- August 25, 2016
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The Reasons for Optimizing Mobile Email are Getting Harder to Ignore
Statistics from virtually every relevant category strongly suggest that email marketing is alive and well–thriving, actually. And nobody has to tell you what’s happening with mobile.
So it’s little wonder then what’s grabbing the smart marketer’s attention these days: mobile email optimization–the fast emerging practice of designing and formatting electronic messages for maximum engagement and returns.
The interest in mobile-optimizing campaigns is being fed by some very compelling data, including research being reported by Hubspot, which reveals that:
- Mobile email usage is increasing–74 percent of smartphone owners now check email daily on their devices
- Mobile email open rates rose more than 300 percent in a recent three-year period
- Mobile opens now account for the majority (51 percent) of all email opens
- Mobile offers are redeemed 10X more frequently than print offers
Research from Adestra and Econsultancy also shows that optimizing emails for mobile is three times more likely to generate ROI than not optimizing them.
So what does it mean for email to be mobile optimized? And what steps can integrated marketers take right now to start getting better mobile ROI?
Experts interviewed by MarketingSherpa offered these (and many other) suggestions:
- Start Simple: Establishing a strategy and a process for mobile email optimization requires some effort, so to avoid feeling overwhelmed, simplify everything about your messages, from the template, layout and copy to the CTA, buttons and imagery. Use a simple, single-column design and hide any content that might clutter up a smartphone screen. Give equal (if not more) attention to mobile-optimizing your landing pages.
- Think Mobile First: Responsive design has a place in marketing but leveraging mobile’s meteoric rise almost demands taking a mobile-first (more specifically, a smartphone-first) approach to email. Proponents argue that the resulting less-than-optimal desktop experience will be well worth the tradeoff.
- Remember Marketing Fundamentals: You can add buttons, simplify content and build-in whitespace til the cows come home, but it won’t matter one iota if you overlook the fundamentals of marketing. Or as one expert interviewed puts it: “It’s not about email marketing for mobile, it’s about successful email marketing regardless of device [which can] only be achieved with message-led rather than device-led design…focusing on the central message then optimizing delivery in such a way that…users understand what is expected of them..”
If the potential benefits of mobile-email optimization have gotten your marketing wheels turning, visit our Mobile Marketing archive to preview a host of complementary posts, including: Three Quick Tips for Maximizing the Mobile Experience; Win at Mobile Marketing by Winning the Micro-Moments; and Five Tips for Enhancing Mobile Engagement
