Ten Email Formats Every Business Should Know About

The next sections provide an overview of the ten most important email formats and how to maximize the potential of each format to generate the desired recipient reaction on your communications.

NEWSLETTER

This format typically has two columns (one narrow, one wide as shown in Figure 9.11). The narrow column is ideal for a table of contents along with either a very brief feature article and logos for newsletter sponsors. It is also a great place to include links to your newsletter archive and a forward to a friend link.
The wider column is where the primary content of your communication should reside. If your newsletter contains more than one topic, you should use section breaks, images, or line breaks to separate the content blocks. Each content block should include a link the reader can follow to learn more about the topic you covered in the content. Links can go to your web site, the web sites of others, to calendars of events, or initiate an email back to you so that you can follow up with additional information.

PROMOTION

This email format is all about making your audience feel special and getting them to your call to action as quickly as possible. Natural instinct is to pile a bunch of images into promotional campaigns highlighting a wide variety of products for sale. However, this is unnecessary. Highlighting one or two special items and providing a strong, time-limited offer will provide you with the best results. ...

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