Email marketing is alive, well, and full of changes. Between the introduction of anti-spam laws, new email apps, and bigger-than-ever iPhones, navigating those changes can be confusing, difficult, and at times, headache-inducing. Email marketers and designers are left wondering how these changes might affect their emails. How will emails display in these new apps? Will metrics be affected? Will subscribers even see marketing messages in the inbox? Our 2015 State of Email Report answers these questions and more—analyzing the biggest email innovations of the past year, illustrating their effect on marketers and designers, and providing you with a playbook for email marketing success throughout 2015.

2. The past year has brought many
changes to the email world…
• New email clients, apps & operating systems
• Email deliverability, security & spam
advancements
• Email client updates & changes
• Email design industry advancements
• Email client market share stats

3. NEW EMAIL CLIENTS, APPS,
& OPERATING SYSTEMS

4. IPHONE 6 & IPHONE 6 PLUS

5. Adjust your media queries
• Earlier models of the iPhone had the same screen width
• 320px became the standard breakpoint for media queries
• This breakpoint won’t work for these bigger-than-ever iPhone models
• Adjust media queries relying on a 320px breakpoint to 414px

6. Optimize for the inbox view
• Due to the larger screen size, more emails fit in the inbox view
• The iPhone 6 Plus has a whole extra line of preview text
• Use a recognizable, trustworthy from name
• Your subject line and preview text should work together to encourage
the open
iPhone 5 iPhone 6 iPhone 6 Plus

7. See how your emails look on
the new iPhones
Get screenshots of your emails on iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and
iPhone 6 Plus and see what your subscribers see before you
send your next campaign

8. iOS 8 RELEASE
• Like previous versions, it continues to
have excellent HTML & CSS support
• However, it no longer has support for
video tag
• The play button will display on an
included video, but tapping has no
effect
• Consider using a still image with a
play button and linking to the hosted
video, or using an animated GIF

9. OUTLOOK
FOR MAC

10. Experiment with advanced design
techniques
• Just like Apple Mail, iPad, and iPhone, the latest Outlook for Mac
2015 uses WebKit to render
• Has great support for CSS and HTML
• If you’re seeing a lot of subscribers opening in WebKit clients, you
can try using advanced techniques—like HTML5 video background!
• Use fallbacks for subscribers not viewing in those clients

11. Use defensive design techniques
• Like its predecessor, Outlook for Mac 2015 blocks images by
default
• Use defensive design techniques, like ALT text, styled ALT text, and
background colors to combat image blocking

12. Optimize for the inbox view
• Unlike previous versions,
Outlook for Mac 2015 displays
preview text—after the from
name and subject line
• Lots emphasis on the from
name—it’s first in the inbox
and in larger text. Be sure to
use a recognizable and
trustworthy name!
• Use your subject line and
preview text to encourage the
open

13. See how your emails look in
the latest Outlook for Mac
Get screenshots of your emails on the latest version of Outlook
for Mac and see what your subscribers see before you send
your next campaign
TEST YOUR EMAIL IN OUTLOOK FOR MAC →

14. INBOX BY GMAIL

15. New organization for emails
• Sorts emails into “bundles”
• There are default bundles, but you can turn them off or create your
own
• Must click into each bundle to view the emails contained within

16. Send relevant emails
• With the way Inbox by Gmail organizes emails, subscribers will find
it even easier to pass up marketing emails
• Send relevant, useful, and timely messages
• Relevant content engages subscribers and increases the chances
of them searching for your emails in the inbox

17. Highlights in the inbox
• “Highlights” showcase
information from an email in
the inbox view
• Use schemas to include these
visible actions in the inbox
• Great for reservations and
ticket information

18. Use mobile-friendly elements
• Responsive design isn’t supported in Inbox by Gmail
• Use mobile-friendly elements like large text and touch-friendly
buttons

19. Optimize your sender image
• Inbox displays a sender image
• If you have a verified Google+ profile, digitally sign your emails with
DKIM or SPF, and send at least 100 emails a week from your
domain, your sender image will be pulled from your Google+ profile
• Otherwise, the first letter of your sender name will display

20. EMAIL DELIVERABILITY,
SECURITY, & SPAM
ADVANCEMENTS

21. DMARC CHANGES AT YAHOO MAIL &
AOL MAIL
• Emails that claim to come from @yahoo.com or @aol.com
addresses—but actually originate from other servers—will be
rejected by DMARC-compliant receivers
• This can negatively affect your deliverability and sender
reputation

22. Send emails from a private domain
• If you’re sending from an ESP and using an @aol.com or
@yahoo.com as your from address—STOP!
• Send emails from a private domain that you control. For example,
we send from @email.litmus.com

23. CANADIAN ANTI-SPAM LAW (CASL)
• Went into effect July 1, 2014
• Opt-in law for organizations and ESPs based in Canada, or anyone
sending emails to Canadian subscribers
• Applies to most marketing messages
• Transactional emails, warranty and safety notices, and purely
informational messages are exceptions to the law

24. Express or implied opt-in consent?
Express consent
• Subscribers opted in by providing their email address, marking a
check box, and clicking submit
• During the opt-in signup, you must include:
• Your company name, as well as one piece of contact
information
• Clear statement that they can unsubscribe at any point
• Information about what they can expect to receive for
subscribing
• You can continue to email any subscribers that have express
consent until they unsubscribe

25. Express or implied opt-in consent?
Implied consent
• You’ve had an existing relationship with a subscriber within the
past 24 months
• You can seek express commit during this period
• Starting July 1, 2017, implied consent expires after this 24 month
period

26. • You must clearly identify yourself as the sender
• A physical mailing address must be included, along with a phone
number, email address, or website address
• Your unsubscribe method must work for at least 60 days after the
email is sent
• All unsubscribes must be processed within 10 days
• While your unsubscribe link can point to a preference center, you
can’t require subscribers to login to unsubscribe
Email + unsubscribe requirements

27. • Keep records of whether your subscribers’ consent is express or
implied
• Note the date and time of consent
• Record the source of consent and, if possible, the IP address of
your subscriber
• Failure to comply to CASL can lead to fines of $1 million to $10
million per violation
• Starting July 1, 2017, subscribers can sue a sender if they
believe they have received spam
Keep records to avoid penalties

28. Want even more details
about CASL?
The 2015 State of Email Report covers CASL in even more
depth, plus gives plenty of advice on how to protect yourself
under this newly-instated law.
DOWNLOAD THE 2015 STATE OF EMAIL REPORT →

29. EMAIL CLIENT
UPDATES & CHANGES

30. GMAIL: IMAGE CACHING
• To keep images safe, Gmail began caching images for users
accessing Gmail via a browser and in the mobile Gmail apps
• Opens in Gmail web interface are now indistinguishable from
opens made on the iOS and Android Gmail app
• Geolocation data is lost

31. Optimize your emails across all Gmail
inboxes
• Although device detection is less detailed, you should continue to
optimize across all Gmail inboxes—mobile and web
• If you relied on geolocation data for targeted emails, try a
campaign or incentive asking users to update their location in
your subscription center

32. GMAIL: AUTOMATIC IMAGE
DOWNLOADS
Previously, Gmail disabled images by default. Now, it
automatically displays images

33. Gmail opens see a major increase
• Email tracking relies on a unique image, usually referred to as a
tracking pixel, in your campaign loading
• While Gmail formerly asked users to click a link to download
images, including the tracking pixel, all images are now
automatically downloaded
• Gmail opens increased 73% as a result

34. GMAIL: AUTOMATIC UNSUBSCRIBE
• Gmail web browser users can now unsubscribe with a simple
click at the top right of a message
• Frustrated users can now easily unsubscribe from your emails—
rather than marking it as spam
• This is great news for reducing spam complaints and improving
your sender reputation

35. Implementing the auto unsubscribe
• Only available to senders who are not known spammers, have a
positive sending reputation, and who utilize a “List-Unsubscribe”
in the mailing header
• You can choose to use an email address, a URL (like a
subscription center), or both
• If both are used (like in the example above), the latter of the two
will display

36. EMAIL DESIGN INDUSTRY
ADVANCEMENTS

37. THE LITMUS COMMUNITY
• The first email design and marketing
community
• Perfect spot for email lovers to share
information, start discussions, ask
code questions, and work out
problems together
• Registration is free!

38. LITMUS BUILDER
• The first code editor built
specifically for email design
• Real-time mobile and desktop
previews
• Images on/off views
• Customizable snippets
• HTML/CSS autocomplete
• Public sharing
• Drag and drop uploads

39. Other helpful features…
One-click email testing
In seconds, you can start a Litmus
previews test, or send a real test
to your own inbox
Gallery of customizable templates
Start your emails as blank slate, use
one of our pre-tested templates, or
create your own.

40. Get started with Litmus
Builder
• Streamline your email build process by using the powerful email-
specific tools in Builder
• Included in all Litmus subscriptions
• Or, you can sign up for a free, Builder-only account

41. EMAIL CLIENT
MARKET SHARE

42. TOP 10 EMAIL CLIENTS IN
2014

43. In 2014…
• Mobile opens decreased 1% to 48% of opens
• Webmail opens increased 3% to 30% of opens
• Desktop opens decreased 2% to 22% of opens

44. In 2014…
• Android decreased 40% to represent 7% of opens
• This is a result of Gmail image caching—some Android
mobile opens are now being tracked as webmail opens
• iPhone opens rose from 25% to 28% of total opens

45. In 2014…
• Apple Mail opens spiked to 38% after the release of
the Yosemite operating system in October
• Outlook opens decreased about 33% over the year
—closing out with 8.7% of opens

46. Where are your subscribers
opening your emails?
Discover which email clients and apps are most popular with
your audience with Litmus Email Analytics. Try it free for 14
days!
GET YOUR EMAIL ANALYTICS →

47. Want even more tips and takeaways?
Get the 2015 State of Email Report (it’s free!)
DOWNLOAD THE 2015 STATE OF EMAIL REPORT →

48. Ensure that you’re providing your subscribers with the best email
experience possible, and getting the best results with Litmus
Try Litmus free for 14 days
START A FREE TRIAL →