Mobile Friendly Email Best Practices

When configuring mobile emails, you need to pay close attention to a few key areas that contribute to the overall usability and effectiveness of your emails:

Use a Single-Column Layout: Single-column layouts work best for mobile as they are easier to scale down for smaller screens. Multiple columns can get cluttered on a mobile screen and may be confusing for users to navigate.

Optimize Images: Ensure your images are of high quality but also keep the file size small for quick loading. Consider using responsive images that will automatically adjust to fit the screen they're viewed on. Don't forget to include alt text for accessibility.

Touch-Friendly Buttons: On mobile devices, your CTAs will most likely be tapped with a finger rather than clicked with a mouse. Ensure your buttons are large enough to be easily tapped - a minimum size of 44px by 44px is recommended.

Limit Text Amount: On mobile devices, lengthy text can be daunting. Be concise and break your text into small, manageable chunks. Make use of bullet points and subheadings for easy readability.

Use a Responsive Email Design: This will ensure that your email will automatically adjust to fit the screen of any device it's viewed on.

Preview and Test: Always preview and test your emails on different devices and email clients to ensure they display correctly.

Include White Space: White space isn't wasted space. It makes your email cleaner and easier to read on a small screen.

Font Size and Style: Keep your font size large enough to be readable on small screens. A size of 14 for text and 22 for headlines is often recommended. Avoid fancy fonts that might be difficult to read.

Clear and Concise CTAs: Make sure your call-to-action is clear, concise, and easy to find. The best place for a CTA button is generally in the middle of the screen.

Optimize Subject Lines and Preheader Text: Keep your subject lines short and engaging, and utilize the preheader text to provide a summary or teaser of your email content. It's also a good idea to A/B test different versions of subject lines to find what works best for your audience.

Opt for Plain Text Over Images: Some email clients may not automatically display images. To ensure your message gets across, use text as much as possible and only use images when necessary.

Unsubscribe Option: Make it easy for recipients to opt out of your emails. Not only is this a legal requirement, but it also improves user experience.

Accessibility: Make your email accessible to everyone. This includes using larger fonts, ensuring good contrast between text and background, and including alt text for images.

Remember, the best practices for mobile email configuration may vary depending on your specific audience and the type of content you're sending. Always test different approaches to see what works best for your audience.

Here are some resources that could help further consolidate the mobile email design best practices:

Mobile Email Design Further Reading: https://www.emailonacid.com/blog/article/email-development/mobile-design-best-practices/
Utilizing Colors in Email Design Further Reading: https://www.creativebloq.com/inspiration/8-free-apps-for-picking-a-colour-scheme
Optimize Images for Mobile Use Further Reading: https://www.sendinblue.com/blog/optimize-images-email/
Tips for CTA Design Further Reading: https://unbounce.com/email-marketing/cta-buttons-guide/
Best Use of Space Further Reading: https://stripo.email/blog/email-layout-optimizer-8-rules-for-structuring-emails/
Best Use of Scroll Further Reading: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/07/should-you-use-the-fold-in-email-marketing/
Is A/B Testing Emails Necessary? Further Reading: https://sendpulse.com/blog/ab-testing-email-campaign
Accessibility Guidelines for Emails Further Reading: https://www.emailonacid.com/blog/article/email-marketing/email-accessibility-in-plain-english/
Mobile-friendly Vs. Responsive Email Design Further Reading: https://litmus.com/blog/understanding-media-queries-in-html-email
Mobile Email Configuration Best Practices Further Reading: https://www.mailup.com/resources/mailup-blog/email-design-responsive-design-and-mobile-email-marketing/

Mobile Formatting in the Email Builder

In today's world, it's important that your emails look good on all devices. With that in mind, the Email Builder Inline Editor provides a special section for mobile formatting. Here, you can specify which headings, paragraphs, and buttons should be visible when your email is viewed on a mobile device. This ensures that your emails are optimized for both desktop and mobile viewing.

These configurations will solely affect the mobile rendition of your email template and are applicable in email clients that are compatible with media queries.

Heading H1:

Font Size: The size of your primary header on mobile should be large enough to grab attention but not so large that it dominates the screen or causes scrolling. The mobile viewing experience differs considerably from the desktop due to the smaller screen size, so finding a balance is key.

Text Alignment: Alignment in mobile view can influence how easily your content is digested. Center alignment is often used for mobile as it provides balance and fits well with the vertical nature of mobile screens.

Line Height: In the mobile view, adequate line spacing is even more critical for readability due to the smaller screen. The 1.5 setting provides a comfortable reading experience.

Heading H2:

Font Size: This setting defines the size of your secondary headers on a mobile screen. Smaller than H1, but still prominent enough to distinguish the information hierarchy.

Text Alignment: As with H1, center alignment often works well for mobile viewing, but the optimal alignment can depend on your specific content and design.

Line Height: The same principles apply here as with H1. Line height is critical in how easily readers can move from one line to the next, particularly on smaller mobile screens.

Heading H3:

Font Size: Your tertiary headers should be distinct but not overpowering. A smaller font size differentiates H3 from H1 and H2 headers but should still be readable on mobile screens.

Text Alignment: The alignment for H3 may vary based on your specific design needs and content. Keeping it consistent with H1 and H2 usually aids in visual coherence.

Line Height: Appropriate line height can ensure your content is accessible and easy to read, even on small screens.

Paragraph:

Font Size: Paragraph text should be comfortable to read on a mobile screen, which often means slightly larger font sizes than you might use on a desktop.

Text Alignment: Paragraphs in mobile view are typically justified to the left for languages that read left-to-right, but this can depend on your specific content and design needs.

Line Height: Maintaining comfortable line spacing in paragraph text is especially crucial for long-form content. It makes the text less dense and easier to follow on small screens.

Button:

Font Size: The text on buttons should be easy to read and click on a mobile device. Larger font size can help prevent misclicks and make calls-to-action more clear.

Remember, these are all starting points - depending on your content, audience, and overall design, you might need to adjust these settings to achieve the optimal mobile viewing experience.