What is Responsive Email Design (and what it is not), When to use Responsive Email (hint: when your prospect and conversion are mobile) and Why it is a tool in your B2B Marketing digital toolbox and not a one-size-fits-all approach.
2. The State of Mobile Email
• Significant
– Mobile Opens
– Commercial Opens
– Marketing Message Opens
• Accelerating
• Critical
3. • Device Hardware
• Operating System
• Email Client Software
Email Channel Complexity
Apple
39%
Samsung
22%
HTC
9%
Motorola
8%
LG
7%
Other
15%
Google
52%Apple
39%
BB
5%
Microsoft
3%
Symbian
1%
Other
0%
Apple iPhone
23%
Outlook
18%
Apple
iPad
11%
Apple
Mail
9%
Google
Android
8%
Yahoo Mail
6%
Outlook.com
6%
Gmail
4%
Windows Live
Mail
3%
Windows Mail
1%
Other
11%
+ +
4. • Know Your Audience
– Where and when they view email mail
• Understand the Business Objective
• Focus on a Single Activity
• No OSFA
Mobile Email Best Practice
6. • Audience and Conversion are Mobile
– Don’t overwork e-mail
– Transactional Messages
• Tradeoffs
– Speed
– Volume of info
• Examples
When Do I Use Responsive Email Design?
8. Final Thoughts
“Responsive design won't solve
bad email program design,
but it [can] bring a
well designed
program to life...”
~ Alex Williams
• No Singular Answer
• Guide Clients
• Define, Test, Refine
• Own the email ZMOT
….move on to deliverability and CRO
Mobile email rates: Significant27% - 42% open email on mobile 82% of smartphone users (smartphones are now 58% mobile market penetration)AcceleratingNumber of commercial emails opened on mobile will pass desktop opens by EOY41% of marketing email were opened on a mobile device in the second half of 2012, up from 36% from first half of the yearCriticalIf an email does not display correctly in mobile, 69.7% will delete it immediately90% access from both desktop and mobileSources:EconsultancyLitmus - Email Analytics, Jan 2013Google April, 2011Comscore March 2013 (http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2013/5/comScore_Reports_March_2013_U.S._Smartphone_Subscriber_Market_Share)Knotice Bi Annual Report 2013Knotice February, 2013BlueHornet “Consumer Views of Email Marketing” 2012ExactTarget
DeviceEquipmentOperating SystemEmail Client Software…bottom line is building for all mobile devices = impossible (and expensive)
Best Practice: There is no OSFA, you have to define presumptive best, test and refinefor your clientSeeded in deep audience knowledge: when and where does your target get emailTied to business objectiveLaser focused on a single message to deliver and/or action to takeREDis not a mandate, but a suitable choice in certain circumstances. No matter what you may have heard, RED is not a cure all and is much more than just a budget and time consideration and while a sophisticated tool, even RED is not ‘best’ for every email. In fact, there are some situations where you should NOT use RED (e.g. gmail recipients).So how do you know when you should you choose RED aka adaptive, fluid, flexible, mobile-optimized or device-agnostic design? First we need to better understand what RED is.Transition to talk about what Responsive Design is and where it fits in the mobile continuum for email….
What is (and is not) Responsive Design?
Mobile email have an exaggerated need for focus. Frequently, clients push to keep adding more content, more conversions, more more more to emails. And, in the process they ‘get’ less and less. Not all are good candidates for RED…RED does make sense when your audience and your conversion are mobile =>transactionalTradeoffs: Speed and Volume of InformationAre content (and message) heavy emails good fits for responsive design?What about highly regulated industries such as finance, health care, legal?Lots of fine printNeed to include charts, complex visualsHow about rich technical media - especially critical gated content ?White papers, analyst reports, case studies…or even product catalogs or price sheetsFlash?How about CTAs of emailing someone?Let’s look as some client specific examples…
FunctionalClarity, specificity and mobile appropriatenessSimple CTAsDesignOne columnLimited imagesContentBrevity, precision (cite 40 character subject line)Hierarchy