More than 50% of all email is read on mobile devices and this number is growing. Mobile devices have unique screen sizes and orientations that don’t display everything the way you might think they would. So how can you optimize your email for smartphones and tablets? Here are some helpful tips for creating email blasts that will work with most mobile devices.
Design for Small Screens
Where possible, use email designs that are responsive. Responsive designs adjusts your text and graphics to fit the various device screens (e.g., smartphone, table or desktop). Not all email programs support responsive designs, and some just shrink the desktop design to fit the smaller screen. Since your email may be read (and acted upon) on a small, hard to read smartphone screen, keep these three simple things in mind:
- Single-column email designs are easier to read
- Larger text is easier to read
- Larger call-to-action graphics are easier to act upon
Images, Space and Links
Many mobile email applications block images by default, so use ALT text with your images to ensure that the email is actionable. The ALT text will be visible even though the image may be blocked. So if the 
image is a “buy now” image make sure your ALT text is “buy now” – not “image of buy now button”.
The screen is small, so streamline your message – less is more. Make the most of the space with your key messages near the top of your email. Your message must be clear and concise. Ensure all links and images with links are working and lead to meaningful actions/destinations. The destination should also be designed to support mobile traffic, if you want to get the greatest results.
Subject Lines and Preview Text
Mobile device users are very impatient and quickly delete emails if they are not inspired by the email subject line or know who the sender is. Subject lines are even more important for mobile devices. Shorter relevant subject lines get the greatest open rates.
Alongside the subject line and sender name, optimizing the preview text (also referred to as snippet text or a pre-header) is one of the most effective ways to increase open rates. This text provides you with an opportunity to entice the email subscriber with one more reason to open the email.
More and more email is being read on mobile devices. The more you optimize your email for mobile devices, the greater your results will be.