How to Implement an Email Template Redesign - Start with a Reintroduction

Let's imagine that your marketing team decided to revamp the email template. After weeks of effort you have a new, accessible version that also looks wonderful on mobile screens. Shortly after the redesign launch, your team gets surprised by the performance of the new template. Let's say it's not good. All of the sudden KPIs go down and you get a bit nervous. What could be done to avoid it?

Is this really you?

Significant design change can really throw people off their balance. No wonder. We are creatures of habit, so this is expected of us. That's one of the reasons why consistency is a great idea when it comes to design. The video below is an exaggeration of this thinking, but there's some truth to it.

Reintroduce yourself

To avoid the misfortune of Tom Hank in the movie Big, I recommend you to start with a small reintroduction. How specifically should you do it? Well, that depends on your brand. For some of you, it might be appropriate to feature the designer who was in charge of it with a simple quote about the redesign. For some brands it can be something more subtle, like a little section on top explaining why this redesign will be cool. Since people don't read every one of your emails, it might be a good idea to repeat this section a few times.

Just don't do it silently so that people know that this is really you.