Beefree blog

Best Practices for Formatting Text-Heavy Emails

Beefree team
Beefree team
Nov 10, 2015
Best Practices for Formatting Text-Heavy Emails
Best Practices for Formatting Text-Heavy Emails

Have you noticed how brandstend tosit at twoends of the email design spectrum, sending either very image-heavy or very text-heavy newsletters? We've been known toadvocate for a healthy content-to-image ratio in emails, but our inboxes are full of newsletters that either communicate nearly entirely through images, or almost totally in words.Most image-reliant emailsfeatureproducts, where it makes sense to focus on showcasing what you're trying to sell (like Etsy, for example).But publishers do it too, often by including a roundup of links with a key image andheadline and not much else. Here's an example from It's Nice That, a company publishingstories about creative worktoinspire and connect people and artists:

it's-nice-that

From a design perspective, the approach is appealing because it keeps the email simple, straight-forward, visual, and clear of clutter. Readers can easily scan throughanddecide what's of interest, then tap to read more.

The text-heavy email approach

But we also see many brandstaking an alternate approach: instead of asking readers to click to read, content is placed directly in the email itself, in a "behind the headlines" kind of way.Buzzfeed, Vice, The Skimm, Mic, and others are doing it. Here's one recently sent by BuzzFeed News (it's a long email, so we trimmed it after the first story):

buzzfeed trim

Here, readersget a lot more (basically a beginning-to-end mini story)without having to navigateaway fromtheirinbox. BuzzFeed—and other publishers taking a similar approach—curates anddistills stories,leaving no onus on the reader to choose what to clickfrom a collection of headlines. It's sort of like a hassle-free delivery of information (notice there often aren't ads in these long content-driven emails).

Text-heavy or image-heavy emails? It's up to you, but keep an eye on the email message size

Like anything else, there are pros and cons to both theimage-heavy andtext-heavy approaches. Brands should try both—or find a happy medium—taking into consideration how their messages are best communicated, what best aligns withtheir brand identity, and what their readers most prefer (test and track those clicks!).It's worth mentioning that if your email message size exceeds a certain limit - regardless if it's text-heavy or image-heavy - it's possible that your email message may be clipped by some email clients.

ScreenShot1446

Prevent Gmail from clipping your email

In particular, Gmail clips HTML emails that are larger than 102 KB while the Gmail App for iOS clips emails that are larger than 20KB. This becomes a problem if the majority of your mailing list subscribers are on Gmail.An large email message size can happen when you create an email that is way too long with lots of content or when your email message contains a lot of HTML code - such as inline-CSS code that adds a number of lines of code.As of right now there isn't a universal or elegant solution to preventing a large email from being clipped by Gmail. The best solution from the email marketing community is to try to minimize the email message size by:

  • Optimizing and minimizing the HTML code. If your email is optimized for the Gmail client on mobile - which is achieved through inline-CSS code - you need to decide which is more important: a mobile-optimized email on Gmail that however is clipped or an email that is shown in full but that isn't responsive.
  • Reduce the amount of content in your email messages. If you send out a weekly newsletter digest with 15 in-depth sections and your message is getting clipped by Gmail, try lowering this number to 10 sections (or at the point where your newsletter is below 102 KB in size).

Best practices for text-heavy emails

Today, we'll look atcontent-formatting tips from brands who do it well, revealing how to makeany text-laden email look great and get read.

Start with hierarchy

Putting all that content directly into the email itself usually means your message will be prettylong. Channel the thinking of a good oldprint newspaper and start off strong with your best content or biggest story right at the top. That's what BuzzFeed does, letting their readers know by stating: "Here are the top stories." The story aboutthe leaders of Taiwan and China meeting is the only one that has two sections and two photos. Since it's the biggest news story of that day, it gets the most real estate. Think of your subscribers and prioritize your content to reflect what's most valuable to them.

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 1.17.12 PM

Once your hierarchy is established, it's all about structure. Use consistent colors, styles, and spacing throughout the rest of your email to clarify where one story ends and the next begins. Read on for tips on formatting section headers.

Set a max width

When lines of text stretch on and on across ascreen, it's easy for your eyes to lose track of where you are in a paragraph.Especially if your email is viewed on multiple devices and if your email message is mobile-optimized, it's a good idea to set a max width of your email message at around 500 pixels. This ensures that on wider devices such as on desktop and tablets your email will render at a readable size. And on mobile devices, the width and text will render as specified in your mobile-responsive code.Let's take this BuzzFeed email as an example: it's just shy of500 pixels wide. On a big desktop screen, there'splenty of white space on either side. This white space won't bother your desktop readers, and it will make your email easy-to-read on mobile devices.

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 1.13.28 PM

One or two fonts will do the trick

Keep it simple and stick to one ortwo fonts in your email. Arial, Georgia, and Helvetica are popular email-safe fonts that are reliably classic, elegant, and easy to read. BuzzFeed uses ArialwithHelvetica for section headers.Once you've established your font, createstructure and improve readability with styling, making use ofbold, caps, size, color, and spacing (Read on for how to format!).

Distinguish section headers and headlines

Headers are incredibly important to break up the flow of text and establish structure in your email. Buzzfeeduses the same treatment for all section headers (Helvetica, caps, red) and headlines (Arial, about 2x body size, bold).As a reader, this makes it super clear to know when you're reading a new section, and the big, bold headlines are easy to skim.Mic, a news publisherfor a younger audience, takes a similar approach in their daily newsletter. The section header—"Today's Talking Points"—is in a different font (Avenir) and is gray and all-caps, while the majortakeaways in the content below arebolded (but no line break or size difference).

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 1.35.01 PM

Note that the use of all caps for the header in the example above is on-trend, butit can still be a bit contentious. Most designers agree thatlowercase letters are easier to read (it's true they're more distinguishable, with ascenders and descenders and modulated widths that capital letters lack) and that all-caps makes readers feel like they're being yelled at.But we most often see the all-caps style used very sparingly, in headers, where the style is serving a purpose of setting the textapart from the rest of the content. In moderation, it serves a purpose.Whether you use all-caps or not, the font size of headers should be at least twice as large as body copy,with a generous line break between sections (at least the height of a full line of text).

Don't over-format

Notice neither BuzzFeednor Micstylizes their body text much. After the header, the text isall the same size, font, and color, except for links.The newsletter-only publisher The Skimm takessimilar simple approach. The body copy is all the same size, color, and font, while headers are in all-caps and bold (same font and color as body text). Here's a story from a recent newsletter:

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 2.30.06 PM

It can be tempting to bold, italicize, underline, play with color, etc., but resist. A minimalistic approach to body copy is the best for readability, and the simple approach alsomakescalls-to-actions stand out all the more.

Capitalize on color

But don't go crazy. Your body copyshould be black on a white background. So where is color most effective? In links and headers. Capitalize onbranding your email by using an on-brand color (yes, just one color is enough!) The Skimm and Mic both make links appear in their brand color, while BuzzFeed leaves links the usual blue but uses red in section headers.Here's another example of great color use in text-heavy email from artist and designer James Victore, who sends out a weekly inspirational email.Using pink for calls-to-action really makes them stand out—the pink is a brightjuxtaposition tothe black-and-white email:

Victore

Remember line height and spacing

A good rule of thumb is to set your line height to be at least 1.3x the height of your letters. So if your body copy is12pt, your line height should be16. This maintains acomfortable distance between lines, optimizing readability. Copy should never feel too tight or too loose.Likewise, a break between sections is usually the height of a full line of text. Check out how TheSkimm optimizes line breaks to structure their emails. Notice the main header section and the sub-headers look similar; instead of changing the typefaceformat, they've varied the line breaks to distinguish hierarchy—i.e., the space after"Russian Plane" is greater than the space left after "The Story."

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 4.28.04 PM

Left-align your text

This almost goes without saying, but it's important. We read from left-to-right, and newsletters are best formattedthat way. Don't be tempted to center-align your headers or copy; keep it easy to read with left alignment. All the examples we've covered in this post have left-adjusted content.

Moderate white space with padding

Padding is the space between content and the container it sits within. When you're sending out a newsletter that's essentiallyone content structure (a long message of text), you'll moderate white space primarily with line breaks and line height. But when you add images and other design elements between text structures, you'll want to adjust thepadding to make sure the space above and below it is proportionate to line breaks in your text. In other words, the spacing should be relativelyequal between elements. Do this by adjusting the padding above and below a structure. In email, you generally won't need to adjust the padding on the left and right, as images and design elementstypically look best when they're the full width of the email, like the text.Below,we can see how BuzzFeed moderates the space between the end of a paragraph and an image, and then between the image caption and the start of a new section. The image is the full width of the email.

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 4.57.12 PM

When in doubt, keep it simple. Your quality content is what subscribers signed up for, so avoid getting in between the message and its readers with distracting formatting.We'll be back later this week with a workshop on how to optimize text-heavy emails. In the mean time, try out these design tips in the BEE editor.

Related posts

Email strategies you’ve likely heard of but haven’t implemented yet

While email marketing has come a long way and is changing faster than ever, there’s only so much you can do within 600x1,500 pixels. However, there are no limits to where your creativity can take you. 
Kruti Shah
Feb 5, 2025

How to Leverage Email Campaigns to Gather Sincere Product Reviews

What do customers think about your brand’s products? The best way to find out is to ask them directly, which you can do via strategic email campaigns. Keep reading to learn how!
Beefree team
Jan 22, 2025

How Beefree is Helping Email Makers Scale Their Production

2024 was a banner year for email markers everywhere. From sleek newsletters to interactive promos, you flexed your creative muscle to new heights and did it with a level of speed and efficiency that made crafting award-worthy emails look easy. Let’s dive into the numbers, trends, and stories that made this year unforgettable for email makers like you.
Beefree team
Jan 6, 2025

Email strategies you’ve likely heard of but haven’t implemented yet

While email marketing has come a long way and is changing faster than ever, there’s only so much you can do within 600x1,500 pixels. However, there are no limits to where your creativity can take you. 
Kruti Shah
Kruti Shah
5 Feb
2025

Now, let's be honest—you’ve likely heard about all of these rotating for the last few years. While email marketing has come a long way and is changing faster than ever, there’s only so much you can do within 600x1,500 pixels. However, there are no limits to where your creativity can take you. 

Let’s get into it.  

#1. Unique, tailored experiences 

Damian Grabarczyk, the co-founder and growth marketer of PetLab Co., says, “We faced the challenge of connecting meaningfully with an audience that expects more than one-size-fits-all communication.” 

When we speak about crafting tailored emails we mean going beyond the recipient's first name in the subject line. We’re talking about optimizing your entire email strategy to design multi-stage touchpoints to nurture leads across the customer lifecycle. As well as, leveraging data to send hyper-personalized, relevant, and engaging emails that feel less like a broadcast message and more like a conversation. 

Many are using AI machine learning algorithms and AI automation to analyze customer interactions, past purchases, browsing habits, website visits, and even social media behavior to curate engaging email content that resonates deeply with the real-time needs of recipients.

For PetLab Co this looked like including content such as an individual’s pet health history or product usage timelines. Damian Grabarzyk expands, “This approach transformed the conversion rate and strengthened customer loyalty. As we look ahead, I see brands in 2025 moving beyond generic personalization to adopt strategies that make customers feel truly understood and valued.”

On the other hand, many are leaning into user-generated content (UGC) for crafting tailored experiences. Customers today are more likely to trust the opinions of peers over branded messages. UGC like customer reviews, testimonials, videos, and photos are the best form of social proof depicting real people using and benefitting from your products or services. 

We see the benefits of using both AI and UGC to get the most out of your email conversions ;). 

#2. AI tools as an addition, not a substitution

Experts at NordPass state, "AI-powered content generation tools are not here to replace email copywriters and marketers. These tools make us more efficient. The smarter the tool is, the better equipped we are to create high-performing email content that drives results." 

AI tools can support us by significantly enhancing the speed, precision, and effectiveness of your emails. For instance while traditionally A/B testing has required a lot of time to analyze small variations with AI you quickly implement and test multiple email elements and make adjustments based on real-time engagement data. There are AI algorithms that can even predict which variations are most likely to resonate with different audience segments, leading to more accurate targeting and faster optimization.

In short, AI tools are revolutionizing the way we craft and optimize our email’s deliverability. There are many different types of AI solutions so we suggest finding the right one for your needs. 

#3. Even more transparency around data

With AI continuing to rise, folks are more and more concerned about where their data is going. That’s where zero-party data collection becomes a key strategy in email marketing, allowing you to gather data directly from customers rather than relying on third-party sources. 

Zero-party data includes information that consumers willingly share, such as preferences, interests, and purchase intentions. This data is often collected through surveys, preference centers, quizzes, or interactive content and is highly valuable because it is shared explicitly, ensuring accuracy and deeper personalization without privacy concerns associated with third-party tracking.

As privacy regulations tighten, zero-party data will empower you to deliver hyper-personalized email experiences while respecting user privacy. This approach will help you build trust, as customers feel more in control of their data, and you gain insights that lead to more relevant and engaging email content.

#4. The death of static emails

With attention span getting shorter day after day, digest-format emails are expected to rise in popularity in 2025. Presenting email content in an easy-to-scan, organized, and minimalistic layout will surely help deliver the most relevant information in a fraction of the time. 

Additionally, interactive emails will allow recipients to directly engage within the email without having to visit a landing page or website. Interactive elements like product carousels, polls, and quizzes create a dynamic experience that keeps subscribers engaged, especially in visually driven industries like fashion brands

So what now? 

You’ve heard these strategies before, but now it’s time to actually put them into action. The brands that win at email marketing in 2025 won’t just be sending emails—they’ll be creating experiences. Whether it’s hyper-personalized content, AI-driven efficiency, zero-party data collection, or interactive emails that break the mold, the key is to stay ahead of the curve.

So, what’s the first strategy you’ll finally implement? Your inbox (and your audience) are waiting.

How to Leverage Email Campaigns to Gather Sincere Product Reviews

What do customers think about your brand’s products? The best way to find out is to ask them directly, which you can do via strategic email campaigns. Keep reading to learn how!
Beefree team
Beefree team
22 Jan
2025

What do customers think about your brand’s products? The best way to find out is to ask them directly, which you can do via strategic email campaigns.

Email makes gathering authentic product reviews quick and easy. By collecting sincere feedback, you can build trust, increase sales, boost loyalty, and innovate product improvements. 

That said, requesting reviews via email requires precise timing, personalized messaging, and lots of engagement optimizations. But don’t worry—we’ll walk you through some key steps to create email campaigns that deliver the valuable feedback you need.

Why product reviews matter

Product reviews do more than confirm that you're meeting customers’ needs. Sincere feedback drives loyalty and sales, offers valuable customer insights, and helps you develop a strategic product development roadmap.

  • Fosters customer loyalty: Requesting and listening to feedback makes your customers feel valued and heard. It demonstrates that you prioritize customer satisfaction, which helps you build stronger, long-term relationships. Review requests also act as re-engagement emails by starting new conversations with customers.
  • Increases sales: Social proof drives sales. According to a recent survey by Power Reviews, 90% of potential customers use online reviews to make purchasing decisions. In fact, reviews have more influence over purchasing decisions than product prices. Turning product reviews into customer testimonials and encouraging reviews on third-party sites can significantly boost sales.
Image sourced from powerreviews.com
  • Builds Customer 360 insights: Customer feedback delivers insights into customer needs and sentiments, enriching Customer 360. Exactly what is Customer 360? It’s a unified, 360-degree view of customer data. It empowers you to tailor products and customer experiences to meet individual needs and preferences. 
  • Drives product improvements: Sincere customer feedback reveals what target customers like/dislike about your products. It provides key insight into their value, functionality, and usability, unlocking large-scale development opportunities.

How to create an email campaign to collect product reviews

Want to unlock the power of product reviews? Let’s explore how to create email campaigns that encourage customers to share their feedback.

Segment your audience

Like promotional emails, product review requests shouldn’t be sent to every subscriber.

If subscribers haven’t had the chance to try your product, product review requests will feel irrelevant and may trigger unsubscriptions. So, only send review email requests to customers recently trying your product.

You can do this by segmenting your email list based on where customers are in the buying cycle. Target loyal customers, recent purchasers, and first-time buyers with tailored email campaigns. This ensures that you’re sending emails to customers most likely to respond with insightful feedback.

Write a compelling email subject line

According to Superoffice, 33% of people open an email based on the subject line. 

Image sourced from superoffice.com

To get the click-through rates you want, your email subject lines should be personalized, relevant, and engaging. Here are some examples:

  • Did you love [product]? Or hate it? Let us know!
  • We value your opinion — help us improve!
  • We want YOU to help us make our product better!
  • Up for a discount? Share your feedback for 10% off! 

Learn more > Tips for writing open worthy subject lines.

Optimize for customer engagement

A successful email marketing strategy relies on customer engagement. Here are some key email elements you need to encourage interactions.

  • An attractive email design: With the right layout, color scheme, typography, and images, you ensure easy readability and promote interaction. Use these engagement-boosting email design best practices to help you create a design that boosts conversion rates.
  • Gratitude and value: Thank customers for reading the email and explaining why their feedback is so important. Also, consider including a personalized Gmail email signature with your content details to build trust and encourage customers to engage with your review request. 
  • Personalized, relevant content: Personalized email content motivates engagement. Use customer data platform (CDP) data to tailor messages to individual customers. What is a CDP? It’s a centralized platform that collects and unifies customer information, building comprehensive customer profiles. 
  • Incentives: Offering a small discount can motivate customers to leave reviews, especially first-time buyers. That said, incentives can (sometimes) generate insincere reviews, so stress the importance of honesty. 
  • A strong call-to-action (CTA): Your CTA should direct readers straight to the reviews submission page. Use clear CTAs with bold buttons and typography to make it stand out.
  • Mobile responsiveness: If your emails are slow to load or don’t display correctly on mobile devices, your bounce rate will spike. Leverage solutions that offer advanced mobile optimization features — such as Beefree— to create responsive emails every single time.

Ask specific, concise questions

Complex, drawn-out questions that are too open-ended can disengage customers. So, get straight to the point with concise, direct questions. Here are some examples:

  • What did you think of [specific product feature]?
  • How often do you use our product?
  • What are your favorite/least favorite features?
  • How likely are you to recommend this product?
  • What could we do to improve our product?

Use a mixture of closed and open-ended questions to increase your chances of receiving meaningful responses.

Make it easy to respond

The easier it is for customers to leave a review, the more responses you’ll receive. So, make the process as seamless and convenient as possible. One way to do this is with survey emails.

Email surveys have high response rates. They can be completed within the email with minimal effort, which is a big plus for busy customers. And, they can generate a wealth of quantitative data and metrics that are quick to analyze, leading to faster improvements. BeeFree has an extensive collection of email survey templates to suit every need.

For longer review requests, include a CTA that directly links to the review submission page. Review forms should use simple, clear language, be optimized for mobile, and have a progress bar. 

You could even provide your telephone contact details to allow customers to leave a review via telephone. It’s the preferred communication method for 55% of Baby Boomers according to Hubspot, so it’s worth considering. 

Leverage small business telephone services from Vonage to access call center capabilities like virtual receptionists and CRM integrations, streamlining processes.

Also consider directing customers to leave reviews on popular review sites, such as Google and Amazon.

Optimize email timings

If you send product review requests too early, there’s a chance your customers won’t have tried your product yet. But if you send them too late, your customer might have forgotten their experience. 

So, when’s the best time to request reviews? 

Aim to send review requests within 7-14 days post-purchase. This gives customers a chance to try the product a few times, leading to more sincere, meaningful reviews. Plan for seasonal surges such as Black Friday and incorporate them into your schedules.

Key takeaways

Do email campaigns work for gathering valuable product reviews that drive improvements, boost trust, and increase sales and loyalty? 

Absolutely — but they need to be strategic.

To generate sincere reviews and valuable data, ensure your marketing emails are personalized, engaging, and optimized for convenience. And, use email list segmentation and marketing automation to ensure they’re sent to the right customers at the right time.

Stay informed on all email trends

From the latest creative design strategies that inspire your next campaign to industry best practices and tech advancements, our newsletter is the go-to for all things creation.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
By clicking Subscribe you're agreeing with our Privacy Policy