The goal of email marketing is to send the correct email to the right target at the right time. According to popular belief, the efficacy of email marketing only lasts 48 hours after a campaign is issued.

Learning how to conduct an email campaign audit would be a time-consuming endeavor.

Thus, in this post, we’ll go over the necessity of auditing your email design as well as how to do it.

What exactly is an Email Design Audit?

An email design audit is part of a sophisticated procedure that evaluates the existing email marketing strategy and identifies problems in email campaign performance.

Why should you do an email marketing audit?

Email templates, such as newsletter templates, welcome emails, and transactional emails, are used on a regular basis. To prevent monotony, it is necessary to renew your designs as the times change.

Which email design elements should you examine?

Some of the most typical email components that are audited in an email template, as well as the questions you should ask for each, are as follows:

• The email design — Would a straight or zigzag style be better for displaying your images?
• Email width – Is it beneficial to produce a full-width email? Should you simply concentrate on mobile layout?
• Fonts — Will using the fall-black font damage my layout? Which typeface best represents the personality of my brand?
• Subject Line — Is it true that employing emoji increases engagement rates? What is the appropriate length for my subject line?
• Photos and GIFs – Are my images aesthetically pleasing? How many subscribers have access to my GIF? Is it having an effect on the loading time? Is my alternative text self-explanatory?
• Email copy – Am I overlooking the importance of email copy for optimum readability? Is a personalisation tag required for my salutations? Will the information in my dynamic content block be correct?
• Interaction – How does interactivity affect user experience? Is the time spent worthwhile in terms of ROI?
• CTA — Is my “call to action” effective? Is there an unique button when the email is read?
• Unsubscribe Link – How visible is the unsubscribe link?
• Footer – What information should I provide in the footer? Should I include a picture to my signature? Which social media accounts should I highlight to increase social engagement?

How does one go about auditing an email template?

To prevent being overwhelmed while evaluating email templates, separate the design into discrete components.

Consider this Callaway Club example. This is how their whole email appears.

When we divide this email into little chunks, we can see:

The Title

The header section is the first thing anybody observes when they open the email. It must be compelling enough to entice the subscriber to read the remainder of the email.

In the preceding example, the brand logo offers identification, the preheader provides context, and the strong headline presents the goods. Because the headline has a separate backdrop color for easy identification.

The Image of the Hero

The hero picture comes in second. This is a large image of the product or anything in context with the email that helps you establish the topic of the email.

The Body of the Email

The email content starts after you have enticed your subscriber with the hero picture. This is where you expand on what was hinted at in the first part of the email.

In the above example, there are much too many sections with links to specific pages. It is preferable if you concentrate only on the product you desire to advertise. What was accomplished here may have been accomplished by establishing an upselling area.

The Sales Pitch

The email’s promotion section is a wonderful technique to improve consumer involvement. The part is well-designed, providing a clear picture of what the subscriber stands to gain. Furthermore, the title is concise and to the point in outlining what may be anticipated by joining up.

The Section for Upselling

Any email is a potential cross-sell opportunity waiting to be seized. A clear picture, explanation, and link are excellent ways to build this area.

Footer

The footer should adhere to all best practices for developing non-spam footers. This implies that it should include popular social network connections, an unsubscribe link, the physical address, and a link to change preferences.

Conclusion

It is critical to do an email audit. The consistency of the efficacy of your email marketing is determined by whether or not you have the time and money to conduct an audit.

Check out the video below from Common Thread Collective to learn how to do a thorough audit to determine what is working and where possibilities for improvement in ecommerce email marketing lie.