Information Architecture – The Key to HTML Email Optimisation

Email is one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools to promote new offers, maintain regular dialogue with customers and generate demand for online and offline channels. However, with today’s epidemic of email overflow, email marketers face an instant verdict by the recipients.

Yet most emails that arrive in my mail box have information architecture issues. This observation, coupled with our recent client success in optimising an email newsletter, prompted me to write this article.

Even if you have managed to successfully deliver the email through layers of spam filtering, and furthermore, convinced the recipient to open it, getting them to click on a link is a huge challenge. This is usually a major measure of success for email campaigns as it represents a call-to-action.

Unfortunately, most recipients who open emails take no further action. I have witnessed click-to-open ratios ranging from single digit numbers to over 60%.

Let’s assume the message is attractive, the list is well targeted and timing is right, email campaigns still deliver very varying outcomes.

I attribute this to how email is constructed – specifically its copywriting, calls-to-action, visual segmentation, navigational elements, and the placement of all of these within the design. When combined, we refer to this as the information architecture of the email.

Constructing an HTML email is indeed a type of information architecture project which shares most of the common ground with website projects – but with a twist.

The twist is the differing circumstances. It is the fact that this time you go directly to the user, unlike website visits which originate in a user’s desire to accomplish something. Further, you interrupt the recipient from a routine, and attempt to grab their attention to do something totally unplanned. Let’s face it…no one leaves home in the morning for a busy day at work, counting on the special offers that may just drop into their mail box.

This is the very reason why click-to-open ratios are low.

The average number of links selected by a clicking user are even lower. A great majority of users only click on a single link – with the average number of clicks by a clicking user ranging anywhere from 1.2 to 1.8.

If most of the recipients were to click on a single link on your email, wouldn’t you like to have a say on which link this should be?

Of course you would! This is where information architecture comes into play.

Armed with the results of user-behaviour studies and their own experiences, information architects are experts in determining how email content should be organised and laid-out. They also master what the calls-to-action and their respective labels should be to increase the propensity to clicking. Their objective is to make it easy for the user, while influencing their behaviour to achieve your campaign / business objectives.

On a recent client project, we studied the metrics of a weekly email newsletter and introduced sound information architecture principals in redesigning them. The solution involved:

• Segmenting email content into visually different areas, previously a long list of entries
• Placing the most important content element, which we called “the feature content”, in its own, distinct visual area
• Rewriting calls-to-action.

The results were incredible. We saw a 50% improvement on the click-to-open rate and a four-fold increase on clicks on feature content.

Want to improve your click-to-open ratio? Seek the services of an information architect.

But before you engage them, be sure to study your email metrics in depth and understand the successful aspects and potential issues of your email campaigns – the subject of web analytics. Speak to an information architect with these insights – so you know what to optimise. Introduce changes cautiously and consider testing, testing, and testing again. Look into A/B testing and always measure the impact of your changes.