From DEMC.com
5 Steps to Optimizing for Mobile Email
By Abbie Drew
Jan 3, 2012, 17:30
Time spent on a mobile device by a US adult is now
greater than the time spent reviewing print media.
eMarketer reports a 30 percent rise to one hour and 5 minutes
in time spent on a mobile device. Compare that to the 44
minutes daily that print magazines and newspapers
combined get from US adults and you know that mobile
is taking charge!
With the increase in time spent on mobile devices, it's no
wonder mobile email open rates are up as well - by 51 percent
to be exact. A new report from Knotice finds that more
than 20 percent of all email opens now occur on mobile
devices.
When I check email open statistics for DEMC, I too
see 20 percent of readership coming from mobile devices.
Mobile devices - phones and tablets - are surging! Just
last Thursday Nielsen reported 44 percent of US mobile
subscribers now use a smartphones. If you haven't done so
already, now is the perfect opportunity make your emails
more mobile friendly.
I'd like to stress the word opportunity here, because
mobile offers a huge opening for the small business.
According to eMarketer, even though time spent on
mobile devices is rising, ad dollars spent are not. Mobile
takes 10 percent of consumers' media time but only 1 percent
of advertising. You can tap into that mobile ad vacancy by
sending mobile emails that convert.
Most email marketing campaigns are not considering the
mobile reader. Without a mobile friendly email design,
your mobile emails fail. The Knotice report found emails
read on mobile devices, because of their poor optimization,
have lower click-to-open rates.
What's more, when an individual reads your email on
their mobile device, they do not save it to view again on
their desktop. You have one chance to get the click
- so make it count no matter what device is being
used to read your email.
Start creating emails that are friendly to both desktop
and mobile devices. A well designed email can work
for all.
Here's a quick 5 step guide to optimizing for mobile email.
1) Single Skinny Column Design
Stack content blocks on top of each other in order to
avoid multiple columns in your layout. Readers interested
in your content will scroll down.
Create the single column width between 320 pixels - 520 pixels.
(That's roughly 40 - 65 characters across.)
Use the Viewport Meta Tag to scale your HTML email
down to the size of the screen for iPhones. The Viewport
tag will not distort the display on desktops or other smart
phones.
meta name = "viewport" content = "width = 320"
2) Bigger is Better for Text Size
When your message is scaled down to be viewed on
a smaller screen your text can become unreadable.
Keep the following sizes in mind:
Headlines greater than 22 pixels
Body Copy greater than 14 pixels
You also may want to fix the font size in your message
so your layout is not broken. The CSS code to insert is
-webkit-text-size-adjust:none;
3) Design for Fingers not a Mouse
With mobile devices, most users are using their finger
to navigate to your site. Text links are very difficult
to tap!
Instead start using traditional text buttons or image
based touch targets that link to your site. Make the
buttons at least 44 x 44 pixels for easy finger tapping!
4) Be Brief
Shorter copy wins the day when it comes to mobile email.
Make your point concisely and have a clear and obvious
call to action.
Remember, mobile email users are on the go so get to
the point. Provide button links to your site for more
detailed explanations.
5) Don't Forget Your Web Site
An email designed for mobile will only be effective
if your web site is ready for the mobile visitor as
well. Take the time to make your landing pages and
blog mobile friendly too.
Optimizing for mobile email campaigns should be a top
priority for 2012. You're loosing 20 percent of your audience
if you do not.
Drop me an email if you'd like me to cover some tools on
how to make your site more mobile friendly.
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