Where's The Lettuce?
A recent Crate & Barrel email included in our Email Design Look Book provides the answer to the missing ingredient. The May 1 email promoted knives with a minimalistic design that used silhouette photography of the knives and simple blocks of product information. The design is nice and clean, but what makes it exceptional is the ribbon of lettuce used as the bottom border of the primary message block. Smith-Harmon designer Ellen Bolotin, who brought the email to our attention, says that "the lettuce on the bottom just makes me laugh."
That's what so many emails are missing -- a little, cool crunch-a-little lettuce. Most emails are all business, all beef. While effective, there's something a little boring and joyless about them.
Many people view their inboxes as stressful places, so delivering a little unexpected delight is well worth the effort -- and likely to make opening your email feel less like a chore.
Here are some other examples of marketers taking the time to add a little lettuce to their email designs:
So after you've perfected the beef of your email message, don't forget the lettuce.
CHAD WHITE
Chad White is the principal of marketing research at ExactTarget, a global provider of cross-channel interactive marketing software-as-a-service solutions. Visit his blog at http://www.emailmarketingrules.com.
Recent Email Insider Articles
-
Once Again, I Double-Dog Dare You! May 20, 11:41 p.m.
In 2008 and 2010, I double-dog dared marketers to experiment with some little-used, out-of-the-box, perhaps even ...
-
The Inattentive Consumer: How To Break Through To Mobile Subscribers May 14, 1 p.m.
As marketers, we have put a strong focus on building mobile programs over the past few ...
-
Mother's Day Hangover May 13, 1:15 p.m.
Post-Mother’s Day, and we made it through. While not quite the holiday retail rush that the ...
-
Parenting Advice For Email Marketers May 9, 3:04 p.m.
For decades, the evolution of email as a viable and proven marketing channel has been, in ...
-
Phishers' Kryptonite: Big Data May 8, 9:29 a.m.
Over the last few years, spam has become a “largely solved” problem. The average consumer sees ...
-
Go Ahead -- Send More Emails May 3, 12:04 a.m.
In fact, send a lot more emails. There, I said it. I feel better now. As ...
-
The Truths Your Email Metrics Don't Reveal May 1, 11:09 a.m.
When you read the latest email statistic as it comes through your news feed each day, ...
-
Email Before Breakfast -- And Other Trends April 29, 1:43 p.m.
I always say, I get more done before 9 a.m. than I do the rest of ...
-
Sending A Welcome Series Is The New Onboarding Differentiator April 23, 3:24 p.m.
The beginning of an email marketing relationship is the most important. Not only are subscribers more ...
-
Updating Email Acquisitions? Focus Further Down The Funnel April 18, 9:01 p.m.
For many companies, revenue or conversion activity mirrors something similar to the 80/20 rule, with 20% ...
Be the first to comment on "Where's The Lettuce?"
Leave a Comment