Factors You Need To Consider While Doing An Email Template Audit
Email Template Audit
Email Template Audit: If done right, email audits are gold mines that help you make the most out of your marketing efforts. Every business should conduct an email template audit at least once a year to see if they are on the right track. At times, little flaws turn out to be bottlenecks holding back conversions. Even a single error could disinterest your subscribers as they have to scan through 126 emails every day.
It also helps improve your email marketing strategy, and thus, it is worth the time and effort. Based on my experience at a full service email marketing agency, I have curated a quick checklist for our broad reader base. So without wasting time, let us get started with the ins and outs of conducting an email template audit:
What Is An Email Template Audit And Why You Need One
In simple words, an email template audit is an in-depth analysis of your email templates, including the technical, creative, and strategic parts. Its purpose is to see if your email templates are in line with your email marketing strategy and business strategy at large. The generated insights help marketers improve and pivot the email template building process for better results.
In the absence of email template audits, you may not be able to find out the reasons behind low engagement, ROI, and other important metrics. On top of that, you may also miss on revenue maximization opportunities where you only need to guide your email developers to make minor tweaks.
Now that you know the basics of email template audit and its necessity, let us learn about the important factors involved:
#1 Email Structure And Visual Hierarchy
You should ensure that your email template structure is divided into blocks as it aids in providing a better visual experience. Also, it simplifies coding and promotes interoperability. However, one of its greatest advantages is that you can integrate API with your email template code to deliver interactive features using specific content blocks. Also, you should check if your email templates follow visual hierarchy patterns such as the inverted triangle, the F pattern, or the zig-zag pattern for ease of reading.
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#2 Email Copy
When considering email copy, it is important that you check it for upholding the values you believe in as a business and how it engages readers. This also includes consistency in tone and compliance with your brand language. Also, you would want to check it for any blacklisted words that email clients don’t want you to send to their users. This could be impacting your delivery rates significantly, so update your brand guide in case you come across one. You will also want to see if your email copies are in line with your sender intent.
#3 In-Mail Images
Image optimization is one of the areas which should be your top priority when considering an email template for quality. The image size must not exceed 100 KBs in order to ensure the best email deliverability. Also, they should reflect your brand and follow accessibility and inclusivity best practices. Check if your images are in sync with the local cultures and if they add value to the overall message.
#4 CTA Buttons
Another important factor that impacts email templates is your CTA button because all your efforts are centered on getting the ‘click.’ Ensure that it is at least 44*44 px in order to keep your email mobile-friendly as we tap on the smartphone screen as opposed to clicking in the case of computers. You may also want to check the URL structure, as most people like to scan through the outbound link text before clicking on the CTA button.
#5 Brand Elements
Your logo, fonts, tag lines, and color palettes are among the most important brand elements that you should take care of. Check if they are consistent across all templates, as even a minor change might lead to mistrust and eventual loss of engagement. It is necessary that you check your messages for adherence to your brand toolkit.
#6 Footer Compliance
Now, this is one of the areas that your email template audit must cover- footer compliance. The last block of your email template should include an unsubscribe link and a privacy policy statement telling your readers about ‘Why am I receiving this email?’ This is required by various legislations, including the CAN-SPAM Act.
#7 Renderability
It is essential that you test your emails’ renderability across all email clients and their versions, device types, and OS combinations. This is to ensure that your HTML code doesn’t render in a skewed fashion, thereby negatively impacting your engagement rates. While it is always advisable to run renderability tests by actually sending emails to different devices with all email clients and OS combinations, you can also use tools like EmailOnAcid.
Summing Up
When considering an email template audit at our full service email marketing agency, these are the top seven factors we consider for every brand. However, it is necessary for you to take industry-specific factors into cognizance as well as your brand policies.
Most people stick with one type of email font while many use multiple of them- thereby diluting the general guidelines. So when you conduct your email template audit, use these factors as the base and give them weightage in accordance with your broader outreach strategy.
