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How to create a welcome email series for your business

Welcome Email Series – How to Create one for Your Business

By Team equinux Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

Creating a compelling welcome email series is essential for making a strong first impression on new customers. This series of automated emails not only introduces your brand but also guides subscribers through their initial interactions, setting the tone for a lasting relationship. By thoughtfully crafting each message in your welcome email series, you can enhance engagement, build trust, and encourage desired actions from your audience.

Welcome Sign

In this guide, we'll take you through the most important steps to consider along the customer journey, and show you some great examples of welcome emails we love.

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What is a welcome email series?

A welcome email series is an automated string of emails sent out to new customers to help welcome them to your business and guide them towards carrying out a specific action (i.e. making a purchase.)

Your welcome email series works the same way as a restaurant server does. When you arrive, your server will greet you and help you get settled in. They will then point you towards your food and drink options, offer you add-ons, and continue to check up on you throughout your visit.

Types of welcome email series

To begin with, think about your end goal for the welcome campaign. Your chosen CTA (call-to-action) will then help shape your welcome email series and give you the inspiration you need to put together your email content.

Here are a few typical examples of types of welcome email series you may have come across already:

Creating a sales-based welcome email series

This is a common form of welcome email series which you will most typically see from fashion brands and other types of retailer. The CTA tends to revolve purely around sales and the aim of the series is to persuade new customers to make a purchase.

Tactics used often include showcasing new products and offering out discounts and promotional codes. In this example by ASOS, new customers are enticed to start shopping thanks to an exclusive 10% discount.

Email welcome offer by ASOS

A 10% discount helps ASOS get new customers in the mood to shop.


Email subject line in welcome email by ASOS

An effective subject line also helps grab the reader's attention from the start.

Creating an information-based welcome email series

With an information-based welcome email series, the aim is usually to educate new customers about your business. This could be delivered in a tutorial style, as commonly seen in onboarding email campaigns, to help provide new users with all the information they need to get set up.

Onboarding email by Webflow

This onboarding email shows new users how to get started with using the service.

Alternatively, your business may want to use the welcome series to teach new signups more about who you are and what you do. For example, a charity organisation may want to show potential new supporters where their donations are going and provide them with relevant information and stats.

Welcome email by Be My Eyes charity

Explaining more about what you do to new subscribers helps reinforce their reasons for signing up initially.

Creating an engagement-based welcome email series

Finally, an engagement-based welcome series aims to get new customers using your product or service as much as possible so they can reap the benefits. This is generally done by pointing new users towards their next steps and making it easy for them to familiarise themselves with how everything works.

Welcome email by Glassdoor

This 3 step welcome email shows new users exactly how to start using Glassdoor


Welcome email by Goodreads

In this example, Goodreads also show new users how to use the service to find new books to add to their list.

What to include in your welcome email series

The customer journey is unique to your business and factors like the time span, contents, CTA and intensity of a welcome campaign will vary.

Here are some ideas for emails which you can choose to include in your welcome email series to help new customers form a connection with your business:

Opt in / Verification

Since the introduction of GDPR, the double opt in has become known as the gold standard for email registration and sending these types of emails has become standard practice for many businesses.

Not only does this process help protect your business from spam bots filling up your email list, it also ensures any new signups are happy and willing to receive your content.

Opt in email by Product Hunt

This simple opt in email by Product Hunt fulfils its purpose while also remaining super on brand.

When to send: Schedule your opt in email to send instantly, so that your new customer doesn't forget to do it later on.

Welcome

This is your brand's first real interaction with your new customer and sets the tone for the rest of your welcome email series. In this email, it's important to firstly thank your customer for signing up, and secondly, make it clear what their next steps should be.

Without a clear CTA in your welcome email, customers are highly likely to ignore it and you will lose your chance to connect with them.

Actionable welcome email by Zoom

Zoom's welcome email is great, as it outlines the details of the user's plan and also points them towards actionable first steps.


Superdry welcome email

Superdry not only thank new customers for signing up, they also let them know exactly what's in store for them in a useful overview.

When to send: A welcome email should be sent soon after opting in. This ensures your customer is still actively thinking about your business.

Segmentation email

Email segmentation is a key aspect of your email marketing strategy, as it helps ensure your emails are being sent to the optimal recipient.

Use your welcome email series to get to know more about your customers' interests. This will help you tailor your content for them in the future.

Create an email to send to new customers encouraging them to update their email preferences. This will help you find out key information about them, such as location, age, gender, interests, etc. in order to send more relevant email content.

Welcome email by Britannica

Britannica sent out this great welcome mail for better email list segmentation.


New customer survey from a welcome email by Britannica

The questions in the linked survey help Britannica determine what kind of content the reader wants to receive, thus maximising their chances of higher open rates.

When to send: Send this email a few days after your first welcome email. This way, there will be enough distance between the two emails and your business will still be fresh in the reader's mind.

Action email

Use your next email to direct new customers towards your intended call-of-action. This could be anything, including:

  • Making a purchase from your online store
  • Setting up your first playlist
  • Reading the latest blog post
  • Trying out a new recipe
  • Referring the service to a friend

Make this email super enticing with great email copy, lots of eye-catching visual elements, and a super snappy subject line. This way, new customers won't be able to resist getting started right away.

Hubspot action email in welcome email series

This email sent by HubSpot as part of their free trial onboarding series clearly points new users towards their exclusive tutorials.


Welcome email promotion by Riley

Riley tempt new customers to start shopping with an enticing $25 discount.

When to send: Give your customers a few days to look around on their own. If you haven't tracked any notable actions, now's the time to send this email prompt and jog their memory.

Feedback email

In many cases, it's also a good idea to offer new users the chance to share their thoughts and feedback about their experience so far. Particularly if you offer a demo or free trial period, getting this feedback early can help you address issues directly and prevent customer churn down the line.

If you have a lot of questions, linking out to a targeted feedback form or survey for newcomers can be a great way to find out exactly what you want to know about new customers' experience. Alternatively, it can just be reassuring enough to provide a support email address or telephone number to let the customer know your team are there if they need you.

Feedback email in welcome email series by NOW TVWhen to send: If you are offering customers some kind of demo, aim to send this out towards the end of the trial period. Hopefully by this time, new users would have had a chance to use your product and form an opinion.

Remember, a welcome email series is specific to your business and does not adopt a one size fits all approach. Depending on the nature of your business, there could be other emails you want to include which we haven't mentioned in this article. Some other popular examples include:

  • Referral email (e.g. refer a friend for x% off your next purchase, etc.)
  • Up-sell / cross-promotional email (e.g. you may also like..., upgrade to unlock more features, get premium shipping, etc.)
  • Cross-channel promotional email (e.g. subscribe to our blog / follow us on Twitter / check out our YouTube channel, etc.)
  • Sense of urgency email (e.g. hurry your trial is ending, last chance to get your welcome discount, etc.)

How to create a welcome email series for your business

Creating an automated welcome email series for your business is actually super straightforward. All you need is a well-designed set of email templates and access to marketing automation tools.

Mail Designer 365 has a wide range of HTML email templates ready for you to adapt for your automated email campaigns. Not only this, the drag & drop email editor makes it easier than ever for you to build your own email templates in minutes - no coding skills needed!

Welcome email template in Mail Designer 365

Discover a huge range of design tools in Mail Designer 365 to create effective email templates for your welcome email series.

Once you've finished creating your set of email templates, you can export them directly to Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, or Direct Mail, or as HTML to your chosen email service provider or marketing automation platform, including:

  • SendinBlue
  • ActiveCampaign
  • SendGrid
  • Customer.io
  • Drip

Not got a Mail Designer 365 plan yet? Start your free trial today to unlock access to 120+ email templates and a wide range of exciting creative tools for your welcome email series.

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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Best practice guide for writing email marketing disclaimers

What to Include in Your Email Disclaimer: Email Marketing Best Practice

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

Even the most seasoned email marketers shudder when they hear the words "email disclaimer." However in reality, writing an effective email disclaimer is actually far more straightforward than it seems.

In this guide, we're quickly taking you through all the basics of best practice for email disclaimers to make things easier than ever when it comes to sending your next marketing email.

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What is an email disclaimer?

An email disclaimer is a small section of text typically located within your email footer, separate to the main body of your message. It is one of the most important parts of any email you send, as it protects your business from any potential legal issues and contains key information for your customers.

The laws on what information businesses need to provide recipients with differ from country to country. For this reason, it's imperative that you know exactly what you need to include in your email disclaimer, as your business can receive a hefty fine if certain rules are not adhered to.

Email disclaimer laws by country

Below, you can find a brief summary of the email disclaimer laws for your country or region.

Email Disclaimer Law in the United States

CAN SPAM Act of 2003 requires all businesses sending marketing emails to provide certain information in their email disclaimer. This includes, a physical address for the sender and a clear and functioning unsubscribe option.

You can find more detailed information on this here.

Here is an example by Bed, Bath & Beyond:

Email disclaimer by Bed, Bath & Beyond

Email Disclaimer Law in the European Union

The EU Directive states that all business communication emails must contain a standard disclaimer with the following information:

  • Company registration number
  • Place of registration
  • Registered office address

However, individual countries have slightly different requirements, so it's important to check based on the country your business is based in.

For example, in Germany businesses are required to include:

  • Company name
  • Office location
  • Court register
  • Registration number
  • Name of the managing director and the board of directors

You can find more detailed information about individual EU countries here.

Email Disclaimer Law in the United Kingdom

Along with a clear unsubscribe link, Trading Standards requires registered companies in the UK need to include the following information in all of their business emails:

  • Registered company name
  • Company registration number and place of registration
  • Registered company address

You can find more detailed information on this here.

Example by Jack Wills:

Email disclaimer example by Jack Wills

Email Disclaimer Law in Canada

According to CASL (Canada's Anti Spam Law), all businesses need to provide clear contact information for the sender, as well as an opt out link in their electronic marketing messages (including email, SMS, and social media messages.)

Possible fines for non-compliance can reach up to $10 million.

You can find more detailed information on this here.

What else to include in an email disclaimer

As a force of habit, many people receiving your emails will automatically look to the footer area to find important information about your business.

In addition to the mandatory information listed above, there are several other things your business may want to include in your email disclaimer to help protect you from legal issues and also ensure your customers can find the information they are looking for.

Unsubscribe link

As mentioned above, the unsubscribe link is a legal requirement for all marketing emails, with most transactional emails being an exception. Although this does not have to appear in your email footer (some designers opt to place it at the top of the design) the vast majority of customers will expect to find it here.

Your unsubscribe link must be clearly visible and must provide the recipient with a straightforward way to opt out of receiving your emails.

This example by Bunches is great, as it clearly explains to the recipient why they have received the email and where to click to opt out:

Unsubscribe link example by BunchesTerms and conditions

Adding a brief terms and conditions section to your email disclaimer is a good way to clear up any possible confusion surrounding your promotional offer. In this section, you could cover things like offer expiry date, offer validity (e.g. in store or online, on all products or selected, etc.) and eligibility (e.g. new customers only.)

If you wish, you can also use this opportunity to link out to a separate, more detailed terms & conditions landing page.

In this promotional email, ASOS clearly outline the terms and conditions of their sale to customers:

Terms and conditions email disclaimer by ASOSPrivacy Policy

Since GDPR came into force, there has been an emphasised importance on data protection and privacy. Many businesses now use their email disclaimer as a place to also refer to their company's privacy policy. This is a good way for recipients with questions to locate the information they need.

This email by Bupa Dental Care is a great example of how to use your email disclaimer to make readers aware of your privacy policy.

Email Disclaimer for a UK business

Contact information

In addition to the mandatory information required (i.e. company address), it's also best practice to give your customers an easy way to get in touch with you.

Many marketing emails come from no-reply addresses, so including a support email address or a link out to a contact form in your disclaimer allows customers to contact you if they have questions.

Tip: Use a mailto link so your customers can contact you in just one click. In Mail Designer 365 you can even configure the email subject line and message to make things easier:

Email mailto link options in Mail Designer 365

Provide readers with a direct way to contact you.

Creating an email disclaimer in Mail Designer 365

One key thing to remember about your email disclaimer is that the core content is often the same. Once you've put together an informative disclaimer that meets all the legal requirements, you should be able to keep reusing it in future emails.

Mail Designer 365 allows you to create custom layout combinations and save them for future use. This is perfect for your email footer area:

  • Build up your disclaimer using text blocks, spacers and images
  • Insert all the relevant text, links and contact information
  • Select your group and drag into the sidebar under "Layout Blocks" > "Ready-Made" > "My Saved Blocks" where you can instantly access them in your next design and tweak as needed
Ready made layout blocks for email disclaimers in Mail Designer 365

Drag and drop layout combinations to save them in your ready-made layout blocks collection and use for future emails.

We hope this information has been useful and that you'll bear these tips in mind when working on your email disclaimers.

As well as the practical, ready-made layout blocks feature, Mail Designer 365 also offers a wide range of email templates, text styles, and mobile optimisation tools to make sure your email disclaimers are clear and effective. Not got a Mail Designer 365 plan yet? Sign up today for your free, no-strings-attached trial.

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How to write effective announcement emails

Announcement Email - How to effectively Share Important News

By Team equinux Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

Crafting an effective announcement email is essential for businesses aiming to communicate significant updates to their audience. Whether it’s a product launch, company news, or important changes, a well-structured announcement email ensures your message is delivered directly and clearly to subscribers, minimizing the risk of it being overlooked amidst social media noise.

What is an announcement email?

In this article, "announcement email" is very much an umbrella term for your core communication with customers (outside of standard sales emails.) An announcement email can take many forms, including but not limited to:

  • Internal company news
  • Product news or updates
  • Public statements
  • Announcing a show of support OR taking a stand
  • Crisis communication
  • Event invitations
  • Customer information

Also important to consider: Oftentimes, announcement emails are much more text-heavy than a standard marketing-style email, as the sender usually has a lot to say.

Why should I use email for my announcement?

As a business owner, email is the most reliable way to make important announcements to your subscribers. Although social media is booming, complicated algorithms often mean many of your subscribers on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter don't even see your posts - resulting in important information going unread.

Email is a direct channel between you and your customers with very little background noise to take away from your key message. For this reason, when done correctly, an announcement email has the potential to lock in high open rates and get better conversions.

Here are some useful tips to consider when sending an announcement email, plus some great examples of announcement emails we have collected from around the web and our own personal inbox.

Our recipe for effective announcement emails

Discover key strategies to enhance your announcement emails, from compelling copywriting to impactful design elements, ensuring your messages resonate with your audience.

Strong email copy

One way of ensuring your announcement email is a success is through great communication. This can be achieved by producing strong and convincing email copy to really make your message clear to readers.

Think carefully about the context of your announcement. This will help you determine the tone you want to use and will help you choose your words more carefully.

For example, if your email announcement is of a serious nature, it is probably more fitting to opt for a formal and professional tone. For an exciting announcement like a product launch or a new store opening, you can afford to have a little fun with your email copy and adopt a more relaxed tone.

Other important aspects that will help elevate your email copy include:

  • Good spelling and grammar
  • Varied sentence structure
  • Clear paragraphs and sub-headings - especially if you are conveying a large amount of information

In this email statement, CreativeMornings use powerful, well-thought-out prose and a clear layout to show their solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

powerful email statement by creative mornings

CreativeMornings show their support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement through powerful prose.

Great design

The way your email looks is - in many ways - just as important as what it says. An eye-catching header graphic or a strong feature image can be all it takes for your reader to pay more attention to your email.

Take this announcement email from Avanti West Coast - Although the rest of the email is quite plain, Avanti do a great job of drawing in readers using a colorful and abstract header design. The simple title "Important information" is enough to let the reader know this is something they should be paying attention to:

email announcement by Avanti West Coast

A great header design helps this announcement email by Avanti capture readers' attention.

Tip: You can create a similar header effect in Mail Designer 365 by layering shapes and adjusting the opacity:

abstract header graphic for announcement email made in mail designer 365

Another style element which is important to your design's overall effect is your font choice.

While it's tempting to get creative when it comes to fonts, oftentimes, simple is best. Especially when your message is so important, you don't want to run the risk of a poor font choice getting in the way of clear communication.

Choose a clean, easy-to-read font in a sensible weight to apply to your email copy. You should also avoid overusing bold or italic, as this appears confusing to readers. When you're done, remember to configure an email-safe "fallback" font to ensure your email text is displayed properly in all clients:

Building an announcement email in Mail Designer 365

Always include an email safe fallback font to ensure better compatibility with other email clients

Clear call-to-action

Any marketing email needs to be able to demonstrate a clear call-to-action. Whether you want your readers to sign up for an event, pre-order a new product, or simply visit a landing page, you need to point them in the right direction first.

Use a CTA (call-to-action) button which clearly stands out against the rest of your email in order to make it prominent to readers. You should also make sure the text of your button is short and snappy and check that the link leads to a sensible destination.

By choosing a vibrant shade of red for the CTA in this tour announcement email, Live Nation are able to convey a sense of urgency and encourage readers to sign up for event access:

Tour announcement email by Live Nation

The bold, red CTA button in this tour announcement email by Live Nation jumps out at readers.

Experiment with shapes and font styles in Mail Designer 365 to create dazzling CTA buttons for your own email designs:

Building a call to action button in Mail Designer 365

Mail Designer 365 has all the shapes and text styles you need to create bold and effective call to action buttons.

Engaging subject line

Your email's subject line is the very first thing that recipients will see and is often the determining factor in whether or not your email gets opened. For this reason, you need to ensure your subject line is interesting and intriguing enough to pique your customers' interest.

When you are coming up with a subject line, be sure to include key words such as "new", "announcement", "exciting news", etc., in order to let your readers know what the email is about. By teasing your new product, upcoming event, important news, etc., you are bound to make your readers curious and encourage them to open up your email.

Furthermore, using emojis in your email subject is another great way to ensure it will stand out in their inbox.

Mobile optimization

Because so many people today now check their emails on the go, it's crucial that your announcement email has also been optimized for mobile devices. This is a key part in ensuring that your message is effectively communicated.

Mobile optimization includes aspects such as:

  • Checking the font is legible on mobile devices
  • Choosing target links which make sense on mobile devices (i.e. iOS App Store versus Mac App Store links)
  • Resizing images to look good on mobile devices
  • Including tailored content for mobile users (e.g. special offers, mobile app download links, etc.)

Mail Designer 365 automatically creates a mobile responsive version of your email design, which you can optimize and edit separately to your main desktop design. Simply navigate to the Smartphone view and detach a layout block to begin creating mobile-only content:

Create mobile responsive emails in Mail Designer 365

Use the Mail Designer 365 smartphone editor to create mobile optimized announcement emails.

Smart segmentation

The final way of ensuring your announcement email is a success is by making sure you send it to the right target audience. Sending one email to your entire list is usually a bad idea and is generally only reserved for exceptional circumstances (i.e. major business announcements.)

When you are setting up your campaign in your email marketing platform, think about who will find this information most relevant. This group should be your first priority, as they are more likely to engage with your email. If you can think of other groups who may also find the email beneficial, you can go back to adjust and optimize your template accordingly.

Looking for tips? Here are some useful segmentation techniques you could try out:

Email List Segmentation Techniques to Learn More About Your Subscribers

More examples of great announcement emails

If you are in need of some inspiration, here are a few more announcement emails which we found particularly effective...

Product Hunt

email statement by Product Hunt

The striking header graphic in this email by Product Hunt gets their important message heard loud and clear.

Unsplash

Email newsletter by Unsplash

This simple newsletter-style announcement email by Unsplash is both informative and interesting for users of the service.

easyJet

email announcement by easyJet

easyJet use the header of this announcement email to grab readers' attention before sharing their important update.

Shinola

new product announcement email by Shinola

Shinola use bold design techniques to win customers' attention in this new product announcement email.

allplants

allplants do a great job of using a colorful CTA button together with a clear layout to introduce a new dish to their menu.

YO!Sushi

email announcement by YO! Sushi

YO!Sushi also mix contrasting color combinations with a big feature image to get customers excited about the return of their "Green Wednesday" promotion.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp email announcement

This announcement email by Mailchimp concentrates a lot on great email copy and an effective CTA button.

Discover how Mail Designer 365 can help you build announcement emails

We hope you are feeling inspired and will take these tips on board the next time you ned to make an important announcement for your business.

Mail Designer 365 has all the tools and email template options you need in order to create a fabulous announcement email and share your great news with your subscribers. Sign up today for free to get started!

Get started with the Mail Designer 365 service today for free...

Mail Designer 365 helps you and your team create stylish, professional HTML emails.
Sign up free today to see what you can achieve.
Sign up
Creative online event ideas for businesses

Creative Online Event Ideas for Businesses

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

There's no denying that online events are massively on the rise. If you take a glance at the average business calendar today, you'll likely see event titles that didn't even exist 10 years ago. (Ever heard of a virtual trade fair? I hadn't until researching for this post!)

Of course, as the way we hold events changes, so does the way we market them. In this guide, we talk about some great online event ideas for your business, plus the best tools to help you ensure your event is a success.

Jump to:

Why should I host an online event?

Quite simply put, the main advantage of a virtual event is flexibility. The majority of the time, all your guests need to get involved is a working internet connection - which is definitely not hard to come by these days!

Because online events are so flexible, people can take part from wherever they are - whether it's from the comfort of their own homes, or from their office 5000 miles away from the actual location. This flexibility means your event can reach a much wider audience of new potential leads.

More advantages of hosting an online event include:

  • Diversify your audience - As well as your audience being generally larger, it also has the potential of being much more diverse. With an online event, geographic restrictions don't apply. As long as you choose a fairly neutral time zone, guests from all over the world can attend.
  • Reduce costs - Hiring a venue, paying temporary staff, organising catering and booking transport are all things that can cost your business a huge amount of money. Although there will be some costs associated with your online event, you will save big by removing all the physical elements.
  • Save time - All the elements named above also take a large amount of time to organise and coordinate. Free up your time to focus on the content of your online event rather than planning the theatrics behind a physical event.
  • Lower your carbon footprint - Many people attending large scale events will have to drive a great distance or even fly to get to the location. This results in an extra amount of carbon emissions which can easily be avoided by hosting your event online.
  • Great for brand image - Although online events are definitely on the rise, in many respects, they are still a very new trend. Hosting an online event is a great way to show your target audience that your business is innovative and in touch with the latest technology.

Types of Online Events

Video Meeting

A video meeting does exactly what the name describes. These types of meetings can take place on any scale and for any use case: no matter how big or small. Here are a few popular examples:

  • Daily briefing meeting
  • Job interview
  • Project status update meeting
  • Project review meeting
  • Department meeting
  • Financial planning meeting
  • Shareholder meeting

For many, an offsite meeting means travel costs, food & drink and possibly an overnight stay all being charged to company expenses. Not to mention the time taken to get there and back is time which could have been spent doing other important work. Holding a video meeting means all participants can join from their respective locations and save the company time and money.

Zoom app on mobile phone ready for a video meetingVideo meetings are also a game changer for remote-based teams to stay connected. All you need to get started is a working internet connection, a headset and a video meeting platform to host from.

Webinar

A webinar is an online seminar most typically used to educate viewers on a particular topic. This could be anything from a step-by-step product demonstration (particularly popular with software companies) to a university-style lecture on a given theme (e.g. How to create a website for your small business.)

Most often, a webinar is a mixture of pre-recorded screen sharing with voiceover commentary; however, the webinar host(s) can also choose to livestream the event in order to allow for interactive elements such as a Q&A session or a quiz. Usually, a webinar won't last longer than an hour.

Webinar recording

Pro tip: When you send out your invitations, make sure you outline exactly what will be covered in the webinar so people will be more willing to sign up. For more great tips on how to market your webinar, check out this guide.

Virtual Summits

This type of online event involves you sourcing established guest speakers from your field to come together and collaborate. Participants tend to discuss a chosen topic (i.e. education or technology), or provide solutions for well known industry problems (e.g. how to increase student participation in your classroom.)

Guest speakers will generally prepare material to present and, if held live, offer the audience the chance for a Q&A session.

Conference event livestream

While this type of event is usually less specific to your business, it is a great opportunity for lead generation. Each guest speaker brings a virtual audience with them; all of which become potential leads for your business.

An event like this is also a great way to establish your authority in your industry and gain key contacts.

Pro tip: To ensure things run smoothly, start planning the dynamics of your virtual summit quite far in advance. It can also be beneficial for guest speakers to pre-record their content to make the event appear more seamless on the day.

Online Course & Training

An online course is a type of online learning environment which can be set up to deliver lessons or follow-along courses on a particular subject. An online course can consist of a series of sessions (i.e. for distance learning or online qualifications) or it can be a one-off event.

If held live, online training events are generally best suited to smaller groups, in order to recreate the classroom experience and allow for participants to ask questions. While there is still an element of presentation, an online course is intended to be a much more interactive experience for those involved.

Boy with headphones using a MacBook

Pro tip: After streaming a live lesson, it's a good idea to upload your video to a portal where participants can then watch it back at a later date.

Virtual Tradeshow

Similar to a physical trade fair, a virtual tradeshow is a type of online marketing event which is held to give participants the chance to present their products to potential buyers.

Most typically, each vendor will have a dedicated "booth" in which they can present prepared material including webinars, tutorials and product introductions. Many virtual tradeshows also have e-commerce integration so attendees can purchase directly.

Although the virtual tradeshow may be the biggest change to the real thing, it is a great strategy for companies who want to cut down on costs, or businesses looking to try innovative new methods to reach new customers.

6 Awesome Tools for Online Events

With online events on the rise, more and more awesome tools are becoming available to help businesses guarantee their events are a success. Below, we have highlighted some of the current leading tools for managing and hosting online events. Skim through the list to see the key features and click through to the operator website to find out more!

1. Zoom

Zoom is currently one of the most popular choices for online meetings.

Zoom video meeting platform for businesses

  • Video meeting platform for up to 1000 participants (with up to 49 videos on screen)
  • Webinar services also available
  • Interactive features such as polls for a more engaging experience
  • Free plans available for basic features
  • Learn more about Zoom

2. Google Meet

Google Meet is a brand new video conferencing platform by Google which replaces their Hangouts Meet platform.

Google Meet online video meeting software

  • Video conferences for up to 250 participants
  • Free plans available for conferences with up to 100 participants (starting offer: conferences can last up to 24 hours until September 30th, 2020!)
  • Personalised plans with advanced features and livestream capabilities available for enterprises
  • Learn more about Google Meet

3. Adobe Connect

Adobe Connect is a standalone, advanced web conferencing software.

Adobe Connect web conferencing software

  • Great for training, online classrooms and tutorial-style webinars
  • Create custom layouts to help control what your audience sees and how they interact with your online event
  • Layouts are reusable and can be used again and again - great for maintaining consistency throughout multiple sessions (i.e. online training courses.)
  • Learn more about Adobe Connect

4. Cvent

Cvent is an event management platform for larger online events.

Cvent event management platform

  • Management options help event organizers process registration and attendees
  • Easy to integrate with other apps and programs (i.e. CRM systems and virtual meeting platforms)
  • Built in email marketing tools and HTML editor for custom email designs
  • Platform provides useful after-event analysis to help determine ROI and event insights
  • Learn more about Cvent

5. GoToMeeting by LogMeIn

GoToMeeting is a video meeting tool with dedicated add-ons for conferences and webinars.

GoToMeeting online video meeting platform

  • Video meetings for up to 250 participants
  • Includes GoToWebinar platform for managing live or pre-recorded online webinar events. After event analysis tools also available. (P.S. Learn more about webinar marketing here.)
  • Support for personalised channels to make your webinar content available on demand
  • Meeting transcription tools available in some plans
  • Learn more about GoToMeeting

6. vFairs

vFairs is a virtual events platform that allows users to plan and structure tailor made online events.

  • 3D virtual event environment for a realistic experience
  • Custom event landing pages and bespoke booths for your product
  • Add on tools for webinars plus e-commerce integration
  • After-event analysis and lead collection for networking
  • Learn more about vFairs

Using Mail Designer 365 to Prepare for Your Online Event

The build up to your online event is just as important as the event itself. During this time, you need to successfully promote your event among your target audience and ensure you have as many sign ups as possible.

The best way to generate attention around your online event is with email marketing. A solid email strategy helps you sell your event to invitees and allows you to follow up with potential leads once the event is over.

Mail Designer 365 has all the creative tools you need to build impressive an email invitation for your online event, as well as reminder emails and follow up campaigns. Check out this post to find out more about email strategy for online events.

Zoom meeting announcement email made in Mail Designer 365

Use this Mail Designer 365 email template to announce a webinar, Zoom meeting, conference, or any other online business event.

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Get started with Mail Designer 365 today

Start your 7 day free trial and use your Mac to create stylish email newsletters for your business.
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How to create an email strategy to promote your webinar

Email Marketing Strategy for Webinars: How to Use Email to Promote Your Webinar

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

For B2B organizations, a well-executed webinar is often a great way to generate more leads. However, in order to ensure your webinar is a success, you first need to promote it effectively amongst your target audience. Coming up with a solid email marketing strategy for webinars is one way you can achieve this.

In this guide, you'll find useful tips on developing an effective email marketing strategy you can use to guarantee your webinar is a success.

Jump through this guide:

Getting Started with Webinars

What is a webinar?

A webinar is an online meeting or seminar where participants are invited to discuss a range of topics within a certain field. Usually, the webinar is lead by an expert or group of experts in that field who will present information and answer any questions. The size of a webinar can range from just a handful of people to hundreds of attendees.

Especially in B2B, webinars are also often used as a way to introduce a product or service to potential new leads by means of a tutorial or case study.

Following along with a webinar

Benefits of hosting a webinar

Hosting a webinar gives you the chance to demonstrate your expertise in your field. It is a unique form of content marketing which, when executed correctly, helps establish you as an authority figure to your audience and creates a sense of trust. For example, the team at Really Good Emails upload weekly videos about email design which clearly establishes them as a leading authority in that field.

Here are some more great benefits of hosting a webinar:

  • Lead generation opportunity - Participants signing up for a webinar are great potential leads whose data can help you in future campaigns.
  • Advertising - A webinar is a clever way to promote your product or service to a new audience by showcasing its potential in unique ways. Case studies, live demos, and follow along tutorials are just a few examples.
  • Make your business relatable - Hosting a webinar helps both existing customers and new leads put a friendly face to your business. This works wonders for your relationships with customers.
  • Get to know your audience - One of the hardest aspects of marketing is finding out what your target audience wants. In a webinar, viewers can submit questions and feedback which gives you an insight into their needs and helps you optimize your product or service accordingly.
  • Affordable - A webinar offers many of the same advantages as a physical event but comes without the added costs (i.e. venue hire, travel, food & drink.)
  • Flexible - Your webinar can take place whenever you like, wherever you like. Geographic restrictions don't apply.

Email Marketing Strategy for Webinars

Once you've taken the first steps in deciding you want to host a webinar, you now need to make sure it's a success. Here is our 3 step email marketing strategy for promoting your webinar.

Step one: Email Marketing Strategy in the Build Up to the Webinar

In the weeks building up to your webinar, the focus is on promoting it to the right audience and ensuring you get as many sign ups as possible.

Identifying your target audience

The first step in creating an email marketing strategy for your webinar is identifying your target audience. This will allow you to segment your email list accordingly, and choose the appropriate tone for your email.

Think about the content of your webinar and who will find it most relevant. This will become your target audience. For example, if your webinar is an introductory walkthrough of your product, you will most likely want to consider new sign ups or demo users as a target audience.

Make your invitation a teaser email for the webinar

Once you've identified the segment of your email list you want to target, you can start designing the email invitation. We like to know what we're getting into, so the element of surprise is not desirable here.

In the initial announcement email, be sure to include a preview of the key topics your webinar will be covering. This will help get recipients hyped up for the event and also helps your recipients assess whether the webinar is relevant to them. Whatever the aim of your webinar is, you only want participants who are genuinely interested, as they are more likely to engage.

Webinar invitation email by Teachable

This email by Teachable makes sure those invited know exactly what is being covered in the webinar.

Helpful hint: Using your subject line to convey the main topic of your webinar is a great way to capture readers' attention from the first point of contact with the email.

Make the sign up process easy and straightforward

The best way to encourage more sign ups is through a clear and effective CTA (call-to-action) button. If your recipient has read your email invite and still can't figure out how to register for the event, something has definitely gone wrong.

As a general rule of thumb, your CTA button should...

  • Stand out against the rest of your email,
  • Display a simple and direct command (e.g. "register here", "secure your place"),
  • Lead to a sensible target link (i.e a dedicated landing page or registration form).
Webinar invitation by Litmus

Not only do Litmus choose a striking color for their CTA button, the text is also short and snappy.

Be sure to include all of these characteristics in your email invitation to improve your chances of a high sign up rate.

Time your invitations right

Sending out the invitations to your webinar at the right time is key and bad timing can often lead to you missing out on a huge chunk of potential leads. If you send out an announcement last minute, many of your target audience will already have plans in place - especially if you are targeting busy business users. For this reason, it's important you give invitees plenty of notice for your webinar.

On the other hand, sending out an invitation too far in advance is also not recommended. This not only increases the chance of customers forgetting about your webinar, but could also deter others from signing up if they don't know how their schedule will look that far in the future.

We recommend you send out your first email a few weeks in advance to give attendees the chance to pencil you in to their calendar. Don't forget to also create a calendar event for the webinar and link to this in your email.

Step two: Email Marketing Strategy just before the Webinar

A few days before your webinar takes place, you need to make sure everything is in order. This involves reminder emails, last minute checks and providing key information.

Send out reminder emails with key information

Many of us have super busy schedules and it's natural for things to slip our minds. For this reason, it's important to make the experience as straightforward and accessible as possible. The last thing you want is for previously interested leads to not take part on the day because they forgot about the webinar, can't find the email invitation, or are missing relevant information. You need to be on the ball.

Take the time to send out a reminder email a day or so before the webinar to finalise all the important details participants need to know in order to be prepared. This includes key information such as:

  • The link to join the webinar
  • The date and time it's taking place (remember to think about time zones if you are targeting people in different states/countries)
  • How long it will last
  • What the format is (e.g. Q&A, case study, presentation)
Webinar email by Asana

This email contains all the key info about the webinar which helps attendees get prepared.

With this information all at hand in one helpful email, your participants can look forward to the webinar whilst also feeling sufficiently prepared.

Chase up lost leads and target last minute opt ins

In some cases, your original invitation email may have gone unread, or the recipient may have forgotten to act. To ensure you don't miss out on any potential sign ups, it's also a good idea to chase up any lost leads you may have by sending a secondary invitation email.

Split your original list segment up into leads who signed up and leads who did not. Then, send those who aren't already signed up another email encouraging them to register for your webinar.

Try using time-sensitive language such as "last chance" or "only x hours left" to really emphasise the importance of signing up and generate a sense of urgency. You could also create a sense of urgency for your webinar by implying a shortage of spaces. This plays on the recipient's 'fear of missing out' and may be the final push they need to sign up.

Step three: Email Marketing Strategy after the Webinar

Your webinar has taken place and everything went well. However, the after-event follow up is still a key part of any good email marketing strategy for webinars.

Send out a follow up email with a clear CTA

Now that your webinar is over, you need to make sure you meet your original goal. No matter how many took part, in the end, it's their actions that really count. Be prompt and send out a friendly follow up email shortly after the webinar has finished to target your leads while the content from your webinar is still fresh in their minds.

In this follow up email, be sure to thank participants for joining in with the webinar before leading on to your main call-to-action. For example, if this was a demo of your product, now is the chance to encourage customers to buy. If the webinar was purely informative, pointing new leads to sign up to your email newsletter or follow you on social media is also a proactive way of expanding your audience.

Finally, you should also include the chance for participants to provide you with feedback. This could be feedback to their general experience with your business, or targeted feedback about the webinar. Either way, you can use this to improve for next time!

Create an on demand video to send to customers

Sending a reflection email to share a recording of the webinar has many great benefits. Firstly, participants who tuned in live on the day can watch back and go over any key points they might have missed or want to play back. They also have the chance to share the content with coworkers or other potential new leads; simultaneously promoting your business via word of mouth.

Secondly, an on demand video can also be a good way for those who signed up but did not tune in (i.e. due to illness, lack of time, unforeseen circumstances, etc.) to catch up on what they missed and experience your content in a different way.

Lastly, you could also send this video to other segments of your mailing list in future, to help promote your webinars in general. By giving new users a taster of the great content you produce, you increase the chances of more people signing up next time.

Webinar email by Email on Acid

Email on Acid do a great job of promoting a past webinar by including a link at the end of this email newsletter.

Key Takeaways

Here are the 4 key emails you should be sending as part of the email marketing strategy for your webinar:

  1. The invitation email
  2. The reminder email
  3. The follow up email
  4. The reflection email

Designing an Email Series for Your Webinar

Mail Designer 365 has all the creative tools you need to design email templates to use as part of your webinar email marketing strategy. Here is an example of a webinar email invitation template now available in Mail Designer 365. Sign up free today to try it out for yourself!

Webinar email invitation made in Mail Designer 365

Webinar email invitation Design Idea - exclusively available in Mail Designer 365


You might also like:

How to Convert Keynote or PowerPoint Slides to Email - Our Quick Guide

Design Effective Onboarding Campaigns to Increase Customer Engagement

How to Get More Responses for Your Email Survey - 6 Easy Tips

Until next time,
Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Get started with Mail Designer 365 today

Start your 7 day free trial and use your Mac to create stylish email newsletters for your business.

No credit card required
OS X 10.11 - macOS Big Sur
Sending internal emails during the COVID-19 crisis

Sending Internal Emails During the Coronavirus Crisis

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

The ongoing coronavirus crisis makes the way you use internal emails to communicate with your team more important than ever. As well as providing colleagues with much needed support and guidance during these difficult times, it's also critical that you're able to keep spirits up and continue encouraging productive work.

As businesses all over the world are facing new working environments and constantly changing safety guidelines, your internal communication channels need to be effective. Here are some key pointers on sending internal emails to keep your team motivated and reassured during the coronavirus crisis.

Tips on Internal Emails During the Coronavirus Crisis

Create clear guidelines and reenforce them

Right now, the emphasis on health and safety is critical. Any business operating during these times will have safety guidelines in place to ensure the wellbeing of staff and customers alike.

Of course, as the situation changes, your safety guidelines will also need to be adjusted accordingly. Use your internal newsletter to let your staff know about the guidelines you have put in place and continue to reenforce these in every newsletter to emphasise their importance.

Internal newsletter built in Mail Designer 365

List and reenforce your business's key guidelines in each internal email newsletter.

If anything changes (e.g. mandatory face masks, new rules for lunch breaks, etc.), your internal newsletter should be the first place you communicate this. This helps prevent false information from spreading and keeps everyone on the same page.

Make sure communication is regular

When it comes to internal newsletters during the coronavirus crisis, consistency is key.

Compiling all of the most important information into a weekly or bi-monthly internal newsletter helps everyone stay up-to-date with the latest guidelines and shows your coworkers that you are committed to keeping up the channel of communication.

Sticking to a clear sending schedule also helps your staff know when to expect a newsletter and makes it less likely that important emails will go unread.

Use a clear layout to present key information

How your internal newsletter looks is just as important as what's inside it. If your newsletter layout is a mess, your colleagues will struggle to take in the information effectively and may not even finish reading.

As well as a healthy balance of text and images, you should also divide your email up into clear and concise sections with bold headlines. This helps anyone skim reading get to the most important information and also makes the whole thing much easier to read and process.

Tip: Lots of information to cover? Try using a different color for coronavirus updates. This will help coworkers in a rush to identify this information faster.

Internal email for coronavirus being designed in Mail Designer 365

Using a different color (e.g. red) for coronavirus updates helps your team identify this information faster.

Be reactive and keep up to date with current news

The situation is changing rapidly every day and most of us find ourselves frequently checking up on the latest coronavirus news. Whilst doing this, it's also human nature to question how the latest developments will affect us.

To avoid confusion and speculation amongst colleagues, use your internal newsletter to react to any news that you know will directly impact your business. Some current examples could include:

  • Sick pay
  • Furlough leave
  • Work from home regulations
  • Mandatory masks in public spaces

Inform your colleagues about mask regulations or other important developments which could impact them.

The faster you react to this type of news and put a statement together for staff, the more reassured they will feel.

Use a survey to find out how coworkers are feeling

It's not just external news you should be responding to, but also the general feeling within your team. This is a worrying time for everyone and your colleagues will no doubt have a large amount of questions and concerns which they may want to air.

Use your internal emails to grant your colleagues the chance to tell you how they are feeling in regards to the coronavirus. One great way of facilitating this is via an online survey platform such as Google Forms or Survey Monkey.

Creating an anonymous team survey helps you get a general idea of how your team is feeling so that you can address their issues or problems directly. Anonymity will also encourage colleagues to be more honest without worrying about what others may think.

Create a short, anonymous feedback form to find out how your staff are feeling.

Tip: If possible, sharing the anonymous results of the survey in the next newsletter may also help reassure team members that they are not alone in their concerns.

Point out helpful resources 

Take advantage of your internal emails and use this communication channel as a way to also share useful resources with your team.

This could be anything from official government resources, to an inspiring blog post, or just handy life hacks to help them get through the crisis. Your team will be bound to appreciate this kind of information.

Sharing useful resources with your team is a great way to help them through the crisis.

Most importantly, you also need to let your coworkers know that help is available if they need it. Make sure to point out any relevant support systems your company has in place should anyone be feeling affected by the situation.

Provide a balanced mix of content

Lastly, in addition to all the serious content surrounding the coronavirus, it is also a good idea for you to include some lighthearted, happier news in your internal emails.

Content such as funny cartoons and memes, GIFs, positive internal announcements (e.g. birthdays, engagements, new babies, etc.), tried & tested recipes, or just general feel-good news stories are all great additions to your internal newsletter that will help keep spirits up within the team.

A funny GIF or meme will help to lift spirits.

Creating Internal Newsletters for the Coronavirus Crisis

Internal emails are an essential part of your business's internal communication channels - especially during difficult times. For more general tips on creating an internal newsletter, check out these resources:

How to Create an Interesting Company Newsletter that Your Employees Will Want to Read

Maintaining Your Internal Newsletters - Keep Co-Workers Engaged and Interested in Your Newsletter

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Get started with the Mail Designer 365 service today for free...

Mail Designer 365 helps you and your team create stylish, professional HTML emails.
Sign up free today to see what you can achieve.
Sign up
Best tools for small businesses

Best Small Business Tools to Help Your Business Survive the Coronavirus Crisis

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

Government guidelines put in place to help slow the spread of the coronavirus have meant many drastic changes for businesses and customers alike.

If you are one of thousands trying to keep your small business afloat during this difficult time, you're probably considering moving your business online.

This guide takes you through the first steps you'll need to take to transition from a brick & mortar store to a successful online business.

Below, you'll also find some great tools to help small businesses get set up online...

Jump to:

First Step: Let people know you're open for business!

1. Use email to reach out to your regular customers

First step: Let existing customers know that your business is still up and running and how you're adjusting to the new situation. Email is a great way to do this.

If you already have customer email addresses, send a quick update email explaining that your business is still operating and what customers need to do to place an order. You could include products right in the email, accept orders by a reply email… whatever it takes.

Small business email example for a bakery

This email was created using a ready-made template in Mail Designer 365.

Drag and drop email design tools like Mail Designer 365 allow you to quickly create a stylish email template to send to your customers. This simple step-by-step guide takes you through everything you need to build and send an email in just a few minutes.

2. Set up a Google my Business page

Creating a free Google My Business page is a great way of making your business visible online. Post all relevant information and updates (e.g. contact info, delivery information, etc.) so people can find you on Google or on Google Maps and can get in touch.

Google my Business as a small business solution for beginners

3. Broadcast your business locally

Many customers are unaware that they can still access your local businesses online. A number of local newspapers, radio stations and other media outlets in communities are trying to help local businesses by connecting them with customers.

Look up your local newspapers, Facebook pages, forums, community bulletin boards, etc. and see if there are similar initiatives in your area that will help you share your business with your community.

Next steps: Taking your business online

Once you've got the basics sorted, you can focus on the next steps to shift to a full scale online business.

1. Create a website

Creating a website allows both new and existing customers to find you and keep up to date with what you're doing during the crisis.

What to include on your website:

  • Information about your business and services you offer
  • How to place an order
  • Contact / availability information
  • Basic email sign up form

View tools for website design

2. Sell your products online

For many businesses, going online means also getting started with e-commerce. If you want to start selling your products online, you will need to find a suitable e-commerce platform.

View tools for e-commerce

3. Start sending email newsletters

After sending out your initial communication emails to let your customers know you're still around, you should consider utilising the email addresses you've collected over the previous steps and sending regular marketing emails to proactively promote your business.

View tools for email marketing

Best small business tools for getting online

Best small business tools for website design

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a really good all-in-one solution for businesses looking to get online fast. The service covers everything from hosting, domain names to website design and are also offering some useful resources to help small business get through these difficult times.GoDaddy as a small business tool for building websites

Wix

Wix offers a range of easy to use, professional website templates which you can adapt to suit your business. Free plans are available, as well as a range of paid plans offering different features depending on your business' needs.

Best small business tools for e-commerce

Shopify

Shopify is one of the biggest e-commerce tools on the market right now and offers small businesses everything they need to set up an online store for the first time.

Benefits include an e-commerce website, sales and inventory dashboard, online payment management and discounted shipping costs. Find out more about their plan options here.

Big Cartel

For those of you looking for something simpler, Big Cartel is another solid option suiting a wide range of businesses. With free plans available for up to 5 products, there is something for everyone. Create an online portfolio of your work for customers to browse through.

Etsy

Etsy is a great choice for smaller shops and independent sellers selling specialty or handmade items such as art, jewellery, made-to-order clothing, etc. Setting up an Etsy store is a great way to showcase your work to a wider audience and continue to sell online while your physical store is closed.

Check out all the resources and tools Etsy provides to support small businesses online here.

Etsy as a small business tool for independent sellers

Best small business tools for restaurants

As well as setting up a dedicated website for placing orders, restaurant owners can also benefit from signing up to a delivery platform.

In principle, all of the following tools offer the same service and help your restaurant reach more customers in the local area. Signing up allows you to advertise your takeaway menu on the respective platform and receive orders online.

Just Eat as a small business food delivery tool

Best small business tools for content creation

Patreon

Use Patreon to upload your exclusive content such as training videos, podcasts, online workshops, etc. to share with your audience. Subscribers pay a monthly fee which guarantees them access to all the content you upload.

Got a specialty skill? Your small business can also use Patreon as an extra source of income to allow your customers to take part in exclusive classes and events from the comfort of their own homes.

Instagram

Of course, you can also use tools like Instagram to also upload quality free content to share with your subscribers. With live streaming options also available, this is a great way to keep in touch with your audience and keep them engaged with your brand.

Instagram on a smartphone

Tip: Live stream workout or cooking classes to help create the community feel amongst your audience.

Tools for live webinars

Zoom

Businesses can use Zoom to live stream webinars, Q&As and similar content to your audience via YouTube or Facebook live. Although a slightly more expensive option, this is a great way for independent consultants or businesses offering professional training to continue supporting clients.

Best small business tools for email newsletters

Mail Designer 365

Thanks to the user friendly, drag & drop interface, even beginners can create a professional HTML email design from scratch in Mail Designer 365 - no coding skills required.

Looking for inspiration? With 100+ ready to send templates, built in web fonts, graphics and creative tools, plus easy export options, Mail Designer 365 is the best choice for building email newsletters on your Mac.Mail Designer 365 as a small business tool for email marketingSign up free today to try it out with no strings attached, or view our plan options here.

Tools to send email newsletters

Once you've built your newsletter, you need to find a way to share it with your customers. Here are some great email service providers (ESPs) which we can recommend:

Mailchimp

With free plans available for up to 2000 contacts, Mailchimp is a great solution for small businesses getting started with email marketing.

The best part? All templates created with Mail Designer 365 are 100% compatible with Mailchimp and you can export your designs directly from the app to send to your customers. (Learn more.)

SendinBlue

SendinBlue also offers free plans for unlimited contacts with a limit of 300 emails per day and is another solid solution for beginners. For more advanced marketing features, paid plans are also available.

Mail Designer 365 designs also work perfectly in SendinBlue. Here's how to export them.

For a complete list of ESPs compatible with Mail Designer 365, check out our export guides.

Sign up to Mail Designer 365 free today to bring your small business online.

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Get started with the Mail Designer 365 service today for free...

Mail Designer 365 helps you and your team create stylish, professional HTML emails.
Sign up free today to see what you can achieve.
Sign up
Beginner's guide to email design in Mail Designer 365

Beginner's Guide to Email Design in Mail Designer 365

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

Crisis has struck; calling for a massive change to your day to day operations. Email is the best way to to communicate these changes to your customers, but first you need to grasp the basics. Luckily, our beginner's guide to email makes this easier than ever.

In this guide, you'll find everything you need to know about using Mail Designer 365 to design and send your first email to communicate with your customers and keep them in the loop.

Note: To follow along with this guide, you first need to download the Mail Designer 365 app on to your Mac. Sign up here to test Mail Designer 365 for free.

Beginner's guide to email design

Choosing an email template

Mail Designer 365 has over 100 unique Design Ideas at your disposal. Select a ready-made template from the Design Chooser, or choose the blank template to create your own design from scratch.

Beginner's Guide: Mail Designer 365 Design Chooser

Choose a Design Idea from the Design Chooser to get started.

Adjusting the email layout

Now you've chosen a template, you can adjust the email layout to suit your business. Drag in extra layout blocks from the "Contents" menu and click the x to delete any blocks you don't want in your template.

Email copy: What to include?

Once your layout is sorted, you can get to work on your email copy. This is your main opportunity to get your message across to customers in your email.

Enter your text in a text block and use the text styling options to apply your chosen font, color, size, etc.

Here are some important things you may want to include in your copy:

  • Information about updated opening hours
  • Details of how to order
  • Information about unavailable services
  • Advertise new or adapted services
  • Email address
Inserting copy into your email design.

Use your email copy to convey the most important information to your customers.

Graphic elements

The main thing which distinguishes a HTML email from a standard plain text email is that your business can put its own personal touch on the design.

This could be anything from changing up the color scheme to product photos, or simply adding your logo so customers know it's from you.

Add your logo to the design to give it a more personal touch.

Finishing touches

In the initial stages, there is no need to overcomplicate your designs. The main thing is that you are getting your message out to customers while also incorporating some elements of your brand into the design.

To improve the functionality of your email, it is a good idea to add some links - i.e. so customers can place an order. A call-to-action button is a nice way to do this. This quick tutorial shows you how to create a button.

Tip: Instead of a web link, you can also create a mailto link. This instantly opens a new email so customers can send their orders directly to you if you don't have an online ordering system set up.

Adding a call to action button in Mail Designer 365

Add a call-to-action button so customers can place orders via email or online.

Subject line

With the inbox preview tool, you can also enter an eye-catching subject line and preview text to make sure your customers don't miss your email in their inbox:

Inbox preview tool in Mail Designer 365

Write a compelling subject line to capture customers' attention.

Preview your email

Before you send it to your customers, it's a good idea to use the Mail Designer 365 Testmail service to check everything is looking as it should. Click the airplane icon, select "Test" and enter your email address to receive a preview of the design.

Note: You will be asked to verify your email address during this process.

You can also use the device preview tool to see what your email looks like on mobile devices. If something looks out of place here, you can edit it directly in the smartphone view.

Mobile preview tools in Mail Designer 365

Preview your design on a mobile device before you send it.

Send your email

Once you're happy with your email design, you can go ahead and send it to your customers!

You can either send to customers directly from Mail Designer 365 using your own email address (please note this involves separately entering all customer email addresses) or, send via an ESP (email service provider) such as Mailchimp.

Here you can find a list of all of the ESPs which are compatible with Mail Designer 365 designs.

Email design made easy with Mail Designer 365

That was our beginner's guide to email design. Of course, there is a lot more to email marketing, but in terms of the basics, this guide has covered it all.

If you are interested in learning more about email marketing, be sure to check out the rest of our Newsletter Academy articles.

Here are a few more posts which you might also find relevant:

Best Small Business Tools to Help Your Business Survive the Coronavirus Crisis

Checkliste für E-Mail-Kampagnen: In 7 Schritten von der Idee zum Versand

Until next time,
Your Mail Designer 365 Team

Get started with the Mail Designer 365 service today for free...

Mail Designer 365 helps you and your team create stylish, professional HTML emails.
Sign up free today to see what you can achieve.
Sign up
Communication tips for remote teams

Email Marketing for Remote Teams - Tips and Advice

By Mail Designer 365 Newsletter Academy

With more and more of us now working from home, the need for successful teamwork is becoming greater than ever. Email marketing for remote teams can be a challenge - especially as effective communication plays such an important part in the planning and feedback process.

Luckily, working from home doesn't have to mean the end of your team's workflow. Here are some of our best tips to ensure your remote team can continue producing excellent email marketing campaigns.

Tips to ensure effective email marketing for remote teams

Set up a dedicated communication channel

Finding a place to brainstorm ideas for email campaigns is a great way to get started with your remote strategy. As opposed to in the office where you can quickly grab colleagues to chat about new ideas, when working from home it’s easy to feel sealed off from the rest of your team.

Tools like Slack allow users to create dedicated channels for specific topics. Setting up an “Email Marketing” channel gives you and your team a clear space to post new ideas, talk about ongoing campaigns and go over your strategy in a more informal manner.

Slack chat tool for remote teams

Use tools like Slack to create dedicated channels and communicate with your team.

Hold virtual email marketing meetings

When working remotely, regular face-to-face communication with your teamis more important than ever. Use tools like Skype or Zoom to hold virtual email marketing meetings and keep everyone up-to-date on the status of the next campaign.

As effective as chat services are, messages can easily get ignored whilst team members are working on other projects. Scheduling regular, dedicated meetings gives everyone the chance to discuss their ideas and clear up unanswered questions without distractions. It's also a great way to let the team catch up and see how everyone is getting on.

Using Zoom for a video call when working from home

Holding virtual email marketing meetings gives everyone in the team a chance to talk about the campaign.

Create a shared calendar for campaigns

Scheduling is another key part of the email marketing process and, for remote teams, it’s especially important that everyone knows what’s coming up.

Working from home is no reason to let the quality of your content slip. Creating a shared calendar for your scheduled and upcoming email campaigns keeps everyone on the same page and ensures that your team can continue to create effective email content, wherever you are.

Google calendar on a MacBook for remote work

Creating a shared calendar to schedule your email marketing campaigns helps the remote team work more productively together.

Resources like our 2020 campaign planner can easily be made using Google Sheets and shared with colleagues. Alternatively, check out Google Calendar, where you can create calendars to share online with your team members.

Simplify the feedback process - with Mail Designer 365 Approval

Whether office-based or remote, one of the most difficult parts of the email workflow is the feedback process. Being stuck in an endless feedback loop and sending drafts back and forth does nothing for your team’s productivity and can quickly become confusing for everyone involved.

Mail Designer 365 Approval is the perfect feedback solution for teams working together on email campaigns.

  1. Plan and coordinate your campaign idea with your team
  2. Build your email design with the Mail Designer 365 App for Mac
  3. Upload campaign drafts to Mail Designer 365 Approval and invite your team to comment, give feedback, and approve or decline
Mail Designer 365 Approval as an email marketing solution for remote teams

Mail Designer 365 Approval is an effective email marketing solution for remote teams working on campaigns together.

Following this simple workflow makes email marketing for remote teams easier and much more productive. Not got a Mail Designer 365 plan yet? Sign up free today to test out this workflow. All Mail Designer 365 plans come with Approval included!

Until next time,

Your Mail Designer 365 Team

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