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3 Email Design Trends for Content Marketers To Use in 2022

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3 Email Design Trends for Content Marketers To Use in 2022

Marketers expect another busy year with customers taking center stage. So naturally, email remains a primary engagement tool in their arsenal. But given 40% of marketers have reported budget cuts to their email strategy during the pandemic, it will be no easy feat.

This is precisely why an impeccable email design will contribute to a winning email engagement strategy in 2022. So, let’s check out three design trends that will rule this year.

1. Minimalistic email design

With inbox information overload, simple design strategies will rule the roost. Minimalistic emails work because they promise a sharp focus on the core communication task.

They don’t frustrate readers with cluttered messages. These simple designs provide clear, crisp copy that your audience can easily read – making them more likely to take an action, such as converting to a subscriber, making a purchase, etc.

Minimalistic #email designs don’t frustrate readers with cluttered messages, says @imkevin_monk via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

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Here’s why minimalistic email design works:

  • Ensures the message is not lost in a gazillion distractions. Communicate one or two essential action items for best results.
  • Intelligently intrigues an audience constantly barraged with too much information in their lives.
  • Captures attention and communicates quickly and clearly.
  • Allows readers to quickly peruse the email. No one wants to read through convoluted messaging that takes time to understand, especially on mobile devices.
  • Provides a more comfortable brand experience than loud designs that may feel overwhelming.
  • Forces content marketers to focus on two to three key message elements necessary for readers to take action.

Some best practices for minimalistic email designs include:

  • Use a strong headline that acts as a hook.
  • Don’t use (or use sparingly) jargon or industry vernacular.
  • Make scannable content, particularly the call-to-action (CTA) buttons, and links.
  • Use colors wisely, lean on brand colors instead of standalone or contrasting color schemes.
  • Use negative space.
  • Create a visual hierarchy that is easy to follow and digest.
  • Use icons instead of text.

Let’s look at this email from G2, the peer-to-peer review company. Notice how it follows a minimalistic design philosophy. The negative space makes the email easy on the eyes and the design makes the information easier to digest.

Negative space makes the #email easy on the eyes, says @imkevin_monk via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

The CTA also is a simple button easily visible at the end of the email.

1642506917 56 3 Email Design Trends for Content Marketers To Use in

Image source

2. Dark mode email design

With the increased use of devices in dark mode, it is only natural that this trend makes its way to email design. Dark-mode emails are easy on the eyes, especially in low-light conditions. They also consume less battery power on the reader’s device since it doesn’t require backlighting.

With the increased use of devices in dark mode, it is only natural that this trend makes its way to #email design, says @imkevin_monk via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

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From a psychological perspective, dark mode can signal that the email is important. It is also a great way to keep distractions at bay and encourage the reader to focus on the email at hand.

Here are some tips to follow when creating a dark-mode email:

  • Designing your light-mode email first, then convert it to a dark-mode version. It’s important to maintain consistency across all devices.
  • Use dark text on an off-white background to create contrast between content and background.
  • Don’t use colors that are too bright or jarring as they will make the content difficult to read.
  • Avoid red elements on the black background as it can be challenging to read for people with eye issues such as astigmatism.

Design dark-mode #emails by starting with the light-mode first, says @imkevin_monk via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

Here is a great example of a dark mode email we sent at my company Email Uplers. I’ve included the light version to show how the color palette and design are the same. The content is easy to consume in both modes and the CTAs are prominent.

­­­­­1642506917 848 3 Email Design Trends for Content Marketers To Use in

Click to enlarge

­­­­­­­3. Micro-interaction email design

Designing emails with micro-interactions can boost engagement without putting the email load time under considerable stress. These tiny animations or interactions occur when the reader interacts with an element on the screen.

Micro-interactions can guide the reader through the email. They can also be used as a visual feedback mechanism. For example, when readers click a CTA button, it animates slightly to convey the action that occurred. This signal can prevent readers from dropping off or making errors.

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A micro-interaction fulfills three important functions:

  • Provides feedback when the reader triggers an action and communicates the status visually.
  • Helps readers navigate between pages or sections and see the results of their actions.
  • Enhances the sense of direct manipulation, which improves the reader experience.

Some best practices for micro-interactions in email designs include:

  • Use two to four micro-interactions in an email.
  • Include elements that cater to human emotions.
  • Minimize the load time and integration with server requests.
  • Ensure the micro-interactions are functional and contribute to the overall user experience.
  • Test micro-interactions under varying conditions to make sure they work as intended.
  • Keep every micro-interaction simple and consistent in an email or even across a campaign if possible.

Here is an on-point example from the men’s grooming company Harry’s. They created a simple and interactive quiz. Readers are asked to answer three simple questions by clicking on their preferred option. There are no wrong answers, and the quiz matches them to the most appropriate scent. That use of micro-interactions creates a remarkable way to engage the readers, and likely boost sales and customer experience at the same time.

1642506917 163 3 Email Design Trends for Content Marketers To Use inImage source

Looking forward

Email design evolves as new trends emerge. In 2022, it’s also vital to think about how your audience interacts with the content of your emails – what devices they use, how they scroll, and what elements they click. If you provide an engaging design, they are more likely to pick your brand’s emails more often than the many other emails from content marketers in their inbox.

Check out this infographic from Email Uplers that dives deeper and lists all the design trends that will dominate in 2022.                     6 Email Design Trends for 2022

Source: 6 Email Design Trends for 2022

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute




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How To Combine PR and Content Marketing Superpowers To Achieve Business Goals

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A figure pulls open a dress shirt to reveal the term PR on a Superman-like costume, reflecting the superpower resulting from combining content and PR.

A transformative shift is happening, and it’s not AI.

The aisle between public relations and content marketing is rapidly narrowing. If you’re smart about the convergence, you can forever enhance your brand’s storytelling.

The goals and roles of content marketing and PR overlap more and more. The job descriptions look awfully similar. Shrinking budgets and a shrewd eye for efficiency mean you and your PR pals could face the chopping block if you don’t streamline operations and deliver on the company’s goals (because marketing communications is always first to be axed, right?).

Yikes. Let’s take a big, deep breath. This is not a threat. It’s an opportunity.

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Reach across the aisle to PR and streamline content creation, improve distribution strategies, and get back to the heart of what you both are meant to do: Build strong relationships and tell impactful stories.

So, before you panic-post that open-to-work banner on LinkedIn, consider these tips from content marketing, PR, and journalism pros who’ve figured out how to thrive in an increasingly narrowing content ecosystem.

1. See journalists as your audience

Savvy pros know the ability to tell an impactful story — and support it with publish-ready collateral — grounds successful media relationships. And as a content marketer, your skills in storytelling and connecting with audiences, including journalists, naturally support your PR pals’ media outreach.

Strategic storytelling creates content focused on what the audience needs and wants. Sharing content on your blog or social media builds relationships with journalists who source those channels for story ideas, event updates, and subject matter experts.

“Embedding PR strategies in your content marketing pieces informs your audience and can easily be picked up by media,” says Alex Sanchez, chief experience officer at BeWell, New Mexico’s Health Insurance Marketplace. “We have seen reporters do this many times, pulling stories from our blogs and putting them in the nightly news — most of the time without even reaching out to us.”

Acacia James, weekend producer/morning associate producer at WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., says blogs and social media posts are helpful to her work. “If I see a story idea, and I see that they’re willing to share information, it’s easier to contact them — and we can also backlink their content. It’s huge for us to be able to use every avenue.” 

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Kirby Winn, manager of PR at ImpactLife, says reporters and assignment editors are key consumers of their content. “And I don’t mean a news release that just hit their inbox. They’re going to our blog and consuming our stories, just like any other audience member,” he says. “Our organization has put more focus into content marketing in the past few years — it supports a media pitch so well and highlights the stories we have to tell.”

Storytelling attracts earned media that might not pick up the generic news topic. “It’s one thing to pitch a general story about how we help consumers sign up for low-cost health insurance,” Alex says. “Now, imagine a single mom who just got a plan after years of thinking it was too expensive. She had a terrible car accident, and the $60,000 ER bill that would have ruined her financially was covered. Now that’s a story journalists will want to cover, and that will be relatable to their audience and ours.” 

2. Learn the media outlet’s audience

Seventy-three percent of reporters say one-fourth or less of the stories pitched are relevant to their audiences, according to Cision’s 2023 State of the Media Report (registration required).

PR pros are known for building relationships with journalists, while content marketers thrive in building communities around content. Merge these best practices to build desirable content that works for your target audience and the media’s audiences simultaneously.

WTOP’s Acacia James says sources who show they’re ready to share helpful, relevant content often win pitches for coverage. “In radio, we do a lot of research on who is listening to us, and we’re focused on a prototype called ‘Mike and Jen’ — normal, everyday people in Generation X … So when we get press releases and pitches, we ask, ‘How interested will Mike and Jen be in this story?’” 

3. Deliver the full content package (and make journalists’ jobs easier)

Cranking out content to their media outlet’s standards has never been tougher for journalists. Newsrooms are significantly understaffed, and anything you can do to make their lives easier will be appreciated and potentially rewarded with coverage. Content marketers are built to think about all the elements to tell the story through multiple mediums and channels.

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“Today’s content marketing pretty much provides a package to the media outlet,” says So Young Pak, director of media relations at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “PR is doing a lot of storytelling work in advance of media publication. We (and content marketing) work together to provide the elements to go with each story — photos, subject matter experts, patients, videos, and data points, if needed.”   

At WTOP, the successful content package includes audio. “As a radio station, we are focused on high-quality sound,” Acacia James says. “Savvy sources know to record and send us voice memos, and then we pull cuts from the audio … You will naturally want to do someone a favor if they did you one — like providing helpful soundbites, audio, and newsworthy stories.”  

While production value matters to some media, you shouldn’t stress about it. “In the past decade, how we work with reporters has changed. Back in the day, if they couldn’t be there in person, they weren’t going to interview your expert,” says Jason Carlton, an accredited PR professional and manager of marketing and communications at Intermountain Health. “During COVID, we had to switch to virtual interviewing. Now, many journalists are OK with running a Teams or Zoom interview they’ve done with an expert on the news.”

BeWell’s Alex Sanchez agrees. “I’ve heard old school PR folks cringe at the idea of putting up a Zoom video instead of getting traditional video interviews. It doesn’t really matter to consumers. Focus on the story, on the timeliness, and the relevance. Consumers want authenticity, not super stylized, stiff content.”

4. Unite great minds to maximize efficiency

Everyone needs to set aside the debate about which team — PR or content marketing — gets credit for the resulting media coverage.

At MedStar Washington Hospital Center, So Young and colleagues adopt a collaborative mindset on multichannel stories. “We can get the interview and gather information for all the different pieces — blog, audio, video, press release, internal newsletter, or magazine. That way, we’re not trying to figure things out individually, and the subject matter experts only have to have that conversation once,” she says.

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Regular, cross-team meetings are essential to understand the best channels for reaching key audiences, including the media. A story that began life as a press release might reap SEO and earned media gold if it’s strategized as a blog, video, and media pitch.

“At Intermountain Health, we have individual teams for media relations, marketing, social media, and hospital communications. That setup works well because it allows us to bring in the people who are the given experts in those areas,” says Intermountain’s Jason Carlton. “Together, we decide if a story is best for the blog, a media pitch, or a mix of channels — that way, we avoid duplicating work and the risk of diluting the story’s impact.”

5. Measure what matters

Cutting through the noise to earn media mentions requires keen attention to metrics. Since content marketing and PR metrics overlap, synthesizing the data in your team meetings can save time while streamlining your storytelling efforts.

“For content marketers, using analytical tools such as GA4 can help measure the effectiveness of their content campaigns and landing pages to determine meaningful KPIs such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, lead generation, and conversion rates,” says John Martino, director of digital marketing for Visiting Angels. “PR teams can use media coverage and social interactions to assess user engagement and brand awareness. A unified and omnichannel approach can help both teams demonstrate their value in enhancing brand visibility, engagement, and overall business success.”

To track your shared goals, launch a shared dashboard that helps tell the combined “story of your stories” to internal and executive teams. Among the metrics to monitor:

  • Page views: Obviously, this queen of metrics continues to be important across PR and content marketing. Take your analysis to the next level by evaluating which niche audiences are contributing to these views to further hone your storytelling targets, including media outlets.
  • Earned media mentions: Through a media tracker service or good old Google Alerts, you can tally the echo of your content marketing and PR. Look at your site’s referral traffic report to identify media outlets that send traffic to your blog or other web pages.
  • Organic search queries: Dive into your analytics platform to surface organic search queries that lead to visitors. Build from those questions to develop stories that further resonate with your audience and your targeted media.
  • On-page actions: When visitors show up on your content, what are they doing? What do they click? Where do they go next? Building next-step pathways is your bread and butter in content marketing — and PR can use them as a natural pipeline for media to pick up more stories, angles, and quotes.

But perhaps the biggest metric to track is team satisfaction. Who on the collaborative team had the most fun writing blogs, producing videos, or calling the news stations? Lean into the natural skills and passions of your team members to distribute work properly, maximize the team output, and improve relationships with the media, your audience, and internal teams.

“It’s really trying to understand the problem to solve — the needle to move — and determining a plan that will help them achieve their goal,” Jason says. “If you don’t have those measurable objectives, you’re not going to know whether you made a difference.”

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Don’t fear the merger

Whether you deliberately work together or not, content marketing and public relations are tied together. ImpactLife’s Kirby Winn explains, “As soon as we begin to talk about (ourselves) to a reporter who doesn’t know us, they are certainly going to check out our stories.”

But consciously uniting PR and content marketing will ease the challenges you both face. Working together allows you to save time, eliminate duplicate work, and gain free time to tell more stories and drive them into impactful media placements.

Register to attend Content Marketing World in San Diego. Use the code BLOG100 to save $100. Can’t attend in person this year? Check out the Digital Pass for access to on-demand session recordings from the live event through the end of the year.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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Trends in Content Localization – Moz

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Trends in Content Localization - Moz

Multinational fast food chains are one of the best-known examples of recognizing that product menus may sometimes have to change significantly to serve distinct audiences. The above video is just a short run-through of the same business selling smokehouse burgers, kofta, paneer, and rice bowls in an effort to appeal to people in a variety of places. I can’t personally judge the validity of these representations, but what I can see is that, in such cases, you don’t merely localize your content but the products on which your content is founded.

Sometimes, even the branding of businesses is different around the world; what we call Burger King in America is Hungry Jack’s in Australia, Lays potato chips here are Sabritas in Mexico, and DiGiorno frozen pizza is familiar in the US, but Canada knows it as Delissio.

Tales of product tailoring failures often become famous, likely because some of them may seem humorous from a distance, but cultural sensitivity should always be taken seriously. If a brand you are marketing is on its way to becoming a large global seller, the best insurance against reputation damage and revenue loss as a result of cultural insensitivity is to employ regional and cultural experts whose first-hand and lived experiences can steward the organization in acting with awareness and respect.

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

AI and startups? It just makes sense.

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