Excerpt...

So, why exactly do email clients display the same email differently? It’s because they all use different rendering engines to display an email. The rendering engine is responsible for looking at the code in an email and figuring out how exactly to display the email in the application based on that code. Unfortunately, all rendering engines are different and they vary (sometimes wildly) in what code they actually support. Most rendering engines only support a limited subset of HTML and CSS—the building blocks of email—and, as such, many email marketers encounter rendering problems when they use unsupported code in their campaigns.

What’s more is that a few rendering engines have a number of known bugs. While they support the same code as other rendering engines, they don’t display that code in the same way. This leads to a lot of confusion amongst email marketers and designers who are unfamiliar with the various rendering engines in use today.

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Digest...

Unlike the internet and web browsers, which have made huge strides in the last few years to make design and development an easier, more consistent process, the email client landscape is stuck in the past. While there are only a handful of major web browsers, there are dozens of popular email clients, each with their own rendering engine.

Since each email client renders only a fraction of the HTML and CSS that email designers typically use, the same code can often appear broken across different programs or apps. This leads to an equally broken experience for subscribers and the potential for decreased engagement and conversions. In extreme cases, subscribers will get fed up and unsubscribe, leading to broken trust in your brand.

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-- >  Two-thirds of those surveyed prefer to receive mostly image-based marketing emails, rather than mostly text emails. 

-- >  Thirty-five percent of respondents said they never buy from emails—which is a 40% increase since 2011 when the same question was asked.

-- >  What do subscribers do when they receive an unwanted commercial email? Over 68% reported they would delete the email, 58% stated that they would unsubscribe, and 49% declared that they would mark the email as spam.

-- >  Where do subscribers most frequently open their emails? 39% of subscribers open email on iOS devices (iPhone and iPad). This is great news for email designers since iOS has great CSS and HTML support. However, Outlook and Gmail hold the number two and four spots, respectively, in the top 10—both of those clients have lots of rendering quirks and inconsistencies.

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Intermediate/ Digest...

Use a trustworthy & recognizable from name

Encourage a friendly reply-to-you!

Consider the context of your email when choosing a from name and reply-to address. It may be appropriate for responses to an email to be directed toward specific individual, a shared mailbox or a customer service team.

Get the open with a relevant subject line

Take advantage of preheader space

Some email clients (such as Gmail, Outlook and iPhone/iPad) display a snippet of preview text next to or near the subject line. This bit of text—commonly called a preheader— is usually limited to around 100 characters and will be pulled from the first few lines of text in your email. Get creative with preheader text (and, of course, test your results)! For example, try adding a call-to-action (CTA) or special offer and see whether your open rates increase.

Relevant content is king

Optimize for images-off viewing

Through the use of ALT text, styled ALT text, background colors, image slicing, bulletproof buttons, and live text, it’s possible to optimize your emails for when images are disabled.

Make your email actionable in any environment

• Enlarge fonts: We recommend striving for a body copy minimum of 16px and headlines of 22px so that it is still legible on a mobile device.

• Use a clear call to action: Make it obvious and clear. Also, make sure it’s “touch-friendly.” We recommend a minimum size of 44 x 44px.

• Simple layout: Using a skinny, one-column approach helps to accommodate viewing on smaller screens by increasing legibility.

• Streamline content: Get to the point! Be short and concise, yet still approachable.

• Know your scale: Consider trimming your emails to be between 320-550px wide.

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