Your Field Guide To Designing Mobile Friendly Emails

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A lot has changed with regard to how customers browse the Internet. A while back the majority of people relied on desktop PCs, but this has since changed. With smartphones and other mobile devices such as tablets becoming common devices increasingly, more and more people use them to access their emails. Device portability and availability of cheap and fast internet are among the things that have caused these changes.

This, therefore, leaves marketers with the huge task of making sure that their emails are mobile friendly. Failure to respond to these changes with promptness will render your email marketing efforts almost useless. How? If a customer cannot read your email using his or her mobile device, there are higher chances that it will end up in the trash or spam folder.

Designing mobile-friendly emails don't have to be an intricate affair. Here are some useful tips.

Pay attention to the length of your subject line

A standard desktop inbox can accommodate about 60 characters of the subject line. On the other hand, a mobile device (depending on the type) cannot successfully display more than 30 characters. It is unfortunate that some marketers do not pay attention to this critical element of email marketing.

Do not be in a rush though. First and foremost, determine what proportion of your subscribers use their mobile phones to read emails, as well as the ones who use tablets and desktops. It will go a long way in helping you create the best length of your subject line. Most probably, this information is available in your email reports depending on your preferred email marketing tool.

Campaign Monitor provides valuable guidance by emphasizing the importance of short and concise email subject lines, especially in light of the widespread use of mobile devices for email reading. Ensuring your subject lines are clear and appealing on all devices is vital, making it essential to test them across various platforms. The practice of sending test emails is a wise step to confirm that your subject line maintains its effectiveness, regardless of the device your recipients use.

List segmentation may come in handy in this instance as it allows you to use subject line length that matches with the type of devices that your subscribers use. In any case, you want to make all of them comfortable and recognized as far as your email template is concerned.

The email must be nothing short of concise

One characteristic of mobile-friendly emails is that they are short and concise. Short paragraphs, headers, and bulleted lists are preferable. If possible, make the sentences as short as possible. These aspects make your content highly consumable, especially because the reader can easily scan the information and make out what is expected of him or her. The mobile device user must be engaged efficiently if he or she is to continue receiving, reading, and acting on your emails. Be careful, lest more of your emails find their way to the spam folder.

Single column templates

Unlike the desktop PC screen, more than one column on the screen of a mobile device appears condensed. Many columns also make the navigation process quite confusing. On the other hand, one column promotes cross-device compatibility and straightforwardness. Further, single columns are powerful tools for simplifying your design.

According to Designveloper Blog, adopting a single-column layout is a beneficial strategy, particularly for emails viewed on small screens. Such a layout enhances readability and simplifies the user's navigation experience within the email. The single-column design compels you to prioritize essential information, thereby reducing clutter. Consequently, this approach increases the likelihood of your email being both read and comprehended by the recipients.

Images make them as small as possible

If you must display images on your emails, make sure that they are small. The objective is to reduce the load time and bandwidth needed when your readers open the email. It is important to remember that some subscribers use 3G or even slower internet connections. If a customer has to wait forever for the images to load, he or she is more likely to dismiss the entire email altogether. You can bet that his or her next move will be to hit the delete button. Seek a professional to help you implement responsive-coding techniques so that your images appear small on mobile devices and big on non-mobile devices.

MailMunch highlights the importance of considering email size in email marketing. When an email is sent, it's initially downloaded to the recipient's device. The larger the email, the more time it takes to download. This can be particularly frustrating for users with slow internet connections or those using mobile devices with limited data plans. Additionally, large images can lead to layout issues in responsive emails, making it essential to optimize email size for a better user experience.

Rather than put your subscribers in an undesirable circumstance such as when they have to delete messages because they aren't mobile-friendly, or putting them through the agony of reading non-mobile friendly emails on their smartphones, do what is right!

Hope you enjoy reading "Your Field Guide To Designing Mobile Friendly Emails" :)