Email Inspiration: Squarespace dummy forms in email

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Elliot Ross

Forms in email have always been a contentious subject – depending on who you ask, they’re either a very bad idea or very useful for generating conversions. Regardless, there are some places where they don’t work (Outlook 07 & Hotmail, for example).

However users have a lot of recognition for form elements, after all they use them online all day, and they associate them with interaction. Therefore, mock form elements, images that follow the visual style of form elements, can be a useful trick to engage users.

I’ve seen a few campaigns that mimic form fields, but this example from Squarespace is one of the nicest. It helps that there’s a clear concept, and the primary copy line of the campaign leads into the ‘form’.

Elsewhere, there’s a really strong content hierarchy – with short and punchy copy that’s laid out with lots of white space around it. This makes it easy for the user to scan, and also has the bonus of being easier to read on a mobile device.

Thinking outside the box: RNIB

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Elliot Ross

Pin It

This innovative campaign from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) turns the idea of images being turned off on it’s head. It shows how a solid creative idea and concept can be used to make a campaign that really stands out in the inbox.

via creative showcase.

Breaking the rules: Brooks Brothers

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Elliot Ross

Pin It

Earlier today on Twitter, Chad White over at Retail Email Blog posted this great campaign that breaks the rules, but in doing so stands out from the crowd. The Brooks Brothers email features a huge stack of polo shirts, in every colour under the sun. Much like the water slide email we saw a few years ago, it’s very long and against the usual ‘best practice’, but in breaking the rules it communicates the breadth of the product range.

It also shows why we need to change our approach to “the fold” – instead of filling the top area with product details and buttons, there’s something that engages the user and entices them to scroll down, eventually finding the call to action buttons at the bottom.

Wonderful email from @BrooksBrothers today: The $2,000 Polo… yfrog.com/nzps7yoj
— Chad White (@RetailEmailBlog) April 16, 2012

Email Inspiration: Waitrose Animated Call to Action

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Elliot Ross

Pin It

This fun Easter campaign from UK supermarket Waitrose uses animation to draw attention to the call to action – a cute easter chick comes over and pecks the CTA button.

Here’s the animation:

The rest of the design features a strong hierarchy, and whilst there is a lot of content, it’s easy to scan and read the content.

Email Inspiration: Media Temple newsletter

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Elliot Ross

Pin It

This campaign from awesome hosting company Media Temple shows that you can include multiple messages in a campaign without bloating the content. I especially like how the 4-line introduction is easy to read, and includes the same links as the articles below. It functions in a similar way to an extended preheader – and if reading those 4 lines is enough for the user to click through to the site, then they can.