We've all heard the now familiar and slightly gross statistic pictured to
the right: 4.8 billion people worldwide own a cell phone, while only 4.2
billion own a tooth brush. It's shocking just how much mobile phones are
taking over our lives. Smart phones and internet-enabled devices are
experiencing the largest area of growth. The phenomenon of iPhones has grown
10 times faster than the last technology revolution, America Online. If
you're using email marketing to nurture your leads into clients and your
clients into repeat sales, you can't ignore mobile optimizing.
Over 75% of smartphone users are reading emails on their phones regularly.
If you fail to send out emails they can open and read, chances are they
might not open the content in the future. We've compiled several useful tips
and tools to ensure the 91% percent of American adults who keep their cell
phones in reach 24/7 won't miss your message:
1. Ditch the Tiny Links
Unlike the days when a cursor was the primary means of web navigation, your
leads' fingers are going to be their primary method for smart phone
navigation. If you want your links to get clicks, they can't be difficult to
access or hard-to-see. Make your links visible and accessible by prominently
placing call-to-action buttons that even the clumsiest smart phone user
can't avoid clicking.
2. Get Your Timing Right
It's probably not hard to realize that email marketing efforts sent out on a
Monday morning might get buried. Timing is everything when it comes to email
marketing, and research by Return Path has found that your open rate could
very well correlate with smart phone usage, particularly if your buyer
personas tend to be pretty plugged-in. Mobile email typically remains steady
during the work week, though usage is highest on Fridays and Saturdays. Use
tapers on Sunday. It goes without saying that only you can determine what
days and times work best for your market. Track your open rates,
click-throughs and other analytics to determine when your segments easiest
to engage.
3. Test and then Test Some More
Do your images load correctly? Can you easily open the links and does the
layout display well? Check it on a variety of different devices - if you
can test out both tablets and smart phones, all the better. Just because
your email marketing effort looks gorgeous on your graphic designer's
computer screen doesn't mean it's going to be quite as appealing on a
much-smaller smart phone. Some experts recommend keeping your images between
500-600px wide, though some Blackberries can't display anything larger than
320 px. Make sure no one is stuck waiting for your email template to load,
because they'll likely lose interest during that period of time.
4. Don't Beat Around the Bush
Put yourself in the shoes of your smart phone-using buyer personas. They're
most likely pretty busy, enough so that they're multi-tasking and opening
emails on the go. You can't afford to waste their time with extraneous
language or irrelevant information. If you haven't ditched the boring
company newsletter, built buyer personas and started segmenting your email
list, don't delay these crucial steps and risk the hit to your sender score
if someone marks the message as spam. Wondering how to really hit a home
run? Let them know your offer or discount is only available for mobile
users. e-Dialog research has found that maneuver results in an 18% mobile
opt-in average.
5. Keep Your Subject Lines Really Short
35 characters. That's less than 1/3 the length of a Tweet and it was
typically the recommended length for an email subject line in the days
before mobile was so predominant. It's hard to communicate much in such a
short phrase, especially considering that research has found that your open
rate will soar if you describe your offer in an accurate and enticing way.
Are you starting to sweat? Too bad, because mobile-optimizing your email
marketing dictates even shorter subject lines that jive well with smaller
screens. 15 characters is thought to be a good target by some email
marketing experts.
6. Test the Text, too
While most smart phones can read and display an email marketing campaign in
HTML, some aren't quite smart enough to open that format. Make sure you text
out the text version of your email. Make any necessary edits you need to
ensure that the links are big enough to use and images have been removed.
Mobile email is not going anywhere. As smart phones continue to get smarter
and their owners continue to become busier, the rate at which we check, read
and send emails from our phones will keep soaring. Radicati Group estimates
that by 2016, over 730 million accounts will be regularly accessed from
smart phones. Don't ignore the impact this segment could have on your bottom
line! Optimize with clear Ctas, clean text and short, snappy subject lines.
my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that can
be done today."
If you have any questions or comments please contact me.
Regards Gerald
Website: http://www.webcraft.ws
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
Twitter: WebcraftGuru
Facebook: Webcraft Guru
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