ADOTAS – Reading this article on your smartphone? You are not alone. With the advent and further enhancements of the iPhone, Blackberry, Droid and HTC devices to name a few, there is now a growing mobile market that offers consumers a wide range of well-designed, efficient and just plain cool devices to choose from.
But it is the functionality of mobile phones that makes them a powerful tool for marketers, especially when it comes to email marketing.
Checking email via a mobile device has risen considerably in recent years as more phones enter the market and more consumers are drawn to them. According to a 2010 Pew Research Center study, 40% of adults use the Internet, email or instant messaging on a mobile phone, up from 32% in 2009. In addition, over two-thirds of business-to-business emailers read emails on their mobile devices.
This trend has quite a few implications for marketers trying to reach consumers. Now more than ever there is the ability and even a need, to reach individuals through their mobile devices as more consumers are using their phones to open emails directly. Following are some tips that marketers should take into consideration when designing emails for mobile devices.
Make your display mobile-friendly. Remember that unlike a desktop or laptop screen that can measure up to 21 inches, mobile email display appears on a screen of not more than 4 inches. Keep your design simple and un-cluttered to avoid too much distraction on a more restricted space.
Include a plain text version of your message. This will avoid any possible problems that you may encounter with HTML emails. No images will be shown, so make sure that the text-only version makes sense. You may have to do some re-wording so that users who are not receiving the HTML email will understand what you are offering.
Include links to your offer. With the development of smartphone technology, most users are able to visit any link instantly. Providing links for mobile users is a great way to get them directly to your site.
Keep your message short and to the point. Readers will not want to scroll through massive amounts of text or images. Remember that mobile users are only seeing a short portion of your message at a time due to the limited screen space.
The subject line should summarize your offer and entice the reader. A dull subject line will not make the reader want to open the email.
The growth in the smartphone market has created changes in the email marketing industry. With more and more users turning to their mobile devices to read emails, marketers must adjust their formats and design to accommodate this new trend. Making these changes can lead to higher open rates, better response rates and overall appreciation from smartphone email users.
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Jill Solomon is the Online Marketing Manager at Direct Agents, a performance-based interactive advertising agency specializing in providing brand advertisers and affiliates with customized online advertising solutions. She works on developing online marketing campaigns for Direct Agents and their clients. Previously, Jill worked in the sports and entertainment marketing industry.
