The emails we open and act on come in two categories: Either we already know the brand – Or they’re in the process of building a relationship with us.
It will come as no surprise that consumers prefer to use recognizable brandlogo designs. A recent survey confirmed this when over 81% of people said they needed to trust a brand before purchasing a product or service from them.
Email newsletter marketers can build relationships by familiarization, nurtured by consistent email newsletter branding and delivering value. The result? Trust and many happy and fruitful engagements.
Another way to think of it is to build towards getting results; you have to get your subscribers familiar you’re your brand. And once they know you and trust you, they are much more likely to open your newsletters. Now you’re halfway to achieving your marketing objective.
It’s why email newsletter branding consistency is so important.
But how to do email branding well? Here is a list of do’s and don’ts of email newsletter branding.
Do create familiarity and clarity with your header
The first branding element you want subscribers to see when opening your email newsletter is your logo, so put it up front all the up in the header.
By including your logo design in your newsletter header, you’re instantly have a first brand recognition. Build familiarity and by that, helping to raise your brand awareness. The more readers see your logo, the more inclined they’ll be to open your emails, and the quicker they’ll recognize your branding across all your other marketing channels.
Don’t ignore the importance of logo placement
Designers take logo positioning seriously because of how we view online content (scanning for critical information). Those that know their languages, understand the nuances of header writing and that readers of left to right languages always look at the top left corner of a screen, as they would reading a page from a book.
Make your header elegant and clear
Like this header design article from BEE states, the trick is to create an elegant and simple header.
- Remove clutter in the header
- Keep the number of elements down
- Make sure the print is readable – even on mobile
- Don’t overdue the navigation
For instance the Sweaty Betty header, uses a basic font and includes only the essential information.

By placing your logo at the top, you can be sure it’s the first visual readers see, reinforcing brand identification. Another logo positioning design is puttimg the center of your email newsletter header like in the example. It’s not as commonly used as the top left positioning; but works well on mobile.
You can use a master email template to keep the header and other designs consistent based on a modular email design system. Check here our article on how to create an email master template.
Do boost your brand recognition with brand colors
Colors, of course, play a crucial role in all your branding efforts, and it’s proven that applying them correctly can boost your brand recognition by up to 80%. Color is also the visual component consumers most often remember and associate with a brand, its values, and attributes, and your email newsletter is the perfect place to use colors to create the brand recognition required for boosting open rates.
Let us consider this welcome email by Behave, a confectionaries brand that positions itself as a healthy alternative:

Behave’s branding is inspired by the modern neo-brutalism design trend. Staying true to this design style, behave opts for bright, contrasting colors. This makes their text pop, the images stand out, and makes the overall aesthetic of the email unforgettable.
When choosing an email newsletter template, make sure the platform allows you to customize the colors and your brand identity into the header, footer, backgrounds, and icons (more on those later t). Use the same color palette for your newsletter as you have for your website and other marketing platforms to make it easy for readers to recognize you and have a fluid experience if they click through to your website or ecommerce platform.
It’s good practice to use your brand signature color across numerous graphic elements, such as titles, text, icons, and even visuals.
Don’t use unrelated fonts
The fonts you choose for your newsletter should match those you use on your website. This way subscribers who read your newsletter content and then visit your website experience a feeling of cohesion and familiarity.
However, not all email providers recognize all website fonts. Meaning when a subscriber views your email newsletter, their chosen email client (Gmail, Outlook, ProtonMail, AOL, Zoho Mail, iCloud Mail, Yahoo! Mail) needs access to your chosen font to display it.
If your subscriber’s email client doesn’t recognize your font, it will fall-back to a replacement, and it might not be in line with your branding message. If your website’s font falls into this category, it’s recommended to use alternative default web-safe fonts, self-hosted fonts, or system fonts in your email template design.
Do use consistent rich media
Marketing in all forms has to be engaging to work. It’s why brands have been using rich media, also known as visual media, to effectively connect with prospects and existing clients.
Rich media like videos, images, and gifs, can help increase your brand recognition with your subscribers, especially when used in a consistent and brand-relevant way.
Every image, visual, video, infographic, and shape you use in your email newsletter should align with those you use on all your other marketing campaign strategies, such as your website, social media, and physical merchandise, etc.
When your rich media is consistent, subscribers will recognize your brand across all your marketing channels, helping increase that all-important brand recognition.
Don’t forget to include a footer signature
Your email signature or email footer displays essential information about your company, and it’s the last design opportunity in your email newsletter where you can promote your branding.
Consider it as the supporting act to your header, complementing the original branding message. A typical design strategy to bring the two together is to include your signature color in both.
It’s also an opportunity to promote alternative versions of your customized logo, like an icon instead of a combination or a monogram instead of a wordmark. The effect of which increases brand recognition and expands your logo placement opportunities.
Tips for creating a professional email signature:
- Include your name, company, and position – The email sender should always be recognizable to the subscriber and connected to the brand. If you send a personal email, include your name and function.
- Contact information – When you include a link to your website, blog, and contact phone number, it increases trust.
- Company logo – Yep, it’s worth saying again, include your logo.
- Social media icons – Icons are a great way to encourage subscribers to explore your brand and acquire new leads.
- Stick to a neat design – Simplicity is crucial when designing your footer; keep it clean and precise, and always use your brand colors and fonts throughout.
Do reinforce your brand message in your footer color
You’ll often see brands opting for a neutral footer background color, such as black or grey, or any other neutral color. But, by doing so, they’re missing a penultimate branding opportunity.
To take advantage of this branding opportunity, you should use the same color in your footer as you have in your header, or use your primary brand color for the text within your footer to add that extra bit of brand presence and style.
Don’t miss this social icon branding trick
Another design element you can use to customize your email newsletter template is the social media icons in your footer link. It might seem like a small tactic, but it yields numerous benefits.
It helps connect your footer with your header, reinforces your brand’s personality through the use of color, provides subscribers with a means of interacting with your brand on multiple channels, and shows subscribers that you consider your email newsletter and their time worthy of top quality design.