People who perform eye tracking studies and user behavior online tell us that only 20% of your email subscribers take the time to scroll down and see content below the fold. That can be a discouraging statistic, especially if you put a lot of time into designing those emails and including information that will be of interest and use to your subscriber base. But the good news is that you can significantly affect the number of people who scroll down by incorporating some creative design elements that draw the eye downward and create interest in below the fold content.
- Non-Horizontal Lines
Both diagonal and vertical lines that extend beyond the fold can pull the eye down and put a question in the viewer’s mind about what’s down there that they can’t see. Horizontal lines have the opposite effect. They create a hard break which becomes a natural stopping point for the eye and communicates in effect “All the important stuff is above this point. Don’t bother scrolling.”
- Creative Section Breaks
Some emails naturally lend themselves to breaks between sections: portions of text, product feature blocks, coupon blocks, etc. You can soften these natural breaks by again avoiding the over-used horizontal line and trying other dividing elements such as an arrow-shape that points downward or overlapping graphics that extend past the fold.
- Partial Creative Visibility
Another way to draw the eye downward is to incorporate extra tall elements that extend beyond the bottom of the screen in your creative. Whether it’s a person, a stocking in a Christmas email, a bag full of products, or an image collage, including elements that don’t all fit on one screen creates interest in content that may be further down.
- Connective Design Elements
Dotted lines, arrow trails, treasure hunt paths, and swirly patterns can all be used to connect images and text blocks to guide the eye as it moves down the page. When these elements extend below the fold, it’s more natural to keep scrolling and see what else is next in sequence.
Take advantage of the customizable templates and design testing available from eConnect Email to create emails that keep your subscribers scrolling. With unlimited image hosting, an everything-you-need image manager, and instant image editing, you can build email creative that defies the 20% scroll statistic every time.