Read on to know more about email design for mobile devices and how marketers use mobile email best practices to reach their targets.
Email Optimization for Mobile: Basics
To start with, let me show why mobile-optimized emails will be crucial for future mobile marketing tactics. We all check our inboxes every day. And I must admit I am likely to interact with those emails that are pleasant and actionable. It means that for the emails to work, they should get into the inbox and have a decent look. Besides, just consider the fact that the mobile marketing market will likely grow to $57 billion in 2030, doubling the existing market share. It seems that email optimization is already an integral part of attraction and communication strategies aimed at prospects, doesn’t it? Any email optimization for mobile devices starts with basic email marketing concepts of deliverability. After that, you can think about email design and communication improvement. Let’s check the particular ideas in detail: Deliverability: Even ordinary email marketing aimed at desktop users significantly depends on whether the emails get to the recipient or not. If you type the wrong email address, it can worsen the domain’s reputation. Thus, the primary idea is to have a healthy email list and look after your domain. In this regard, you can apply email finder software (here is a practical example), create lead magnets, and use domain checkers. Email design: To create mobile-friendly email marketing campaigns, you will need to master your email look. It contemplates that you make an email template mobile-friendly enough to encourage people to scroll till the end of the message. Usually, the design is concerned with the fonts, visual elements, structure, and CTA buttons. Communication: Lastly, remember that the text is displayed differently on mobile screens. Thus, in addition to providing the correct value, you need to create shorter subject lines and more direct messages with explicit personalization. It all affects how you convey your message.
Mobile Email Best Practices
Mobile-friendly email marketing requires you to simplify our approach in terms of message and put user experience at the center. It is the lesson I learned when working with mobile app marketers. Today, more than 50% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Therefore, one of the best email marketing tactics is to make your email flexible and follow the rules in terms of fonts, design, and information display. What are the secrets?
Focus on simplicity
Nobody wants to scroll down the entire message if it takes the recipient more than two scrolls. At some point, usually after scrolling for 3 seconds, they will just close it. Thus, an excellent mobile marketing tactic is to make your messages short and simple. It refers both to subject lines and body text. For instance, some phones don’t show the complete subject lines if they are longer than 33 characters. It means exceeding this number can result in poor open rates results. In this regard, I have used fewer than 30 characters for each campaign and had satisfactory results. Yet, the true indicator of effectiveness comes with the click-through rate. Our team made the body text short and backed it with some images. Importantly, we made explicit CTAs so that they were easy to read and attracted the recipient to the website. The size of CTA should start from 46 px.
Set the right fonts
Also, mobile-friendly email marketing requires marketers to watch the size of their fonts. The main explanation lies in the rule of one eye, contemplating that a person can read an email with one eye and see all the visual cues and signs. I would recommend using fonts with the following size: 14-17px. The longer the text, the smaller the font would be. Importantly, remember to make a headline bigger. In particular, you can use a 22px font size to make a headline visible. This element is vital not only for perception but for email opening as well. It can also act as a preheader. Pre-header is usually visible in the mobile email inbox under the subject line. Thus, don’t make it too long and let it support the latter.
Avoid making errors in design
Another tactic to adjust email design for mobile devices refers to making an easy and simple design structure. The easier it is, the fewer chances are that you will make an error in the code and send a bad-looking email. When doing email optimization for mobile, marketers use a single-column layout. I recommend it if you plan to have more text elements and links in your email rather than images. Besides, it allows scrolling the email down, which is the most used way to watch content on mobile devices. Of course, you can use a multi-column approach if you want to have a lot of images to be included. It works excellently with clothing brands or companies selling goods. However, such a layout can result in errors and text shifts if you miss a specific element. One of the crucial tips in this regard is to use flexible layouts. Most large email providers, like Mailchimp, offer mobile-friendly email marketing templates that can automatically change their look if the provider detects that the recipient uses a mobile device. Usually, such templates are simple, and if you decide to make an exciting email with a lot of elements, it won’t be your choice.
Do some experiments
Lastly, do tests and evaluate which mobile marketing tactics you used to have the most considerable effect. Send emails and track the results with the tags or conversion rates. When testing your email design for mobile devices, focus on how people react to subject lines, images, and text positions. When I prepared my campaign, I made several split tests. Yet, the crucial part was sending different layouts to the marketing teams and getting feedback. It helped see the best structure and define the most balanced design before the campaign.
