When building an eshot there are many ways that you can do it. Whether it be designed and coded by an expert, created yourself from a template, or just a plain text email, the options are plentiful, so I thought I would discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each one. There isn’t a sure fire solution for this however hopefully some of this information will be useful in choosing the best option for you.
Custom Designed Eshot
Getting a designer or developer to create your eshot is possibly the most expensive option, but is a way that you can get the most creative and interesting design that is personal and specific to your subject. Some of the advantages of this are;
Advantages
- Designed to fit your content, so you can work out the best and most practical design instead of having to compromise on a design that might be restricting.
- More personal design, including colour scheme, logos and pictures that is unique to your business designed by a professional.
- Support. If something looks incorrect or you need adjustments to the design or extra areas to be added you can get them added so that it fits more interestingly with the rest of the page.
Disadvantages
- It takes time to design the eshot and code it so that it works for different email clients.
- The cost for an eshot design and development costs more than a template and only gives you one eshot which you might be completely unsuitable for your next campaign.
- Sometimes changes can further extend the time it takes to create going backwards and forwards, which also may result in additional costs.
Template Eshots
There are lots of Templates for eshots that can work for any company and purpose. If your doing a newsletter you can have one with multiple columns and categories or if its a great new offer, you could simply have a big banner on top. Some advantages are;
Advantages
- Templates are easy to use and edit, allowing you to have clickable areas to put in your content.
- Lots of choices for designs so you can pick one that you like without having to pay for a design that you may not like at the end.
- Can be done at your leisure out of office hours.
- Designed and tested to work on many different email clients to make sure it always looks how you want it to.
Disadvantages
- Design fixed. If you find the perfect template but then something is missing or you just need to move an element it becomes difficult.
- Sometimes they don’t come with support if something goes wrong or you do need to change something not editable.
Plain Text
If your message is very short and doesn’t have images or you have a limited budget a plain text email can be created and sent straight to a contact list or through an email marketing company.
Advantages
- Simple and straight to the point.
- Plain text makes people think it is more personal and important.
- Cheap. If sending though personal email is free. No design or template costs.
Disadvantages
- Without any corporate branding can looks unprofessional.
- Just like writing an email, you are restricted to blocks of text which if you have a lot of information can be boring. It also means that your message can get lost.
Hopefully this gives you a overview of what you can do with ehots, However if you have any questions please feel free to give us a call.
More from me soon!
Rich