Email Design Brief: 10 Questions Every Designer Needs to Ask

This article was last updated on July 19, 2018

Writing an email design brief is a must-have first step for every designer of email templates. Not only will such a brief give you valuable information about your client and their project but knowing such information from the very beginning will also save you tons of time later. This list is formulated from the designer’s perspective. We’ve gathered the 10 vital questions you need to include in your email design brief before you start on a client’s project.

Also, a heads-up advice: let the brief be a brief. Don’t overwhelm your client with unnecessary questions. Just cover the essentials that you need to get started. And here are those from our point of view:

1. Who is your client?

What’s their industry, what problem does their product solve, what is their mission? Before starting to even sketch, you need to “get” your client’s identity: who they really are. Ask them to answer not like they are trying to sell their business but more like they are telling their story to a friend.

2. What is the purpose of this campaign?

Another priority question in your email design brief would be to ask what your client wants to achieve with this campaign. There are various kinds of email marketing campaigns. Set a goal and build the whole design based on this goal.

3. Who is your client’s target audience?

This question is essential for your email design brief. You need to know who this campaign is purposed for exactly – who the campaign’s target audience is. This kind of information, of course, needs to be provided by your client. Think in terms of gender, age, occupation, buying habits, interests. The more you know about your client’s buying persona, the better idea you’ll have of what kind of design would touch their feelings.

You could advise your client to gather info for their target audience via a survey campaign. Such campaigns should also provide a good incentive (people rarely do this kind of stuff for free).

4. Is there a final copy or a draft?

Always have in mind that the design is meant to complement the copy and not the other way around. To avoid radical redesign at the last minute, ask for the email campaign copy even if it is still a draft. You should build the design in such a way that it enhances the copy effect and helps communicate the message better.

5. What’d you like to communicate to your recipients through your email design?

Every design’s purpose is to help communicate the message better. The audience digests the visual information a lot faster than text. So, either promotional, informative, reminding, or other, the email template design has to be built in such a way that it helps the message get across, even the recipient simply scans the text.

6. Are there pre-defined colors?

Colors and branding go hand in hand. This is why, the choice of colors is one of the most important issues to clear up from the very beginning. Brands usually have specific colors that their audience relates to them. So, make it clear which colors should definitely be in and which are a no-go. Feel free to even ask for the hex codes.

In this following example the email campaign by GraphicMama was designed in the brand’s emblematic colors. This way, the recipient can easily make a connection between the received email and the brand itself.

On the other hand, if you are given the freedom to experiment, still be careful not to stray from the brand identity. Also, abide by the psychology of colors – a very important matter that every designer should get to know.

7. Are there any pictures that must be included?

These would most often be product photos that go into abandoned cart campaigns, newsletters containing new product pictures, promotional campaigns presenting products on sale, etc. However, you may have to include other kinds of pictures provided by the client such as the company’s mascot, for example.

8. Can you provide examples of email campaign designs you like?

Asking your client for other email template examples will give you an idea of what they would expect from you regarding style, color scheme, feelings the template evokes. etc. To the very least, it will give you an idea of what your client’s taste is. Use these examples as benchmarks to start from.

9. What is the deadline?

Setting a clear deadline from the very beginning would help you plan your time better and be more effective. Needless to say, you should also be strict about this deadline if you want this client to stick with you for future projects.

10. What is your budget?

Your email design brief cannot go without discussing the budget. The budget goes hand in hand with the quality and the timeframe of the project. Before shaking hands with your client, make sure they know what they will be getting for the kind of budget they have set. Clear up this issue from the very beginning to avoid any unpleasant misunderstanding in the future.

To sum up,

Every designer needs to have certain information of their client and the scope of the project they are about to take up on. We’ve formulated the 10 most important questions that need to be asked before starting on the email design project. Feel free to share what else, in your opinion, needs to be covered from the very beginning.

Furthermore, check out these awesome 10 abandoned cart email examples & 20 insightful tips to win your clients back.