Too often, email is treated like an afterthought. An age-old tool for sending notifications or batch-and-blasting subscribers with information, hoping something sticks. 

But think about it: Few other channels exist where people willingly sign up to be messaged, let alone in the same place they receive personal communications. And in my experience as a developer-turned-SaaS CEO, I’ve seen many companies lose out on opportunities to boost revenue, reduce churn, and build customer loyalty, simply because they failed to connect their brand to their messaging.  

The solution? Treat your emails like an extension of your product experience as a whole. And put the same amount of thought into both.

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Why your email marketing should be an extension of your product

From a customer experience perspective, this philosophy just makes sense. When your emails and product align, that seamless experience helps your audience recognize your brand in the inbox. Psychological research shows the power of familiarity, which explains why Lucidpress surveyed 450 brand managers and found cross-channel brand consistency increased revenue by 10-20%. 

In plain English, if it looks like something people are used to, they’ll view it — and use it.

This mentality also helps you prioritize the value received from each interaction. Like any good product lead, strive to maximize the usefulness and convenience of every email. Brainstorm what you can add to reduce friction, inspire clicks-to-action, and help subscribers through every step of the customer lifecycle. When you show audiences you’re more than just a message, they’ll reward you for it: Engagement rates increase. Conversions come naturally. And subscribers welcome, rather than rebuff, your efforts to reach out. 

Here are three tips to get you started: 

1. Establish a unifying style guide

Consistency is key, right?

Right. So again, setting your style in stone is essential to take product experiences beyond the package.

To do this, my number one piece of advice — no matter the size of your business — is to create a style guide. This internal resource clarifies your design features like logos, trademarks, colors, fonts, and brand characteristics like voice and tone.

It’s easy to overlook this step, especially if all the cooks in your content creation kitchen are seasoned chefs. But along with helping future-proof your business by giving new creative hires a starting point, it’s financially strategic. Research by Reboot shows that having a signature color alone can increase brand recognition by 80%. And that brand recognition means everything when it comes to customer loyalty and purchasing decisions. 

Take AirBnB as an example. For a long time while they were building authority in the accommodations space, the company sent emails that mirrored their mobile app interface, with the same menu and logo positioning, page layout, etc.

So their app to inbox experience? Seamless. So much so that I’d forget which one I opened, and this speaks to the overall goal: A friction-free, effortlessly-connected, company-to-customer experience that delivers tangible value while staying on-brand. 

Just like any well-defined product should.

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2. Leverage a modular email design system 

On board with all this, but not sure where to start? Thankfully, 21st century advancements in marketing and communications technology have made creating better emails easier. 

Read: Modular email design systems.

If you’re not familiar with modular design, think email lego blocks. Rather than static templates, these design systems are highly flexible, customizable, and reusable. They break down templates into independent pieces that can be repurposed to create new ones, so you don’t have to start from scratch. Simply drag your pre-approved, pre-branded blocks into your template (keeping with your style guide, of course), and you’ve got a whole new, on-brand email.

Modular email design systems also give you the flexibility to innovate like a true product experience pro. You can test out different designs, buttons, and functionalities faster, and see what really works for serving your customers and driving email engagement. 

What’s more, these systems empower non-technical users. Since there’s typically no need to write code or wrangle HTML, everyone can participate in the creation process, allowing teams to collaborate and experiment with ease. 

Which is incredibly valuable when it comes time to…

3. Get the right people in the room

One of the main reasons email suffers is because the right people aren’t involved.

Details are missed, legal info gets left out, and marketers have to scramble to course-correct at the eleventh hour. 

No shame in it — we’ve all been there. Yet many continue to suffer from this disconnect, time and time again.

So find ways to collaborate efficiently. Not just with your existing email marketing team, but with any and all stakeholders integral to your brand. This could mean your:

• Product team
• Customer success team
• Sales team 
• Operations team
• Legal council 
• External agency

…and so on. Because again, getting the right people in the room saves you time, resources, and many-a-redo or oh-no down the line.

Now, I get it. This is a lot easier said than done! With many moving parts and people, your email workflow can become unmanageable — fast. So take a page from tip two and optimize your martech stack accordingly:

Look for an email production platform that doesn’t just offer modular flexibility, but centralizes collaboration and approval processes so everyone can stay on the same page. Set permissions so you can control which parts of templates can be edited, and by whom. And lock in those legal and branded elements to prevent accidental edits.

In doing so, you’ll nix everything from inaccurate information to low-quality designs, and reap all the benefits multi-channel brand consistency has to offer. (Like that 20% revenue increase, remember?)

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The bottom line: Consistent brand experiences win customers

Everyone knows the customer comes first. But often email comes last, leading to disjointed experiences that harm — rather than help — your reputation. 

Instead, treat your email marketing efforts as an extension of your product. You’ll serve up valuable, streamlined experiences that work for both you and your customers as a result. And you’ll spur engagement and earn the trust of your email list, effortlessly.