So what is your theme?

There are two aspects of “what an email should look like”:

Format and Theme. There are many who do not consider both but often one will at least consider format. Format refers to the classification and configuration of an email. For a successful email campaign, you need to also consider the appropriate theme. The theme is the main idea of your entire email campaign. It is not the same as format.

Once you have decided on the objective(s) for your campaign, you then select your theme. Most objectives can be achieved using one of the four typical email themes:

• Promotional
• Information
• Procedural
• Relational

We will also address emails that have multiple themes.

Promotional Theme – Use the promotional theme when you want to persuade your audience to take a specific action or at least ask for a specific purchase decision such as making an appointment. Typical PROMOTIONAL theme include:

• Product images and descriptions
• Testimonials
• Coupons
• Headlines and links that cal for action
• Links to information that supports your main call to action
• Directions on how to make the call to action

Informational Theme – Use this theme to inform you audience so that they will form an opinion. They are different from Promotional in that they usually do not include a call to action.

• News articles
• Stories and narratives
• Opinions and viewpoints
• Announcements
• Event calendars
• FAQs

Procedural Theme - This theme is used to give instructions or explain processes. Like informational themes, they usually do not include a call to action. Examples are:

• New customer or opt-in welcome
• Notifications
• Shipping or privacy policy
• Disclosures and warranties

Relational Theme – This theme is used to build or deepen relationship(s). These are usually one-way communications and no call to action. Examples:

• Greetings
• Acknowledgements
• Personal experiences news and stories
• Customer recognition messages

At times your email campaign may require you to use Multiple themes. Try to minimize the use of multiple themes. Recommend the following when considering multiple themes:

• State your main theme very succinctly right up front
• Sub-group together with design and layout elements
• If there is that a major theme within the multiple themes, then send out separate emails
• Remember objectives -> themes -> formats -> genre.

We will discuss the concept of genre when it comes to design in a future blog. But just remember, if your email is not text only, then maximize the visual impact by doing it right. Viewers are very savvy and can quickly detect amateur design. As I covered in my blog of January 29, 2009 “Crap is Crap”.