Taking Email Mobile

How often do you check your emails on your mobile? In the last six months alone, according to research from Litmus, email opens on smartphones and tablets have increased by 80 per cent, while another study from E-Digital Resource found that 64 per cent of all people using a smartphone are using it to shop online.

With constant advances in technology, people are becoming increasingly impatient, and we now expect everything to be at our fingertips, or at the touch of a button. Another study found that 41 per cent of people would delete or forget about an email if it did not open properly on their mobile. For that reason, it is essential that the emails you send out and the landing pages they click through to are optimised for viewing on a mobile device.

Despite the rise in the use of mobile devices, statistics from the email marketing census conducted by e-consultancy in 2012 suggest that only 37 per cent of businesses have a basic plan in place for optimising their emails for mobile, and 39 per cent have no strategy whatsoever.

There are a lot of stats to take in there but, put simply, what they mean is that you can't afford for your e-mails to not be optimised for mobile. So, how do you go about achieving that? First of all, you need to have an understanding of how many of users are looking at your campaign on their mobile - a figure that could range from 5 per cent to 25 per cent of your database. Consider the whole experience - there’s no point in creating a beautiful email optimised for mobile if your landing pages are not, so ensure your site works on a mobile too.

Here are four top tips for getting it right on a mobile device:

Be focused – Think about what you want your audience to do. Space is limited, so make it clear what your expectations from the reader are, and then make that action simple to follow.

Think about the user – Consider using a responsive email template. They are designed to configure your email in a way that ensures your email is optimised for any device that it might be opened on.

Make it easy – When it comes to your call to action buttons, make them large, with a straightforward layout. Potential customers will become frustrated and may lose interest if they try to push a button and accidentally press another link in the process.

Halve it – Desktop emails are 600 pixels wide, but the iPhone, for example, is just 320 pixels wide, so keep this in mind. You can buy ‘Post-It’ notes online in the shape of an iPhone which allow you to draw out your design and test it before creating the mailer, which could save valuable time.

Ultimately, the biggest challenge is the design of the email itself. Get that right and half the battle is won.

Louise Stephens is email marketing consultant at Little Green Plane