Did you know that 71.5% of consumers said they most often check their email on a mobile device?
Even if you do not know the exact numbers, you could tell from smartphone usage how important it is to make your brand’s email experience easier and more pleasant for mobile-active subscribers. If it’s not, they won’t read the message. If they can’t click, they probably won’t convert. More important, it may diminish your brand image.
Yet here we are, still using “mobile-friendly email templates” and “mobile-responsive email templates” as if they’re “muffins” and “cupcakes” (which, by the way, are also different items!).
The point is: just because they are both optimized for mobile does not mean mobile-responsive email templates and mobile-friendly email templates are the same.
Let’s clear things up and understand the difference between the two.
What Are Mobile-Responsive Email Templates?
A mobile-responsive email template is a pre-built or customized email template that adjusts dynamically to various devices or screen sizes without losing quality.
Whether you do it in-house or partner with professional mobile responsive email template services, you only need to send one email design to all subscribers. No cold feet thinking about the device your email newsletter is going to be viewed on.
You can see mobile responsiveness in action in the example from Glossier.
Desktop View
Mobile View
The email flaunts a multi-column layout on the desktop, where text and images are placed side by side. The same email transitions into a single-column layout when viewed on a mobile. Email elements stack vertically so recipients can smoothly scroll without zooming in.
There is more. Images that sit sideways in the desktop version resize dynamically to fit the smaller screen. But retain the high resolution for clarity.
Also, notice how text size, spacing, and line breaks optimize for readability on smaller screens. We love the adjustment in spacing between buttons and text. It prevents accidental clicks from fat-fingered users.
The mobile-responsive email design has been reformatted to reproduce the email viewing experience on the desktop instead of shrinking down the email layout.
As in:
- Buttons become larger and more tappable on smaller screens
- Images resize to fit the screen with zero changes in quality
- Multi-column layouts transform into single-column formats
- Text remains legible across different screen sizes
Moreover, mobile-responsive email templates also preserve user experience when switching the orientation from a vertical view to a horizontal view in the mobile device.
Technically speaking, mobile-responsive email design uses CSS media queries. A coding technique to adjust the email layout so that the emails are functional across a wide range of devices. But keep in mind that it does not create multiple versions of an email.
Media queries in the email are conditional statements that enable emails to modify their layout based on the device the recipient uses for viewing. These “switches” activate particular styles within certain parameters, such as screen dimensions or display resolution.
In a nutshell, CSS media queries allow your mobile-responsive email template to dynamically change its structure to deliver an ideal experience across all devices.
What Are Mobile-Friendly Email Templates?
Mobile-friendly email templates are designed to work well on both desktop and mobile devices. They follow email design best practices for a good mobile experience. Experience that optimizes emails for mobile users.
These email templates are generally simpler, with a single-column layout. Larger fonts, bigger buttons, and fewer images make it easier to view these templates on smartphones. Nonetheless, they do not adjust to different screen sizes dynamically.
Mobile-friendly email template designs are built on a basic grid system, which helps maintain consistent proportions across devices.
For example, here is how a mobile-friendly email from Yellowbird looks on desktop and mobile. Its visual appeal and user-friendliness are equally good on both devices.
Desktop View
Mobile View
However, unlike responsive designs, mobile-friendly email templates do not use CSS media queries to change how content or images appear on different devices. Instead, they rely on a single design that looks the same everywhere. Such a design is simply a scaled-down version of the desktop email on mobile devices.
In the case of the above example, its single-column layout already ensures readability across devices even if the design does not use advanced mobile responsiveness techniques—text resizing, image scaling, or dynamic button adjustments.
For instance, a CTA button that looks large on a desktop appears smaller yet tappable on a phone. Or text and images are reduced in size. Hence, sometimes users need to zoom in or scroll horizontally for a better reading experience.
Said another way, mobile-friendly email templates are readable on mobile devices but don’t optimize the layout dynamically for different screen sizes. Sure, they work until you want them to adjust dynamically for each screen size. Providing such a seamless viewing experience is what a mobile-responsive design does best.
Key Differences Between Mobile-Friendly and Mobile-Responsive Templates
You can code and design an email for mobile, but that doesn’t automatically make it responsive. Rather, a mobile-responsive email template should be mobile-friendly, but a mobile-friendly email template is not necessarily responsive.
The design of a mobile-friendly email is optimized to look good on mobile devices. But they remain static and don’t dynamically adjust to different screen sizes. The experience they deliver is not ideal for all screen sizes. While they may display well on mobile, the level of adaptability does not match that of a responsive email.
| Aspect | Mobile-friendly Email Design | Mobile-responsive Email Design |
| Adaptibility | Static layout; does not adjust dynamically. | Dynamic layout that adapts to screen size |
| Design Complexity | Simpler design with fixed widths | More complex design using CSS media queries |
| User Experience | Requires zooming or horizontal scrolling at times. | Seamless experience across all devices |
| Coding and Development Difficulty | Easier to create | Requires advanced coding or pre-built responsive templates |
Wrapping Up
You could have an email template that technically adjusts to different screen sizes but still doesn’t look or function well on mobile devices. Hence, to ensure that you only deliver the best experience to your subscribers, make sure your email is both responsive and mobile-friendly.
