Design That Sells: How Visuals in CRM Communications Affect Conversion

Design in CRM campaigns is more than just attractive visuals. Thoughtful visuals capture user attention, help build brand recall, and accelerate purchasing decisions.

In this article, we'll explain how to use design to make CRM communications more effective. We'll cover key principles and share case studies you can apply in practice.

Why Design Is So Important in CRM Campaigns

Design influences user perception. When every element in a message is well thought out, the user journey becomes smooth and intuitive. But if the design is sloppy, the recipient will notice—and might refuse to engage with the brand.

Daniil Svistunov:

Of course, design mostly determines how quickly the user processes information and decides to act. If the CTA blends into the background or the layout is overloaded with graphics, the user may close the email or push message without taking action.

Design can reduce or increase conversions. A clear structure and visual anchors guide users toward the target action. Icons, colors, number and placement of elements—all of it affects performance.

Design builds brand recognition. When users see consistent styling, they form a mental image and develop trust in the brand.

Ivan Potkovsky:

Customers judge a brand by its email design too. For example, someone likes the service and product range in a physical store. But then they sign up for the loyalty program and receive a welcome series with a design that doesn't match the store's color palette at all. This may lower trust and conversion rates.

Key Design Elements in CRM Communications

1. Graphics and Illustrations

Icons should be easy to understand and communicate the key message. Abstract or unclear symbols can confuse the user.

In this email, icons clearly illustrate recommendations

Photos should complement the text and convey the main message. Avoid unnatural or overly staged stock images.

If no suitable photos are available, you can generate them using AI. This works well for backgrounds or abstract visuals—but be cautious with faces and emotions.

For Bravos’ email, the CRM-group designer generated a banner using AI

Infographics, diagrams, and tables help present large amounts of information clearly and attractively. Users will grasp the content more easily, and you’ll deliver your message more effectively.

In this Skyeng’s email, a graph is presented as a table

2. Brand Style

Stick to a consistent style across all communications. Focus on these key style elements:

• Color palette. Use the same core colors across all brand materials to boost recognition and create a cohesive look.

• Typography. Maintain a headline hierarchy to help readers navigate the text. Headlines should stand out in size, weight, and color.

• Fonts affect readability and the overall tone. Choose fonts that suit the brand voice and display well on various devices.

If your brand communications are built from recurring elements, consider creating a design system—a library of rules and visual components. This simplifies the designer’s job and maintains consistency.

UI kit from a design system for Samolet

3. Responsive Design

Your emails must be responsive—elements should adapt in size and position depending on the device or context.

During the design phase, plan which blocks need to adjust and how they should display across devices and email clients, including dark mode.

During coding, each element gets parameters to ensure proper resizing—like stacking columns into a single column on mobile devices.

Daniil Svistunov:

I often see the misconception that responsiveness is only about mobile. But it’s broader—you have to consider dark mode and various email clients. Some don't support GIFs, others don’t support media queries for complex layouts.

Alevtina Chirkova:

Also, watch image sizes: keep them lightweight for fast loading, but don’t compromise quality. Always test communications before sending. I’ve had layouts break in Gmail while looking fine in Outlook—had to tweak the code for full compatibility.

4. Call to Action

The CTA is crucial for conversions. These tips help lead users toward your goal:

• Use buttons instead of text links. The CTA should stand out clearly.

• Don’t clutter the design. The CTA button should be the block’s main focus.

• Place CTAs in multiple spots. Some users click right away, others scroll to the end.

• Always include a CTA at the end. This can boost CTOR and reduce unsubscribes by showing users a clear next step.

Aviasales adds a CTA in each content block — this also improves CTOR

Common Design Mistakes in CRM Campaigns

Even the best offers can flop due to poor design. Watch out for these mistakes:

1. Unreadable elements. Bright colors and fancy fonts may attract attention but are easy to overuse. Ensure all elements are easy to read. Limit to two main fonts per email.

Alevtina Chirkova:

Pay attention to CTA button sizes: if they’re too small, they’ll be hard to tap on smartphones. Also, contrast matters—white text on a bright background may become illegible.

Simple fonts and high contrast make emails easier to read

2. Overloading with text and graphics. When an email or push message has too many elements, users lose focus. Aim for simple layouts:

• leave empty space between blocks;
• make sure every element benefits the user or business—or cut it;
• break long text into paragraphs, subheadings, and visuals.

A great email can be short: a banner, a small text block, and one CTA

3. Inconsistent style across messages. If your welcome series has different fonts, colors, and illustration styles, it feels disjointed.

• Establish a unified visual style: matching buttons, icons, borders, and spacing help users navigate.

• If emails share a theme—e.g., onboarding or a promo—keep the same design throughout to signal they're connected.

4. Poor attention to UX. A complicated or slow path to the target action kills conversion.

• Avoid extra steps: the quicker users grasp the layout, the likelier they’ll act.

• Make the CTA visible—don’t bury it.

• Ensure the button leads where users expect. "Buy now" should open the product page, not the catalog.

• If there's only one landing page, repeat the CTA with different styles to reduce drop-off.

A long email with only one CTA button risks the user not scrolling far enough

Ivan Potkovsky:

Another mistake: brands misjudge their audience and design visuals that don’t match expectations. Like a luxury real estate firm using loud, flashy colors.

How to Make CRM Communications More Effective with Design

Design is a powerful CRM marketing tool—when based on data and a cohesive visual system.

1. Personalize Design Based on Data

Tailor visuals to user interests, behaviors, or needs. For example:

• Dynamic blocks in emails. If a user browses home goods, show a banner or product picks in that category.

• Personalized UI elements. For active sale shoppers, add discount badges or countdown timers.

• Visual style. Adjust colors and illustrations by age, gender, or interests.

• Loyalty program elements. Show point balances or progress bars for loyalty program members.

Ivan Potkovsky:

If a pet store knows a client owns a dog, we show a banner with a dog and the heading “Picks for your dog.” That makes the message more relevant.

Alevtina Chirkova:

We once used a personalized banner that included the user’s name (generated automatically)—and conversion jumped by 18%.

2. Align Design Across Channels

It’s ideal if users recognize your brand at every touchpoint. Ensure visual consistency across CRM channels, social media, and your website:

• use the same color palette and fonts;
• keep illustration styles aligned;
• place the logo and brand elements prominently.

Dodo Pizza maintains a consistent style across its website and CRM communications

3. Measure Results Regularly

Look beyond standard metrics to behavioral insights. Key tools include:

1. Heatmaps. See where users click most—find top-performing sections or design issues.

E.g., if users click the banner more than the CTA, highlight the button and make the banner clickable too.

2. Scroll maps. Learn how far users scroll. If most don’t reach the CTA, move it up or trim the text.

3. Post-click behavior analysis. Don’t just attract clicks—guide users down the funnel.

• Trace user flow post-click. If they leave before checkout, maybe the form is too complex or key info is unclear.

• Make sure the landing page matches expectations. If users click but don’t convert, maybe it didn’t deliver the email’s promise.

4. Run A/B Tests

Test different design versions. For example, see whether product images or lifestyle shots perform better—or how CTA button size, shape, or color affects clicks. Test one variable at a time for accuracy.

Ivan Potkovsky:

Say a brand uses both green and white as core colors. You could test two versions: one emphasizing green, one white—to see which resonates more.

Daniil Svistunov:

We tested promo email layouts for a retailer. One version had complex content: the offer, product picks, and category links. The other was a simple banner-focused email with minimal text. The latter performed better in conversions.

Alevtina Chirkova:

We tested CTA placement (top vs. bottom), button size and color (warm tones work better), and layout format (with or without photos). One client believed their audience loved long reads. We A/B tested a longread vs. a blocky layout with multiple CTAs—and the latter boosted CTR by 25%.

In Conclusion

When design works well, users don’t have to think about where to click or how to find info. Emails feel intuitive, and the CTA appears exactly where expected.

To improve your CRM communications, review your current design: are there redundant elements, are key blocks noticeable, and is the message clear? Sometimes small tweaks—like changing a button color or reducing visual clutter—can significantly boost conversions.

CRM-group Experts:

• Daniil Svistunov, Art Director
• Ivan Potkovsky, CRM Marketer
• Alevtina Chirkova, Product Manager