A Digital Marketing Mistake You Don’t Want to Make

Did you know in recent studies, 63% of U.S. Smartphone users say they would delete an email not optimized for their mobile device, while only 2.4% of Smartphone users said they would open an email on both their mobile devices and computers? In an article from ClickZ.com, Return Path reported last month that mobile device email opens increased 82% over March 2011. At the same time, emails read on the iPad increased 54%. Marketers are seeing an average of 30% of emails opened on mobile devices, with this rate expected to climb to over 50% by the end of 2012. What does this mean for your business and how to conduct a successful email marketing campaign? As more subscribers use their Smartphone to view your email, it becomes even harder to get the subscriber’s attention in the mobile inbox. The mobile inbox takes up a third of the viewing space, leaving you with only a limited platform to get your message across. As a result, the subject line counts as your headline. Mobile users are relying heavily on subject lines to signal messages they should open immediately, so yours needs to be compelling and make an impact. It is important to:

• Keep subject lines to 25 characters.
• Decrease number of navigation items to three.
• Continue to use HTML text. Most mobile email clients default to disabled images.

Tips to keep in mind when designing your creative for mobile devices:

• Increase font size.
• Add contrast.
• Add padding between sections to avoid frustrating tap errors.
• Use distinctive colors for links.
• Create larger buttons and links to make tapping more accurate.
• Design whole sections to be clickable.

• The primary imagery and content in the creative can scale to drop extra space when viewed on a Smartphone. Tertiary messages are designed so that the image can be hidden while the overall message stays intact.

In the article, REI was used as an example of a marketer that has gotten this concept right. Its navigation condenses down from four items on the desktop version to two across on the mobile view.
Just remember:

• It is more important now than ever before to get your email creative in shape for mobile devices. You can no longer assume that mobile users are returning to their desktops to get the full email experience.
• Do not try to fit everything in your desktop version of an email message into your mobile version. Streamline the content and ensure that your subscribers get your message and take action no matter which device they use to view your content.
• Research shows that 63% of U.S. consumers who have made a purchase via their Smartphone did so in response to a marketing message delivered via mobile email.
• If you ensure a good experience across devices, you can bank on a continuing increase in opens, clicks, and conversions.