In a time where email designers are continuously pushing the boundaries to build awesome email campaigns, creating emails that make a lasting impression can be a challenge.

For many designers, a WYSIWYG email editor is a great solution for easily creating great email content. Not only can you build and test email designs in real time, you'll also save a vast amount of time doing so!

In this guide, we're taking you through the ins and outs of drag and drop email design and sharing firsthand our best practice tips on using WYSIWYG editors effectively.

Jump to:

• • What is WYSIWYG?
  • Benefits of using a WYSIWYG editor
  • Key tips for creating emails with a WYSIWYG editor
  • Using the WYSIWYG editor in Mail Designer 365

What is WYSIWYG?

WYSIWYG (aka what you see is what you get) is a design tool used to build content, such as websites, and in our case, HTML email templates.

When using a WYSIWYG editor, your design will be updated in realtime as you edit, meaning you can check and preview your content as you go along.

Generally, WYSIWYG editors provide you with ready-made blocks and graphics to make the design process easier (e.g. the Mail Designer 365 content library) and making changes to your layout is done by dragging and dropping elements in to your design.

WYSIWYG email editors allow you to create entire HTML email designs by dragging and dropping in elements.

Benefits of Using a WYSIWYG Editor

When it comes to designing emails, a WYSIWYG editor has many great advantages - particularly if you are short on time or don't have a lot of experience with coding.

Even the most experienced designers know the frustration of having to continuously revisit email drafts in order to make minor changes. When working in a WYSIWYG editor, you have full control over what you are creating, down to every last pixel.

Change and edit email content with a few clicks, without having to worry about breaking the email code.

With drag and drop editing, what was previously a largely time consuming job can now be carried out quickly and with ease. This frees up your time to concentrate on other elements of your email marketing strategy.

You've got the design right - now you're free to spend more time crafting an effective subject line, optimizing your email copy, and segmenting your email list.

Due to its intuitive nature, using a WYSIWYG editor allows everyone on your team to carry out complex design techniques without coding knowledge. This way, everyone can become an email pro!

Most WYSIWYG editors provide you with a basic selection of ready-made graphics such as buttons and social media icons that you can conveniently place into your email templates. Especially if you don't have your own graphics available, this can be a real time saver.

Tips for Creating Emails with a WYSIWYG Editor

Although a WYSIWYG editor makes it much easier to create email templates, there are still some important things to be aware of if you opt to design emails this way.

Email size

Because it's so easy to create emails using a drag and drop interface, it's also easy to quickly get carried away when it comes to the amount of content you are adding.

Adding too many elements to your email design will cause the overall file to become too large when you come to send. This can result in slow loading speeds, cut off emails, or your email not being delivered at all.

As well as monitoring the amount of layout blocks in your email design, it's also best practice to optimize the images in your email in order to reduce the overall file size.

Optimize your email's images to ensure the overall size of the exported HTML file is not too big

For more information on this, check out our blog post.

Email compatibility

Compatibility is an important factor of any email design. There are many email clients out there and each one behaves differently. While there is no one size fits all fix, there are steps you can take to ensure your design looks good in all email clients.

One common issue that often arises when creating emails in a WYSIWYG editor is the wrong font being displayed in certain email clients. This usually happens when a font is not available on the recipient's device. Utilising text styles and email safe fallback fonts is an effective way of preventing this.

Defining text styles and adding fallback fonts helps to avoid compatibility issues in other email clients.

Email accessibility

Accessibility is important however you choose to create your email content. A design that looks good to you may be troublesome for your recipients to process. For this reason, it's important to put the right measures in place before sending.

One of the most important accessibility measures is the use of alt text. Not only is this important for when images can't be loaded properly, it also enables screen readers to describe images and other graphics to visually impaired recipients.

Alt text makes your design more accessible for visually impaired readers

Learn more about accessible emails in this post.

Email deliverability

Finally, one last thing to be aware of is spam testing and email deliverability. As well as not reaching your audience, having your emails marked as spam could result in you being blacklisted from certain email clients.

With HTML emails, we recommend taking these three key steps to prevent your email message being falsely identified as spam:

1. Include a mixture of real text and images. Image only emails are more likely to be marked as spam
2. Include a visible unsubscribe link in your email (this is a legal requirement)
3. Avoid using spam-like terms in your email subject line (e.g. "win", "free", "money", "$$$", etc.)

Unsubscribe links are a legal requirement for all promotional emails

This post goes into more detail about how to avoid being marked as spam.

Using the WYSIWYG Editor in Mail Designer 365

Looking for a drag and drop email tool for the Mac? Mail Designer 365 is the best WYSIWYG email editor for macOS.

Alongside a vast collection of ready-made email templates to help you get started, Mail Designer 365 also offers the following great features:

• Over 1000 possible layout combinations, including table layouts
• Integrated smartphone view for creating mobile responsive designs
• Modern preview tools for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and more
• Dedicated Testmail service
• Built in web-based Approval tools for easier teamwork (learn more)
• Direct export to Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and Direct Mail plus compatibility with all leading ESPs

Create mobile responsive designs in minutes with Mail Designer 365's WYSIWYG interface.

Planet Earth is our home and we owe her a lot! What better way to celebrate the world we live in than by creating powerful email content for Earth Day?

Whether you're planning an exciting promotion, sharing sustainability tips with subscribers or raising awareness about key environmental issues, you can use email to make this Earth Day really count.

In this post, we're sharing some of our favorite examples of Earth Day email campaigns, including some best practice tips on how to create your own email template for Earth Day.

Jump to:

• What is Earth Day?
• Tips for Earth Day emails
• Best email campaigns for Earth Day
• Creating an Earth Day email template in Mail Designer 365

What is Earth Day?

Earth Day is a large global movement, founded in 1970, to promote clean and sustainable living on our planet. It is celebrated worldwide each year on April 22nd.

The focus of Earth Day is on protecting the earth for future generations. This includes raising awareness about important topics such as: climate change, saving energy, wildlife conservation, cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions and reducing waste.

Today, more and more people are actively aiming to become more environmentally friendly. Earth Day provides businesses with a chance to not only raise awareness of topical issues, but also to demonstrate their role in working towards a better, more sustainable world.

Earth Day takes place every year on April 22nd and focuses on environmental conservation and sustainability

Best Practice Tips and Ideas for Earth Day Emails

If you're creating an Earth Day email campaign for the first time, you might be wondering where to begin. Follow these key tips to get started...

Craft an engaging subject line

The subject line is the first thing your readers will see and often determines whether or not they will open your email - especially in email providers like Gmail and Outlook, where promotional emails are kept separate.

For this reason, it's important you give it your all when it comes to crafting the subject line. Use keywords relating to Earth Day and try including topical emojis to add a pop of color (🌎💚🌲🌱).

Making your email subject as intriguing and interesting as possible helps guarantee your readers will click through to the rest of your campaign.

Write positive email copy

Earth Day is all about encouraging each other to take care of the planet and become more sustainable for future generations. For this reason, it's best practice to adopt a positive, motivational tone in your emails.

As well as general messages of encouragement, this could also include sharing tips and useful advice on how to become more sustainable, plus highlighting positive progress your business and customers have already achieved.

Include earthy tones in your design

Green, teal, blue and neutral tones are all great for an Earth Day email design. Typically, green is most associated with environmental issues, but including a combination of earthy tones is a great way to mix things up and make your design more visually effective.

Share powerful images

A picture speaks a thousand words. Whether it's images of your business actively contributing to conservation efforts, product photos of a new sustainable product line or powerful stock photos, the right image can make the world of difference to your email.

Check out websites such as Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay for access to high quality, license-free stock images to include in your designs. You can also use the image editing tools in Mail Designer 365 to give your images even more emphasis.

Use social media to your advantage

While email is one effective communication channel, you can also use your other social media platforms to continue the conversation online. Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc. are all great platforms for connecting with your customers which can be easily cross promoted in your email campaigns.

Make sure all of your emails contain links to your other social media pages and don't forget to use the #EarthDay hashtag for even more exposure.

Our Favorite Earth Day Email Campaigns

Discover email design inspiration for your Earth Day email campaigns from big name brands. Want more great examples? Check out our "Spring" Pinterest board for even more inspiring seasonal designs.

J Crew

Charitable Earth Day email campaign by J Crew

This powerful campaign by J Crew not only gives back to the Earth by supporting local national parks, it also shares practical tips with readers on how to shop sustainably.

Jurlique

"Earth Day every day" is the message in this campaign by Jurlique

In their Earth Day campaign, skincare brand Jurlique inform their customers about their efforts to operate sustainably. An eco-friendly free gift promotion also adds an extra element of flair to this email.

P.S. Love the headline effect created in this email? Use Blend Modes in Mail Designer 365 to recreate this cool, natural lettering in your Earth Day campaigns!

Lou & Grey

This pink design by Lou & Grey perfectly incorporates key brand elements into a seasonal promotion

This Earth Day email design by Lou & Grey is another good example of a themed giveaway promotion. Although it's not a typical design for the theme, we love how Lou & Grey have stayed true to their branding and were still able to spread awareness about this important event.

Adobe

Adobe used this email campaign to celebrate the beauty of planet earth with subscribers.

In this campaign by Adobe Stock, Adobe use powerful imagery to show the beauty of planet earth and promote their dedicated collection of natural images.

Pet Smart

Pet Smart created an email campaign highlighting their most eco-friendly products in honor of Earth Day.

This Earth Day email by Pet Smart showcases some of their top eco-friendly products for customers looking to buy sustainably. The cute dog graphic fits well with the theme and keeps the whole email lighthearted - making the subject matter easier to process and enjoy.

Leesa

Leesa proves their commitment to sustainability with this informative Earth Day campaign

We love the earthy colors and messaging in this Earth Day email by Leesa. In this campaign, they go the extra mile to show their customers how they are actively working to become more sustainable.

Sharing tips and advice with customers is also a great way for them to use their platform for good.

Create Awesome Earth Day Email Templates in Mail Designer 365

Mail Designer 365 has all the tools and resources you need to create powerful email campaigns this Earth Day. From ready-made HTML email templates to eye-catching sustainability graphics, you can build your next email template in minutes - with a little help from the intuitive drag & drop editor.

Share sustainability tips with this eye-catching email template: exclusively available in Mail Designer 365

Not got a Mail Designer 365 plan yet? Start your free trial today and start creating amazing email designs for Earth Day and all year round.

To say the first few months of this year have been strange would be a a rather large understatement; however, if one thing's certain, it's that the quality and creativity of email designs keeps on getting better.

Whether you're looking for email inspiration for your next campaign or just a general #EmailGeek like we are, you're in the right place!

In this roundup, we're covering our 10 favorite emails of 2021 so far, including seasonal campaigns, announcements, product launches, automated mailings, and more. Keep on reading to scroll through our favorite campaigns of the year and get exclusive tips on how to recreate these styles in your own emails!

10 Awesome Emails We Have Loved So Far in 2021

ASOS

When announcing their acquisition of Topshop, HIIT and Miss Selfridge, ASOS launched an exciting promotion, giving customers 25% off their latest brands.

The bright black and yellow color scheme paired with big, bold text immediately attracts attention and creates an email design that just has to be clicked on.

The yellow and black theme in this design by ASOS immediately draws the customer in

Make it in Mail Designer:

Mail Designer 365 has 1000s of license free web fonts available, as well as ready-made text objects to drag and drop into your design. Use these for call-to-action buttons, eye-catchers, and headlines:

Really Good Emails

Of course, email campaigns are not always sales and promotion based, as demonstrated here by Really Good Emails. We are all for brands using their platforms to do good and promote key values and that's exactly what can be seen in this statement.

A simple email header does enough to compliment the layout and show the RGE branding without taking away from the importance of the content.

For subscribers, emails such as this contribute positively towards the overall brand image and help improve the CSR (corporate social responsibility) of the company.

The message in this email by Really Good Emails shines through loud and clear and does a great job of showing the company's stance on an important issue

Make it in Mail Designer 365

Mail Designer 365 has a variety of email templates for company announcements and statements. Simply insert your logo and edit to share your important message with subscribers.

JUDY

Sharing positive reviews is one great way to generate more buzz around your products - as shown in this bright and colorful email design by JUDY.

We love the emphasis created by using a shape to frame the reviewer quote and the hot orange color scheme is also totally on brand. Including a CTA (call-to-action) right after a positive review is a great way of influencing customers to get their hands on a much-loved product.

This colorful design by JUDY promotes their emergency kits by including positive customer reviews

Make it in Mail Designer 365

Mail Designer 365  offers a range of shape tools which you can use to create similar eye-catchers in your designs. Whether you're showcasing a review, building CTA buttons or highlighting product features, you can configure shapes to perfectly fit the overall look and feel of your brand:

Bunches

Rule number one of a good gift guide: Include impressive product photos. The rest will come naturally!

This Easter gift guide email by Bunches is a great example of a seasonal promotion. Not only does it stick to the classic Easter color scheme, it also goes the extra mile to point out special details about the advertised products, encouraging the reader to purchase. Of course, the 10% discount also helps seal the deal too!

This warm and inviting gift-guide email by Bunches ticks all the boxes for a classic seasonal campaign with its classic spring coloring

Make it in Mail Designer 365

Proudly show off your best products center stage with an array of eye-catching layout options. Whether you're looking for a full-width feature image or smaller combi product blocks, Mail Designer 365 has dozens of practical layout options you can use in your designs to let your products steal the show:

Quizlet

We love businesses that also use their emails to share useful knowledge with customers - just like this email by Quizlet for Women's History Month.

The layout is clean and easy to read and helps the reader discover useful resources to read up on.

We love how this email by Quizlet goes all out to share useful, educational content about women's history with readers.

Canva

Sticking to the educational theme, this email by Canva is also an in-depth look at how to benefit from their service.

The topic of the email campaign is video creation and its clear structure allows users to process bitesize information and quickly learn more about the topic, without having to leave the email.

Thortful

This email by Thortful may not be winning any prizes for its basic design, but the sentiment behind it is deserving of praise and recognition.

Seasonal events like Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc. are huge in the marketing world but can be sensitive to some. By addressing customers in advance in a direct and considerate manner, Thortful are doing a great job of safeguarding them against any content which may not be appealing or relevant.

As well as this, they are also helping to ensure subscribers who do not wish to receive Mother's Day content will not unsubscribe from their list as a result of too many promotional emails.

Not only is the email personalised for each recipient, it also landed in the "Primary" folder in Gmail, making it hard to miss.

Emails like this aren't seen often but have a tremendous impact on the customer's overall experience with your brand

Nintendo

In this eye-catching promotion for the classic and beloved Mario Bros, Nintendo use bold colors and prominent CTAs to tempt recipients into making the most of the 35% off offer.

The star rating at the bottom of the email is also a great way of allowing subscribers to share their response to the email, giving them scope for further optimization in the future.

Bold colors, striking CTAs and fun promotional graphics make this sales email by Nintendo one of our favorites of the year

Make it in Mail Designer 365

Recreate these all-important star rating charts in Mail Designer 365 using the star shape tool. In a hurry? Find ready-made ratings graphics in the content sidebar:

Spotify

Spotify do a great job of segmenting their email list based on the music preferences of users. This allows them to create tailored content like this email promoting an exclusive London Grammar vinyl.

The engaging email copy, use of personal pronouns in the subject line ("London Grammar made you something special) and "thank you" message all work together to give the recipient the impression they are connecting directly with their favorite artists.

This email campaign by Spotify is a great example of personalisation and tailoring email content specifically for smaller target groups.

Buffy Inc

Email is a great tool to promote your other social media platforms, such as your Instagram account, and grow your following even more.

This email by Buffy Inc is a great example of how to promote your products and Instagram account at the same time. The real life product photos serve as informal customer testimonials which help influence your readers and reinforce trust in your products.

The social media CTA box rounds off the Instagram-themed email nicely and even encourages customers to share their own product photos: a win-win for the business!

Make it in Mail Designer 365

The Mail Designer 365 Contents library contains logos and icons for all leading social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Tumblr. This makes it easy to build up social media CTAs and promote your platforms in your emails:

Whether it's a virtual meeting, a webinar or a larger physical function, putting together a great business event takes a large amount of hard work and dedication. For this reason, when it comes to promoting your event, you need to have a good strategy in place to ensure all your hard work pays off.

Why should I use email to promote my business event?

Email is a great tool you can utilise as part of your overall event marketing strategy. In comparison to unsustainable flyers, fleeting social media posts, and expensive ads, sending a stylish HTML email is a cost effective way for you to advertise your company's next big event whilst also including all key information for stakeholders and invitees.

In this guide, we're sharing some key best practices with you that you should consider when working on emails to promote your next big event.

Email Marketing Best Practices for Business Events

Use clear branding

Generally, hosting an event is a way for your business to show its expertise in a certain area, as well as demonstrating professionalism and attracting potential new clients. For this reason, it's critical that your event emails are representative of your corporate identity.

When designing your initial announcement emails, be sure to tie in all your usual branding elements. On a visual level, this includes your logo, typeface, color scheme, email layout etc. However, it's also important that your email copy reflects the tone and standard of the copy used on your website and other marketing literature.

Creating a consistent brand image in your emails will only work in your favor, as both potential and existing clients will be more able to form a connection with you.

Although simple, this email perfectly matches the overall branding and style of F8.

Tip: Mail Designer 365 has all the tools you need to truly customise your email designs for your brand. With support for custom color schemes and over 1000 available web fonts (including easy import options for custom fonts), your emails will be truly reflective of your brand's core identity.

List all key details in the email

No matter the size of your event, the initial invitation / announcement email will be the main point of reference for your invitees.

Ensuring all the key event details are listed in one place is a good way for invitees to know exactly where and when your event is taking place, as well as other important information such as:

• How to register for the event / purchase tickets
• Online events: Where to access the webinar/livestream/meeting/etc.
• Equipment needed
• Travel and accommodation tips
• Contact information for support and questions

Clearly presenting this information in your email will make it much more useful and informative to the recipient.

Create an event agenda

One way to get invitees really excited for your event is by including an appealing event agenda in your email - this is particularly effective for bigger events like conferences, launch events or retreats.

Not only does this help registered attendees plan for the event and know what to expect, it's also a fantastic way of convincing those on the fence that your event isn't one to miss.

Zapier include a useful breakdown of what to expect in this webinar, including the estimated duration.

Tip: Using a bold table layout is a great way to clearly present an event agenda, as shown in this Event Agenda Design Idea -  exclusively available in Mail Designer 365:

Attach calendar event

Most leading calendar services allow users to export events as a practical ICS file that others can import into their own calendars. Attaching this file to your email is a great way to make it easier for invitees to keep track of your event.

Here's how to attach a calendar file or link to your Mail Designer 365 email.

Tip: Include a reminder with the event file to ensure invitees don't forget!

Share exciting content from past events

If your event is a recurring one (i.e. an annual conference or monthly webinar), you may want to consider sharing some highlights from previous years. This could include video snippets, presentations, or podcast recordings from successful events of the past.

Not only does this give those first-time invitees a sneak peek of the kind of thing that's in store, it also helps reinforce the value of your event to previous attendees by reminding them of how interesting and entertaining it was the last time!

Include social media cross promotion

Utilising social media is an effective way to generate a buzz around your event. For example, coming up with a dedicated event hashtag allows attendees, hosts and guest speakers to network before the event and also can help attract the attention of those who have not yet registered or purchased a ticket.

Use your event marketing emails to simultaneously promote your social media platforms and encourage guests to join the online conversation. This will also help you grow your social media following longer term!

Litmus do a great job of cross-promoting their Twitter account with a dedicated event hashtag.

Tip: Mail Designer 365 has all the resources you need to build eye-catching social media call-to-actions and direct readers to your Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Send out reminders

Even with an automated calendar invitation, sending out a final reminder email is a friendly way to give attendees all the last minute information they may require before the event.

If there were any final details missing from your previous emails (i.e. specific start times, last minute changes), this email is your chance to keep invitees informed and up to date.

CI Radar provide invitees with a really useful overview in this reminder email.

Be sure to include positive phrases such as "we are looking forward to seeing you there...", "can't wait to connect..." in order to generate more excitement around your event and also make guests feel reassured and welcomed.

Tip: Mail Designer 365 supports custom mailto, sms, and telephone links. Utilise these and add your contact information so invitees can easily get in touch. You can even add a pre-filled message and subject line to help your team keep track more easily.

Thank attendees after the event

Especially if events are a regular part of your business strategy - sending a warm thank you email to attendees is an important part of their overall experience with your organisation. A positive experience all round can also help ensure guests will return again for future events.

You can also use your thank you email as a way to gather feedback after the event has taken place. For example, including a simple star rating will give you a good idea of how satisfied guests were overall.

If you want to go one step further, you could even link out to a more detailed feedback form or survey - especially if there are particular elements of the event you wish to optimise. As an incentive for taking part in the feedback, you could create a giveaway or offer a discount or free gift. The more creative, the better!

Build Up Your Event Marketing Strategy with Mail Designer 365

We hope you will find these tips useful when planning the email marketing strategy for your next event.

Mail Designer 365 is an essential tool for creating stylish and functional emails for your business. As well as email templates for events, Mail Designer also offers a wide range of designs for dozens more use cases, including seasonal, sales, automated, and announcements. See all our HTML Design Ideas here!

Want to create your own design from scratch but don't have the time? Thanks to the intuitive drag & drop editor, Mail Designer 365 makes it easy to build flawless campaigns in no time. Try for free today and see what you can create for your business!