I have followed most of these steps but I still cannot come close to the amount of blocks that a competitor uses in their emails without being clipped.  

Below is a video showing how long my competitor's email is without being clipped.  In total they have 22 blocks at least.  Not to mention the double menu at the top!  FYI it is not clipped on mobile in the gmail app either.  

How on earth are they doing this?

Hey @JHEAP,

Although we cannot speak to how other software and email service providers process emails, their backend could be smaller than Klaviyos which causes less weight in the email’s code - though that could also cause it to have less analytic capabilities. 

It’s also possible that a number of the blocks shown in the email are also static image blocks. Rather than in Klaviyo, you can use live product blocks to pull in products and their information. As @Anna McCarthy mentioned previously, image sizes do not affect KB size of emails as images are loaded from an external source - only the code used to display an image in an email contributes to the message size. Similarly, the same can be said with using live texts, etc. Using live blocks would add more code weight, but you do not have to design everything externally and then bring it in to Klaviyo through an image block. 

Another thing to consider is that the email may be fully custom coded via HTML. Since you have full control over the code and therefore the code size, custom coding your own email using HTML is going to be smaller in size. 

Overall, we do see that shorter emails perform better in general: one clear CTA or idea you’re advertising rather than multiple CTAs/ideas tend to get more clicks and engagement. @Anna McCarthy actually pointed this tip out in another one of her amazing Community posts where she list out her favorite template resources:

Not too many CTAs, pick one (maybe 2) ideas or products you’re looking to advertise, and focus the email on that - emails with too many CTAs do not get very high click rates (blog on this here and here - external resources but trustworthy).

Ultimately, there are a number of ways to still have an email that has a lot of content while still staying under the 102kb limitation to prevent clipping in Gmail.

David

Hi David. 

Thanks a lot for your reply.  

Just one more question for now.  I tested using the new editor and it seemed to allow more live blocks than the old editor.  Is this true or am I imagining things?

Hey @JHEAP,

Great question! 

Overall I wouldn’t say you’re imagining things. On a block-by-block basis, the new editor performs better in terms of code weight, meaning it is “lighter” in their individual block codes. However, because of the new features and function available to you in the new editor (i.e. sections and universal content), as well as the increased visibility of certain settings (i.e. show/hide, repeat content, and device specific content) we have found that users are using more of these components in their messaging. This in turn would lead to templates created in the new editor seeming to come off as “heavier” in their code. 

Keep in mind that even device specific content although not visible to you would still attribute to the overall code weight. 

David

Hello. You mentioned above the use of universal blocks, how much “code weight” do universal blocks add to an email? I am currently using them for header/footer in each email, and wondering if this is contributing to our clipping issue. We have followed all of the advice Anna has provided above and emails are still clipping.

Also with components such as show/hide, if this is impacting emails, would you say it is better to segment audiences and send emails with specific content, rather than utilize the show/hide functionality?

Finally - is there a plan to phase out the old editor? Currently I am more inclined to use that editor as there is less clipping, but conscious that it may not be available forever!

Thanks!

Hey @jadebiscuit,

If you could segment your audiences to send more specific content to them, I would. As opposed to utilizing the show/hide functionality. 

Show/hide is a great functionality to curate personalized content. However, depending on how much segments or groupings recipients you’re trying to target, this could negatively bloat up the size of your email. Additionally, it could also cause confusion depending on how much logic are used in your show/hide function too. 

Segmenting and sending specific content oftentimes is a better practice. Not only will you have more cohesive recipient groups, but it could help in further marketing efforts down the road. 

Instead of using a universal block for both your Header/Footer in each email, I think you’ll find simply saving your footer block will help to achieve the same thing. I typically suggesting using universal blocks for sections of content that change frequently. 

For a section such as the footer of email, which remains typically static, you may have better luck avoiding clipping by saving a single footer and applying it to new emails in the future. 

In regards to plans to phase our our classic editor in favor of our new editor, I haven’t heard anything on my end. But if that ever changes, I’m sure we’ll give an announcement and a headsup to our many members who may still be using the classic editor. 

David