Why a Free Email Template Kills Open and Click-through Rates

Anna Kuser 806 Views 2 min read Share

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Hey! We just discovered a company that will give you a free self-driving future car. Bonus: they’re also giving away complimentary baby seats in case you have any little ones. Interested? We didn’t think so. While that’s a bit of a dramatic example, we see using un-customized free email templates as another destructive faux pas. Just the car with shoddy email templates that may or may not make it to your customer’s inbox in one piece.

The Importance of a Cohesive Brand Experience

You have put countless hours into developing a logo, and visual style guide across your company communications. Why should your email marketing be any different? While free email templates have limited customization options, you will never get them to look like your website. Nor will it reflect the unique ingenuity of your services. The idea is to create assembly-line efficiency with a rewarding consumer experience that is unique to your brand. Customers who see cohesive branding across your media will gain trust in your company.

Experts Take Away the Guess Work

Email template customization experts know all the tricks. For example, using coded tabling formats and ditching large background images are sure ways to ensure visual consistency across platforms. Focus on images as inessential factors to the content of the email. Slow internet speeds, company firewalls and plain text rules will sink your email if it depended on your images.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

As many of us have probably experienced, quicker and cheaper approaches are often less reliable. Have you ever asked multiple people in your company to check your test email across three or four different email clients and browsers? Free templates may have been tested on a few popular browsers, but they are likely not proven with extensive testing. Custom email design experts are not only streamlining your brand experience, but they are also ensuring top notch coding in your templates. Having an email experts on hand can make sure that you are always up to date on the latest advancements.

A Not-Too-Rich Viewing Experience

Bad code doesn’t only look unprofessional — it can lead to emails being dumped in junk folders or being blocked by firewalls. Sometimes solutions are as simple as cutting back on clunky large images, videos, or other features that may not load properly. Simpler is usually better when it comes to email communication — but don’t be fooled! This means your emails must be strategically formatted and optimized for the best possible User Experience.

More Money, Less Problems

While sinking more money into branding and marketing may be concerning, you’ll save money and gain new customers in the long run. Easy-to-use custom email templates ensure that anyone at your company can expertly launch email communications as often as you’d like. This means less time spent on formatting and testing email campaigns, and less stress on the one or two people at your company who are able to do so. Eliminate the burden on your in-house staff and work with an expert to develop a custom email template that reflect your commitment to brand identity and create an enjoyable customer viewer experience.