We’ve teamed up with Really Good Email’s Matt Helbig and a group of email experts for a roundup of the hottest email design trends.
How can you incorporate email design trends into your brand?
“You have to know what's right for your audience, your brand, and your company. Don't just adopt a trend because it's the cool thing to do.
Focus on the foundations, what makes a really good email is this email is customer-centric and solves a problem that someone might have.
A lot of the time, company emails are very self-serving, but keep in mind that the person at the other end is not just a dollar sign; they are people as well. Use human language and not corporate gobbledy.
Be clear about what you are making, why, and who it's for. Its really important to communicate your message clearly and tell people, you know, come to our site, come visit us. Send emails with a purpose and think about, “How can I make this person's day better?”
Accessibility is always a big thing. At Really Good Emails, we see a lot of all-image emails and that’s rarely ever accessible. You want to meet your readers where they are, whether it's on a mobile device or they have a disability and can't access your email.
Beyond just including something like alt text, it's making sure your email is available on all devices that they might be reading on.
Lastly, just treat the inbox as a sacred, personal, and safe place. It is a safe place and you have some responsibility behind what you're sending to your audience. Your email should be a delight and a nice surprise in an inbox filled with annoyance and filtered spam emails. People should look forward to receiving your email in their inboxes.”
Matt Helbig, Integrated Manager at Beefree & Really Good Emails
Email design trends for 2024 & beyond
#1: Raw & unfiltered
“As an amateur photographer myself, I'm always excited to see that this trend continues to gain momentum. It's all about capturing images in their most natural state with minimal to no editing or retouching.
Unlike traditional stock photos or marketing images, which are often very produced, very stylized, very polished – raw and unfiltered embrace imperfection. This style, this trend, shows real people, real environments, and it captures genuine moments.
It's often characterized by natural lighting, minimal post-production editing, and authentic expressions and scenarios, which makes it feel very spontaneous and very candid.
This trend is becoming popular largely due to social media. We're very used to seeing what at least appears to be authentic situations and with consumers demanding more transparency from brands we are kind of skeptical of overly polished images or images that we may feel are too photoshopped.
Another plus of “raw and unfiltered” is that it can evoke a sense of nostalgia and help to strengthen the connection with your audience.
Finally, and one of the most important, I think, is that it can be very cost-effective. You don't have to pay for the big production, the expensive photographer, or all the editing.”
Kristy McCarley, Founder & Managing Director of Pure Firefly.
#2: Chunky text
“This trend of oversized text is really dominating the visual space. If you're a design geek, this can be super fun to experiment with to add a sense of playfulness and grab a reader’s attention as soon as the email is open.
This trend is really popular because of the rise in appreciation for minimalism and the need to create quick digestible content. It allows you to convey that message in a really concise way.
If you're trying to decide whether to experiment with this or if it's right for your brand, just keep in mind that you don't want it to be overwhelming. There should be a balance between the size of the text and its chunkiness so that it doesn't affect readability.”
Kristy McCarley, Founder & Managing Director of Pure Firefly.
#3: Deep & dark
‘’This trend was sparked or spurred by the prevalence of dark mode, but think we've moved way beyond that now.
I just love the spectrum of dark colors that I see brands bringing into the inbox to create this kind of mood instantly within their email.
My cautionary tale is to test the heck out of it beforehand. For a few email clients with some partial color inversion, darker tones turn into a salmon pink, which can strain the eyes. You obviously don't want to accidentally serve the audience that wants dark mode, something that's way outside of your brand guidelines.’’
Laura Sullivan, Head of Brand & Marketing at Inbox Monster
#4: Color blocking
"These big, bold areas of color usually help you differentiate visual hierarchy in emails or make a section in an email stand out.
If you do a little bit of Googling on the history of color blocking, apparently this is a big fashion trend coming back from the 1960’s which is what gives color blocking a little bit of a retro feel."
Justin Jordan, Head of Strategy & Community at Beefree
#5: Longing for Dial-up
"This trend combines old-school nostalgia with some of the new fun trends we’ve mentioned previously. This is all about the nineties being cool again.
This summer, I have gone to so many concerts with 90s bands coming out and playing. For example, I saw a Green Day show, and they played the entirety of Dookie because it was Dookie's, I think, 25th or 30th anniversary of being released. That night, I felt like I was 18 again. The next morning, maybe not so much. But I was totally willing to relive 18 for an evening.
If you've got that demographic, then take advantage of it. This is not for every brand; you really have to know your audience, know your style, and see if it works."
Justin Jordan, Head of Strategy & Community at Beefree
#6: Ticker GIFs
"Ticker GIF also known as the repeating text, usually at the top of the email, really grabs attention and makes the email feel lively and energetic. It can add playfulness similar to the chunky text, and it's eye-catching.
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I’m kind of on the fence about ticker text because I'm affected by movement in email. So sometimes, if it's a little too fast or if it just feels like too much, I will look away, but I know there are other subscribers, the audience that loves it and really get into it.
I say be very thoughtful about the use of it. Make sure you have enough contrast. If you're using it to highlight a key message, it can be great. Or a sense of urgency for like a promotion or limited time offer. Just be aware that it can overwhelm some subscribers and it may be distracting and sometimes it's just not the right fit for the campaign."
Kristy McCarley, Founder & Managing Director of Pure Firefly.
#7: Styled letter
"This trend is leading in popularity because it approaches email with a human voice instead of a product or brand. With the rise of AI, people’s spidey sense is up for things that aren't authentic and real and this approach helps tackle that.
Style letter is a good balance between using plain text and brand elements like fonts and colors to make it feel a little bit more personalized.
In the example below, which is written by Justine, is all written in her voice, like when I read it, I could hear her reading it.
This trends is relatively low effort. You don't always need a designer to do something like this. You can make things stand out by using bullet points or adding a GIF.
I like to think of email almost like as a tool belt, you know, you can use a plain text email or you can use a well-designed email. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
You just know that your reader has this problem that they’re trying to solve, and you can use different types of content to make your email get the job to be done"
Laura Sullivan, Head of Brand & Marketing at Inbox Monster
#8: Hover effects
We are seeing brands do some really cool, fun hover effects in email. It's a good way to tell people that something's clickable.
I think it's catching on because it's interactive. I think it catches your eye when you're scrolling, especially on like a desktop environment where it's supported. And some of these, especially hover effects, are little things you can add at the end of the email that may not change the whole design, but they show that you are spending the time and attention on your email designs and your marketing.
Matt Helbig, Integrated Manager at Beefree & Really Good Emails
Honorable email design trend mentions:
Typography: Weird fonts
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Typography: 3D Text
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Shapes: Waves
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Imagery: Hand models
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Interactivity: Choose your own adventure
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Movement: 360 rotate
Messaging: Sustainability
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Final hot take:
"It’s important for me to share the disclaimer that trends are not going to save your business; however, they can help you better communicate your message.
I've mostly been on the B2B side of things for my entire career. And so every time I look at what all the cool things that retail and e-commerce brands are doing, I'm reminded that B2B doesn't have to be boring.
While all of these trends may not not be totally a “hot” for your brand,it cool to at least be informed about what other brands are doing in the space and maybe one of them will work for you.
This is not an endorsement for any trend in particular. Choose your trends responsibility. Don't use it if it might not be for your brand.
And finally make sure that whatever you do, you continue to be really good and make some really good looking emails."
Matt Helbig, Integrated Manager at Beefree & Really Good Emails
You can watch the entire live event with Q&A here.
