Meals on Wheels Email Development
As mentioned in my last post, I’ve been working with Metro Meals on Wheels here in the Twin Cities area. In working with the marketing director, we’ve been working to build a stronger template for their email campaigns. The previous template used colors similar to that of the website, however, the branding wasn’t as consistent as it could be nor was it as attention getting as they desired. Meals on Wheels wanted an email that was sure to grab attention and gain readership when sent to a contact’s email box.
MoW already has a branded website that they wanted the email newsletter template to resemble. Their looks is very clean and simple while their designated color scheme is approachable and friendly.
I worked with Meals on Wheels to create an email template to be programmed into Constant Contact. The email needed to look sophisticated and professional. The marketing department will continue to edit and send their own email newsletters so it’s important that the graphics don’t interfere with the ease and functionality of the piece. Here’s what we’ve implemented:
Here’s a breakdown of why we did what we did:
1. The top of the email is the first thing most people will see when looking through their inbox. That said, the email header needed to be attractive and attention-getting. I’ve inserted an image similar to that of the website and have called out their tagline and subtext right away.
2. Because the logo is of vertical orientation, it’s a little tricky to work into a layout. The marketing director requested that the logo not be in the header but because it’s important to keep it visible for branding purposes, I’ve placed the logo right at the top of the page. It sets the tone for the column on the left-hand side as well.
3. The right side of the email will consist of articles of varying length. As of right now, Constant Contact’s default email text and image blocks have been inserted. When the client’s copy and photographs are entered in, the length of the text will increase, thus filling the space nicely. There’s also room for another article at the bottom of the email, towards the footer, if needed.
4. The marketing director wanted to make donating and volunteering easy for readers of this newsletter. Therefore, separate call-out boxes have been created on the left-hand side. These buttons link directly to their respective web pages. Keeping the links simple to spot and uncluttered by graphics keeps the information attractive, but still incredibly user-friendly.
5. Meals on Wheels does a great job of utilizing social media to promote their organization. Therefore, we’ve made sure to include links to all of their pages here.
6. Currently, Meals on Wheels runs a WordPress blog where volunteers share their stories and insights from their meal deliveries. In an effort to increase story submissions, a banner has been created here directing users to the experience entry page.
7. Finally, a blue footer helps to anchor the email template’s layout while bringing in another color swatch used on the website.
Meals on Wheels is running through the final phases of testing and approval for this email template. We’ve currently got another project underway, so stay tuned for more of this organization’s work samples later on!
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[...] As noted in the past couple of posts, I’ve been working with Metro Meals on Wheels to better brand their email campaigns. You can take a look at the changes we made and why they work here. [...]