Email Newsletter Subscribers Don't Read, They Scan

We've previously referenced the research of Nielsen Norman Group showing that email newsletter subscribers spend an average of 51 seconds on each newsletter in their inbox. This research indicates that email is a "scanning" environment in which you have to deliver content in a manner that catches readers' attention and is easy to digest. That is, when readers open your email they don't "read" -- they "scan" -- specifically, for highlights that help them determine whether the email is worth reading...or should be deleted.

This reality drives three important email design "best practices":

1. Make sure the upper lefthand corner of your email states in succinct fashion in text (not just graphics) what the email is about. Suitable text might be a hyperlinked table of contents (for an email newsletter), or a large headline (for an email alert or invitation). The rationale here is that many email subscribers review emails in their preview pane, and thus may never scroll down to review the rest of your email. This makes the upper lefthand corner of your email the most valuable "real estate."

For the same reason, any graphic banners at the top of your email should not be too tall or they will push down key text below the preview pane "fold."

2. Don't limit key information to graphics. Recipients who have "image blocking" on won't see your graphics and will miss your message. Instead, render all key "calls-to-action" (like "register" or "read more") in text. Although this does NOT mean you should avoid rendering calls-to-action as graphics as well. For those subscribers with image blocking off, strong visuals can definitely generate interest in an email or drive conversions.

3. Bulletize key points. We've seen many law firm email alerts and newsletters written in paragraph style. But paragraphs are hard to digest since they require careful reading. Instead, move key points into bullets that are quickly scanned. If these bullets (best positioned at the top of your copy) catch a reader's interest, he or she can always read the balance of the article.