Thanks for the intelligent (as always) analysis Tim!

You’re right to question the conclusion since this isn’t apples to apples.

That is not a like for like comparison so to conclude responsive design increases clicks 24% is a stretch. In tests which are fair, a true split test of the same content for the same brand with the same campaign does not show +24%.

Consider this…

The stats are a ratio of mobile clicks to all clicks. Those brands without responsive designs may have a smaller mobile audience, one reason they have not made the switch to responsive. So of course their ratio of mobile clicks is lower. They have fewer people reading on mobile.

Whilst on average over 50% of emails are read on mobile, there is still a large variation. I work with brands that have 20% read on mobile and some high 70’s.

My experience is that switching to responsive design does not typically give a 24% increase in clicks.

An excellent creative design agency friend told me they created a responsive design and got a good uplift in clicks…. just that the design already in place was a responsive design.

Just being responsive is not enough. It needs to be a better design to get an uplift. And that uplift is likely to improve desktop and mobile.

Generally making emails that work on desktop and mobile is the right thing to do, so I’m not saying don’t design for mobile or consider use of responsive design. But unless your email is a seriously a poor experience on mobile devices, don’t expect to see huge gains from just making a design responsive.