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Email Design Trends 2023 to Gain an Edge Over Your Competitors

3 Mins read

Email design has evolved and how!

What started with simple formatting like changing font colors, size, and adding some emojis in the email has now metamorphosed into an advanced marketing channel with an unparalleled visual appeal. The email design world has seen minimalism, GIFs, dark mode, and AMP email in the past couple of years. In 2023, we are all set to embrace some new trends that will add a new twist to your email designs.

Wondering what email design trends are in store for you in 2023? Let’s dive in.

1.   A combination of real images, illustrations, and shapes

Static images have been the safest bet for the hero section since the longest time. However, marketers are experimenting with a lot of new ideas like shapes, illustrations, and real images. 2023 will see brands using a combination of real images, illustrations, and shapes in their emails. Take a look at this email by Brooks Brothers to understand how to use it.

 

 

2.   Neon colors

If you want your emails to exude some exuberance, use the power of neon colors. They add a happy feeling to the email and make you stand out as a fun and youthful brand. Just make sure you follow these tips while using neons in emails:

  1. Make judicious use of neons so that it doesn’t get too overwhelming for the readers.
  2. Use neon colors on dark backgrounds for better aesthetics.
  3. Avoid using neon colors in the backgrounds.

Take a look at this email by BlackWolf that has used neon color to highlight the 31% discount offer.

3. Gradients

Gradients gained immense momentum in 2022 and it is expected to trend in 2023. They work as visual cues and guide the subscriber to read till the end. You can either use a single color gradient that goes from light to dark or multiple color gradient that goes from one color to another.

You can use gradients in different ways as mentioned below:

  1. As the background or focal point of your email design
  2. As animated gradients in the background

Take a look at this email by Oura that uses an animated gradient in the background.

4. APNGs

Mailmodo revealed that 67% of marketers use GIFs in their emails. A classier version of GIFs is APNG. It is an open standard for animated bitmap graphics and an alternative to MNG (Multiple-image Network Graphics).

APNG is better than GIF as it supports 8-bit alpha transparency and 24-bit colors.

Unlike GIF, APNG animations do not have an unsightly black border.

Here’s an APNG animation that has a far superior image quality than GIF.

5. Animated CTAs

The main objective of any email is to draw the user’s attention to the CTA and get click-throughs. Email designers have gone a step ahead and started adding innovation to their CTA button to stand out. Bold colors and suitable placement are important to get the CTA noticed. In 2023, marketers will animate the CTAs to rise above the competition and garner a higher click-through rate.

You can either use CSS animation or GIF to animate the CTA and up your email marketing game.

Magic Spoon has nailed this tactic and uses it in many of their marketing emails.

 

6. Memes

Memes have taken social media marketing by storm and they have entered email designing too. They have become a rage for email marketers as they help convey the message with a dash of humor. Choosing the right meme can express a thought or emotion more effectively. However, just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean you should too. You should keep in mind four points while using memes in emails.

  1. Always use a meme that supplements the objective of the email without distracting the reader.
  2. Get your team’s opinion to make sure that the meme doesn’t come off as inappropriate or offensive.
  3. It should not look forced and align to the current event or trend.
  4. Always add the copyright information with the meme so that you stay away from any legal issues.

Here’s an email from Really Good Emails that demonstrates meme email marketing.

7. White space

White space is a best practice for email designers and it has been trending since quite some time now. Even in 2023, marketers will stick to this design element in their emails.

You can incorporate white space in two ways.

  1. Active white space that is added around the important email sections
  2. Passive white space that is around the borders of the template and content, and the space between two sections

White space works as a separator and makes the email more readable. If your email is cluttered, it is likely to turn off the readers. White space offers the required breathing space to the emails while making it look good even on hand-held devices.

Wrapping Up

To learn more about the trends that are going to reign your email inbox in 2023, get enlightened with this insightful infographic by Email Uplers: 9 Email Design Trends to Help You Gain a Design Edge Over Your Competitors in 2023

Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free responsive HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.

Email design stock image by Zoomik/Shutterstock

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