# Weekly Email Marketing News Digest

We are taking a look at the relationship between optimizing for mobile and responsive design this week with the key challenge being the smaller screen size. Designing for the mobile age has become a particularly important topic due to studies that reveal statistics such as [69% of email opens on the mobile](http://www.messagesystems.com/blog/?p=1707 "Shock Study Reveals 69 Percent Email Opens On Mobile").

We’ve also snuck in Chris Penn’s take on the [confirmation opt-in debate](http://www.messagesystems.com/blog/?p=1587 "The Debate on Confirmation Opt-Ins: Are they always necessary?") for readers who are still following that news thread.

**[Mobile Marketing And Email: 4 Ways To Use Them Together](http://www.aweber.com/blog/email-marketing/email-and-mobile-marketing.htm "Mobile Marketing And Email: 4 Ways To Use Them Together")**

Here are 4 ways to ensure the integration of mobile and email marketing.

- **Mobile Email**: Make sure messages are readable on a smaller screen.
- **Mobile Sites and Apps**: Ensure that you either have a mobile site or app that is easily accessible for visitors reading off smaller screens.
- **Location-Based Check-Ins**: Tie email campaigns to check-in deals.
- **Geo-Targeted Ads**: Consider sponsored search with keywords related to your brand.

**Responsive Email Design: The Ins And Outs** (article removed from original site)

Here are some mobile design best practices:

- Design using large fonts (14px for body copy and 22px for headlines)
- Clear call to action
- Consider a single column
- De-clutter the screen and provide minimal options for links
- Have mobile-friendly landing pages

**[Optimizing for mobile? Don’t forget your subject line.](http://myemma.com/blog/article/optimizing-for-mobile-dont-forget-your-subject-line#When:18:11Z "Optimizing for mobile? Don’t forget your subject line.")**

While you may be busy coding a new email template that is mobile-friendly, it’s important to keep subject line lengths in mind. Due to the smaller screen size, it’s best to keep your subject lines to 20-30 characters. Here are a couple of examples.

**[Mailbag: Single or Double Opt-In For Email?](http://www.christopherspenn.com/2013/05/mailbag-single-or-double-opt-in-for-email/ "Mailbag: Single or Double Opt-In For Email?")**

Christopher Penn outlines the three different types of opt-ins used for email lists and gives his take on which works best for him. The choices?

1.  **Single opt-in**: Fill in a form and you’re subscribed to the list.
2.  **Notified single opt-in**: Fill in the form, you’re subscribed to the list and you get an email confirmation with an opt-out link.
3.  **Double opt-in**: Fill in the form, you get an email requesting confirmation by clicking on a link

For more information on the list confirmation debate, do check out [The Debate on Confirmation Opt-Ins: Are they always necessary?](http://www.messagesystems.com/blog/?p=1587 "The Debate on Confirmation Opt-Ins: Are they always necessary?")

**[Responsive Web Design Infographic](http://www.dotcominfoway.com/blog/responsive-web-design-infographic "Responsive Web Design Infographic")**

Here’s a great infographic that explains the key features of responsive design.

_Interested in finding out more about engaging your customers through mobile? Check out **[The New Communications Standard](http://www.messagesystems.com/resources/digital-library/white-paper/new-communications-standard?src=Blog&pc=BlogDL-WP-NewCommStandard "The New Communications Standard")**!_