Email Template Guidelines

Applies to: All emails sent via HubSpot
Audience: Marketing, Lifecycle, Programmes, Events, CX
Purpose: Ensure every ALX email is on-brand, mobile-first, and scalable at high volum

Every design and copy decision must pass a mobile-first test. This means prioritising vertical scroll, fast scanning, and visual clarity at small screen sizes above all else.

Three Pillars

• Vertical Flow: Every layout maintains a strict single-column format to ensure ease of scrolling on mobile devices.
• Scanning Priority: Copy must be written for quick scanning, prioritising clarity over completeness.
• Density Limits: Body paragraphs are limited to a maximum of 2 lines. Bulleted lists should contain only 3 to 4 short phrases.

All ALX emails must be built using approved master templates. The template system exists to protect brand consistency at scale. Deviating from approved templates, even with good intentions, creates inconsistency that compounds across thousands of sends.

The following structure applies to all ALX emails regardless of type. Block order is fixed and cannot be altered within HubSpot templates.

Placement

• Directly below the ALX logo
• Above the headline

Image Specifications

Email header templates: https://canva.link/n4r0au9t3emmnz0

Every copy element must be written with a mobile screen in mind. Readers scan before they read. Dense copy or long paragraphs will be skipped entirely.

Exploratory in intent. No urgency, pricing, or deadlines.

6.2  Conversion Template

Use for application or action-driven emails. One primary action. Maximum 2 CTAs.

6.3  Event Template

Use for registration and reminders. Time zone is required. Snapshot block cannot be altered.

6.4  Survey Template

Use for feedback collection. No marketing content. Clean, minimal layout.

CTA Hierarchy

Every email must have one primary CTA. Secondary CTAs provide alternative pathways without distracting from the primary goal.

Placement Rules

• All CTAs must appear after the core content block and before the footer
• Secondary CTAs must always appear below the primary CTA
• Secondary CTAs should be grouped together to maintain clean vertical flow

Approved Examples

• Explore programmes
• Apply now
• Register now
• Take survey

What to Avoid

• Long phrases that wrap on mobile screens
• Vague language such as ‘Click here’ or ‘Learn more’
• Urgency language in Awareness emails

All CTA buttons across ALX emails use a single, consistent colour. No exceptions.

This is the only approved background colour for CTA buttons. Do not use any other colour for buttons, including brand navy, white, or grey variants.

Opening Greeting

All ALX emails must open with a personalised salutation using the recipient’s first name via HubSpot merge tag. Use the following format exactly:

Hello [First name],

‘Hello’ is the preferred opener. ‘Hi’ and ‘Dear’ are also accepted. Do not use ‘Hey’. Always include the first name personalisation. Set the fallback value in HubSpot to ‘there’ so the email reads ‘Hello there,’ when contact data is missing.

Closing Signature

All ALX emails must close with the following standard signature. No individual names, team-specific sign-offs, or campaign-specific variations are permitted.

All the best,

The ALX Team

The standard sign-off is ‘The ALX Team’. City teams may use their own approved regional signature (for example, ‘The ALX Nigeria Team’) where this has been agreed with the Brand team. Do not sign off as a programme name, a campaign name, or an individual.

Tone and Voice

CTA Labels

Subject Lines

Voice Attributes

ALX’s brand positioning establishes ‘career transformation that compounds’ as the organising idea. The voice attributes below translate that positioning into day-to-day copy decisions. They connect to three things the positioning makes explicit: ALX wins on proof, not claims; the learner is always the subject of the story; and transformation must feel achievable within a real, already-full life.

• Lead with proof, not claims. ALX’s competitive advantage is not features or price: it is evidence that transformation is real. Graduate stories, specific outcomes, and peer voices are more persuasive than any institution’s assertions. Avoid openers like ‘We hope this email finds you well.’
• Direct, not blunt. Get to the point quickly, but carry the reader. Jugglers do not have time for preamble: every sentence must earn its place. One clear idea per paragraph.
• Honest about the juggle. Acknowledge that the work is hard. Transformation stories land better when they include the difficulty: ‘She completed the programme while working two jobs’ makes the outcome more believable, not less. Overselling creates the exact trust problem we are trying to solve.
• Human, not corporate. Write in plain, considered language. Avoid jargon, passive constructions, and phrases that could belong to any brand. Write as if addressing someone who has already heard of ALX and is quietly asking: is this possible for someone like me?

Register by Email Type

What to Avoid

• Exclamation marks in headlines or CTAs
• Superlatives (‘the most’, ‘the best’, ‘world-class’) without substantiation
• Urgency language in Awareness emails
• Second-guessing the reader (‘You might be wondering…’, ‘Perhaps you have been thinking…’)
• Hollow affirmations such as ‘You have come so far’ or ‘We believe in you.’

The Core Rule: Benefits Over Features

Every line of ALX copy should answer the reader’s question: what does this do for me? Features describe what a programme contains. Benefits describe what the learner gains. ALX copy always leads with the latter.

Approved Terminology

These terms are locked. They must appear consistently across all ALX communications. Do not substitute, abbreviate, or vary them.

Voice and Register

ALX emails are written by people who understand the reader’s journey. The voice is direct without being transactional, warm without being sycophantic. It reflects the ambition of the communities we serve.

Hollow Affirmations: Cut on Sight

Hollow affirmations create the feeling of warmth without the substance. They name an emotion the reader has not expressed. Cut them entirely rather than rephrasing.

Note: ‘Dare To Be More’ status is unconfirmed. Do not use until cleared with the Brand team.

Phrases to Retire

The following phrases appear frequently across ALX communications and should be replaced with something more specific.

Punctuation and Formatting

These rules govern copy that lives within visual modules: headlines, preheaders, CTA labels, and any text adjacent to imagery.

Benefits Over Features

ALX headlines and body copy must lead with what the learner gains, not what the programme contains. Every line should answer the reader’s first question: what does this do for me? Features describe what a programme offers. Benefits describe what changes in the learner’s life. 

The test for any headline or CTA: does this describe what the learner gets, or just what we offer? If ALX is the subject of the sentence (‘ALX offers…’, ‘Our programme includes…’), flip it so the learner is the subject (‘You’ll build…’, ‘Get hired in…’).

This principle applies to headlines, CTAs, preheaders, and any copy adjacent to imagery. Programme names should appear after the benefit has been established, not instead of it.

Headlines

Headlines should do one job: tell the reader what this email is for. Avoid clever for its own sake. Lead with the programme, the opportunity, or the action rather than a question, a teaser, or a pun.

• Preferred format: declarative or action-oriented
• Maximum 2 lines on mobile (aim for 1)
• No punctuation at the end of headlines unless a question mark is genuinely warranted
• No ALL CAPS

Preheader Copy

The preheader is a continuation of the subject line, not a repeat of it. Together they should answer: what is this, and why does it matter to me?

• 85 to 100 characters is the safe render window across most mobile clients
• If the subject line names the programme, the preheader should name the benefit or next step
• Never leave the preheader blank. Clients will pull the first line of body copy instead.

Body copy adjacent to visuals

• Do not describe what the image shows. Add context the image cannot carry.
• Never rely on imagery to carry information that belongs in copy (per Section 05)
• Captions are not part of the ALX template structure. Do not add them ad hoc.

CTA Labels

CTA copy should feel like the natural next step, completing the sentence that body copy just set up. If the body says ‘Your spot is open’, the CTA should say ‘Apply now’, not ‘Find out more.’

Subject Line Principles

• Lead with the most specific, relevant information first
• Anchor in campaign language or programme names where possible
• 40 to 50 characters is the mobile-safe length; up to 60 is acceptable
• Avoid ALL CAPS, excessive punctuation, emoji unless expressly approved, and spam-flagged words such as ‘free’, ‘guaranteed’, or ‘act now.’

Formats That Work for ALX