There are more mobile users than desktop users, which makes the competition to get your audience’s attention quite stiff. Hundreds of brand emails are waiting to be opened in your target audience’s inbox daily. How will yours stand out? One of the best answers to that question is responsive emails. And businesses not tailoring their emails to fit different screen sizes could lose serious engagement and sales opportunities. With fast changes in the digital world, the way users interact with email is transforming, too. Smartphones have become advanced enough for us to do most of our work through emails without needing a desktop screen. This trend doesn’t seem to be losing speed. So, after sustaining and increasing their audience’s interest, businesses find mobile-friendly email templates indispensable. Over the years, the change in behaviors and preferences in the online space has made them expect more. Users getting emails want the convenience of opening and using them easily on any device easily. Emails that don’t load right or need a lot of scrolling or zooming might get ignored. Here, people are used to smooth online interactions and won’t put up with content that doesn’t work great. Let’s explore the benefits and best practices for building responsive email templates.
Are Responsive Designs Same as Adaptive Designs or Fluid Designs?
Most of the time, when designing a responsive email, we confuse it with an adaptive or fluid design. They are very similar, but there is a point of difference between them. Let’s discuss them.
- Responsive Design automatically adapts to different screen sizes. It uses fluid grids and flexible layouts to ensure consistency across all devices.
- Adaptive Design creates multiple versions of an email to fit different screen sizes. Although it offers a good user experience, it lacks flexibility, like responsive design.
- Fluid Design uses percentages instead of pixels to adjust an email design on different screen sizes. Although it’s a key component of a responsive design, it lacks the adaptability of a responsive design.
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What are the Benefits of Responsive Email Templates?
Responsive designs don’t just make your email designs look aesthetically pleasing. They bring more to the table. Here are a few you should know that will keep you motivated.
1. Responsive emails improve user experience across all devices.
Responsive email designs are easy to read and navigate, no matter your device. A statistic by Snov.io reveals that 58% of users check their emails first thing in the morning. Would you like your emails to disappoint them when you have the chance to get their attention? Of course not.
2. Responsive emails enhance engagement rates on your emails.
Responsive emails catch users’ attention and hold them longer than a simple email. The interactive elements of your responsive emails can also be used in personalizing them. This will in the long end force them to go through your emails and click on your CTAs.
3. Responsive emails offer better deliverability and accessibility.
Email clients favor designs that work well on all screens. Your responsive designs add to your brand’s reputation. When you have a good sender reputation, your emails are less likely to end up in the Spam folder.
Also Read: Essential Ways To Increase Email Engagement
Key Considerations Before Building a Responsive Email Template
Here are the key points you should consider before building a responsive email template.
1. You must understand your audience.
Before going on the actual process of creating your email templates, you have to understand your subscribers and their behavior towards your emails. You must divide your subscribers into different groups and subgroups as you don’t want to broadcast the same email to all your audience. A proper personalization strategy needs to be in place while designing your responsive email templates.
For instance, if the analytics show that more users are using the mail on their phones, mobile-first becomes necessary. This means that certain aspects would need to be emphasized, such as enhanced fonts, buttons that are easy to click, and content that is not bulky, quickly loads, and is easily readable on small smartphone screens.
2. Your emails must be compatible with email clients.
A stunning email design might flop if it doesn’t display well on various email platforms. Every email system can decipher your code differently, creating disparities in how recipients see your emails.
3. Your emails must use a mobile-first design approach.
The mobile-first design trend has emerged well beyond our expectations. Why? Business strategists realize that one of the important segments of user experience is your audience reading emails on their phones. Thus, it is obvious that we cannot afford to have any other choice except the mobile-first approach.
Also Read: Email Deployment: Expert Strategies and Best Practices for Seamless Campaigns
What are the Best Practices for Building Responsive Email Templates?
Here are a few best practices you should follow.
1. Use a fluid layout.
Use percentages instead of fixed pixels to create flexible layouts. It will make your emails look good on desktop and mobile.
2. Optimize your images to make them responsive.
Use retina-ready displays to achieve high-quality visuals.
3. Use media queries effectively.
CSS media queries are quite popular among web designers these days.
4. Structure your email content in a way that makes it responsive.
Use simple layouts and single-column design to achieve a proper hierarchy. Add whitespaces to boost readability.
What are the Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Designing Responsive Emails?
Along with following the best practices, it’s also important to learn about what not to do in designing responsive emails. Here are the DON’Ts you must avoid at all costs.
- Don’t overload your emails with content.
- Don’t make your email accessibility complex. It will ruin the user experience.
- Do not ignore plain text versions of emails because they increase effectiveness.
Key Takeaways
Email designs are constantly evolving and are expected to get more personalized and targeted over time. Hyper-personalization and hyper-targeting each individual isn’t far from your reach as well. And users expect that as well. They want their emails to speak directly to them. And there is nothing that will support your cause more than responsive email templates.
So, after going through this article, are you all set to make your email marketing game strong? Begin with designing responsive email templates so that you can enhance your campaigns and get more engagement and conversions. It’s time to gain that competitive advantage and make the most of this opportunity.
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