Did you know that nearly 90 million Americans use their phone to read email* AND, that number grew by 28% over the past year?
You also need to be aware that if your email is hard to read or unattractively displayed on a mobile device 80% of people will delete it immediately**!
Twitter’s use of responsive design
Considering that smartphone usage tripled in 2011 (and is still growing), it’s no surprise that email consumption via mobile devices has also seen a steep upturn.
But what does mobile ready really mean when it comes to email?
It can apply to all manner of different devices and scenarios, such as receiving an email on your laptop when traveling, on your iPad while watching television, or on your mobile during the early morning commute. Or all of the above!
Therefore, email must be optimized for all of these different situations, so that every recipient you target, in each of these different situations, can consume your content effectively. Rendering in different email clients has always been a challenge for marketers but, when you throw different screen sizes into the mix, things get even more complicated.
Twitter’s use of responsive design
This is where responsive email comes in.
When you use a responsively designed email template it responds and adapts to the device your recipients are using to experience it. After all looking at something on a small device versus a desktop or laptop, it’s a totally different experience. So if you can cater to those specific devices, I think it’s just one more chance for users to identify with the content you’re putting out there, react with it, interact with it.
Responsive email is designed to render two different layouts depending on the size of the screen the email is opened on. A responsive email will auto-adjust the layout, content and text size of an email depending on the screen size of the device it is being read on. In addition, images can be swapped out or completely disabled, images & buttons can be resized, and colors can be changed.
Pinterest’s use of responsive design
The use of responsive design in your email marketing campaigns can double their effectiveness, but not the cost. That is certainly the mark of an efficient marketing campaign. You’ll also be able to provide compelling content, no matter what the medium or device used to read your message.
Most importantly, users now expect responsive design. An increasing number of organizations are using responsive email design. If you’re not, you’re getting left behind.
Let us update your email with a fully responsive design. Our designs will work with almost any email marketing system out there (Aweber, 1SC, MailChimp, iContact, etc) with the exception of Constant Contact. We do all the work and testing to ensure that you have a classy email template that looks great and is easy to read on every device it is viewed on.
*Per ComScore www.comscoredatamine.com/2012/01/u-s-mobile-email-audience-grows-by-nearly-20-million-users-in-the-past-year
**BlueHornet’s 2013 Consumer Views of Email Marketing Report
