Email review
Hype vs. State
While not everyone looked forward to the start of a new school year, many of us can remember the excitement of new supplies and catching up with friends after a summer break. Whether you're nostalgic for those days, watching your children return to the classroom, or setting up a back-to-school email campaign, we hope you find joy in this themed review!
First impression
In this email review, we're going to analyze two campaigns with colorful backpack collections for the school season.
Hype
- HYPE's email campaign showcases their school backpacks while also celebrating the diversity of children and their hobbies, emphasizing the children's interests rather than merely promoting a product.
- In addition to the main collection, the campaign displays a collection of other useful things for school.
- HYPE then displays the payment options and delivery methods and also promotes its mobile app for increased flexibility.
State
- STATE's emails are very bright and joyful. The color scheme features warm hues that align with the brand's distinctive style and create a welcoming mood.
- The collection of backpacks is also divided into categories based on the kids' interests and hobbies.
- The lower part of the email promotes a charity event, followed by STATE’s social media follow buttons aimed at building a community of like-minded individuals.
Usability
1. Email web version
2. Clickable images
3. “Follow us on socials” section
4. Balance of imagery and text-based information
Why are these points important?
1. Having a web version of an email ensures recipients can view it as a web page if there are display issues or images fail to load.
2. Incorporating clickable images into the emails enhances user engagement, allowing recipients to interact not only with the buttons but also with the images to explore your offerings.
3. Although optional, including social media follow buttons in the emails can boost your follower count across these platforms, thereby increasing brand visibility and popularity.
4. Some users turn off images in emails, either due to slow internet connections or because companies block them in work accounts. If an entire email consists only of images, recipients may see only the alt text or a broken image icon.
Design
Let's find out if both brands have managed to convey the atmosphere of the back-to-school season while maintaining their own signature style.
Brand consistency
STATE uses cream color and pastel shades, consistent across their website and social media. HYPE features contrasting images, large graffiti-style fonts, and black, white, and orange elements of its brand identity. The images capture the diversity and individuality of the young students.
Optimization for dark mode
Both emails look good in dark mode, except for the lightest blocks of cream and light gray colors. Additionally, the dark background does not seem to visually complement STATE’s social media icons and are, therefore, a bit lost.
Optimization for mobile devices
HYPE and STATE emails are optimized for mobile devices, not overloaded with unnecessary information, and the products are conveniently structured. As for the text, HYPE made the names of the product categories stand out, thanks to the large fonts. STATE, on the other hand, chose a different tactic and separately showed each backpack model using a unique design.
Email accessibility
Sans serif font
Text readability
Single color backgrounds
The “lang” attribute
Alt texts for images
The “role="presentation"“ attribute
Email copy
Texts on banners
The banners of both brands convey the idea and style of their collections. HYPE provides detailed information in the opening text, while STATE focuses on visuals accompanied by short slogans.
Buttons
The entire structure of both emails is made up of clickable images. However, there are elements in the form of buttons that encourage customers to click on them. In the case of stores, it can be beneficial to make links for each product separately so that the customer can quickly find exactly what they are interested in, or even make dynamic blocks with the actual availability of items so there remains much room for creativity in this aspect.
Overall copy
At first glance, HYPE puts more effort into describing the collection, while STATE uses only slogans. On the other hand, STATE focuses more on presenting various models and allows the recipients to learn more about the collection and its creation by clicking on the banner. This approach has its advantages: it saves space and lets you get information quickly. In summary, both communications work well in their own ways, and you can choose one based on the event.
Legal requirements
Different countries have their own email compliance laws, such as the CAN-SPAM Act in the USA and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. Following these regulations is vital to avoid legal issues and maintain a positive reputation. Let’s find out if today’s examples meet these requirements.
Physical postal address
Unsubscribe option
Reason for receiving a message