Email marketing design winner: Google Analytics

It might seem odd (or easy) to choose a non-promotional, non-retail email as this time’s email marketing design winner, but there are some very good reasons I chose the most recent Google Analytics product update email.
One of the reasons for selecting this email is that quite some people sometimes forget email marketing doesn’t necessarily have to be about selling stuff and services, or about saying how great you and your employees are.
A product update email that helps people use your product with examples and tips, referring to use cases and separate blog posts is a great way to have people be more succesful with your product. Isn’t that the end result that any company should pursue?
Here’s the email. Subject line: Google Analytics Product Update: Real-Time data, Shortcut Reports, & MCF API

Second part of the email:

You’ll have probably already noticed a few things here. From top to bottom, my reasons this is the email marketing design winner:
– The pre-header is very minimal, but lets people know what the email is about, regardless of their screen size.
– Hooray for mobile: if you’re reading this on a smaller screen-sized smartphone, the left-side articles can be read fine without zooming or side-scrolling. Notice how the ‘Access Analytics’ button is also placed bottom left of the email.
– The KISS-principle is applied quite well to the complete email. No overloading on design, content or graphics. There’s only four articles in this email with an introduction: why should there be more?
–  How many buttons do you see? There are quite a few links in the email, but just one clear call-to-action: use our service, the Access Analytics button. From a promotional point of view, that’s all you need to increase the usage of your service from a product update email.
Never forget that a product email with tips on how to use that same product might be your best type of email marketing ever. Why? Because it helps your clients use your product, therefor making them more succesful, therefor liking the product and your company better. Everyone wins.
Good job Google.
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