Anders Rantzau Rasmussen, CCO at programmatic email platform Passendo, talks about all things email creative, and suggests there is much more to be done to maximise campaign performance with clever use of email design:

As CCO of a programmatic email platform, you must see your fair share of email creative. Where do you think the industry is at in terms of email design?

That’s a great question and you’re right, I do see a lot of great email creative… and a huge chunk of it is extremely forward thinking, demonstrating just how far the sector has come in the last 10 years. As with all things, some publishers can be somewhat stuck in the past in terms of email design, with many running the same outdated formats for the last 10, 15, even 20 years. Believe it or not, there are publishers still employing old-school web formats that originate from the ’90s, which not only look awful but also underperform, because users are tired of – and increasingly blind to – these formats. This is especially frustrating given it’s possible to achieve 3-5x better performance over the traditional banner ad with amazing native email ads, so it’s a shame some publishers aren’t doing more to advance their creative into the current decade.

Why do you think some publishers struggle to adopt contemporary practices when it comes to email design?

I think the answer to that is quite simple: many publishers stick to older formats because it makes their various workflows easier. To some extent I can sympathise, because these publishers are dealing with hundreds of clients, and thousands of email campaigns simultaneously, and it’s often easier to go with the tried and tested rather than spend time and money experimenting with new formats. I guess the frustrating thing from our perspective is that there is such an opportunity for publishers to boost email performance with the latest creative tools that, by the way, also maintain a great workflow.

Can you give us an example of what publishers should be doing to improve their email creative?

A good way to answer the question might be to look at who is producing fantastic email creative that drives performance. Right now, one of the best examples in the market is Morning Brew, a daily newsletter that focuses on the latest business news. Their use of sponsored, native ad formats (and next-generation newsletter publishers like them) is really impressive, and the way they integrate an ad throughout the email in a number of placements is both really smart, and engaging. The result is stellar performance. That’s just one example, but it’s one we’re using to help publishers think out of the box and move away from outdated, web-centric, archaic formats.

How does Passendo help clients improve their email creative?

There is a lot we do to help companies, and that includes providing a large range of tools that allow publishers to design engaging, creative and stimulating email campaigns. This means that within the traditional limitations of email design, the sky really is the limit and we flatter ourselves that we have the most comprehensive, advanced native ad builder on the market. Also, we have recently introduced a new responsive feature which recognises the device a reader is using – web or mobile – and subsequently delivers an ad creative tailored to the appropriate device. But beyond product and features, what we’re keen to do is instil a creative philosophy and motivate publishers to see email as a channel suited to deploying exciting creative as a means of boosting engagement.

What does the future hold for email creative? Are there any exciting developments on the horizon that might facilitate the use of rich media in email, for example?

The future is exciting, even though we’re restricted as to what we can do, because you can’t use HTML5 or JavaScript in email design. This means publishers are effectively limited to static imagery. But there is still so much that can still be achieved, once companies realise how important creative is in boosting advertising performance, and consider how new email formats engage consumers. One of my favourite examples remains the sponsorship model which, as we’ve already seen, Morning Brew executes so well. This native ad is inherently built into the fabric of the email, with a creative that is dotted throughout the layout, engaging readers with clever placements and appealing CTAs from top to bottom. This sponsorship format is gaining a lot of ground in the sector, which I’m delighted about.