We all know it is the content that counts, but unfortunately, people form a first impression in less than 3 seconds, based entirely on superficial appearance and presentation. And just as the power of first impressions matters when meeting others, the same principle applies to email campaigns.

You may have the most interesting, relevant, or innovative content in the world but your audience isn’t going to read it if your typography and design overwhelms it (in a bad way).

Imagine reading an entire email in Old English. Hard work. And imagine reading an email from your CEO, written in Comic Sans. What does that say about that person or brand? Would you have the same respect for your CEO or brand?

Alex Madison and Wacarra Yeomans of Responsys discuss the importance of typography in email in their Email Insider column. They give a great run down on what web-safe fonts should be used, and how to use contrast, capitalization, size and space to convey your message.

Josh Levine, CEO of Alexander Interactive, offers more great tips on effectively using typography to ensure maximum impact with your email campaigns. He recommends sticking to a simple color scheme and limiting the number of typefaces, sizes, styles and font weights. It’s always tempting to cram a lot in, however you can’t beat good use of white space with simple design.

Chelsea Rio from MailerMailer gives very specific advice on typographic design for emails. She explains everything from the type of font to use, the optimal font size, how to size fonts, aligning text, and how typography can create order out of chaos in email campaigns.

Overall, ensuring your email design and typography is clean and easy to read will overcome any barriers to it being the best, most effective email marketing campaign that it can be.

A bit of consideration to formatting and typography will go a long way to getting your emails read, which leads to improved email deliverability, open rates, and click-through rates. In your email marketing campaigns, be sure to:

• Simplify colors
• Minimize the number of typefaces, sizes, styles and weights
• Be consistent in your layout and design
• Maximize the use of white space
  

Remember, people don’t curl up with their email; they try get through them as quickly as possible, whether they are busy at work or on the road and trying to clear their inbox. So an email campaign that has good content, and has clean and simple design that grabs people and draws them in will ensure you get more email opens, increased email click through numbers, and higher email deliverability rates.