Branding in Email: A Secret Weapon You May Have Overlooked

Your online presence is more than just your company logo. Branding your business online involves consistent visuals and personality.

Branding your emails is no different. Here are 5 points to keep in mind for consistent branding in your email campaign.

Subject Line

Even if you’re using your company name in the from line, repeating it in the subject line makes it easy for readers to identify your business. For example, the company This Week in Photo has subject lines that look like this:

[TWiP] The End of Medium Format Cameras?

The [TWiP] is included in front of all their subject lines. This company was part of a study I conducted on businesses with high open rates, and three companies in the study included something identifying their business at the front of the subject line.

Logo and Templates

As I said, just because the brand isn’t all about the logo doesn’t mean that the logo isn’t important. You should have your company logo at the top of every email. Try to coordinate your logo with the design of the template, allowing readers to easily recognize your email without reading anything.

Your brand should be reflected everywhere people come across your organization -- even via email.

Schedule

A lot of small business owners wonder when they should send their emails. A lot of marketing gurus will tell you when they think you should send emails. The best answer? Set your own schedule, and stick with it! If you send every Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. then your audience will become used to it and make it part of their routine. You will have branded that time.

Tone

How you speak to people will affect their opinion of your brand. You can take a personal and friendly approach or a professional yet courteous business tone. There’s no right or wrong answer, but find a tone that works and stick with it.

Be Consistent!

You’ll notice that all of these points share one common element: consistency! People like when businesses are consistently good, so if your brand continues to provide exceptional service through helpful emails (and other channels, of course), you’re going to have many happy customers. The more they like your brand, the more they will share your information with others and the faster your business will grow.

Crystal Gouldey is an Education Marketing Associate at AWeber, the leading email service provider for small-to-medium businesses. Crystal’s spent the past three years teaching email marketers how to optimize their campaigns. She currently writes for the AWeber blog, which you can visit for more tips on marketing with email. Sign up here to get tips straight to your inbox.