On Wednesday June 8th 1971, Ray Tomlinson invented email. Even 42 years later, despite the rise of social media networking sites, email has still managed to survive as one of the leading communication tools. Though most people these days prefer to contact each other via text messaging or social media sites, email is still a primary tool used for business and marketing.

The great thing about email is that the message must be seen by the viewer in order to be deleted, whereas with Twitter or Facebook the message can be overlooked just by scrolling down. In other words, an email requires engagement by the reader. According to Exact Target there are more than 3.2 billion email accounts today. 95% of online consumers use email and, 91% check their email at least once a day. So, how do you make sure that those %91 don’t just see your email but actually read it? Simple: make it pretty!

Example of a Clymb Email

Example of a Clymb Email

Smart Templates 

With the rise of mobile emailing it is crucial that your emails are not only formatted for a computer but also for a phone. 89% of people delete an email that doesn’t look good, and in today’s fast-paced environment you only have a few moments to catch the reader’s attention: make sure that your emails are simple and to the point.

A great example of a good email format is from my favorite shopping website; theclymb. This site focuses on flash sales of popular outdoor brands including Black Diamond, Columbia, the North Face and many more. Every day I get an email at ten in the morning that informs me of that day’s deals. The email includes which brands are featured and any promos going on that month. The message is short and to the point. You can always bet that I’ll be browsing through their site at least once a day!

Email Marketing is Changing 

Below is a great infographic by Kissmetrics that shows some interesting facts that every marketer should know about email marketing:

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