Designing Email Buttons That Drive Engagement

Your email design is as integral to your newsletter as the content you share with your subscribers. It helps readers understand your message quickly and easily.

Good email design can help you capture the attention of your email recipients and encourage them to engage with your content.

Email design as a whole is a pretty comprehensive topic but to simplify things, we can break it down into more manageable fragments. Focusing on tweaking small aspects of the design can make a big impact. In this article, we will take a closer look at email buttons.

What are email buttons? How can you design them effectively and keep track of their performance? Keep reading to uncover these hot questions and more.

Introduction to Email Buttons

Email buttons, also known as call-to-action (CTA) buttons, are interactive elements within your emails that encourage subscribers to take specific actions. 

These actions can include clicking through to a landing page, downloading a resource, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase. 

The CTA triggers a dopamine hit when you ask someone to complete a task, such as hitting a button, and then reward them for completing that action. The reward is having their expectation satisfied by finding and clicking the CTA. 

Email buttons are a fundamental component of email marketing because they guide your recipients toward the desired conversions.

Here are some tips for creating a click-worthy CTA:

• Use icons instead of plain text. Icons can convey the message of your CTA in a way that words alone cannot.’

• Use specific wording. For example, instead of using generic "Sign up" wording, you could use "Use beehiiv free for 2 weeks – it's on us".

• Use colors that inspire an emotional response. For example, green is the easiest color for the eye to process, and it relaxes the mind and promotes growth.

The Importance of Email Buttons

The psychology behind email buttons is based on the idea that people are waiting to be called to action. The success of your email campaigns often hinges on the effectiveness of your email buttons. 

Here's why they are crucial:

Engagement: Email buttons make it easy for recipients to interact with your content, driving engagement and encouraging desired actions.

Conversion: Well-designed buttons can significantly boost conversion rates by directing recipients to take action, such as completing a purchase or filling out a form.

Clarity: Clear and compelling email buttons provide clarity and focus, ensuring that your subscribers understand what you want them to do.

Why Trust Me: I have been a writer for 6 years and part of the beehiiv content team for over a year now. This has given me a deep understanding of email marketing and the way it can be optimized.

Designing Effective Email Buttons

Creating email buttons that grab attention and encourage clicks requires thoughtful design. Here are some tips to ensure your buttons are designed optimally:

White Space: Adding white space around your email buttons, makes them pop and creates a visual focus for readers.

Responsive design: Most people check their emails on mobile making responsiveness essential because varying screen sizes can warp your email design.

Button Color: Choose a contrasting color that stands out from the rest of your email. This draws attention to the button.

Button Text: Use action-oriented, concise text that conveys what the button does. Examples include "Shop Now," "Learn More," and "Get Started."

Button Size: The ideal size for buttons that promote easy clicking on mobile devices is between 42px and 72px. If your button is too small, it will be hard to click on mobile devices. If it's too large, it looks less like a button and more like a design element.

Button Shape: Rounded rectangles or pill-shaped buttons tend to perform well. Ensure the button looks clickable. Most CTAs are rectangular, but there are some great examples of CTAs that are circular, square, or some other shape.

Button Consistency: Use a consistent button style throughout your email campaigns to create a recognizable brand element.

Best Practices for Email Button Placement

Where you place your email buttons within the email matters. Consider the following:

Above the Fold: Place key buttons near the top of your email so that recipients see them without scrolling.

Multiple Buttons: If you have multiple CTAs, prioritize them and use visual hierarchy to guide the recipient's attention.

Place the CTA towards the bottom or to the right of the content. People typically read from the top left to right of an email.

Tracking and Analyzing Email Button Performance

To continuously improve your email campaigns, track and analyze the performance of your buttons. With beehiiv’s 3D analytics you can easily track all your insights in one place, your dashboard:

Click-Through Rate (CTR): Monitor how many recipients click on your buttons to gauge their effectiveness.

A/B Testing: Experiment with different button designs, colors, and text to identify what resonates most with your audience.

Conversion Rate: Measure how many recipients who click on buttons actually complete the desired action, such as making a purchase.

Here are some tools you can use to track your email campaign performance:

• Google Analytics: You can use Google Analytics to track critical campaign metrics.

• beehiiv: You can use beehiiv to get real-time updates on the performance of your outreach campaigns.

• Unique tracking URLs: You can create unique tracking URLs for your email links. These URLs identify the source of the click as coming from a specific email campaign. beehiiv has an inbuilt feature where you can track that.

Google’s ‘People Also Ask’ Questions

How do I create a button in an email?

To create a button in an email, go to your beehiiv dashboard > settings > design lab. 

You can select the text or image you want to turn into a button, click the button or link insertion option, and customize it with the desired URL, text, and styling options. 

This template will help you design all your newsletters in a go without the hassle of making changes each time you write a content piece.

What is a button in an email?

Email buttons are a way to create calls-to-action (CTAs) in your email messages. They are blocks that contain links and have special functions, such as linking to another page. 

Buttons are a great way to call out a particular link that you want people to click, such as to RSVP for an event or to visit your online store.

You can then add the text you'd like displayed within the button, add the link, and adjust the style.

What is a bulletproof email button?

Bulletproof email buttons are call-to-action (CTA) buttons that are written in HTML and CSS instead of images. 

Because they are written in code, they will display in all email clients, even if the recipient has images turned off. Bulletproof buttons are created using code instead of images because the priority is function over form. 

They do not need to have the same visual appearance across all email clients, but they do need to exhibit the same functionality.

How do I add a button to an email template?

To add a button to an email template, open the beehiiv design lab by clicking on “Settings” on your beehiiv dashboard.

Make the edits to the “buttons” section. Customize the button's text, color, size, and style according to your branding and design preferences.

Preview the email template to ensure the button looks and functions as intended.

Save the email template with the new button. And there you have it! 

Final Thoughts

Designing an email button is a part of designing your newsletter template and with beehiiv, you can customize your newsletter the way you like!

Whether tracking your analytics or making the most of email design, beehiiv has it all and more. The best part? You can get started for free here.

If you feel stuck, the beehiiv support team is always here to help!

Happy emailing!