With more and more people opening emails on their mobile phones it is crucial that businesses optimize their email communication for mobile platforms.
Think of the last dozen times you checked your email. Of these, how often did you open your emails on your phone? Was it easy to read?
Chances are that you checked your emails on your mobile more often than you did on your computer. Research suggests suggest that up to 66% of emails are actually opened on mobile devices with only a third being read traditionally on a desktop. In fact, email is the top activity on mobiles – ahead of even accessing Facebook! According to the 2014 Mobile Behavior Report, 91% of mobile phone owners use it for checking emails at least once a day.
With this in mind, it seems remarkable that only about 12% of email newsletters are actually optimized for handheld devices! And it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to tell you that content may look slightly different on a device measuring 4.5in x 2.3in than it would on a 21in screen.
It is essential that promotional emails and newsletters are designed with mobile in mind. This applies not only to the layout but also the content.
Emails that don’t render well on mobile phones are deleted by 89% of consumers. For 27% it is reason enough to unsubscribe from the newsletter. We also have a shorter attention span these days and tend scan emails, especially on mobile. Long and cluttered emails run the risk of simply being ignored and deleted.
Hence, emails which are not mobile-friendly are wasted and can actually have a negative impact on your brand perception.
So here are some top tips and tools to help you optimize your emails for mobile:
- Be creative – use compelling subject lines
This is the first thing people will see and can make the difference between an open, ignore or delete. Be creative and compelling instead of just saying “June Newsletter”.
- Ensure you use responsive design
Responsive design means that an email can adapt its layout based on the device it is opened on.
Here is a list of free and premium responsive email templates. http://mashable.com/2013/11/08/email-responsive-design/
Online email marketing solutions such as Constant Contact and Mailchimp also offer responsive templates.
- Keep it short and simple with a clear call to action
Keep the text in the actual email light. Rather than having an entire blog post in your newsletter provide a title and one liner with a clear “read more” button which links to your blog or a landing page on your website. (Hint: this way you can measure how many people are actually interested in reading more and click through to the article1)
If you are offering a special deal, have a big and obvious button which will direct customers to a dedicated landing page where they can read more and take advantage of the deal. It has to be in their faces and simple to click.
- Size matters when it comes to images
One thing that is often overlooked is the size of images used in newsletters. Large image files will take longer to load, especially on mobile phones! It is not something you may notice when setting up your email but can result in your email being ignored or deleted. Resize the images so that they are at least smaller than 1MB but the smaller the better and you should aim for 100kb.
- Test, test, test
Always test your emails before sending them out. Try opening them on different devices and check that all the links work!…You can do a quick spell check at the same time 🙂
Watch this space – our 2015 Autumn programme will cover email marketing!
….off to check our email templates….