Is it just me…or has email marketing gotten a lot more complicated? Evolving iOS policies, trends that change at the drop of the hat, and more details to pay attention to than ever. According to Earthweb, the average person gets upwards of 100 emails daily with an open rate between 20-40%.

Now is the time to take a hard look at your emails and see how you can break through the noise with quality content that converts (and looks good while it’s doing it).

Read on for email design hacks to engage and convert prospects.

Tip: Who, Me?

Have you ever overheard someone say your name in a public place? What happened? You probably started looking around to see who wanted to talk to you (or what stranger was bold enough to share your name). It has the same impact in email.

If your data is clean, personalize your email subject lines for the “Are you talking to me?” affect. The better your data is, the more advanced you can get with this technique. You can personalize landing pages with prospect names, and even pull other key datapoints into the body of emails.   

Examples from my inbox:

• Nice to meet you Amanda

• Amanda—following up

• Sorry to bug you Amanda

• Quick question Amanda

This tactic is especially effective when the “from” address on the email is from an individual instead of a company. These can take your sales sequences to the next level!

Tip: Lead the Eye, Or Just…Simplify

We’re all super busy and it’s easy to get distracted, that concept extends to email. Pay attention to the composition of your email to direct the viewer to where you want them to go next. Even better…make your email short and simple enough that there is nothing distracting there. Here’s a few of our favorite simple and eye-leading emails:

Tip: Get Personal

Consumers are more likely to purchase or do business with an organization if they feel like the organization knows them as a person. That’s right, being personal goes beyond knowing your prospect’s name—it extends to understanding them based on behavior. Salesforce states that 84% of people like to be treated like an individual.

Here’s a few emails that nailed it (they knew what I was looking at and showed up in my inbox at just the right time):

Tip: Work and Culture are Not Binary, Life is Life

You’re scrolling through your work email, burdened by the crush of boring B2B message. They’re all the same. They’re all…blah. You try really hard to read one but it’d shamelessly trying to sell you something, adding no value to your day, and not aligning your pain to the problem the product solves.

Spoiler alert—nobody wants to read this. People are just…people. If you bore people with your email, they will skip over it in a Flash. Add value, add entertainment, add content that YOU enjoy. Check out a few emails that caught our attention: 

Tip: Don’t just say “Click Here”

Who doesn’t get hungry for a more inventive CTA, or maybe some tasty rewards? There’s a Jimmy John’s a block away from our office…and they know that we love them. Who could resist the giant “order now” button? We also receive these emails just before lunch…we won’t tell you how many times we’ve abandoned our brown bagged lunches for this temptation.

Use CTAs that are descriptive of the value to the prospect like “order now”, “learn more”, “download”, “watch”, etc.

Other “Just Because” Inspiration:

Awesome footer inspiration:

Hilarious and relatable:

Stay tuned for more monthly inspiration! Thanks for reading!