Think of the days before the internet, all official company communication whether internal or external was written on company branded paper. From internal memos to formal letters all used the company logo. Quite often you would also find that a company would have used branded envelopes and complement slips as well. All this was done to ensure the company portrayed a certain image and that the logo and corporate identity was imprinted on everyone's minds.



Now think about the current climate. The vast majority of company communication is via email yet how often is an email branded. If a company has gone to all the effort of having a logo and corporate identity put in place, why are they not ensuring this is reflected in their communication? It is a difficult one to understand as most companies probably have branded paper for the odd snail mail letter then need to send.

The most obvious reason for not branding emails is just a lack of consideration. Emails are immediate and most people do not understand how email branding works or that they can even do it. However knowing that you can means you still need to take the time to implement it.

Many people at this point are thinking, but why is email branding so important anyway? Think about it like this, people receiving emails will probably have loads that look the same, having branding will make yours stand out. It is also a chance to get your logo, image and company message across. By having all emails from all staff members looking the same it will help in showing the professionalism of your company as well as improving brand recognition.

Although having a branded email will allow you to keep a uniform look across all company emails there are some things you should take into consideration. Firstly think very carefully before including an image. If you are going to do so then it is vital to ensure it is small in size. If you have a large image within your emails then you may find you end up clogging up everyone's inboxes. This will not create a very good image for your company.

Another good thing to remember is that a lot of emails are reviewed in a preview pane in outlook instead of being opened. If your email just shows an image of a company logo at the top and no text can be viewed it is likely your email will be deleted before it is even opened and read. While discussing outlook it is also important to remember that many new versions of outlook will not download images in emails. So it is vital that you ensure your email looks really good when the images do not show.

It is also worth remembering that people will read your emails in all sorts of different types of software and it is important to do whatever you can to ensure your branding remains visible. You will always come across the problem of dealing with people who only view emails in plain text. This means that they will be able to view the text but that no images will come through. This is something it will impossible to avoid but by keeping images to a minimum will help to reduce this problem.

Overall, just keep it simple, the more you add and the more elaborate your design becomes the greater the chance it will be stopped by Spam filters. However if you are considering whether you need to brand your email or not, what are you thinking about? It is vital for any business to have an identity and your email is an integral part of this and should not be ignored.