Boost Subscriber Engagement With a Powerful Newsletter Mockup

Email newsletter designs are one of the most crucial elements to consider in your email marketing campaign. Yes, your content may be valuable; but if the design doesn’t catch the eye or spark intrigue, then your subscribers will switch off and move on to the rest of their flooded inboxes.

Knowing how to design an eye-catching email newsletter mockup that represents your brand can be tricky. Layout, copy, and coloring are only a handful of the things you need to think about.

But not to worry - we've pulled together a list of six email template mockups and design ideas for your inspiration. Below we’ll go into the nuts and bolts of email newsletters, uncovering some of the most important elements to include when creating an email template mockup, as well as analyzing how some of the big brands do it.

Let’s dive straight in.

The 6 key elements behind a successful email newsletter mockup to level up your design.

1. Use eye-catching graphics

The color scheme of your email template mockup must embody your brand persona. The right colors can galvanize recipients to take action and portray a positive brand image. Anything dull, drab, or off-brand will do the opposite.

Consistency is the name of the game here. The layout of your color scheme, logo, contact info, and social media profiles should be in the same position in every newsletter so that your readers can easily locate your content.

The Local Optimist used a lot of these principles in their newsletter by using a green flush as their main background - a color that will immediately grab the attention of even the laziest pair of eyes.

They’ve been consistent in their approach by using the same colors as their brand, making them instantly recognizable to their subscribers.

And the outcome? A click. An engaged reader, and perhaps even a conversion.

(The Local Optimist, 2022)

2. Always include a footer

As you’d imagine, the footer lies at the bottom of the page, and it contains plenty of action. Yet despite this, its importance is often overlooked. Here, you’ll want to provide important details about your brand to allow subscribers to connect with you on different platforms: social media icons, email addresses, and contact numbers to name a few (example below).

It’s also a good idea to provide an unsubscribe button to allow uninterested subscribers to opt out of your email newsletters - and the footer is one easy place to include it. That way, you can ensure that you’re catering to a more engaged community (see example below).

Source: (The beehiiv Editor)

3. Make your content scannable

Over 61.9% of all emails are opened from cell phones (Mailpoet, 2020), meaning that a large portion of your subscribers will be viewing your newsletter from the palm of their hand.

You don’t have a lot of time to make a first impression, and anything that’s not easy on the eye will repel users from your newsletter. To pull readers deeper in, make sure that your text is cut up into smaller chunks.

A good rule of thumb is to make sure that sentences are no longer than 30 words in length. If they go over this limit, find a place to insert a full stop. Below is an example.

Source: (beehiiv Newsletter)

4. Follow a Z pattern layout to improve readability

Science has proven that humans naturally follow a Z-pattern when reading, going from left to right and top to bottom (99designs, 2016).

Structuring your email newsletter mockup in this layout will allow subscribers to gloss over the content in a seamless way that gets them to focus on the sections you want them to engage with the most.

What’s more, this layout divides your content into more digestible chunks, enabling the reader to focus their attention on one bit of content at a time.

Long, clunky paragraphs skyrocket bounce rates. Small, bite-sized paragraphs that are no longer than two to three sentences maximize engagement. So avoid the former, and cultivate the latter.

Tip: Bullet points improve readability by adding some breathing space in your copy.

5. Use the right color combination to maximize engagement

Color contrasts and combinations have a huge impact on engagement. Although color psychology is significant, its importance does not supersede readability. Dark text that blends in with a darker background will get people hopping off your newsletter.

The rule to follow is to ensure that your foreground color contrasts with the background. An example would be to make the footer or header black and the background yellow.

However, bear in mind that darker backgrounds can often come across as heavy if they’re not blended with lighter elements, which may give the wrong impression - especially if you want your brand to be portrayed as friendly and convivial.

So if you want to play it safe, opt for a lighter background.

6. Use the beehiiv Editor to design the perfect email newsletter mockup

Now, we’ve covered a lot here, and incorporating all of these design principles into your email newsletter might seem like a challenge. Well, it doesn’t have to be. The beehiiv Editor gives you full control of how you want to create your newsletter by allowing you to tinker with every design element in granular detail. It’s simple. It’s easy. And it’s user friendly.

At the top of the beehiiv Editor, you can experiment with a number of different color combinations by tweaking the foreground and background colors. In the example below, I’ve managed to incorporate many of the key design principles into the email newsletter mockup to create something that will grab attention and engage users.

(The beehiiv Editor)

The vibrant color scheme instantly makes this newsletter stand out from a user’s cluttered inbox, and the dark text color sharply contrasts with the yellow background, being both eye-catching and easy to read. Fantastic.

But what makes the newsletter even more engaging is the structure of the copy - sentences are concise, and paragraphs are no longer than two sentences. And notice what I’ve done with the footer: I’ve opted for black to make the footer distinguishable from the rest of the email newsletter mockup.

If you're interested in giving the beehiiv editor a go, but are unsure if the enterprise plan is for you, then make sure to read this article to find out everything you need to know.

(The beehiiv Editor)

Social media icons are clearly visible, along with the unsubscribe button. From start to finish, the beehiivEditor is easy to use, and the opportunity is there for you to design a powerful email newsletter mockup that will boost engagement and sales.

Source: (The beehiiv Editor)

So why not give the beehiiv Editor a go? All you have to do is click here to sign up for the free trial and get creating.

Final thoughts

The success of your email newsletter mockup hinges on your ability to design one that's captivating, engaging, and easy to read. Every successful brand, every leading influencer, and every pioneering business will incorporate the key design principles outlined in this post - and you should too.

If you haven’t already picked up the crux of this article then you will now - design is everything.

Using eye-catching graphics will immediately grab attention and pull your subscribers into your newsletter - exactly where you want them to be. Make sure to include bright colors to communicate a positive brand image and abstain from anything drab or dull.

If you’ve sparked the interest of your subscriber, including a footer at the bottom of your email newsletter mockup is an effective way to pull them onto different platforms. Skip over this element and you will lose out on conversions.

Content must be scannable if you want to maximize engagement. Long clunky sentences buried in dense paragraphs are too heavy on the eye and will repel readers - 30 words in a sentence is the maximum limit.

Equally, you should follow a z-pattern layout because it follows the natural route humans read content on a page. Failing to do so will hamper the readability of your email newsletter mockup, thereby creating friction between you and your subscriber.

The color combinations between the foreground and background must complement one another. Yes, a bright color scheme will make your email newsletter loud and vivacious, but readability is important too. Using a lighter background with darker text will make your email newsletter much easier to read.

Should you ignore these principles, your bounce rate will skyrocket. Should you incorporate them, you’ll revel from having an engaged audience that will bring you more clicks, more conversions, and more sales.

If you want to find out more about what other design elements you can include in your newsletter, then make sure to check out our article on The 2023 Must-Have Components of an Email Newsletter Platform.

Want to design your own email newsletter?

Design your next email newsletter mockup for free in beehiv here