ten inbox secrets; what eye tracking reveals about designing more effective emails

7/30/2019 Ten Inbox Secrets; What eye tracking reveals about designing more effective emails

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May2012

Ten InboxSec re t sWhateyet rackingrevea lsaboutde s ign ingmore ef fec t i ve ema i l s


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Contents

3

Abo ut Red C

Ten Inbox Secrets

First Impressions Count 4-5Creating enticing and effective opening screens

EmailAnatomyClass6-7Engagingdesignandstructuretechniques

DigitalSignposting8-9Converting browsing into action using navigation

Clickability10-11 TheroleofCTAdesigninincreasingclick-throughs

ContentKings 12-13Thekeyaddedvaluecontentthatdrivesparticipation

WordsThatPaint1,000Pictures 14-15 Whycopytrumpsimageryinasoundbyteenvironment

DigitalSalesmanship16-17 Optimisingproductpresentationtoclosemoresales

GraphicAssets18-19 Usinggraphicstoovercomeinertiaanddriveclicks

NoStoneUnturned 20-21 Winningincrementalclicksbyexploitingeveryopportunity

PeripheralVision 22-23 Theimportanceofrelativeproximityofdesignelements

Methodology 24

AdirectanddigitalmarketingcommunicationsagencybasedinSalfordQuays,Manchester,withsignicant

experienceofbothemailmarketingandeyetrackingresearch.Theagencyhasbeenconductingeyetracking

researchstudiesonmarketingmaterialforover15yearswithProfessorAlastairGaleandhisteamatLoughborough

University.RecentlyRedChasinstalledaTobiiwidescreeneyetrackerin-housetofacilitatestudiesforclients.

TheagencyalsodesignsandbuildsemailprogrammesforanumberofbluechipUKclients,includingtheSwinton

InsuranceGroup,EuropeantrainoperatorEurostar,photographicretailerJessopsandFreemansGrattanHoldings,

theUKhomeshoppingarmofOttoVersand.Theagencyhasrecentlypickedupseveralawardsforitsemailwork,

includinganMiGoldBestCRMStrategyforitsemailprogrammeforJessopsandaDMASilverforSwintons

triggeredemails.

About th e Auth orsAdrianRoweHonFIDM

ChairmanofRedCandoftheInstituteofDirect

MarketingNorth,Adrianisanexperienceddirectand

digitalmarketingconsultantadvisingclientsacross

arangeofsectors.HewasawardedHonoraryLife

FellowshipoftheIDMin2001forexceptionalservices

totheprofession.Hiscommitmenttoeyetracking

asaresearchmethodologycanbetracedbacktoan

extraordinaryseminargivenbyProfessorSiegfried

Vogeleatthe1985MontreuxSymposium.

LorenzoBurridgeMA

WithaMastersinthePsychologyofAdvertisingfrom

theUniversityofLancaster,Lorenzoiswellequipped

tounderstandandinterpretthendingsfromour

eyetrackingstudiesandhispassionforThaiboxing

meansyoudontlightlychallengehisconclusions.He

managesallaspectsoftheeyetrackingservicethat

RedCofferstoitsclients.

Introduct ion

BackinApril2011,whenwerstconceivedtheideaofconductingaseriesofstudiesonemailsbysector,wefelt

thatitcouldprovearichsourceofinsight.Theagencyalreadyhadsignicantexpertiseintheareafromwriting,

designing,buildingandanalysingemailsforbluechipclients.Weknewalotaboutwhatworkedwewantedto

knowmoreaboutwhyitworked.

Oneyearlater,withmorethan50emailsstudiedamongover100participants,thisdocumentrepresentsa

distillationofsomeofthemostimportantndings.Wewantedittobeusefulforemailmarketingpractitioners,

andwehavestructureditforthoseatthesharpend,illustratingeachpointwithexamplesweuncoveredofboth

goodandbadpractice.Ithasgivenussomeoutstandinginsightsintothetechniquesthatencouragerecipientsto

engagewithandrespondtoemails,andwehopeyouwillnditusefulindesigningmoreeffectivelyfortheinbox.

AdrianRowe

May 2012


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Copy

Intro paragraph

Title

store environment provides a good

analogy, and one that we will come

back to again in this paper. I the

subject header was the window poster that

persuaded us through the doors, consider that

the opening screenul is that frst step through

the doors, when we orient ourselves and

search or the visual cues to draw us into the

store environment. Finding helpul, relevant

visual cues in the frst screen o an email is

just as important as in a store, perhaps even

more so you cant delete a store at the

touch o a button!

Remember that recipients who open your

email have many diering reasons or doing

so. You must ensure that you cater or all o

them to maximise your engagement unnel.

In particular, bear in mind the dierent needs

o purposeul openers against those who

are just dropping in. Purposeul openers

may head straight or the navigation to help

them access the most relevant part o your

website, or they may read what you have to

say frst. Make sure your navigation is clear

in the opening screen. Openers who just

drop in are in browsing mode perhaps they

like your brand or theyre in the market or

your products, but youre not the only option.

The best-perorming emails in our studies

maximised clicks by accommodating both.

Freemans do this well in their Style Bible

email, illustrated here, by giving readers extra

short-cuts to sub-categories o womenswear

(or those already in buying mode), but also

making immediate eye contact and opening a

conversation about a latest ashion trend with

compelling, personalised copy (or browsers).

We ound that engagement, and preerence,

was inuenced signifcantly by the time

spent viewing the email. I n turn, time spent

was inuenced primarily by the success o

the email opening screen in drawing readers

through the second and third screens. Its

vital to provide plenty o good content in

the opening screen to maximise success,

especially in the orm o irregular shapes,

compelling inormation and graphic oer

elements. One atal error in many o the

least preerred and least successul emails

rom our studies was the use o a big imageon the opening screen. It may be tempting

to aim or the wow actor, but in the market

sectors we studied, including ashion and

holidays, opening on a big image let subjects

searching in vain or visual cues. Consistently,

the most engaging emails worked hard in the

opening screen to provide reasons to read on

or click through in equal measure.

Design plays a big role in maximising

engagement throughout the email, as we will

demonstrate in the next section, but on the

Wereademailsonescreenatatimeeachnewscreendetermineswhetherwecontinuetoscrollorhitdelete.Sotheopeningscreenfulishighlyinuentialontheoverallemailperformance.Directmaillettersworkonesentenceatatime,andagoodcopywriterknowsthatthereaderspropensitytoreadthesecondsentenceisbasedonthepersuasivepoweroftherstsentence.Theprincipleisexactlythesameforemail.Sustainingattentioninanemailhasitsownengagementfunnelandthebattleforarecipientscontinuedconsiderationstartsattheveryrstscreen.

First Impressions Count

henrstviewinganemail,readerswilltypicallyfocustheirattentionat

thecentreofthepagewhileitloadsandorienttheirattentionfromthere.Thisorientingphaseenablesthemtoestablishthepagesidentityandscanforvisualcuesasitbecomesvisibleonthescreen.Astheelementsonthepageareloading,theyformpatternsthatcorrelatewiththerestofthecontent.Fromhere,thereaderisthenabletoexploitthisinformation

toaidtheminsearchdurationsandnavigation

Subjectscaneasilybecomedistractedbymultiplestimulipresentedtotheminanygivenenvironment.Asattentionisselective,muchoftheinformationgetslteredout,leavingthatwhichisinterestingandvisuallyengagingtotheindividual.Inanemail,thisprocessoccursveryquickly,requiringthattheveryrstscreenfulperformseffectivelyinthecognitiverecruitmentofthosethatview it

Asthisopeningscreenislimitedtothesizeoftheemailclientorinternetbrowser,itiscrucialthatthespaceisutilisedeffectivelytoencouragefurtherviewing.Largescreenful-sizedimagesareviewedtooquicklyanddonotprovideenoughvisualencouragementtoscrolldownfurther.InourCottageHolidaysector

study,alloftheemailsopenedwithimagesthattookup20-30%ofthearea,butaccountedforlessthan5%ofuserattention.Additionally,largeblocksoftextposeahindrancetoattentionlevelsasthetaskdifcultybecomestootaxing.

Amoreeffectivewaytomakeuseoftherstscreenistoconnectwiththereaderonanemotionallevel.Thiswasapparentinseveralemailswestudiedthatusedfullorpartialgureshots,oraddressedthereaderdirectlywithanintroduction.Otherstudieshavereportedthatindividualsrecognise

andreacttofacesfasterthananyotherelementonapage,andthosethatmakedirecteyecontacthavethegreatestemotionalimpactofall.Thisinstantlydrawsattentiontothescreen,andcanalsoencourageattentiontootherareasusingdirectionalgazetechniques.

Introductory copy creates anintimateinteractionbetweenthereaderandtheemail,particularlywhenpersonalised.Thiscommands

immediate attention and creates apositiveassociationwiththebrandonamorepersonallevel.Ourstudieshaveshownthatthistechniquepromotesfurtherreadingandhigherpreferenceratesoveremailswithout.However,directtestingforthiswaslimitedastruepersonalisationtestingwouldrequirethemodicationofemailstosuiteachparticipant.

ANALYSTS PERSPECTIVE

5

How to do it An effectiveopening screenful from

Freemans using eye contact tocreate engagement

How not to do it Marsdens forced

their readers totackle a big block ofcopy in the openingscreen to establish

what was on offer

AW

The exception to the rule this big opening screenshot

from Not on the High Street usesa busy tagged product shot,

diagonal product placement andshallow depth of eld

opening screen it is important to structure

elements to give readers pathways through

the email and keep them scrolling. A good

example o this, which at frst glance appears

to break the big image convention, is this

email rom ecommerce site Not on the High

Street. I t defes the convention by providing

a busy image packed with Christmas

cookery products, arranged diagonally to

subconsciously draw attention down, and

shot with a shallow depth o feld. Whats

more, each product is tagged, with product

copy and pricing strategically placed below

the image, resulting in high levels o attention

and engagement as shown in the heatmap.

So here is our frst secret o email success

make a good frst impression and some

techniques on how to achieve it. Just like

when your prospective customers frst enter

the store, you have to help them orientate

fnd their bearings, i you like and skilully

steer them in the right direction. Now

that we have made the frst step into the

engagement unnel, lets look at how we can

continue on the right path.

Key techniquesEnsuretherstscreenfulcatersformultiplereasonsforopening

Combineirregularshapes,graphicsandtextelementstosustainattention

Offerrecipientspathwaysdowntheemailviatextorgraphicdevices

Avoidthetemptationtouseapressadstructuredesigninscreenfuls

Its vital to provide plenty of

good content in the opening

screen to maximise success,

especially in the form of irregular

shapes, compelling information

and graphic offer elements.


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Intro paragraph

Title

7

Email Anatomy Class

Terric design

structure from

Next, using product

cut-outs to draw thereader down

One o the most commonly observed

design techniques emerging rom

our studies was the use o diagonal

structures among the most successul emails

in terms o engagement and preerence.

The email rom multi-channel retailer Next,

illustrated here, provides a masterclass in

design technique, maximising the engagement

unnel by making good use o eye contact,

with angled images supported by well-written

ashion copy and connected by cut-out shots

o the ideal shoes to accompany the dress.

The aggregated heatmap shows clearly how

our subjects ollowed the visual cues on a

pathway down the email.

Excessive use o linear templates and

rectangular panels create subconscious

barriers to engagement, and were a common

actor in many o the least successul emails

we studied. Its not a hard and ast rule

though we ound some very eective email

designs that overcame a linear structure

and maintained engagement using other

techniques, or

combined linear and

non-linear sections

to create changes o

pace within the email.

This email rom Top

Man was well-liked

by our male study

subjects, despite

being designed on a

grid, because the

cut-out shots

contained in each

section and the

eective use o

colour and text

sustained attention

right to the bottom

and provided clear

pathways through

the email design.

Another email

design that

overcame linear

constraints was

the daily deal

oer rom KGB

Deals, shown here,

because the subject

matter was high

interest. Food shots are always attention

grabbers, and the lead oer rom KGB wasno exception. However, the section with the

highest level o attention in this email was

the middle, the second screenul. Encouraged

by the leading deal, subjects were keen to

view the other deals on oer and ound it

easy to navigate each deal rom the intriguing

picture consistently positioned on the let,

reading right where the oer was o interest.

There has been an explosion o growth in

signing up or daily deal providers in the UK

recently, and the personalisation o oers by

region is undoubtedly an important actor. All

the oers here related to Manchester and the

North West, where our subjects were located.

So a good overall design structure is the

second secret o email success. But each

element within the design also harbours

secrets which can inuence the click rate,

and in the next section we examine the frst,

and perhaps the most important o these, the

impact o navigation.

Whetheryouremailisalengthynewsletteroradigitalpostcard,theunderlyingdesignstructureiscrucialindetermininglevelsofsubconsciousengagement.WehaveobservedadifferenceinemailpracticebetweenUKandUSmarketersinrecentyears.USemailprogrammestendtofavourhighfrequency,singlemindedemailsdigitalpostcardswhiletheUKhasgenerallyevolvedlowerfrequencyemailswithrichercontentdigitalnewsletters.Bothstrategieshavetheirmerits,butdesignandstructureplayabiggerroleinsustainingengagementinrichercontentemails,whereconvertingbrowsingintopurchaseintentismoreimportant.


Keeping users engaged is highlydependent on design structure.Studies have shown that

when looking or useul inormation,individuals have a tendency to scanor something engaging to attractthem. Linear design structures canconstrain this action to an extent, butcan also hinder processing progression.In this case it is ar more benefcialto adopt the use o diagonal designstructures throughout the email.

By positioning elements in acontinuous zig-zag layout down thepage, individuals are able to fxate oneach one in turn, leading their gazenaturally down the page. Furthermore,as each screenul can only display acertain amount at a time, by havingthe elements in partial view at theold, readers will eel they need toscroll urther to view it in its entirety.This eective technique has beendemonstrated to encourage readingo the whole email rom the openingscreen to the close. Taking theseprinciples into account, designers canapproach eective email design inscreenuls rather than as a whole.

From a design perspective, it isimportant to be aware that peoplewill not always pay attention to allo the inormation displayed on thescreen. Due to the repetitive actionsusers take, much o it oten getsunconsciously fltered out, so that

they only pay attention to what isimportant to them. Making elementsmore prominent where necessary (e.g.colourul graphics, product cut-outs),can aid in overcoming thisexclusive saliency.

I there is a lot o important copy todisplay on the page, it is better tobreak it down into smaller paragraphs.Individuals process inormation moreeasily this way and are much less likelyto become overwhelmed by excessiveblocks o text. As a large amounto cognitive processing is taken upreading text, the load can be lightened

by other means. These includeincorporating visual elements such asimages and graphics, that are quickand easy to process, or alternatively,one could eature additionalmotor elements (clicks and mousemovements) that create a break inreading and oer a less demandingactivity. This makes reading the emailmuch less o an arduous task and armore mentally engaging, which hasbeen demonstrated in our testing toresult in more efcient absorption and

higher preerence rates.

The gaze plot reveals clearpathways down the email

Excessive use of lineartemplates and rectangularpanels create subconsciousbarriers to engagement

Arcadia use design

and colour to greateffect to attract and

sustain attention in this

Topman email

Key techniquesDiagonaldesignframeworksworkespeciallywellinascrollingenvironment

Designemailoutlinesinscreenfuls,mindfulofenticingthereaderdown

Avoidlineartemplatestheyoftensubconsciouslyinterruptscrolling

Mixcolour,imageryandgraphicstosustainattentionandengagement

Irregularshapescombinedwithnon-linearplacementarehighlyeffective

KGB Deals uses colour,

images and graphics to

overcome a linear design


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Intro paragraph

Title

9

Digital Signposting

Grattans secondary navigationhighlights fashion categories, and

supports the email content effectively

S

Goodnavigationcanaccountforoveronethirdoftotalclicksonawelldesignedemail.Whatsmore,weknowfromactualdataonanumberofemailprogrammesthatnavigationclicksaremorepurposeful,withahigherpropensitytoconvert.Bestpracticeoftenadvocatesmirroringthenavigationonyourwebsitewithinemails,butthisismostcertainlyapoorpieceofadvice,anddoesntaccountfortheverydifferentobjectivesofwebsiteandemail.Mostcommercialwebsiteshavethekeyobjectiveofclosingthesale-maximisingtheconversiontosaleordesiredactionvisitthestore,booktherestaurantorsignupforthecourse.Whileemailprogrammeshaveobjectivesmuchfurtherupthesalesfunnel-creatingpurchaseconsideration,launchinganewproduct,announcingasale,orsimplymaintainingengagementandshareofmind.


A

andthenprovidingusefulextranavigation

allowingreaderstoshopbybrand.Jessops

knowthatmanycameraenthusiastsare

intenselybrandloyal,andcaterforthis

withgoodshort-cutstotheir

favourite brand

Finally,manygoodemailmarketers

understandthevalueofusingcolourand

iconsinemailnavigationtodrawattention

to important signposts Contrasting

coloursforimportantnavigationelements,

suchastheuseofredfortheSalelink,or

simpleiconsthatimproveabsorptionand

understandingoftheroutestothewebsite,

can be very effective in directing attention

andcapturingextraresponse.

speoplebecomemoreandmorefamiliarwithusingemailandtheweb,theybecome

accustomedtothewaywebpagesandemailsaredesigned.Theydevelopamentalmodelofwhereitemsareplacedduetotheirpriorexperienceandexpectations.Uponloadingapage,theyareabletoquicklyidentifywhatitisaboutbythefamiliarshapesandpatternsthatarecapturedthroughglimpsesintheirperipheralvision.Thismightincludenavigation

elementssuchasmenubarsandbuttons,typicallyplacedatthetoptoprovideuserswithquickaccesstoaspecicareaofawebsite.

Incorporatingsuchdesignfeaturesinanemailworkswellinthisrespectduetosimilarityinbasicwebdesignstructure.However,foremailtheinformationisbeingsoldtothereaderandisdoingsoinaveryshortspaceoftime.Therefore,therulesneed to be adapted to accommodatefasterandmoresupercialscanning.Theuseofasimpler,quick-to-processtaxonomyisaneffectivewaytoassistausersnavigationpreferences,meetingobjectiveswithlittleresistanceandinashortertime frame

Inonerecentstudywefoundthatwhenusersencounteredambiguityinawebsitestaxonomy,confusionensued.Forexample,thelinkfor

arefrigerationpageontheAGAwebsitewastitledChilledAGA.Eyetrackinganalysisrevealedthatthistitlecausedalotofconfusioninparticipants,leadingtotheamendednameAGARefrigeration.Thischangeledtoamuchimproveddigitalsignpostanduserswerequicklyabletoidentifythelinkandwhattoexpectfromit.

Onceindividualsarecondentinwhatanemailisaboutandwheretheycanndinformationtheyarelikelytoengagewithitforlonger.Indoingsotheyoftenreachthefootof

theemail,wherewehaveobservedthatsecondarynavigationcanbeeffective.Inplacingnavigationatthefootoftheemailaswellasthetop,thechanceofencouragingaclick-throughisenhanced.Itnotonlyservesasareminderbutalsoprovidesonemoreeasy-to-ndcalltoactionwithouthavingtoscrollbacktothetop.

How to do it - Arcadia emailsalways follow good practice andthis one from TopMan uses both

good header and footer navigation.

ogoodpracticeforemailnavigation

istoaccommodatethereasonsfor

openingandsupportthethemes

andcontentoftheemailinthedigital

signposts.Ifyouremailisallaboutfashion,

considerincludingsecondarynavigationforfashionsub-ranges,asGrattandohere.If

yoursubjectheaderannouncesasale,give

openersthechoiceofgoingstraightthere

withaprominentbuttonandcleartaxonomy

ShoptheSaleorbrowsingtheemailto

ndoutwhatsinthesale.Forrecipients,

emailnavigationoffersthepromiseofa

short-cuttoexactlywheretheywanttobe

onyourwebsitethemorerelevantthe

signposts,thebetteryourchancesofaclick.

Dontbeboundbyyourwebsitenavigation

considerthemosteffectivedigitalsignposts

onanemailbyemailbasis.

Oneimportanttechniqueforimproving

visibilityof-andpropensitytoclick-

navigationbuttonsistoavoidisolatingyour

emailnavigationbarfromotherelements.

Thishappenedmostcommonlyinourtests

withemailsthatmadethemistakewe

highlightedearlierofopeningwithabig

image.Wherethisoccurred,navigationbars

oftenbecameseparatedfromthehigher

attentionelementsoftheemail,andmissed

altogether.Onawebsitepage,visitorsare

attunedtotheconventionsandseekout

navigationinfamiliarplacesinanemail,behaviourisquitedifferent,asreadersseek

visualcuestoestablishwhatisonofferand

whetheritisofinterest.Theemailfrom

Hoseasons,illustratedhere,demonstrates

thedilemma.Notonlyisthenavigation

isolatedbythefullscreenimage,butitis

difculttodistinguishinperipheralvision

fromthecolourfulshot.

Anothergoodstrategytoincreaseincrementalresponsefromnavigationis

byincludingextraorrepeatednavigation,

especiallyatthefootofemails.Most

engagedreaderswillreadtothefootof

anemailand,ifpersuadedbythecontent,

considervisitingthewebsite,soitmakes

sensetoincludeextraoralternativedigital

signpostshere.Ifyourproductrangesor

servicesaredeep,tryusingadditionalsub-

navigationinrelevantpositionswithinthe

email.Allcanproveproductiveincapturing

incrementalpurposefulwebvisits.

ThemiddlesectionofacontentrichemailfromJessops,shownhere,makesgooduse

ofextranavigationwithintheemailatthe

pointofconsideration,promotingthree

differenttypesofcamerawithaleadoffer,

One important technique forimproving visibility of - andpropensity to click - navigationbuttons is to avoid isolating youremail navigation bar fromother elements.

Key techniquesAvoidisolatingnavigationfromthehighattentionelementsofyouremail

Usenavigationatthefootaswellasthetopmostengagedreadersreachhere

Alwaysuseextraorsecondarynavigationwhenitwillactasausefulshortcut

Makenavigationevenmoreeffectivewithiconsorcolourcoding

Camera retailer Jessops understandthat many o their customers are

loyal to a particular brand, and givethem shortcuts to their avourite

The large image andcolourful foliage isolate and

hide the navigation in this

Hoseasons email


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Intro paragraph

TitleThe must -do steps (continued)

There are hundreds o blacklists in operation but some are more

inuential than others. For example, Spamhaus, Spamcop and MAPS(Mail Abuse Prevention Centre)are all considered to be hugelyinuential and are used by the

major ISPs.

It is

increasingly

I you all oul o spam traps or i IS Ps receive complaints about your emailprogramme you are then in real danger o being blacklisted. As the name sug gests,a blacklist is a list or database o IP addresses that are viewed as being spammers.The lists can be populated through consumer complaints but are just as likely to bepopulated independently o consumer eedback. ISPs subscribe to these blacklistdatabases in order to flter out spam sent across their network or to the subscribers.

THE BLACKLIST6

11

ExPERT VIEw

Clickability

learwinnersinourteststudieswere

thoseemailsthatfeaturedmultiple

callstoactionthroughouttheemail,

well-positionedtobeincloseproximity

tothefeaturedproductorservice.Longer

emailstooklessthan60secondsonaverage

tobefullydigestedbysubjectsinourtests

shorter,digitalpostcardformatsengaged

attention for around 10 seconds

Sodecisionstoclick,ornottoclick,are

madeinmilliseconds.Whatsmore,

whileaHighStreetstorecanberevisited

inashoppingtrip,anemailalmost

alwayshasjustoneopportunityto

stimulatethedesiretopurchasebefore

itsdeleted.Soitisvitaltoexploitthe

immediatevicinityoftheproductorofferby

providingawell-wordedcalltoactionthere

andthen.

TheGotoDealbuttonthatfeatures

prominentlyonFrugaloosdailydealemail,

shownhere,islocatedincloseproximityto

thedetailsofthedealanddirectlyadjacent

tothepriceandsavingspanels,whichwe

foundtobeveryhighinterestelements,

astheheatmapshows.Theformatof

Frugalooscalltoactionalsodemonstrates

anotherofourconsistentndings,whichisthatconventionsforbuttondesignare

wellunderstoodbyviewersofemailsand

websites,andsuccessfulemailsexploitthis.

Makeclickableelementslookclickable!

Contrastthisapproachwiththedilemma

faced by one of our respondents viewing an

ASOSemail.Havingshownhighinterest

inthesummerdressshewasbeingurged

toLove,Want,Need,ourtestsubjectcan

beclearlyseeninthisgazeplotstruggling

toidentifythebuttonthatwouldtake

herthere.Goodemailmarketingisabout

makingiteasyandremovingobstaclestothe

saleinadigitalenvironmentwhereactions

aretakenopen,click,deleteinvery

compressedtimescales.

Frugalooalsodemonstratesanotherkey

successfactorforenhancingclickability.

Gooduseofcolourandlanguage.Each

buttonisconsistentlypositionedandusesa

stronglimegreenwhichisabsentfromthe

surroundings,givingitprominenceevenin

peripheralvision.Moreover,thelanguage

GotoDealisclearandunequivocal,witha

strongsenseofunderlyingurgencywell-

suitedtoadeal-basedproposition.

WehavefoundthelanguageofCTAsto

be a decisive factor in many of our tests

Recipientsdonotwanttobeperplexedor

Successfulsalesmenknowthateventhemostskilfullycraftedsalespitchiswastedunlesstheyaskforthebusiness.Ineverysalesconversation,inertiaistheworstenemyitsvitaltoclosethesalequicklybutfacetoface,thesalesmancantailortheconversationtotheprospectsinterest.Inadigitalenvironment,wedonthavethesameadvantage.Themostsuccessfulemailsclosethesaleeffectivelybyfeaturingstrongcallstoactionateverypointofconsideration. lickabilityincorporatesthe

effectiveuseandplacementofcalltoactionelementsinemailsandwebpages.Studieshaveshownthattaskdemandsandstimulusinformationstronglyinuencecognitivestrategyduringvisualactivity,promptinguserstoplanandmoderatetheirscanningofavisualeldaccordingly.Theirabilitytolocateandactupontheirtaskdemandseffectivelyisdirectly

inuencedbythepresentationofelements.Byclearlydeningrelatedelementssuchasaproductimage,textdescription,andbuttonincloseproximitytooneanother,wecandirecttheusersattentioneffectively(fromimagetotext,andtexttobutton).Thisallowsforaswifttransition of unconscious processing(implicitattractionfromperiphery),toconsciousprocessing(controlled,focused attention)

Calltoactionelementsshouldthereforebedesignedandimplementedwithcare.Whiletheirplacementandproximityareimportant,itiscrucialthattheyareclearlyvisibleasacalltoactionsoasnottobemissedcompletely.InmarkedcontrasttotheASOSemailillustratedearlier,whichonlytwoofourtenstudyparticipantsspotted,anotherfashionretailer,Freemans,demonstratesamuchmoreeffective

designstructureforproductlinks.Withtheuseofthree-dimensionalbuttonsthatareclearlydenedandwellpositioned,itisevidentinthisgazeplotthattheuserhasnotroubleidentifyingthelinksinanaturalgazepathfromthetextandimages.Theproximityofthebuttonservestoeliminatevisualconfusion.Infact,eightofourparticipantsnotedtheCTAbuttonsinthissectionoftheemail.Moreover,thefactthatthelinkisabuttonratherthanjusttextinstantlyrevealsitasaclickablelinkand encourages action fromthereader.

Thesetypesofdesignstructuresareparticularlyimportantforrsttimevisitorswhoareunfamiliarwiththewaynewelementsaredisplayed.Clear,coherentcompositionofinter-relatedelementsenablestheusertoadoptamuchmoreproductivebrowsingbehaviour.Theseparationofrelatedelementshasbeenshowntobedetrimentaltothisbehaviourandslowsdownprocessing.Itisthereforecrucial

tokeeprelatedelementsincloseproximitytoavoidconictandallowforsmoothperipheraltofovealshiftsin attention

How to do it goodproximity o the CTAs to thehigh attention elements in

this Freemans email

How not to do it thisASOS gazeplot reveals a

hard-to-nd CTA


C

c

Key techniquesUsingmultiplecallstoactionthroughoutanemailensuresproximityatthe

pointofconsideration

Buttondesignconventionsarewellunderstoodbyconsumersmake

clickableelementslookclearlyclickable

Colour,font,language,sizeandpositioningofCTAbuttonsallimpactonrecognitionandclickpropensity

We have found the language ofCTAs to be a decisive factor inmany of our tests. Recipientsdo not want to be perplexed orintrigued, but they may not bequite ready to buy what is on offer.

intrigued,buttheymaynotbequiteready

tobuywhatisonoffer.Manyecommerce

brandsuselanguagethatreectsthestage

inthepurchasefunnelthatthereaderhas

reachedViewtherangeorFindout

moremayprovemoreclickablethanBuy

nowforjustthisreason.

Whenconsideringcalltoactiondevices,the

keyimplicationsfromourstudyareabout

improvingclickability.Proximity,colour,

font,language,designandshapeallplayan

importantpartininuencingrecognition

and propensity to respond

Inthenextsection,welookatsomeofthehighinterestelementsofcontentthatcancreatemoredigitalfootfallthroughouttheemail.

Frugaloos daily deal emailmakes economic use o space toattract attention and positions aprominent call to action in close

proximity to each deal

Frugaloos Go to Deal button is aprominent and unequivocal CTA


7/14

Content Kings

13

heprimeobjectiveofanyemail

programmeistomaximisedigital

footfallclosingthesaleisatask

forthewebsiteandthebesteCRM

programmesexploitthissynergistic

partnership.Allthingsbeingequal,people

buyfrompeopletheylike,andtheright

addedvaluecontentinanemailcanproveinvaluableincreatingapositiveenvironment

forthesaleprocess.Wefoundanumber

ofexamplesamongstourstudyemails

ofcontentthatdidnotdirectlysell,but

wassuccessfulinattractinghighlevelsof

attentionandincreasingthepropensityto

visitthewebsite.

Arcadiabrandsfrequentlyusethistechnique

intheiremailstodrawattentionto

theirfashionranges,offeringadviceand

inspirationinasectorwherebotharemuch

appreciated.MissSelfridgeincludesa

behindthescenesvideopreviewofthenew

seasonsfashionintheemailshownhere,

whichwascitedasareasonforpreference

bysomeofourrespondents.Another

Arcadiaemail,thistimefromTopShop,

offersanonlinevirtualmakeovertoolwhich

promisestohelpshoppersmastertheart

ofDiscoGlammakeup,accompaniedbya

videotutorial.Whilstclearlydemonstrating

howwellthesebrandsunderstandthe

motivationsoftheirtargetaudience,such

contentalsoenhancesbrandengagement

andincreasesthelikelihoodofasale.Both

alsousethetriangleconventionwhich

consumersreadilyrecognise.Wehaveseen

thisactasaverypowerfulcalltoactionin

our studies

Anotheremailwetested,arichcontent

weddingphotographyemailfromJessops,

scoredhighlevelsofattentionfromhead

tofootbyskilfullyblendingsalesmessages

andadviceandtechniquesforcapturing

bettershotsatweddings.Greatcamerasfor

thebigdaywerefeaturedamongstTop5

weddingphotographytipsandsomeadviceoncopingwithlowlightconditionsonthe

henorstagnight.

Addedvaluecontentnotonlyactsto

increaseengagementwithanemail,but

alsohasabigimpactonpreferenceand

positiveassociations,inuencingpropensity

toopenfutureemailsfromthatbrandand

potentiallyreducingunsubscriberates.

Anemailprogrammethatconsistspurely

ofthelatestoffersisonlylikelytobe

openedandstudiedwhentheconsumer

isinpurchasemode.Aprogrammethat

providesaricherandmorevarieddietof

content,includingadvice,humour,video

elementsoraccesstohelpfulonlinetools

suchastheonefromTopShop,helpstobuild

asustainableandengagedaudience,and

createsincrementaldigitalfootfall.

Itsoftenarguedthatwebsiteswithoutgood,originalcontentaremorelikelytofailcontentisking.Andwhileemailsdonothavetocompeteforsearchenginerankings,goodcontentisjustasimportant,becausetheyhavetocompeteforattentionincrowdedinboxes.Emailprogrammesthatfocussingle-mindedlyonsellingmaydowell,buttheyaremissingoutonincrementalbusinessbyfailingtoemotionallyengagewithrecipients.Inourtests,emailsthatincludedaddedvalueelementscontentnotdirectlyrelatingtothesalebutvaluedbythereaderoftenscoredhighlyforattentionandpreference.

Whilethesalesmandoesnotexistinamarketingemail,thistechniqueofreciprocitycanstillbeappliedintheencouragementofaclick-through.Astheonlymainsellingtoolsavailablearetextandimages,companiesareaimingtoincreasethepushto

salewithaddedvaluecontent.

Whilenotovertlyrelatingthiscontenttothesale,marketerscanincreasethechancesofclick-throughswithcontentrelatedtotheproducts.Thiscouldtaketheformoffashionortraveltips,instructionalvideosanddiagrams,orusefularticlesandreports.Notonlydoesthisincreasethelikelihoodoftheviewer to pay more attention totheemail,butitalsogivesthemsomethingforfree,developingtrustinthecompany-consumerrelationship.Therefore,intheactofreciprocity,theyaremuchmorelikelytoclickthroughtothewebsitetoseewhatelsethecompanyhastooffer.


mongthe50emailsusedinourresearch,therewereonlyaselectfewthat

includedwhatwewoulddescribeasaddedvaluecontent(AVC).Thiswouldeffectivelyincludeadditionalinformationthatwasnotadirectexhortationtobuy,butofferedsomethingtotherecipientforfree.Examplesincludedphotographytips,fashionadvice,productrecommendationsandusefulor

exclusiveonlinevideocontent.Irrespectiveofthemarketsector,ourdataconsistentlyreportedhighengagement and preference rateswiththistypeofemailabovethosewithoutanyaddedvaluecontent.

OurndingsalsoindicatedhighlevelsofattentiontotheAVCareas,andanincreaseinthenumberofxationssurroundingit.ThishaloeffectworkedbestwhenAVCareaswereplacedincloseproximitytotheproductinformation,leadingthemthroughapathofnaturalviewing progression

IntheJessopsweddingemail,forexample,subjectswerefoundtospendalongeramountoftimereadingtherestoftheemailandtheproductinformationiftheyhadviewedtheaddedvaluecontent.Accordingtoourqualitativedata,thepersonaltips

and recommendations providedtheencouragementtoreadonanddiscovermoreofwhatthecompanyhadtooffer.Weencounteredsimilarndingsinsomeofourfashionemails,wherestyleadvicewashighlyvaluedbyourtestsubjects.

Itwasclearfromourresearchndingsthatconsumersreactpositivelytothiskindofcontentstimulus.Perhapsunsurprisingly,womenandmeninterestedinfashionappreciatedadviceonstyle,coloursandtrends.Photographyenthusiastswontbeinthemarket

foracameraeverymonth,butretailerscanstayfrontofmindbysharingtheirpassionandofferingusefultipsandtechniques.Prospectiveholidaymakersconsideringtheirnextholidaycottagevalueinformationonthingstodointhearea,orwhichlocationsarebestforthosewithchildrenor pets

Allofourstudyparticipantshad

expressedaninterestinthesectorwewereaskingthemtoviewemailsfor,andwererecruitedtoanappropriatetargetdemographic.Theseafnitiescouldclearlybeseenintheviewingbehaviourandsustainedattentionlevelsthatsubjectsexhibitedtowardsaddedvaluecontent.Foremailmarketers,thelessonisclearemotionalengagementwithemailprogrammescanbeconsiderablyenhancedbytheuseofsuchelements.

Miss Selridge and Top Shop,both using video content

eectively to drive extra clicksand enhance engagement

T

A

Top Shops Disco Glammakeover video proved

o high interest

Added value content not onlyacts to increase engagementwith an email, but also has a bigimpact on preference and positiveassociations

Key techniquesRelevantvalueaddedcontentinemailscanincreaselong-termengagement

and reduce unsubscribes

Headliningaddedvaluecontentinsubjectheadersfrequentlyboostsopenrates

Goodexamplesincludeadvisoryfeatures,hintsandtips,humorouscontent

andonlinetools

Blendingsalesmessagesandadviceinanintegratedwayisveryeffectivein

sustaining attention

This timely wedding photographyemail rom Jessops sustains

attention with useul tips orgetting great shots on the big

day and at the hen or stag night


8/14

Words Tha t Paint 1,000 Pictures

15

here are two important actors that

make or eective copy in an email

what you say, and where you say it.

The boys toys git retailer Firebox does both

well in the Christmas git email illustrated

here. The ten gits eatured in this email all

attracted sustained attention using well-

written and humorous copy, incorporating

headline, sub-head and three to our lines o

body copy in a short, newspaper style column.

Positioned close to the product image and

deal graphic, and substantiated by the price,

savings and prominent call to action, each

product box made efcient use o space and

was easy or our subjects to scan, process and

determine interest.

This Christmas themed email rom Marks

& Spencer proved even more eective interms o copy engagement, integrating

easily-absorbed snippets o copy into the

overall design alongside high interest cut-out

product shots. The design structure makes

good use o text, graphics and imagery to

maintain the readers momentum whilst

imparting persuasive sales messages quickly

and efciently. As we have already noted

in this report, there is real click synergy in

integrating imagery, text, graphics and pricing

inormation in close proximity and the M&S

email is an excellent example with high

preerence scores in our study.

Another very eective copy technique is

the use o hypertext links within blocks o

copy the convention is well-understood by

consumers, and is oten treated as a potential

deep linked short cut, acting as an additional

call to action. Substantial blocks o copy

should be avoided wherever possible, as they

can act as barriers to urther readership. I

lengthy copy is needed to explain a complex

oer, devices such as hyperlinks, wrapping text

around supporting images and using columnsto shorten line length all help to sustain

reader attention.

Themostengagingemailsinourtestsinvariablycombinedcopyandimageseffectivelytoattractandsustainattention.Weareattractedbytheimagesofproducts,justaswescantheshelvesinshopstondsomethingappealing,butwegaincondenceandmakepurchasingdecisionsfromthesupportinginformation,perhapsonthepricetagorthelabel.Howmuchisit,andisitinmypricerange?HowdoesthisproductcomparewithothersimilarmodelsIveseenelsewhere?Wehavealreadysetoutourassertionthat,inthemain,itisdifculttocompletethesaleintheemailalonebutwecanenhancethelikelihoodofasalebywhatwedointheemail.Wecansendpeoplethroughtothewebsitewiththeirwalletsandpursesout,ifweusecopyeffectively.

ExPERT VIEw ANALYSTS PERSPECTIVE

henreading,apersonseyes move in a seriesofsaccadesrather

thansmoothlyacrossthepage,andconsistentlyjumpbackwardsandforwardsoverthetext.Factorssuchassize,font,languageandproximityallinuencehowthetextisprocessed,whichinturnaffectthenumberofxationsandtimexatedonit.Imagesontheotherhandarenotonlyquicktoprocess,butthey

canalsobeviewedinperipheralvisionrequiringverylittlefocusandconcentration.Thisgivesuserstheoptiontoattendtoorignorethemcompletelywithoutdirectlyfocusingonthem.Duetothespeedofthisprocess,themajorityoftimeistypicallyspentontextelementsforinformationretrieval.

Whilereadingismoretaxingandrequiresadditionaltime,itdoesconveymoreinformation,helpingreadersdeterminewheretolooknext.Moreover,textcanservetosupportimageelements,cementingbrandmemoryandrecall.Thiscanbeachievedwithtitlesandheadlinesthataremeaningfulandemotionallycharged,ascommonlyusedindailynewspapers.Additionally,theuseofsimplerlanguageandfewersyllableshelpstospeedupprocessingandaidspontaneousrecall.

Howthetextisdisplayedcanalsoaffecthowitisreceived.Generally,largebodiesofcompactedtextareshunnedbyviewersastheybecomeoverwhelmedbythereadingtask.Thiscanbeovercomebybreakinguptextintomanageablechunks,separatedwithelementssuchasheadings,bulletpoints,orimagery.Thisbreakinconcentrationlevelprovidesthereaderwithavarietyofdifferentelementstoattendto,helpingtoachieveconsistentengagementthroughout.

Simplefontsworkbest.Complexorunusualtypefacescaninterferewithhowreadersrecognisetextpatterns,whichinturncanslowdowncomprehension.Linelengthcanaffectthespeedatwhichtextisreadonapage.Studiesreportthatpeopletypicallyprefertoreadinshortercolumns-around45-72characters-asitfeelseasiertoabsorb.Severalofourstudyemailssupportedthis,includingsomeofthedailydeal,

holidayandChristmasgiftemails,wheresubjectsseemedabletoeasilyreadandnavigatemultipleoffers.

T

W

The gazeplot or this Groupon emaildemonstrates good text placement,

ollowing the product image andleading directly to the CTA. Readerscan extract everything they need toknow about the deal in a matter o

seconds, and its the systematicallyecient design and neat concise

copy that gets them there.

Key techniquesIntegratecopyelementswithimageryandgraphicstocreatea

balancedemail

Textabsorbsmoreattentionbutimpartsmoreinformationhyperlinks

withintextareeasilyunderstoodanddriveextraresponse

Personalisationwithinemailsattractshighattentionlevelsandisa

powerfuldirectionaldevice

Bulletpointlistsworkwellbyhelpingreadersrapidlyabsorb

relevantinformation

Direct marketers are expert in the use

o copy devices to tell a story, and one

classic technique that we saw work well

in our study was the use o a bullet point

list. The middle section o a Hoseasons

email marketing short break apartments,

shown here, is an excellent example o

the device. Having engaged readers with

some attractive shots o the apartments

and prices, the bullet point list below

immediately begins to substantiate and

convince with benefts such as lower prices

per person than equivalent hotels, DVDs

and home cinema oten included and

Access to gardens and balconies in

many apartments.

This is the kind o good supporting

inormation that helps to build confdence

and create the environment or a sale. Well

return to this theme in the next section as

we discuss the art o digital salesmanship.

There is real click synergy inintegrating imagery, text, graphicsand pricing information in closeproximity

Firebox uses humorous copyin a column ormat to sustain

attention to its range o unusualChristmas gits

Good integration o

text with very high

interest cut-out

product shots in this

M&S Christmas email

Hoseasons used a bullet point list o

benets or their city break apartments

very eectively mid-email to

substantiate and convince


9/14

Digital Salesmanship

17

Oneofthebestinstructorsweeverusedinourcompanyusedtoteachusthatagoodsalesmanorpresentergotthreethingsrightinequalmeasurethewords(thecontentandlanguage),themusic(thetoneofvoice,pitchandemphasis),andthedance(thebodylanguage).Inprintandinonlinecommunication,justasinthephysicalworld,theresarealskillinsalesmanshipbutwehavetouseothercommunicationtechniquestomakeupforthelimitedrangeofsensoryelementsatourdisposal.Inadigitalenvironment,themessageswedisplay,thecontextinwhichwedisplaythemandhowweexploitperipheralvisionaretheskillsmostneededtoclosethesale.


mong more than 50 emails in our

test studies, a very small number

seemed to exhibit something special

in terms o engaging subjects in a particular

product the ability to sustain positive

subject attention or an unusual length o

time in the soundbyte environment o email.

In the same way that a charismatic salesman

or market trader can command attention

rom a crowd, these emails presented

products in a manner that created sustained

attention and strong recall we termed this

eect digital salesmanship.

O all the examples we studied, by ar the

most fnely crated was this Bank Holiday

Sale email rom camera retailer Jacobs,

which eatured an Olympus Pen camera at

a reduced price o 299 as the leading oer.

According to our camera enthusiast subjects,

this was a high interest product, one o a

new generation o compact system cameras

incorporating many o the eatures o higher

end cameras such as interchangeable lenses

but at more aordable price point. So it

was not surprising that the product attracted

sustained attention and had strong recall, but

this product panel which accounted or only

15% o the area o the email commanded

over hal o all the time spent viewing the

email by our respondents. Studying the

gazeplots o our individual subjects, we

observed a synergy o attention between the

product image, the price point and savings

starburst and the product copy details.

There is an elegant efciency about the

design o the product panel. The use o cut-

out shots or the camera and the lens helps

integrate the eature into the Bank Holiday

Sale message above and the alternative,

higher-priced bundle deal below, and gives athree dimensional eel to the panel. The Save

80 starburst graphic neatly connects the

product image with the body copy. The use o

a head and shoulders shot in the viewfnder

is a clever device throughout our studies

we ound subjects inexorably drawn to make

direct eye contact with acial imagery.

A number o the other emails in our study h ad

product eatures that demonstrated a similarsynergy o design elements. Both Marks &

Spencer and Not on the High S treet among

our Christmas git sector emails and ashion

A

henanindividualxatesonaparticulararea,thereareseveralprocessesthat

occur.Theseincludeencodingofthevisualstimulus,peripheralsampling,andthepreparationofwheretolooknext.Eachtypeofstimulusonthepage(i.e.text/image/price)requiresvaryinglevelsofattention,andisconsequentlyattendedtoinaverysystematicapproach.Througheyetrackingweareabletoidentifythe

orderinwhichitemsareattendedtoandforhowlongbeforetheusermovesontothenext.Oncethesepropertiesareestablished,elementscanbesubtlyemphasisedand arranged in a format to attractattentionaccordingly,andthuscreateshorter,moreefcientscanpaths.

IntheexampleforJacobsCameraswefoundresultstosupportthis,demonstratingthatusersattentionisordinal-xatingonelementsinturnbeforemovingontothenext.Withaneffectivedesignformat,theemailtakesusersonadirectedscanpathfromimagetotext,topriceandclick-throughlink,allinanorderofcloseproximity.Thiscreatesaverybalancedlevelofprocessingthatproducesanefcientabsorptionofinformation and sustained attentionWeknowthatbotharekeyfactorsindeterminingrecallandpreferenceand,byimplication,propensitytoconsider and buy

Thisprocessisidentiedineyetrackinganalysiswiththeuseofgazeplotswheresustainedattentionisshownwithillustrativexationpoints.However,itisthebalanceofxationdurationandasteadypathoflittledeviationthatindicatesprocessingprociency.Asimagesarequicktoprocess,theuseofdetailedandangledshotsprovidehighleveldetailandarethereforeviewedforlonger.Thetextiskeptshortandconcise,resultinginanequalamountoftimespentonthemastheimage,

creatingabalancedlevelofattentionoverall.Wefoundthatimagesandbodycopyeachreceivedabout25%ofxationtimeintheopeningscreen,demonstratingtheeffectivebalanceintheelements.Thenetresultisahigherlevelofengagementwiththeemail.Jacobsmakeeffectiveuseofdetailedimageryandconcisetext,whilereducingcrowdfactors(unrelatedsurroundingelements)inordertoguideasteadygazeover

thematerialthatisfocusedandpurposeful.

Key techniquesExploitthesynergisticrelationshipbetweenproductimages,copy,pricepoints

andgraphicstosustainattention

Integratingtheelementsworksbetterthanimposingagridstructure

Ensureproximityofelementstomaximisemessageabsorption-adjacencies

Integratingtherightcalltoactionisvitaltoclosingthesale

W

Every effective product offer weobserved exploited the positioningof elements to maintain continuousengagement within the readersperipheral vision

retailers Freemans and Next included well-

designed integrated product presentations

that exploited digital salesmanship, and

eatured highly among the most recalled

and most preerred or our test subjects.

What characterised all o these high

attention product panels was the use ocut-out product shots whether ashion,

cameras or Christmas gits soundbytes o

product copy, strong headlines, subheads

and price points, oten with attention-

grabbing graphics employed to link and

integrate the elements. Every eective

product oer we observed exploited

the positioning o elements to maintain

continuous engagement within the

readers peripheral vision. In maintaining

eye contact like the successul salesman,

each o these emails used a combination

o persuasive techniques to ensure the best

chance o closing the sale.

Superb design integration o product

shots,copy, price points and graphics

to create a high interest and

well liked opening screen


10/14

Graphic Assets

19

Inallkindsofmarketingcommunications,gooddesignersknowhowtoexploitgraphicdevicestodrawattentiontoimportantmessagesanddramatisekeyoffers.Graphicdevicescanconveyurgencyorexclusivity,shoutaspecialofferorwhisperasubconsciousbrandattribute.Foremails,wherethetimescalesforconsumerengagementandinteractionarebrief,graphicscanbeespeciallyeffectiveinvisuallyconveyingahierarchyofmessagesandinuencingthepathtakenthroughtheemail.


nce again, Top Shop provides a

good example o the use o graphic

devices to draw attention to oers

in this case Free Next Day Delivery in a

roundel, positioned just above the navigation

and to provide a subliminal route down

the email using three headers Maxi Style,

Midi Length and Pencil Perect deliberately

positioned on a diagonal slope. The

aggregated heatmap o our recipients viewingpatterns shows clearly how eectively these

messages were absorbed while increasing the

attention to the products.

A more overt directional graphic device is

very eectively demonstrated in this monthly

newsletter email rom fnancial services

company Swinton. Insurance is a low interest

product or most consumers, and Swinton

have used cute cartoon robins to create

engagement or this winter-themed email.

But note how they have incorporated a scar

graphic to cleverly sustain reader momentum

and connect elements within the email.

Another Arcadia ashion email, this time

rom Dorothy Perkins, makes novel use o anotebook and pen graphic to support a set o

New Year ashion resolutions, each resolution

attached to relevant products.

The angled presentation o the notebook and

the diagonal sight line o the pen are both

important small touches in inuencing eye

movement in the direction that the designer

intends drawing attention to the product.

Its not just ashion emails that are exploiting

graphic devices eectively the opening

screen o this Comet January Sale email also

shows skilul use o graphic elements, rom

the use o arrows as an additional product

CTA or to encourage scrolling, to the inclusion

o small illustrations, such as photo prints,

remote controls and snowakes, to connect

O

eoplearemotivatedtokeepseekinginformation,butdontliketoworktoohardforit.

Theeasieritisforthemtondit,themorelikelytheyaretocontinueengagingininformation-seekingbehaviour.Withoutcarefuldesignconsideration,content-richemailscanbecomeconfusingforreaders,riskingthemclosingtheemailinsecondsasitbecomestoobewildering.

Eyemovementshavebeenfoundtobeaffectedbyboththedesignofthepageandhabituallypreferredscanpaths.Throughtheeffectiveuseofgraphics,itispossibletodrawattentiontoitemsofimportance,embellishonspecialoffers,andsubconsciouslyinuencethepathtakenthroughtheemail.Brightcolours,plainfont,andconcisetextareallusefuldesigntacticsthatwehaveseenattractattentioneffectivelyinourstudies.Bycatchingreaderattentionwithagraphicrst,theycanquicklyabsorbtheinformationandthenmovestraightontotheneighbouringelementitdirectstowards,resultinginmoreprocientprocessingoftheemail.

Thisprocesscanbeseeninactionbyviewinggazeplotdatathatindicateshowusersendupatelementswiththeuseofgraphicdeviceleadership.

TheBurtonemailillustratedherepositionsthegraphicsinadiagonallayoutbetweenotherelements,providinganaturalprogressiveowdownthepage.Thishelpstoreduceuncertaintyandimprovesthechancesofabsorbingotherimportantinformationbenetingfromthehaloeffectofthegraphicinperipheralvision.ArelativelysmallgraphicelementinoneofourstudyemailsfromBoden,aroundelofferingan11%discount,scoredhighattentionandrecallfromalltheparticipants.Thisemailalsoincorporatesseveralothergooddesignpracticestocreategooddiagonalsandpaths

throughthecontent.Inemailsthatare constrained by design features(i.e.gridformat),graphicdevicesthataremeticulouslypositionedcanovercometheboundariesandcontinuetoleadapersonsgazewherenecessary.

Key techniquesGraphicdevicesarejustaseffectiveinemailasinotherformsofmarketing

Usepricepointandoffergraphicsnearproductimagestoaidfastabsorption

Graphicelementscanalsohavearoleindeterminingpathsthroughtheemail

Mostimportantly,thegraphicelementssetthetoneurgency,exclusivity,

femininity,offer-based

P

Graphics are used purposefully toshowcase the product, to directattention and to create pathways

Burton have used graphic deviceseectively to connect product

elements in this menswear email

The 11% discount roundelscored highly or attention and

preerence in this well-designedemail rom Boden

Top Shop draw attention to the oer

and products and sustain momentum

using colourul graphic devices

Dorothy Perkins uses a New Year

resolution notebook and pen

to draw attention to their latest

ashion products

Small graphic illustrations help to

connect an otherwise very linear

design structure

elements within the email and inuence

eye movement.

In all these emails, graphics are used

purposeully to showcase the product, to

direct attention and to create pathways,

oten helping to overcome the limitations

o a linear underlying design structure. It

is impossible or us to know what was in

the minds o the designers, but in eachcase they have clearly demonstrated an

Swinton makes highly eectiveuse o graphics to heighten

engagement and direct readers

down the email


11/14

No Stone Unturned

21

Inastore,everysquarefootrepresentstheopportunityforasale.Inanemail,everypixelshouldbeexploitedtogainanextraclickorincreasethelikelihoodofconversion.Whatsmore,unlessyouareLouisVuttonorMulberry,wherespaciousambiencelendsexclusivity,themoreproductsyouofferandthemorebenetsyoucanshowcasethebetter.Foreverythousandreaderswhoopenyouremail,thereareahundreddifferentreasonsfordoingso.Themoreyoucancaterforwithina well-designed,balancedstructure,ofcoursethebetteryourresponserate.


S

esign and layout aect allaspects o the interactionbetween the email andthe user, rom ease o

use to overall eelings towards thebrand. While it is important to notovercrowd the page, it is equallyimportant not to create too muchempty space. When used correctly,space can signiy areas o importance,lighten the cognitive load whenprocessing, or serve to point out call

to action links.

The Miss Selridge email illustratesan eective way o using space toaccentuate images and encourageusers to ollow a clear path to thebottom o the page. This is a good wayo making sure nothing is easily missedby the viewer. The spacious layoutgives the reader the sense o unhurriedbrowsing, allowing or detailed viewingand ensuring more time is spent onconsideration. It is also very clear tosee how the ashion products relateand co-ordinate as a result o the caretaken with product positioning andpresentation the digital equivalento window dressing. Our emale testsubjects reacted well to this email,remaining engaged and demonstratinghigh recall o the eatured products.

In marked contrast, empty spacecan also be ineective and even

detrimental to attention when poorlyexecuted. In this Farm & CottageHolidays email, images are small, linearand widely dispersed. Considering thatimages are very quick to process, thisdesign approach is counterproductiveas they are hastily scanned over andmuch less likely to be recalled or aectpreerence and purchasing decisions.The dispersed structure encouragedour subjects to assimilate the contentso this email very quickly, and resultedin very low recall and preerencescores. In eect, the design structurehas ensured that readers rapidly loseinterest in the content.

ome o the most successul emails

among those we studied requently

contained more than 30 clickable

links product links, oer links, hypertext

links, multiple calls to action, secondary and

tertiary navigation or the reader, the clear

implication was that they were being oered

a great deal o choice. The choice to buy now,or fnd out more. The choice

to view a specifc product, or shop the whole

range. The choice to look at only Canon

cameras, or just Nikon models. The option to

view a video about the latest catwalk trends.

From a customers perspective, presenting

options is empowering and o course, as

we have observed elsewhere, it demonstrates

classic sales psychology not so much do

you want to buy or not?, but which do you

preer, the red or the blue?

Freemans recognises the dilemma that older

women ace in choosing a swimsuit to suit

their shape in the email illustrated here, and

oers a video or each shape, such as Apple,

Pear and Hourglass, which proved o high

interest to our test subjects. They make

optimum use o the email space angling the

shots to provide pathways, dramatising the

key beneft within the copy soundbyte, and

providing a small but helpul shape illustration

near the Watch video call to action. This

hard-working email space incorporates several

o the techniques we have described in this

paper, including the use o Zoom as an

additional call to action on the product image,

rather than Buy or View More.

Many o the emails we studied incorporated

integration with social media, either by

encouraging sign-up at the oot o emails, like

this one rom Firebox, or by integrating the

option to Like or Tweet products throughout

the email, as DealZippy do. Fewer, though,

oered readers a concrete reason or doing so.

As a general rule, emails that allowed too

much space between points o interest

gained little engagement rom our test

subjects, and as a consequence were rarely

positively recalled. This camera email rom

Currys, with elements widely dispersed in a

linear structure, was not eective at sustaining

attention or attracting preerence, despite

the act that the subjects in this case were

all interested in cameras. Almost without

exception, the emails best received in our

tests let no stone unturned in attempting to

engage and sustain interest and exploit every

opportunity or incremental responses.

D

Key techniquesSuccessfulemailsfrequentlycontain30+clickablelinkshypertextlinks,

multiplecallstoaction,secondarynavigationandfooterlinksalldrive

incrementalclicks

ConsidermultiplecallstoactionforasingleproductZoom,Viewthe

Range,FindOutMore

Providedeeplinksthatgettherecipientdirectlytotheirareaofinterest

From a customers perspective,presenting options is empowering

Freemans makes optimal use o

the space around eatured product

videos with multiple calls to action

Although overall this Miss Selridge

email seems spacious,good use

o diagonals and multiple calls to

action ensure sustained attention

right to the oot

Lack o substance in the content,

coupled with a poor positioning o

elements,resulted in low attention,

recall and preerence or this

cottage holiday email

How not to do it this email

rom Currys loses engagement

rapidly with an uninspiring,widely

dispersed design

DealZippy eature social

media links against all

the deals in their email to

tease out opportunities or

valuable reerrals

Firebox take the opportunity

to encourage readers to Like,

Followand Viewon social

media at the oot o their emails


12/14

Weinterpretwhatweseedifferentlydependingonthecontextandenvironment.Whatmightseemanexceptionalbargaininadepartmentstorewouldbeperceivedverydifferentlyinadiscountstore.Inemails,theuseofelementsinperipheralvision,andimageryespecially,canreinforcepositiveperceptionsandaidunderstanding.Throughoutthispaperwehavediscussedtheimportanceofpositioningandintegrationforamarketingchannelthatislikenootherinitsdependenceonscrollingtosustainattention.Foremaildesigntobesuccessful,itisvitaltofactorinnearandperipheralvision.

ExPERT VIEw

Whilethesalesmandoesnotexistinamarketingemail,thistechniqueofreciprocitycanstillbeappliedintheencouragementofaclick-through.Astheonlymainsellingtoolsavailablearetextandimages,companiesareaimingtoincreasethepushtosalewithaddedvaluecontent.

Whilenotovertlyrelatingthiscontenttothesale,marketerscanincreasethechancesofclick-throughswithcontentrelatedtotheproducts.Thiscouldtaketheformoffashionortraveltips,instructionalvideosanddiagrams,orusefularticlesandreports.Notonlydoesthisincreasethelikelihoodoftheviewer to pay more attention totheemail,butitalsogivesthemsomethingforfree,developingtrustinthecompany-consumerrelationship.Therefore,intheactofreciprocity,theyaremuchmorelikelytoclickthroughtothewebsitetoseewhatelsethecompanyhastooffer.

IntheexampleemailfromJessops,itprovidestherecipientalargesampleofaddedvaluecontent.Thisincludesexpertadviceonhowtotakethebest

weddingphotographs,personaltips,andrecommendationsforrelatedproducts.Thisworkswellasitprovidestheconsumerwithsomefree,usefulinformationthatleadsontotheproductsthatcouldhelpthemachievethebestresults.Alltheyhavetodoisclickthroughtothewebsitefromthere.

TheTopshopemailprovidespeoplewiththefreeuseoftheironlinevirtualmakeovertool.Thisconsistsofaseriesofvideoclipsallowingusersto

Inanormalstoreitisthesalesmanwhoprovidesallthecontentandreassurancesneededtodriveapurchase.Onewaythisisachievedmightbetoofferafreegiftinreturn,orpriortomakingthepurchase.Thisactofreciprocitygeneratesanunconsciousobligationintheconsumertogivesomethingbackinreturnfortheactofkindness.

henanindividualviewsanobjectintheirenvironment,theydoso

withvaryinglevelsofperceptionintheirvisualeld.Inbroadtermsthisincludesthreeregions:1)thefoveatypicallyconsistsofseveraldegreesofthevisualeldwherevisualactivityiscentredandofhigh-leveldetail;2)theparafoveaaroundvedegreeseithersideofthefovea,whereacuitybecomesgradually

reduced;and3)theperipherytheareaonthefurthestpartofthevisualeld,whichisofthelowestdetail,butprovidesinformationonwheretoorientfovealrecognition.

Asourhighestlevelofattentionislocatedatthefovealregion,thesurrounding areas serve to supportthisbyprovidinginformationwhichcanbeviewedfromthecorneroftheeye.Anexampleofhowweusetheseregionseffectivelycanbedemonstratedwhenweidentifyapotentialhazardinourenvironment.Somethingcatchesoureyeinperipheralvision,ourbrainthenalertsustoit,andwesubsequentlyfocus on it in order to avoidpossibledanger.

Inrecentpsychologicalstudies,theparafovealregionhasalsobeenshowntosignicantlycontributeto

theprocessofreading.Indoingso,itallowsthereadertoabsorbtextat

amuchfasterrate,viewingmultiplewordsatatimeratherthanfocusingoneachindividualword.Onawebpage,thisregionmightalsoallowforattractingattentiontoelementsincloseproximitytothetext(i.e.imagesorbuttons),divertingthegazefromthefovealregionandrepositioningtothenewareaofinterest for focusing on

Withregardtoimagery,asitrequireslessprocessingtoextractinformationfrom,muchofitcanbeviewedintheperipheralvisualeldwithoutevenbeingfocusedon.Thiscanbeutilisedforoptimisingtheamountofinformationtransferbyplacingpictorialelementsincloseproximitytoimportanttextelements.Whenanindividualisattractedtoanareabytheimagetheymightthenbeencouragedtoreadtheneighbouringtext,whereasthismayhavebeenlesslikelywithouttheimage.

Thelevelofvisualprocessingcanbeaffectedbystimulusdesignfeatures,suchaslayout,colour,contrast,pattern,animationandproximity;and eyes become attractedtoaspectsthatareattractive,distinctive and informativeTherefore,bycarefullycraftingthedesignofastimulus(i.e.awebpageoremail),andtakingthesefactorsintoaccount,onecanoptimizeusersattentionlevelswhenviewing

thestimulus.Themoresalientanelementis,themorelikelyitistoattractattentiontotheviewerforfocusingon.Thiswouldresultinareductionincognitiveload,allowingformoreefcientprocessingacrossthepage,anddeliverability of information

Aneffectiveexampleofthisinanemailmightincludeanattractiveimagewhichisincloseproximity

toimportantandrelevanttextualinformation,followedbyaclearlydenedbuttonwhichwouldleadtheusertothepointofpurchase.Thecorrectplacementofsuchelementsisessentialtoaidingthisprocesswithminimaldifcultyfortheuser.Theperipheraleldofvisionisthereforeavitalconstructtobearinmindwhendesigninganeffectivemarketingemail.

Peripheral Vision

T

FoveaPerceivemost

detail

Paravovea

Periphery

Rapid decrease inamountofdetail

perceived

This grouping o text withneighbouring image and buttonworks well in directing attention

ThesaccadicmovementofreadingLoremfuga.

Namintendestdenissedestiamexplabipsape

23

The saccadic movement o reading

his Christmas git email rom

Debenhams illustrates the principle

very eectively. By positioning a

secondary set o navigation buttons between

a discount graphic and the irresistible

subliminal attraction o eye contact, the

email measurably increases the likelihood

o noticing, and acting on, the buttons.The diagonally structured Big Git Event

headline can still be assimilated in peripheral

vision at this point. The email continues

to use eye contact to attract, and discount

oers to substantiate, throughout the email,

maintaining reader momentum, as can be

clearly seen rom the heatmap.

Many o the most eective emails we

tested employed the technique o ensuring

that the attractor (most oten an image

or graphic) was in close proximity to the

substantiator (typically copy on product

benefts, prices or savings), together with one

or more calls to action. The daily deal sector

emails in our study all used this approach

eectively to present multiple deals in a

standardised ormat that was easy or our

subjects to absorb rapidly important or

a high requency email programme - and

determine which were o interest. As you

would expect in this context, price and savings

are the substantiator, and Frugaloo used a

series o eye-catching images combined with

prominent price and savings boxes, in close

proximity to the Go to deal call to action.

Peripheral vision is an important inuence on

eye movement and direction, and can be a

decisive actor in encouraging email recipients

to maintain engagement to keep scrolling.

Designers can judge the eectiveness o their

designs quite simply using the thumb and fst

technique. I the thumbnail at arms length

is a good representation o the immediate

ocal point, making a fst will indicate the

nearby elements that will guide the readers

next move. Considered placement o all the

elements in the email design structure can

signifcantly increase attention throughout the

engagement unnel.

Key techniquesGoodplacementofelementsaidsvisualprocessingandincreasesthe

likelihoodofaresponse

Alwayscombinetheattractor(oftenanimageorgraphic)innear

proximitytothesubstantiator(typicallycopy)andthecalltoaction

to optimise success

Usethethumbandstatarmslengthwhenjudgingdesigntopredict

pathsthroughtheemail

Debenhams usesperipheral vision

eectively to maintain

reader momentum


W

The circles on these two emails

represent paraoveal vision,and

clearly show how this infuences

the subjects gaze path


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Participantswererecruitedlocallyviapostersandemailresponsesandwerescreenedaccordingtothedemographicrequiredperemailsector(e.g.cameraenthusiastsforcameraretaileremails).Betweentenandtwentyparticipantswereusedforeachemaileye-trackingtest.Participantagerangevarieddependingonthetestbuttypicallycomprised ages between 18 and 55 yearsAnequalbalanceofbothmaleandfemalesubjectswasusedfortheentire study

TheTobiiEyeTrackingT60XLsystemwithhigh-resolution24-inchTFTwidescreen monitor was used to carry outtheeye-trackingprocedure.TobiiStudioanalyticsoftwarewasusedtodisplaystimuliandproduceresultsdata.

Abasicquestionnairewasgiventoparticipantsatthestarttoestablishgeneralpersonalinformationandtodeterminedemographic.Anexampleincludesthefollowing:HowwouldyougoaboutchoosingaUKcottageholiday?

Atotalof50differentemailsacrosseightdifferentsectorswereusedfortheeye-trackingstimuli.Eachemailwascarefully

selectedtopresentadiverserangeofdesignsforeachsector,withthepurposeofprovidingdetailedconclusiveeye-trackingresults.

Participantswerebriefedandgiventhequestionnairetolloutpriortotesting.Followingthistheyunderwenteye-trackingcalibrationtoestablisheyepositionandmovement.Theywerethengivenashortinstructionandpresentedwitheachemailonthescreeninturn.

Thenalstagerequiredaconcludingsetofquestionsdetailingtheirexperienceandemailpreferences.Anexamplequestionincludes:Outoftheemails,whichonedidyoulikethemost?Participantswerethendebriefedandgiven a monetary incentive fortakingpart.

PARTICIPANTS MATERIALS PRoCEduRE

Methodology

25

The Sectors Studied

Ten Inbox Secrets Revealed

Emaildesignisnotasciencesuccessrequirescreativeair,goodcustomerknowledgeand,ofcourse,greatproductsbuttheinsightsfromourstudyrevealsomepowerfultechniquesthatyoucanemploytoteaseoutextraclicksandconversions.Fromcreatinggoodrstimpressionswithopeningscreenfulstomaintainingmomentumandengagementusinggraphicassetsanddigitalsalesmanship,weuncovereddozensofexamplesofeffectivepracticesthattranscendmarketsectorandcustomerdemographics.Distilledintoourteninboxsecrets,wehopethatyouwillndthisresearchpaperarichandpracticalsourceofideasandinspiration.Emailisanexcitingandexiblechannelthatyieldsawealthofmeasurabledata.Testingissimpleandveryfasttoimplement.Andlikealldigitalmedia,emailisconstantlyevolvingasemailmarketers,itsvitalthatwecontinuetohoneourdigitaldesignpractices.

Words that Paint1,000 PicturesSustainattentionandsubstantiateinterest

usingintegratedsoundbytecopy

Digital SalesmanshipIntegrateofferelementstooptimise

productpresentationandclosemoresales

First ImpressionsCreate enticing and effective opening

screenstomaximiseengagement

Email AnatomyUsedesign&structuretechniquesthat

maintainscrollingmomentum

Digital SignpostingConvert browsing into action using

navigationtodrivepurposefulclicks

ClickabilityAlwaysaskforthebusinesswith

multiple,well-designedcallstoaction

Content KingsUseaddedvaluecontenttoincrease

emotionalengagementandparticipation

Graphic AssetsUsegraphicdevicestoovercomeinertia,

create momentum and drive response

No Stone UnturnedWinincrementalclicksbyexploiting

everyemailpixeltoadvantage

Peripheral VisionExploittherelativeproximityofdesign

elementstoreinforcepositiveperceptions

Photographic Retailers

Womens Fashion (18-35)

Holiday Cottages

Womens Fashion (35-55)

Daily Deal s & Vouchers

Short Break Holidays

Mens Fashion (35-55)

Christmas Gifts


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ten inbox secrets; what eye tracking reveals about designing more effective emails

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