Design, build and deploy emails that delight your audience

It can vary hugely! Typically, the most common errors are spelling mistakes, broken links, errors in a subject line or personalised content not working correctly. When you have a pair of external eyes looking at your campaigns, with an industry leading ‘pre-flight’ check list, these errors are easy to spot and quick to rectify.

We’ve been working at the forefront of email marketing since 2003. In that time, trust us when we say we’ve seen it all! We follow a strict process when sending out emails, so if something does go wrong, we can identify how it happened and then put something in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Because our processes have evolved since 2003, they are both thorough and robust.

Templates are great but they offer a ‘one size fits all’ approach which, if you’re a brand that wants to stand out from the crowd, can be limiting. Tried and tested designs can be effective but if you really want to stand out then you have to push boundaries and give your subscribers something they haven’t seen before. You have a limited time to grab – and hold – their attention. Bespoke design that is aligned with your brand and your other marketing channels is a great way to do this.

Great design can take years to perfect and it’s changing all the time. Keeping on top of it is tough. That’s why it pays to bring in the experts. At Jarrang, we’ve been designing emails since 2003 and we can do things others can’t. We push boundaries, give you continuity across all your marketing channels, and build bespoke emails crafted specifically for your brand.

We all know that badly designed email campaigns that aren’t ‘on brand’ can significantly erode credibility and trust in your brand. If they aren’t consistent with the aesthetic of your website and social platforms then they can undermine what you’re trying to achieve. Remember, when people open your email campaigns it’s a one-on-one experience between you and them – whether your campaign is going to 10,000 or 1,000,000 subscribers. So give them the kind of positive experience they’ll remember.

22% of the UK population had a disability in 2021. That’s 22% of the population that may not have the best experience with your emails if they are not accessible. Accessible email marketing will create great experiences for all, which leads to increased customer lifetime value and revenue.

The first port of call to improve deliverability is email authentication – this is a ‘digital handshake’ between the sender (you) and the receiving mail server (your customers) to confirm you are who you say you are.

Put simply, authentication improves the likelihood that legitimate emails will reach the intended recipient. It reduces the likelihood of spam, spoofing, and phishing attacks, chiefly by preventing spammers sending emails pretending to be someone else and it prevents your email marketing campaigns being blocked by email providers like Outlook and Google.

Although it might seem complicated, it’s actually a relatively straightforward process.The mail server receiving your email will look for your SPF record and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) token, and if all is in order, it will let it through to the inbox. If these records don’t exist, then there’s an increased chance your email campaign will go straight into the junk folder or won’t be delivered at all.

Find out more about email authentication here.

It’s worth remembering that, providing your email platform is all set up correctly from a technical perspective, delivery into the inbox is primarily based on reputation. 

Each email inbox provider uses several different sources of information, including the past behaviour of readers to your sends to define a reputation score. From this the likelihood of being placed in the inbox is determined. Measurements mailbox providers account for, but are not visible to us as marketers, include: 

• Deleted without reading 
• Filing (i.e. saving to another folder) 
• Replying/forwarding 
• Adding to the address book 
• Retrieving emails from the junk folder 
• Moving emails to the junk folder 

After all, the mailbox provider’s priority is to their email account holders. So, creating relevant, engaging emails that the majority of your customers want to open and read, is vital in maintaining the overall reputation of your email and so the chance of reaching the inbox.

If you make it onto your subscribers’ whitelists you’ll greatly improve the chances of your emails avoiding the spam folder. In fact, getting your send address added to your subscriber’s contact list is one of the most effective methods to ensure future sends land in the inbox. This can be done as a subtle prompt in all emails, or as a more overt request as part of a welcome email or new customer journey.