Creating a successful email marketing campaign depends upon a few key things. The first key is to keep it simple. If your email contains a flashy attention-grabbing window of opportunity, but no real content, you’re not going to get the results most businesses desire. People steer clear of the gimmicks, so if your current campaign is gimmicky you may want to consider revamping. If you make the decision to revamp consider the following. 
Try a simple email newsletter. The reason for this is a recent report by Nielson Norman Group, the average e-mail user only reviews and Internet newsletter for an average of 50 seconds. Whereas, marketing campaigns boarded by e-mail only hold the reader’s attention for around four seconds. As you can see the newsletter format will hold your average readers attention 10 times more than the normal email. Which in turn brings us to the actual design of the newsletter or the e-mail.
It’s important to create a simple email newsletter design that both captures the attention but also keeps the attention. The simple truth is that most consumers and e-mail users only read a fraction of the e-mails they receive. The rest of the e-mails that they actually open are merely scanned for content. Aside from simplicity, an effective email marketing campaign will utilize ASIC principles of design. Don’t panic – all this means is that you use contrasting colors to draw the eye to certain elements of the email – your call-to-action. Most designers agree that a design element should not contain more than 200 to 300 pixels. This means that your e-mail design should not be disproportionate. Try to ensure that you’re marketing design has a smooth flow and is distributed evenly throughout the email, so it doesn’t feel bouncy or heavy.
There have been countless studies on how most Internet users read e-mail and various documents throughout the web. Your goal is to gain reader attention – and you have about 5 seconds to do this. As 5 seconds is about as long as most readers will look at any page. That means any information put on your page should be readable/scannable within five seconds.
It’s a good idea to use your knowledge. When it comes to marketing and media, to ensure that your message takes up less real estate than standard e-mail advertisements. If your e-mail takes up too much space (because it has too many graphics) or comes across too spammy, most ISPs will automatically filter it out as junk. The imagery you placed inside your e-mail should convey a rapid message, don’t make the mistake of using photos and logos for mere beautification. To make the most of your marketing campaign ensure that your pictures says something besides “I’m pretty”.
E-mail marketing is a rapid response industry. This means you must be certain to give your potential clients every opportunity to make contact with you. You can be easily contacted via contact information placed within your messages. Be sure to include links to your site, your address information, your phone numbers, your fax number and any other information that can be used to contact you on a daily basis, in every e-mail that you send to potential clients.
Let’s face it…without the proper email design your email camapaign may well be predestined to fail. Use what you have learned here and your email campaign will stand a much better chance of adding profit to your bottom line.