1. Social & Mobile in Email Design Presented by: Matthew Caldwell Sr. Creative Director Yesmail ConfidentialNot to be shared with third parties
2. Topics Covered How to bring Social to email Linking, Sharing & Dispatches Dispatches – graphical cues for that social look Mobile email Design Changing behaviors call for Scalable Layouts Narrow pages + Big Scale Grid Systems
8. SOCIAL SHARINGSHARING = Liking, Sharing or Tweeting 1. Liking to Facebook 2. Posting to Facebook 3. Tweeting
9. SOCIAL SHARINGNo Javascript in email so how to implement? 1. Liking to Facebook http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http://www.yourlinkhere.com/&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like 2. Post to Facebook http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.yourlinkhere.com 3. Tweeting http://twitter.com/share?url=http://www.yourlinkhere.com&text=check this out
10. SOCIAL SHARING TIP “It’s not really sharing if it takes more than 2 clicks. Sharing must be • instantaneous • pre-populated
12. SOCIAL DISPATCHES Social Dispatches is the act of taking snippets from social networks and reinserting them into email to creating relevant, interesting email content. Social media = constantly changing Email = regularly scheduled
27. Why include Social Dispatches? Looks fresh, timely and new Displays a “community” angle to your content When done properly can be very relevant Can be a great source of content
28. SOCIAL DISPATCHESHow to produce them You are the editor / curator Search Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube for posts that apply to your content. Ideally, information posted in the last 60 days
29. SOCIAL DISPATCHESor… Create your own Call on your audience to respond Tweet to #hashtag, Post on Facebook Reply by Email Collect the best and fill out a Social Dispatches section Users see their own inputs, create interactivity
32. It’s Happening… fastMore and more users are opening your email on their phones 12-15% 4% 1-3% .25% JAN 2008 JAN 2009 JAN 2010 JAN 2011 OPENS ON A MOBILE DEVICE PREDICTION: By the end of 2011, one third of your list may be reading your email on their phones. SOURCE: YESMAIL 2010 “USER AGENT” TESTING
33. It’s Happening… fast 28% of all phones in the US are now a smart phone Smartphones: cellphones with operating systems resembling those of computers. SOURCE The Nielsen Company – 3rd Quarter 2010
34. It’s Happening… fast Margaret Caldwell, the authors mother, checking her email on a droid (Samsung Galaxy S)
36. The Good news: HTML email on smart phones is getting better HTML EMAIL ON PHONE? YES - iPhone – the gold standard, resizes to fit YES - Android – but does not resize, requires side scrolling YES - Window mobile – but images off by default, no resizing YES – Palm – yes, some odd formatting, does not scale NO - Blackberry – still poor, even with new OS6 NO - Symbian – your html copy will display, looks poor SOURCE The Nielsen Company – 3rd Quarter 2010
37. Mobile is here – What should I do? 3 OPTIONS FOR MOBILE OPENS: Link to your TXT version (snore) Create dedicated mobile versions (pricey) Redesign your layouts to be Scalable (best & easiest) Let’s look at the pros and cons of each…
38. 3 MOBILE OPTIONS – Link to TXT version • Easy • Boring • Requires extra click
39. 3 MOBILE OPTIONS – Link to dedicated mobile version • Looks great, designed for mobile • Expensive, another custom version • Requires extra click
40. 3 MOBILE OPTIONS – Design your emails to SCALE down cleanly • One version • Looks great on desktop and handheld • Largely only applies to iPhone at this time but does seem to be the future trend.
41. Scalable eMail Designs: A layout reduces in size still looks the good and is usable / readable.
43. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: Grid system Single column Grouping Sections Big Scale on a narrow page Meta Tag
44. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: Start with a Grid System A Grid System is an alignment tool for layouts. A system of measurement in pixels that breaks down a layout into a series of columns, gutters and margins.
55. Typically sections are created by horizontal rules“Grouping Sections” Background color divides Traditional sections horizontal rules
56. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: 3. Grouping sections What works in mobile works in email design
57. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: 4. Big Scale on a narrow page First consider a less wide page: Then = 600 pixels wide Now = reduce to 450, 500, 525 600 pixels wide 480-550 pixels wide
58. 4. Big Scale on a narrow page HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: increase the size of your copy and buttons Minimum font size = 14 points Title case font size = 30+ Go big and chunky! It’s easier to read, but means less words
59. 4. Big Scale on a narrow page HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: Warning: You will need to go on a WORD DIET. Scalable layouts depend on character counts Too many words and the large type becomes overpowering.
60. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: 4. Big Scale on a narrow page 520 pixels wide 34 points
61. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: 5. Viewport Meta Tag <meta name = "viewport" content = "width = 320"> Viewport : Changes the logical window size used when displaying a page on iOS.
62. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: 5. Viewport Meta Tag with Meta Tag without Meta Tag
68. HOW TO CREATEScalable email Designs: Wait, I’m not a designer what should I do? Insist that your designs are on a GRID – ask ‘em “can I see the grid?” Tell your designer you want a single column layout Tell your designer to view their designs on the phone and big screen while designing, this will influence the outcome
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70. It’s better to present one thing at a time for clarity & focus
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72. For example: An HTML document can be rendered differently for
76. In Summary:Bring Social media to your email not just by buttons but through “dispatches” and / or engagement with results displayed.Create scalable layouts for iPhone and as more smart phones with “scaling email” functionality enter the market.