Best Practices

 

Subject line – Short and action oriented.

• Use strong verbs that convey emotion. Good: “Set Lobos Free to Roam”, “Victory for Greater Chaco!”
  • Bonus: The shorter your subject line, the more of it people will be able to see when they scroll through their emails on mobile.
  • We can use emojis now…we ❤ that because they generate higher open rates when used appropriately.

Pre-header Text – what the heck is this anyway?

• When it comes to our E-comms, think of the pre-header text as working hand-in-glove with the Subject line to help tell a story. The Subject line and Pre-header Text work together in much the same way as a Headline and Sub-Headline work. 
  • Bonus: When people see your email on their desktop, or even on their phone, they can see the Subject line and Pre-Header Text at the same time and they work in tandem to tell a story and entice people to read the email. 

Body of email – 300 words max with one clear call to action.

• Structure with five paragraphs. The first paragraph introduces your topic—why you’re writing the email in the first place. The second, third, and fourth paragraphs are the substance of the email; it explains the problem at-hand. The fifth email sums it up, telling your readers what action they should take and how that action will help solve the problem.
• Brevity, please. Email word count should be 300 words or fewer.
• One clear call to action (CTA). That CTA will appear in a button at the top of the email, and will also be linked in the email text, including at the bottom.
  • If you want to give the audience background information (PRs, links to documents, etc.), this can now be included in the sidebar of an action alert. Look at the gray sidebar to the left of actions on guardiansinaction.org for examples. Please also avoid emails that include multiple links to websites outside of Guardians.
• Try to keep language as public-facing as possible.

Images

• As high-resolution as possible
• Include photo credits
• Want to create a better emotional connection? Try a close-up of your subject, but try to stay true to the emotion of the email (if it’s a victory email about wolves, a close-up of a sad-looking wolf isn’t the emotion you’re going for).

To download a copy of these best practices, click here.