Responsive email is a design approach that allows emails to be optimized for various devices and screen sizes. In short, it is a design technique that uses emails to ensure they render correctly on different devices and resolutions.
Responsive email is when you use fluid images, fluid tables, and media queries to control and adjust email layout, images, text size, and CTA buttons, and ensure a smooth flow across different devices, operating systems, and email clients.
What Factors Determine How an Email Is Displayed?
Two factors determine how an email displays in a user’s inbox: the device’s screen size and the user’s email client.
1. Device screen size
Emails are accessed differently due to differences in device usage – desktops, PCs, smartphones, Samsung mini, etc. These devices also vary in size australia email list width and height which also affects how your email is viewed.
On the desktop, the screen is much larger and therefore easier to navigate, scroll, and click on links and buttons.
In contrast, smartphones limit such accessibility due to their smaller screen sizes. Content is scaled down to fit the screen, making everything else, such as text, images, and links, much smaller and harder to read, navigate, and click.
2. Email clients
The other big challenge to responsive email is email clients. An email client is a program that subscribers use to view and read their emails.
According to Litmus’ January 2022 email client report, Apple (57.16%), Gmail (30.17%), and Outlook (4.44%) are the top 3 email clients used by subscribers to view and read emails. Each email client displays emails differently, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work with these email clients.
Why is Mobile-Friendly Responsive Email Design Important?
When you open an email, especially on your phone, if the text is small, you have to squint or constantly zoom in and out. Responsive email prevents this from happening and offers email subscribers much more:
1. Accessibility
Responsive design is essential for creating accessible emails for all your subscribers. Responsive design allows the email to be visually displayed seamlessly across devices. Since your subscribers may open the email on their phones and then on their desktops, you don’t want the features to be shrunken or disproportionate depending on the device they’re using.
For example, if you have trouble clicking small buttons or links on your touchscreen device email marketing: supercharging your email marketing campaigns responsive emails use code to make those buttons and links larger and easier to tap. Responsive emails make it easy for everyone to access and understand the content of your email.
2. Better user experience
It’s essential to deliver a great customer experience in your email marketing campaigns. Responsive emails play a vital role in ensuring subscribers engage with your messages seamlessly. Receiving emails that are easy to read and navigate on any device creates a positive experience. This not only leaves a lasting impression, but also builds your brand’s reputation. Responsive emails strengthen your relationship with your subscribers by building trust and loyalty.
3. Higher interaction
You don’t just want your subscribers to open your emails, you want them to take action. Responsive email makes it easy for people to do that, so they can access your content without any hassle. If an email is hard to read or use on a small screen, your subscribers are more likely to ignore it.
Why Should You Make Your Emails Responsive?
Responsive email design is essential for providing a better reading experience to users and connecting with them.
Here are the top reasons why you should make your emails responsive:
1. Increased use of mobile devices
A responsive mobile email design can increase mobile clicks by 15%. (MailChimp, 2019)
Marketers say desktop email open rates increased by 11.6% in 2021, compared to 56.8% on mobile. -(State of email 2021 Mailmodo)
47% of emails are opened on mobile devices, but most are designed for desktop viewing only. (Litmus)
So, it is obvious that mobile devices are used more than any other device, so designing emails that look good on small screens is a must. If you do not take this into account, you will lose many subscribers and therefore your email ROI.
2. Creates a good user experience
If your emails are responsive, users will access your emails without any problems. Also, users can easily navigate and scroll through the email content usb directory thus achieving higher engagement.
3. Increases click-through rate while reducing unsubscribe rate
According to Constant Contact, 75% of subscribers will delete an email they can’t read on a mobile device. Therefore, designing responsive images, layouts, buttons, etc. will help you overcome this problem, increase click-through rates, and reduce unsubscribe rates.
4. Making emails accessible is vital
Making emails responsive helps ensure email accessibility for all users, regardless of what device, operating system, or email client they use.
Things to Consider When Creating a Responsive Email
When creating a responsive email, remember that content is just as important as design. Content should be unique, high-quality, and relevant to both your target audience and your product. Also, try to include keywords in your subject line and body text to help your email rank higher on search engine results pages. Add visuals like images, videos, or infographics to make your emails more engaging and interesting. Finally, be sure to include a call-to-action (CTA) button to encourage your subscribers to take the desired action. When creating CTAs, make sure they are clear and simple for optimal visibility and click-through rates.
1. Use a responsive email template
Using a responsive email template will ensure that your emails look great on all devices. Responsive emails are designed to automatically adjust their layout and content to best suit the user’s device, from smartphones to tablets to desktops. This means that the content will be formatted in a way that is easy to read and navigate on any device. Using a responsive email template can also help improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. When you have a consistent design across devices, search engines are better able to crawl your emails and rank them higher in the results.
Responsive email templates also help reduce user frustration as they can quickly get to the information they need regardless of the device they are using.
Fluid grids provide a framework for responsive emails that allows them to adapt to different device sizes. The grid is divided into columns and rows, and email elements such as images, text, and buttons are placed within these grid cells. As the email is viewed on different devices, the grid scales accordingly, rearranging and resizing elements to fit the device’s screen size.
Flexible images are also used in responsive emails to create a seamless user experience. When images are viewed on a device, they are automatically scaled to fit the screen size, ensuring that the user can view the image without any distortion. This ensures that the email looks clean and professional on every device.
