5 Email Design Best Practices for 2023

When you have an important and time-sensitive message to send out, it’s easy to dismiss email design as a “nice-to-have” that isn’t worth the effort. But we easily forget that the medium is the message. In other words, design matters.

The objective of any email is to communicate a message and idea to the recipient. Your email design and layout help your content to be read and understood as you intended.?

Good email design will direct your employees’ attention to key parts of your message, help them scan the content easily, and improve the overall reading experience. The result: greater email engagement in the long run.?

With all the new design capabilities on offer in 2023, email design isn’t what it used to be 10, or even two years ago. There are dozens of tools and features to help make the design process more intuitive and the reader’s experience more enjoyable.?

Here are five essential email design best practices to help you make more striking and engaging email content in 2023:

HTML templates for improved efficiency

Internal communicators send dozens of emails a day, so any opportunity to save time can make a huge difference. That’s where HTML email templates become incredibly useful. Templates allow you to save and share email designs and layouts with your whole team and reuse them time and time again.?

In addition, HTML templates allow you to save interactive and multimedia content like pulse surveys , comment boxes, videos, and GIFs. You can simply customize the template to fit the goal of each new message while saving time and effort by keeping the same design.?

Templates also provide a consistent look and feel for all of your emails, which can reinforce your branding and help to build recognition with your audience.

Z-shaped and F-shaped patterns

There are many different ways of structuring the visual elements within an email to optimize the user's attention and engagement. However, the Z-shape and F-shape patterns have proven to be the best at getting employee attention and making information easy to digest.?

The Z-shape email layout is based on the way that the human eye typically moves when reading. This layout involves placing the most important content in the upper left corner of the email, where the eye is naturally drawn first, and then structuring the rest of the content in a diagonal pattern down to the bottom right corner.?

The F-shape pattern follows a diagonal layout. Here you place the most important information in the upper left corner of the email and then structure the rest of the content in a horizontal pattern across the top and then down the left-hand side.?

Both types of design layouts can be effective depending on the specific goals of the email and the preferences of the target audience.

Dynamic CTAs

Email call-to-action (CTA) buttons are a direct and visible prompt for employees to complete a desired action. A bold, on-brand, clickable CTA button encourages the user to take an action, such as checking out enrollment deadlines, signing up for employee training , or registering for an event.?

An HTML email builder can let you embed clear and prominent CTA buttons, so that users find it easy to take action, which can help you increase company event attendance, employee awareness about a new product launch , and boost overall employee engagement .?

Personalized content

Personalized employee emails address your team members by name to create a sense of connection and engagement. When employees feel individually recognized and valued, they are more likely to be motivated and committed to their work.?

Moreover, personalized messages are simply more engaging because employees get to feel that a message is directed toward them and their needs rather than just everyone and anyone.?

An internal email software with mail merge capabilities will allow you to place employee names both in the email subject line and header as well as anywhere else within your email copy. You can also boost personalization by tracking segmented email analytics to see how internal emails perform across different employee groups by location, title, and more.??

Images instead of text

Emails limit the amount of space to communicate your message. Subbing lengthy email copy with dynamic visuals like videos, GIFs, and photos improves email readability by breaking down text into digestible chunks. Not to mention, visuals are better at conveying mood and tone across your emails to help you reinforce your message and amplify its overall visual appeal.

Try Out the Latest Email Design Best Practices!

Your email design is the first thing employees notice and it sets the tone for your message. A well-designed email can make a positive first impression, not to mention increase the likelihood that recipients will engage with your content. By incorporating personalization, dynamic visuals, and CTAs into your emails while building on analytics, you can take your internal communications to the next level.?

Want more email design tips and tricks? Read our complete 2023 email design inspiration guide!?