Have you heard of side scrolling emails? It’s something we are seeing more and more of within the email industry.

Side scrolling emails are basically really wide emails; where the only way to read them is to scroll to the right, instead of down.

Here’s some nice examples of side scrolling, or horizontal emails (thanks STYLECampaign):

Scrolling-emails-1

Why?

So why are brands using side scrolling email as opposed to email’s traditional format?

Firstly, side scrolling has novelty value which can add a really fun element to your email and your brand in general! Secondly, it’s a new experience that people probably won’t have seen before, so it might be a bit more memorable than your average marketing communication.

Why not?

One of the main issues with side scrolling emails is that scrolling to the right is unfamiliar and might confuse some of your readers. It’s also less easy to do; people using desktops will probably have to reach for the long-forgotten scroll bar – eurgh!

Those using smartphones and tablets will have less problems; so think about your audience before you decide to jump on the side scrolling bandwagon. Look at your device breakdown and see what kind of devices your readers are using.

As with any novelty – it is in danger of being overused; changing the scrolling direction won’t be as effective if it’s done in every newsletter, so save it for special occasions.

How?

After reading Mass transmit’s blog about designing a horizontal Christmas email I thought I’d have a go at making my own.

I made a wide, but not too wide 600 x 144px table in Dreamweaver. The maximum width that Outlook will display is 2110 pixels – so be careful.

For my first prototype I used no images, just big letters and background colours.

This email worked absolutely fine in all the email platforms.

This email is designed to be sent to our current customers, letting them know about the product features that they could be missing out on.

Bearing in mind that a lot of people haven’t seen a side scrolling email before (or at least they don’t think they have), I made it obvious by using a big arrow and saying ‘scroll to move on’.

In case they don’t notice, or they just can’t be bothered to scroll right, you might want to put a call to action at the beginning (the left).

So in conclusion, side scrolling emails are really easy to make and could offer an engaging break from your usual email communications!