create promotional emails that boost engagement and sales.
1. Use the Right Email Layout
Walking into a grocery store, you don’t randomly wander around, hoping to find what you need. Everything is strategically placed. Fresh produce is near the entrance, essentials are in the middle aisles, and impulse buys are near the checkout.
This isn’t by accident. The store layout is carefully designed to create a smooth experience and subtly guide you toward buying what you need.
Also, an email layout helps readers easily find the information they need and get to the action you want them to take.
Some of the common layouts that work best for promo emails include:
Single-column layout
This layout stacks all your content vertically, making it great for highlighting a single offer. It also works well on both desktop and mobile.
Image source: Kulfi Beauty
Multiple-column layout
It is perfect for showcasing multiple products or offers side by side. Just be careful, though, as it can look cluttered on mobile if not optimized properly. If you need further optimization, consider using an email signature maker to create a clean and visually appealing digital signature.
Image source: FY
Hybrid layout
It starts with a bold, eye-catching header followed by multiple sections. This format is great for balancing attention-grabbing visuals with detailed content.
Image source: TWOTHIRDS
Inverted pyramid layout
This layout arranges content in an inverted triangle. It places the most important information first to guide readers to the CTA without distractions quickly.
Image source: Peet’s Coffee
2. Design With Mobile Users in Mind
It’s easy to focus on making your emails look perfect on a desktop.
However, many customers will open your emails using their mobile devices. You might lose almost half of your audience if you don’t have a mobile-first approach when creating your emails.
The easiest way to do that is to use an email marketing tool with a responsive design gallery to create emails that look good on any screen.
Pick an email marketing platform like Sender or GetResponse that provides responsive templates and an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor. And remember to preview your emails to ensure they deliver a seamless reading experience to mobile users.
Image source: Sender
3. Choose Visual Elements That Reflect Your Brand Identity
Every email sent is an opportunity for you to strengthen your brand and build trust with your target audience. So, use the same logo, fonts, color palette, and other elements from your brand kit to make your emails resemble your social media and landing pages.
That way, when people open your email, they will know it’s from you, and they’ll be more inclined to engage because they recognize your brand.
Once you have an email design that resonates with your subscribers, turn it into an email template to save time when creating future emails.
4. Add Images Where Appropriate
While images make your emails more engaging, they may backfire if you go overboard. An email with too many pictures can load slowly, especially for people with smartphones or limited bandwidth.
Every image should serve a clear purpose. So, before adding any visuals, ask yourself, “Does this photo reinforce my message and help me drive the desired action?” If not, it’s best to leave it out.
For your images to add value, we recommend to:
- Include clear photos that highlight your products’ features and benefits. If necessary, use an AI background remover.
- Optimize image file sizes to maintain quality while improving load times.
- Include descriptive alt text so people with images turned off or using screen readers can understand your pictures.
5. Use Buttons for Your CTAs
Research shows that 23.5% of all emails get skimmed in just 2 to 8 seconds. That’s why using buttons for your call to action would work better for skimmers than text links. Buttons are often bigger and specifically designed to capture attention in ways simple text links can’t.
That said, to maximize conversions, you need to:
- Use a color that stands out against your email background and make the button large enough to be easily tapped on mobile.
- Use verbs like “Shop Now” or “Claim Discount” to make the button more compelling.
- Surround your button with plenty of whitespace to stand out from the rest of the content.
- Place your main CTA button above the fold where it’s immediately visible without scrolling.
- Use hover effects (like a color shift or shadow effect) to make the button feel more interactive.
Best Practices When Creating Promotional Emails
Now, let’s look at some best practices for email design to help you create emails that stand out in your customers’ inboxes.
Write a compelling subject line
Email subject lines are the first thing people see when they check their inboxes. And 47% of recipients will either open or ignore your email based on the subject line alone. Nail it, and you’ve got their attention. Miss the mark, and your email might go straight to the trash.
You can make your subject lines more persuasive by:
- Including the recipient’s name or other personal details to make your email message feel more personal.
- Creating curiosity or urgency to encourage opens. For example, “50% off! Only 24 Hours Left.”
- Keep the subject line under 50 characters so it’s fully visible on mobile devices.
- Not using words like “free,” “guaranteed,” or excessive exclamation marks to avoid triggering spam filters.
Personalize your emails
No one wants to read a bland email that feels like it was blasted to thousands of people. That’s why 83% of customers would happily share their data if it means getting a more tailored experience.
Beyond just addressing a subscriber by their first name (though that helps, too), try:
- Segmenting your audience based on what they’ve bought or browsed before.
- Adjusting the tone of your body copy depending on whether they’re first-time buyers or existing customers.
- Using dynamic content to personalize emails based on each subscriber’s behavior and preferences.
Use one clear CTA
If you ask customers to do five different things in one email, they might get overwhelmed and do nothing.
Keep your CTA clear and focused. Just one per email is enough. Make it short, action-driven, and specific. For example, instead of something vague like “Click Here,” go for “Claim Your Gift Now” to drive more conversions.
Test your emails before sending
Testing is what separates email disasters from email successes. So, before you hit “send”, run through a checklist to catch any issues.
Here are some ways to test your emails:
Check layout in multiple email clients
Emails can be rendered differently in various email service providers like Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, or Yahoo. What looks perfect in one might break in another due to varied CSS support. Send test emails to these providers (since they’re common) and see how it looks in each, then adjust accordingly.
Test for accessibility
Check if your fonts are easy to read on smaller screens. The safest bet is to use web-safe fonts, as not all email clients support custom fonts.
Also, test your design in dark mode to ensure it displays correctly. Some email clients invert colors in dark mode, which could cause issues, like turning a black logo on a white background into black on black.
Create Promotional Emails That Get Noticed
Whatever strategy you have, without a well-planned email design, your email campaigns will most likely fail.
A good email design should be mobile-friendly, have the right layout, and reflect your brand’s message. Implement the tips above to optimize future campaigns and increase your chances of boosting conversions.
Written by DesignCrowd on Monday, March 24, 2025
DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.