The bulletin is such a widespread and effective marketing channel. Like a letter regularly sent to a friend, the newsletter maintains the link created by a brand with its consumers or perspectives. It is also a privileged meeting to share the latest news. Today, the bulletin is developing more and more, far from advertising email codes, some brands have abused too much in the past.
This last reinvents the formats and diverts the bulletin according to its own objectives. Choosing the format of a bulletin has become a strategic axis in its own right, in particular because other limitations have been developed with the evolution of the formats: it is necessary to adapt to the evolution of technologies and the behavior of Internet users.
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What bulletin format to choose from?
The ideal newsletter format is in HTML/CSS, sensitiveWith a width of 550-650 pixels. It must be readable in all messages, balance text and images and include well placed. The structure must adapt to different supports, particularly mobile.
Why is the bulletin format important?
Impact on delivery capacity
A bad format bulletin will have multiple consequences, which can increase at an almost zero delivery rate. Certain mailboxes consider a bad format as an attempt as a spam, which can lead to block or filter emails. Therefore, guaranteeing compatibility, especially with Outlook and Gmail, is essential to ensure that the bulletin really reaches the reception boxes for the recipients.
Delivery capacity is an important problem for any email campaign. An inappropriate format can compromise the efforts made to create relevant and attractive content. Therefore, it is essential to respect the good practices of the bulletin format to maximize the possibilities of reaching the target audience.
Influence on the perception of the brand
An orderly and professional bulletin format helps strengthen the credibility and reputation of the brand. On the contrary, a poorly formatted bulletin can give the impression of a lack of professionalism or attention to details, which can affect the relationship with customers or perspectives.
User experience optimization
The bulletin format also plays a crucial role in the user experience. A well -format bulletin facilitates reading and navigation, which allows recipients to quickly find the information that interests them. This increases the possibilities of interacting with the content, clicking on the links and performing the desired actions.
A format adapted to different messaging devices and customers also guarantees that all recipients can enjoy an optimal reading experience, regardless of the medium used. This is particularly important in the mobile era, where many users consult their emails on smartphones or tablets.
The importance of an attractive format is underlined by recent statistics: the average opening rate of bulletins in France is 18.2 %, while the average click rate reaches 5.35 %. These figures illustrate the need to optimize the format and structure of the bulletin to capture the care of readers and encourage them to interact with the content.
What rules respect to format a newsletter well?
Choose the correct language: HTML and CSS for universal compatibility
Today, all brand newsletters are in HTML/CSS format, for several reasons:
- The bulletin is infinitely customizable.
- Action calls can be done according to the needs of the brand.
- The company can resume the codes of its graphic letter to submerge the reader in an environment that is familiar.
From a more technical point of view, HTML and CSS are universal formats, compatible with most existing browsers and messages. However, it is advisable to verify compatibility, either manually or using a bulletin creation tool capable of automating the task.
Adopt a receptive design to adapt to all screens
HE Receptive design It is a web design technique that aims to automatically adjust the format of a web page depending on the terminal used by the user.
Having become essential in the creation of websites, their requirements extend to newsletter design. Therefore, the user experience must be in the center of the implementation of an email campaign, otherwise, the expected results could never see the daylight.
The importance of Receptive design It stands out for recent data: more than 60 % of emails are open to smartphones. This statistic highlights the need to design newsletters in Receptive designthus guaranteeing an optimal user experience on all devices and improving the possibilities of commitment, in particular by increasing the click rate and conversion.
The Hubspot Council
When designing your receptive bulletin, think about “mobile first”. Start creating a smartphone version, then gradually adapt to wider screens. Use a unique column structure for mobile cta buttons, easy and easy to click, and systematically test your newsletter on different devices before sending to guarantee an optimal user experience on all screens.
Structure content for fluid reading
A good bulletin finds the balance between textual and visual content. On the one hand, the selected images must be compatible with all the supports and not monopolize the attention of the Internet user, to the detriment of a careful reading of the texts.
On the other hand, the text content must deliver real information, according to the objectives of the email campaign. In other words, it should not be too long or too elusive.
The Hubspot Council
To effectively structure your bulletin, adopt the technique “F-Paterna”. Place the most important information in the upper left corner, use catchy subtitles aligned to the left and insert relevant visual elements along the right side. This provision naturally follows the movement of the reader's eyes, thus improving the commitment and retention of information.
Optimize the call to action to maximize conversions
The call to action, in other words, the buttons that can be clicking to encourage the user to carry out an action, are usually placed in the center of the bulletin. Then it is necessary to rely on the principle according to which “The more the button is visible, the more it is click”. Therefore, it is above the email flotation line and, in particular, can refer to the fact of going to:
- The brand's website home page.
- The product sheet of a property available on the site.
- The brand's website for more information.
However, the most important criteria to be respected is respect for the bulletin consultation method. In fact, the placement of calls to action may not be considered for adaptive design, and are in the wrong place.
Ideally, the placement of the CTA is hierarchically, with: a value proposal and a global CTA at the top of the flotation line, followed by several action calls with more specific objectives.
Image format for an optimal visual impact
The images play an important role in the attractiveness and efficiency of a bulletin. To optimize its impact, it is essential to comply with certain format rules. First, the size of the images must be adapted to the bulletin format, usually between 600 and 800 pixels wide. It is recommended to use light formats such as JPEG for photographs and PNG for graphics or logos, so as not to increase the total email weight.
The resolution of the images must also be sufficient to guarantee a good quality of visualization, while remains reasonable not to slow down the load. A resolution of 72 DPI is generally considered optimal for bulletins. It is also important to compress images without losing too much in quality, using dedicated tools.
This image illustrates the good balance between visual quality and technical optimization (less than 100 kb, 600 x 400 px, 72 dpi), guaranteeing a quick and attractive screen in most messages.
What are the dimensions of a bulletin?
The ideal width: between 550 and 650 pixels
Why these figures? If the bifurcation of 550 to 650 pixels may seem arbitrary to define an ideal width of the bulletin, it is far from random. This width has been defined to show a bulletin in the vast majority of messages. However, this standard refers mainly to the office format.
Alternative widths, depending on the support
Most models of the most used email solutions are designed to not exceed the limit of 600 pixels. However, there are more and more alternatives to design a first 150 bulletin in everything. In this case, we start from the mobile format (the smallest) to adapt it, if necessary, to other broader formats. Email formats are increasingly integrated into the logic of First.
Constant adaptation to screen technologies
While a few years ago, the standard in terms of screen resolution was 1024 pixels, the need to adapt to the evolution of the screens resolution level is becoming increasingly frequent.
Despite the existence of standards that allow to supervise practices, the latter remain relative in terms of the speed of the evolution of technologies. For their part, mailboxes also evolve very quickly. It is still difficult to evaluate its ability to show this or that bulletin format without testing it by practice.
The optimal length of a bulletin
The duration of a bulletin should be taken into account to maximize readers' commitment. Although there is no absolute rule on the maximum recommended length, marketing experts generally agree on some principles.
Ideally, an effective bulletin must be short enough to read in 2 to 3 minutes. This usually corresponds to around 200 to 300 words, the equivalent to a displacement screen on a desktop computer. This length maintains the reader's attention while transmitting essential information.
For longer bulletins, it is recommended not to exceed 1000 words, or around 4 to 5 displacement screens. Beyond that, the risk of losing the reader's interest increases significantly. However, the length can vary according to the activity sector and the expectations of the target audience.
It is important to keep in mind that the optimal length can also depend on the shipping frequency. A weekly newsletter can be shorter than a monthly newsletter that brings together more information.
To go further, discover how to identify key success for email by downloading the bulletin guide; Or discover the creation software of the newsletter. 
