Why are Responsive Email Designs Important?
Responsive email designs are one of the most essential components of an email marketing campaign. However, if you do not work in the industry, you may ask what is a responsive email? In short, they are email designs that have been optimised to resize depending on different screen sizes. This means that the email adjusts and resizes depending on the platform or device viewing it. For smaller screens content stacks on top of each other, making scrolling and viewing easy.
Have you ever opened an email on your phone where the columns are out of line, the text is too small, you have to scroll across to see the full image etc.? These are just a few examples of an email that is not responsive. It has been designed to be viewed on a desktop only and hasn’t been coded to allow for a smaller screen.
In this post, we explain why responsive email designs are essential for email marketing campaigns in today’s world. This is something we cover briefly in another article but we go into much more detail here. If you regularly undertake marketing campaigns and your designs are not responsive, your results will not be as high as they should be. While responsive emails are not a brand new concept, non-responsive emails are still common place, unfortunately for both sender and receiver!
Mobile and Tablet Use
The most important reason why emails must be responsive are a result of increased mobile and tablet use. In today’s business world, mobiles and tablets account for well over half of all email opens. Desktop use has been decreasing as a result. Smartphones present a more convenient and faster option for quickly scanning through emails. For those who work out on the road or are often out of the office, mobile is extremely popular and their default method.
As mobile use is so popular, having a non-responsive email results in people switching off, not engaging with the email and ultimately, deleting it. Responsive email designs ensure that the email is re-sized accordingly for the different screen it is being viewed on. Columns of content stack on top of each other, removing any need to scroll left to right. More important pieces of information appear higher up on the email so there is a greater chance of it being seen. This makes the process more engaging and easier for the reader, making it more likely that will click through.
More Clicks
A responsive email will not affect the number of opens an email gets. This will be a combination of data, targeting, subject line, time/day of broadcast etc. However, responsive email designs are easier to flow through and interact with. They are more pleasing to the eye and present the content more effectively. Therefore readers are more likely to click a link through to your website.
If the email is unresponsive, the reader may have to scroll across to see a call to action button. What’s worse is that the button may not even show up! If the email is difficult to view, it is highly unlikely that someone will interact further and click through to your website.
Small Window of Opportunity
The truth of the matter is that when someone opens your email, you only have a couple of seconds to grab their attention, assuming your subject line was enticing enough for them to open it as we cover in another article.. If your email is not visually appealing, it is likely that the recipient will close or delete it almost instantly. A responsive email design therefore can help ensure that the layout of your email is more professional and clean. When you see an unresponsive email design on a mobile, it is a mess and difficult to read. At this stage, many potential prospects will have switched off due to the poor presentation and will unlikely interact with any subsequent communications you may send.
Lasting Impression of the Company
Individuals make judgements on a company based on the marketing they receive from them, after all that’s what brand awareness is. Well designed, creative, engaging and targeted marketing campaigns make a positive, lasting impact. A responsive email is professional and easy to interact with. Therefore, this reflects well on the company that has sent it. However, over marketing or poorly designed marketing has the opposite effect. This is crucial in a person’s decision making as to whether they get in touch and buy from you.
If your emails are not responsive, they will not appear as they were intended on mobiles and tablets. As they are such a popular method for checking emails, this can have a huge effect on the company reputation. Future emails may be automatically ignored as a result of the first non-responsive one.
Summary
Responsive emails have been evolving in the past few years to accommodate all types of smartphone, tablet and computer. While the coding is more complex, a highly skilled email marketing provider can design and build a responsive, well designed email that will perform at a higher level for your marketing campaigns. A non responsive email is a thing of the past nowadays and broadcasting one will result in lower clicks and lower engagement with your company.
Impact Marketing have been providing B2B and B2C email marketing services for our clients for many years. Our in house team can build responsive and appealing designs that will result in higher clicks and traffic through to your website.
Get in touch today and a member of the team will be happy to give you more information about our email marketing services and advise on what we can do for the benefit of your business.