Design & Copy

Must Subscribe: REI and a Lesson in Call to Action

REI’s sale emails are still a useful model because every part of them pushes toward one click: the headline, the navigation and a second…
Email Subject Lines Are Your Bar Pick-Up Lines

A subject line still decides whether anyone reads the rest of your email. In November 2026 the lines that work are clear, specific and…
Moosejaw’s Welcome Emails Got It Goin’ On: What Marketers Can Still Learn

Moosejaw’s old welcome emails still teach a simple lesson. A confirmation message written in a real brand voice gets read, and a generic “thanks…
How to Use Facebook for Additional Email Opt-Ins

Yes, you can still turn Facebook followers into email subscribers in November 2026, but the old method of pasting a form into a custom…
My Eyes Hurt: When an Animated GIF Email Is Too Loud

A flashing GIF gets noticed, but if people can’t stand to look at it, they won’t read the email. In November 2026 the better…
Two Celebrations In One

A single email can promote two occasions, like Father’s Day and graduation, as long as each audience gets its own clearly labeled section and…
Videos in Email: Why They Still Don’t Play Everywhere, and What Works Instead

As of November 2026, a video still won’t play inside every inbox. Apple Mail, iOS Mail and Samsung Email can play HTML5 video, but…
How to Optimize Your Email Messages for BlackBerry and Other Mobile Screens

You no longer need to design for BlackBerry. BlackBerry switched off the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 and PlayBook…
The Litmus Test: Email Previews Across Every Major Client

Litmus is still the best-known way to see how an email will look before you send it. As of November 2026 it shows previews…
Pizza Hut Counts the Days, Hours, Minutes and Seconds: A Lesson in Effective Calls to Action

A countdown clock is still one of the strongest ways to make a whole email work as one call to action. In November 2026…