Think mobile, think small, win big.
When you get up, your morning ritual probably entails a combination of taking a shower, brushing your teeth, making some coffee, and checking your email on your mobile phone. It’s become the leading vehicle people use to read emails—and they decide within three seconds to open, delete… or spam them.
If the emails are from a friend, or maybe a favorite company, you open them based on the subject line. But what about emails from unfamiliar sources? You open some of them either out of curiosity about their possible surprise element with a sort of skepticism of them being spam.
But what about emails that have a subtle marketing intent? Well, we all know they don’t see the light of the day! When we read emails on our phones, the subject line is a critical element that influences the open rate. That is why our inboxes are always cluttered with unread mail—most of which are promotional-type emails.
With today’s tech-savvy society, it is important to design and execute well-thought emails that can help you get higher open rates on mobile devices. Here are a few stats that may surprise you:
- 66 percent of all emails are now being opened on mobile devices.
- 70 percent of people delete the email if its message doesn’t resonate.
- 75 percent of people who receive email that isn’t optimized for mobile will just delete it.
How Can You Make Your Emails More Engaging on Mobile Devices?
It starts with an attention-grabbing subject line, which is just the start—but is not everything. We like emails with attractive images and crisp content. It would be great if they have a short story to tell. Such emails are highly likely to be opened and more so if they are equally readable on small screens. Making emails look good and interesting to read on small screens is definitely a challenge and an opportunity.
Here are the most essentials steps to getting higher open rates by creating mobile-friendly emails that are attractive, readable, and interesting.
Design: Focus on Visual, Text Size & “Tap”
The look and feel of emails on mobile screens is the first thing reader’s notice; they decide in an average of three seconds to either open or ignore an email. Since the visual aspect is very important, it is always desirable to use an email template that is 400×300 pixels with bright colors that complement your brand palette. An image size of 20K is good enough for an HTML text banner. The usage of enlarged fonts in emails means your readers do not have to struggle reading the content—headlines should be 22 point and body copy 14 point. Layouts should be simple and single-column.
Streamline Words: Focus on Short Headlines & Stories
About 20 percent of consumers believe that a good subject line makes them open and read the email. Try a preheader below the subject line—they generate 19 percent higher open rates! (Preheaders are the copy you see next to the Subject Line in your email.) The content should be different than the subject and between 70 to 75 characters. In all of your copy, streamline words and keep it as short and scannable as possible.
Call to Action: Focus on One Action per Email
Emails help your potential customers learn about your business and how to connect with you. A good call to action is important to make this happen. Don’t overload your message with three and four different pitches. Stay focused on one.
Compatibility: Focus on Operating System & Image DisplayReaders won’t feel distracted or confused if the emails are compatible with mobile devices. Your email provider should provide the basics:
- HTML–supported email
- Images should be on display and not blocked
- Autoscaling of width for different screen sizes
- Font should not scatter or overlap
- Functional for following operating systems such as iOS, Android, Windows
- PLEASE, preview your email before sending it!
Email-Marketing Best Practices
You may want to check for the following before you shoot those mobile-friendly emails:
- No navigation bars: Navigation bars do not work well on mobile emails. They are not built for finger tap and tend to break.
- Contextual: If you know who will read the mail, where and how, you can work on the content that is compatible and consumable.
- Color palette: Use bright colors to keep your readers’ spirits up.
- Concise & Precise: It is OK to talk about products and services but consider “less is more.” With enlarged fonts, your emails will get the respect they deserve.
- Analytics: You cannot track everything. Understand email analytics, identify the basic metrics, and track your email-open and -click rates to see which emails are really working on mobile.
If you come across a modern, bright, crisp, and easy-to-navigate, mobile-friendly email, you will spend time on it. If you master your emails on mobile, the desktop is already a win.
Here is the mantra to get higher email open rates: Think mobile, think small, win big.