This document discusses best practices for designing email templates for mobile devices. It recommends that templates use responsive design to adapt content for different devices. Templates should have 3 advertisement slots maximum, integrated into the content. While some believe ads should not appear below the content fold, data shows this space generates revenue from mobile users who interact differently with emails than websites. Responsive design is challenging but important to optimize the user experience and generate revenue from the growing number of mobile email users.

1. The Tao of Email Template Design

2. Q. How do you build a email
template for the best user
experience, ad presentation
and revenue generating
potential?

3. Phil Hollows is the Founder and CEO of FeedBlitz,
the email & social media marketing automation
service. Before FeedBlitz, Phil was VP Product
Marketing for enterprise network security
management company OpenService (now
LogMatrix), and VP of Technology at web testing
company RadView Software.
@phollows phil@feedblitz.com
Dave Hendricks has been building successful
email marketing companies and campaigns since
1999. As COO of LiveIntent, Dave is responsible
for Publisher Success, Marketing and Finance.
Prior to LiveIntent, Dave held executive roles with
Datran Media, InfoUSA and
ExperianCheetahmail
@davehendricks dave@liveintent.com

4. What You • Why you need to design your
email for mobile – now!
Will Learn
Today • How to design optimize your
newsletters for the highest
response & ad revenue
• How email newsletters are
different than your website…
and better
• Why Device Segmenting is a
waste of time

5. 2.9 billion
The Scale
of Email
900 million
463 million
300 million
90 million
Total Accounts Facebook Twitter EMAIL Websites Google+
1 billion
Daily Activity 60 million items shared
updates 140 million
tweets
3.3 billion
searches
47 billion
pageviews
188 billion
messages

6. Email is the #1 App
http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/mobile_activity_news_ranks_high, http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Search-and-email.aspx

7. Email is
continuing to
innovate…

9. EMAIL IS EVERYWHERE

10. Email is
mobile

11. 31 %
of all mail (with
LiveIntent Tags)
opened in January
was opened
on a mobile

12. Ad
Impressions
by platform
on FeedBlitz
MSIE
24.9%
Mobile
28.9 %

13. Ad Revenue
by platform
on FeedBlitz
MSIE
26.6%
Mobile
31.4 %

14. 43 %
Other providers
see even bigger
mobile numbers
https://litmus.com/blog/ipad-opens-grown-49-in-12-months-total-mobile-email-opens-back-to-43

15. LOOK FOR PEW
http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/mobile_activity_news_ranks_high,

16. People (and their gadgets)
are unpredictable
Your Imperative: design
templates knowing that you
cannot predict device – ever.

17. Don’t play device roulette
You’ll lose

18. GRAPH THAT EMAIL WILL BE
DELETED IF NOT RENDERED

19. If you don’t
believe me,
ask yourself…

20. If you don’t
believe me,
ask yourself…
‘How many
different devices
did I use in the
last 24 hours?’

21. Then ask…

22. Then ask…
‘How did I
respond?’

23. Then ask…
‘How did I
respond?’
‘Did I click?’

24. Where did
you land?

25. Where did
you land?
‘Was it device
contextual?’

26. Where did
you land?
‘Was it
appropriate?’
‘Did I bounce?’

27. What are the implications
for email template design?

28. WHITE PAPER FINDINGS
Better performing newsletters
turn your email from a
cost center into a profit center

29. WHITE PAPER FINDINGS
1. SUCCESSFUL DESIGN MEANS
HIGHER ENGAGEMENT
The best performing ad slots are
integrated into an email’s copy
and scale with the device

30. CLEAN

31. UNCLUTTERED

32. WHITE PAPER FINDINGS
2. THE GOLDEN RULE
FOR AD SLOTS
3 is a magic number

33. 3
IS BEST

34. WHITE PAPER FINDINGS
Even more ads can be appropriate
for longer newsletters where there is
plenty of content to support them

35. We had to re-assess the value of our
subscriber newsletters. It’s proven to be
a channel that can be well monetized
and should not be overlooked.”
ANDY WILSON
SVP OF DIGITAL

36. WHITE PAPER FINDINGS
3. IN DEFENSE OF BELOW
THE FOLD
People interact differently with
newsletters vs. websites

37. Mirapost 2011

38. Below
The Fold’s
Value

39. WHITE PAPER FINDINGS
Format, length & content should
impact the number & size of ads

40. Key • For a win-win, use lots of
Takeaways white space and integrate ad
slots into newsletter content
• 3 ad slots is a good rule of
thumb to maximize
advertising revenue
• Don’t forget an ad slot at the
bottom of your template!

41. RESPONSIVE DESIGN
Phil Hollows, CEO, FeedBlitz
www.feedblitz.com

42. About • Email Service Provider specializing
in RSS and automatic email
FeedBlitz update production
• The premium FeedBurner
alternative
• Delivering 1.3 MM LiveIntent ad
impressions / day
• Ad units appear in FeedBlitz
emails and RSS feeds
• Our largest publishers are making
3x to 4x our service fees via our
LiveIntent Partnership

43. Mobile Email is already
much bigger than you think
29% 31%
of our impressions of our ad revenues
are from mobile are from mobile

44. Mobile email outperforms desktop
and webmail
Email NOT optimized for mobile
platforms can kill response rates
and ad performance
And you can’t predict where an
email will be viewed

45. • Adapts what is displayed for
the platform being used
Responsive
• Uses CSS “media selectors”
Design is to change fonts, layouts, etc
the solution
• Used for mobile-friendly
• web sites
• Also works great on
• Android and iOS email!

46. • You’re used to using HTML
tables for layouts
But it’s
not easy • But on mobile platforms,
being cool… that tends to work against
responsive design
• Images won’t shrink and
text won’t flow

47. Non-Responsive Email
“Desktop” email on the phone

48. Responsive Email
Same email – responsive layout
Resized header
image
Large, Images & Ads
legible fonts look great!

49. • The same HTML must work on
desktop, webmail & mobile
Responsive • Mobile-friendly must degrade
gracefully on webmail, old
Email is desktop apps that don’t respect
CSS @media selectors
tough to do!
• Tables are required to control
layout, making responsive
resizing difficult
• Design CSS and HTML carefully
to resize images, flow text, alter
fonts, margins and alignment
• Test, test, test!

50. But the
payoff is
worth it.

51. But the 29 %
payoff is of our impressions
worth it. are from mobile
31 %
of our ad revenues
are from mobile

52. But the If you’re not investing
payoff is in responsive design
worth it. for email, you’re
leaving money on the
table – and frustrating
subscribers.

53. • Our “EZ” templates are
mobile-friendly and degrade
gracefully
and • We automate production,
FeedBlitz monetization of your content
marketing
can help
• We automatically build
LiveIntent ad tags
• We can migrate and
WORK WITH US monetize your RSS feed
FeedBlitz.com readers too
phil@feedblitz.com
@phollows • Awesome deliverability
(SenderScore all 96-98)

54. Our newsletters have generated a new
stream of incremental revenue that has
exceeded our expectations.
Display in email is an opportunity
publishers cannot continue to ignore.
CAMILLA CHO
HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT