Mobile-first design was a big trend in website design for years, but it mostly fizzled out in favor of responsive design. While the trend didn’t last for websites, it’s a completely different story for email marketing!
Creating mobile-friendly emails is more important today than ever before. This one change to your email strategy could increase conversions, improve your open rate, and help you retain more people on your email list.
Why is mobile design so important for email marketing? Let’s explore the importance below and see how to implement the right changes in your emails ASAP.
Increasing Mobile Email Opens
Research shows that in 2023, 55% of emails were opened on a mobile device. While the number can vary depending on the source of the research, all sources point to around 50% or more of all emails being accessed from mobile devices. This includes mobile phones, tablets, and other similar devices.
Mobile email opens have been steadily increasing year over year. Younger demographics have a much higher percentage of mobile email usage compared to older demographics, with many people under 35 opening emails first on mobile. Even if they go back to the same email again on a desktop, they will first open it on a mobile device.
Why mobile email opens matter
Depending on your target market, you need to understand what kind of devices your email list subscribers are likely to be using to open your emails. Knowing this can help you design emails that are easy for them to read and interact with.
If someone opens an email on a mobile device and it doesn’t load quickly, fails to display important visual elements, or shows up with weird formatting, they’re going to click away and never look back. What’s worse is that they’re unlikely to ever look at that email again through a different device unless they have a strong incentive to see it.
You don’t want to send emails that get discarded immediately after they’re opened. Email marketing already has an open rate of around 21%. Why risk cutting that number down by excluding the 50% of mobile users who would have actually opened your emails and potentially interacted with them?
Not Mobile Only, But Mobile Friendly
Mobile devices interact with email very differently than desktops. Email clients are set up completely differently, providing a very different experience depending on the device you’re using. It’s the same thing that happens with mobile web browsers versus desktop web browsers.
Just like with your website, you need to consider mobile users when you’re designing and sending out emails. They could make up 50% or more of your target market!
Ideally, email marketing should cater to people on all types of devices. Everyone should be able to read and interact with your emails without anything displaying weirdly or breaking catastrophically. Even if you have a good mix of people opening emails from both mobile and desktop, it’s best to make them usable for everyone.
Accommodating the lowest common denominator means you’ll be allowing as many people as possible to access your content without issues. The only real question is: Why WOULDN’T you make emails mobile-friendly?
What Is Mobile First Email Design?
Mobile-first design is a concept that’s been around for years as mobile device usage increases. Unlike with websites, you cannot create an alternate version of an email to display to mobile users. While emails can be responsive and scale to various screen sizes, you cannot create dramatically different versions of the same email.
Instead, you have to use mobile design principles to make an email that’s attractive, readable, and interactive for everyone who receives it. This is a lot simpler than it sounds. In fact, most of the emails you send and receive probably already fit a lot of the requirements!
Once you know what goes into a mobile-first email design, you can create a set of standards for your own emails and make sure everything you’re sending out matches those standards.
These are the main factors that go into creating mobile-friendly emails:
Concise subject lines
Mobile devices cannot see as long of email subject lines as desktops. The average length they will display is around 50 characters, with the iPhone only showing 36 characters.
Aim for email subject lines around 40-50 characters, or roughly 7 words long.
This is what seven words look like. [35 characters]
Single column layouts
Because emails on mobile need to be viewable on tall, thin devices, single column layouts are best. If you use more than a single column, people may need to zoom in to read the content which is not user-friendly. Stick to single columns that scale up and down comfortably.
Optimized images
Images need to load lightning-fast on mobile devices. Keep in mind that many people are potentially using 3G data instead of high-speed internet connections. Make emails an easily loadable size, optimizing images to be as small as possible.
The ideal size is less than 200 KB per image with only a few images used throughout the email.
Large interactive elements
Any elements of the email that require interaction, like buttons or links, must be large enough to comfortably click on a mobile device. Our fingers are larger and less precise than a mouse pointer. If it’s too hard to click on things or people are misclicking, they will be less likely to continue interacting with your emails.
Consistent spacing
Similar to the size of elements, make sure there’s a consistent amount of space around each element so people can easily scroll through emails without accidentally clicking on something. You want every interaction to be genuine and intentional, not accidental.
Prominent CTAs
Emails opened on mobile devices perform better when the main CTA is front-loaded instead of sitting at the end of the email. People on mobile devices don’t want to spend as much time viewing an email. They want you to get to the point fairly quickly.
By putting your CTA earlier in the email, you’ll be able to capture more people and present them with an opportunity to engage with you before they move on to something else.
These are just a few basics for email marketing CTAs. You can learn more about how to optimize your email CTAs here.
Simple, readable fonts
Dramatic fonts may look cool, but readability is key with emails. Because of the varied screen sizes of mobile devices, choose simple fonts that are very clear and readable. Standard fonts are your best bet.
Focus more on the quality of your email copy instead of the creativity of your fonts. Check out Envato Elements if you want to find unique, readable fonts for your images and emails.
Envato Elements – Fonts
Explore a vast library of fonts and other creative elements, available under one universal subscription.
Simple structuring
Subheadings and sectioning are very helpful for readability. You need to set up the hierarchy of information so people can quickly skim through emails and get to the most relevant information. Make sure you include h2s, h3s, and other appropriate structural elements like lists, bullet points, or numbering to make your emails incredibly readable.
Not image reliant
Sometimes email programs will not allow images to load automatically. A weird balance of images to text can also set off flags for spam filters. For the best chances of an email getting through and being effective, don’t put any vital information into an image. Make sure your main messages, CTAs, and content are readable even if the images don’t load.
Use images to reinforce your central message rather than as the main way of communicating within the email.
You can’t afford to ignore mobile users when you’re designing and sending emails to your list. With such a high number of emails being opened on mobile devices, taking the time to craft mobile-friendly emails could be a game changer for your email marketing strategy.
