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Making the Case for Mobile-Optimized Email:The Options

By Deb Papp

In my last blog, I provided statistics on the growing mobile market and the importance of optimizing emails for mobile. So now that you know you should, here’s how you can!

There are three primary options for making your emails mobile-optimized. Here’s a quick look at how each option works, as well as the pros and cons.

1. Fluid Email Layout

The � rst option is called � uid layout, meaning the email width expands or contracts depending on the size of the viewing screen. This straightforward approach to mobile optimization is easy to execute: set the width of your email to a percentage rather than having a � xed width. This way, the email e� ectively � ows across whatever screen it is viewed on.

Here’s an example of a � uid email layout…

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…and how it looks fully open in Outlook:

Pros of � uid email layout:

Cons:

• Emails usually look quite good on a smaller screen like a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

• It’s easy to do and doesn’t require any action by the subscriber, so it gives the user a seamless experience.

• If viewed on a large desktop monitor, � uid emails can often expand too much, which makes them hard to read.

• Fluid layout is not appropriate for image-only emails, and you have to keep the layout fairly simple for it to work best.

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2. Scalable Design

Scalable design is an option that features a single “mobile-friendly” layout that looks good on small and large screens. Unique features of this approach include:

• A single-column layout which is relatively narrow compared to most other emails

• Large titles

• Large calls-to-action which are easy to click on mobile devices

• A good amount of white space

• A small amount of body copy which can easily be read at a glance

Pros of scalable design:

Cons:

• It gives all subscribers a seamless user experience and looks good in all environments.

• It’s really easy to do and doesn’t require any complex coding.

• It limits your design options and doesn’t provide much � exibility.

• Super-skinny emails can look slightly strange on large screens.

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3. Responsive Design

Responsive design allows you to change the way your email looks or is displayed depending on the size of the viewer’s screen. It gives you an enormous amount of � exibility to add, remove, or re-arrange the content of your email so that your subscribers will have the very best experience, no matter what device or email client they read your email on.

…and the responsive version on a mobile phone:

Here’s an example of an email…

Pros of responsive design:

Cons:

• It provides a seamless experience and is extremely � exible.

• You can change almost anything about the email by using this method.

• It can be very complex to code.

• It doesn’t work on every type of mobile device.

• It will increase the weight of your email due to the extra code that’s used, which sometimes can be an issue because mobile Internet can often be slow.

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About Lyris Inc:

Lyris (@Lyris ) is a leading global provider of digital marketing solutions that help companies engage with customers in more meaningful ways. Lyris products and services empower marketers to design, automate, and optimize data- driven interactive marketing campaigns that facilitate superior engagement, increase conversions, and deliver measurable business value. Lyris’ high-performance, secure, and � exible digital marketing platforms improve marketing e� ciency by providing automated digital message delivery, robust segmentation, and real-time digital channel analytics. The Lyris solutions portfolio is comprised of both in-the-cloud and on-premises o� erings – Lyris HQ and Lyris LM – combined with customer-focused services and support. More than 5,000 companies worldwide partner with Lyris to manage and execute sophisticated digital marketing campaigns across email, social, Web, and mobile channels. Learn more at www.lyris.com.

Keep up with the latest industry trends, developments and best practices for continuously optimizing your digital marketing campaigns.

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Despite the cons, responsive design is by far the best mobile optimization option, and Lyris is fortunate to have experts in this area, including our Sr. Strategy Consultant Andrew King. Rather than step on his toes, I’ll share these resources so you can learn his perspectives � rst-hand:

Recorded Webcast: Making the Case for Responsive Email DesignRecorded Webcast: The World Has Gone Mobile — Have your Emails?Blog: What I’ve Learned from 100 Responsive EmailsBlog: Not your Average Responsive Email DesignBlog: Email Inspiration: Six Great Responsive Email DesignsBlog: Email Inspiration: Six More Great Responsive Email DesignsBlog: Responsive Email Design: 10 Great Examples

I’ll close with this excerpt from a blog by Lyris Global Head of Strategy Philip Storey, 5 Predictions for Email Marketing in 2014:

Designing for ‘mobile-� rst’ will become ‘the norm’

A study by Litmus in December 2013 showed that for the � rst time ever, mobile is the single leading platform for consuming marketing emails, worldwide. I believe 2014 is the year where email marketers will begin to design for mobile-� rst, even before we design for desktop and Webmail scenarios. For those companies that are yet to dip their toes in the water with mobile design, 2014 will be the year that they go responsive/scalable or skinny, simply because that’s where their prospects and customers are most likely to be opening and reading their emails.

Are you ready to “dip your toes?” In my next blog, I’ll continue to share the expertise of our strategic services gurus with a look at how to get started with a mobile optimization strategy and keep it performing well. In the meantime, download our complementary marketing guide, The World is Optimized for Mobile – Are your Emails? to learn more.