Knowledgebase

Email communication is key to the growth of a healthy organization. Email marketing is useful for recruiting, retention, and building the value of membership. In order to maximize this benefit, it is important to target emails to the appropriate recipients and deliver a professional, easy-to-read message. Keeping best practices for email correspondance in mind when drafting messages will increase the chance that messages will be received, opened, and read.

Color Scheme

The color scheme used in email templates should be the same as the website. This provides consistent branding and identifies your chapter easily as the sender. The color scheme for email templates is managed in StarChapter's Email Design Editor. If the website color scheme is updated, those same changes should be made within the Email Design Editor.

Fonts

Google fonts are popular on the web, but they are not supported by many email clients. If a Google font is used on the website, a similar, web-safe font should be used on email. 

Template Width

Email templates within StarChapter default to 600 pixels in width. This is the maximum width supported by many email clients, so changing the template width is not recommended.

Subject Line

Email is a competitive method of communication. Receipts are often receiving dozens of messages per day and they have to prioritize mail quickly. Providing a descriptive, concise subject line increases the chances the email will be opened and read rather than deferrred or discarded.

Content and Images

Many email clients and users block images in email by default. This means that they will only see text within the email copy unless they specifically choose to download the images. Avoid sharing content within images and instead only use images to enhance the message. Any content contained within images will not be seen by many recipients.

Embedded images and attachments will also cause email to be flagged as spam by some email security. If this occurs, email won't make it to the recipients inbox and will often be blocked by a spam filter. To avoid this issue, minimize embedded images and avoid attachments whenever possible.

Maintain a Consistent Display

Every email client will render things a bit differently. This can be a difference in how text and images are aligned, whether images are displayed at all, or even whether a font is displayed correctly. To ensure a consistent look among all recipients, keep messages simple. The more complex a message is, the more chance that at least some recipients won't receive a legible message.