By the end of last year, more than half of all email was opened on a mobile device, and 30 percent of consumers now read emails only on their mobile devices. The good news for marketers is that email marketing is predicted to remain a great way to reach customers and stimulate sales. With that said, you may need to tweak your strategy to continue being effective in the evolving mobile marketplace.

Integrate methodologies

Mobile marketing is one part of the marketing mix, but it shouldn’t be separate from other strategies. Whether you’re using SMS messaging or delivering emails formatted for mobile, always use various approaches to redirect subscribers to other points of interest, like a sale on your website or a contest on your Facebook page.

It’s critical to cross-promote across all platforms so customers can engage with a brand in a way that’s most convenient for them.

Think about design

PhoneImageIt is integral to test all marketing materials – website included – to see how they’ll look on different devices and in specific browsers. One of the worst mistakes marketers can make is to assume your email message will render correctly across all browsers, operating systems, devices and email clients.

Have your email templates professionally created using responsive design and tested across all of the previously mentioned environments. Also, emails should be easy to read, so never cram them full of tiny text that users have to zoom-in to see.

If you’re using a click-to-call button (or any clickable button that takes subscribers further into the marketing funnel), make sure the button stands out. And it should be large enough to be clicked easily. A good rule of thumb (pun intended) is 44×44 pixels.

 

Develop your brand

According to the Google/IPSOS “Brand Building on Mobile Survey,” smartphone users are 1.8 times more likely to share branded videos, compared to people who see those videos on desktop computers. So think about creative ways to use video, and look at what other companies have done that has worked well.

In 2014, Purina Friskies, in partnership with BuzzFeed, released its “Dear Kitten” video, earning nearly 8 million views in four days. The Friskies brand name wasn’t prominent in the video, but the point of the video was to create something sharable, rather than push a sale.

Once your mobile strategy is refined, consider these five tips to boost mobile email marketing open and click-through rates.

  • Make Content Relevant: Readers will quickly lose interest in your email marketing tactics if the content is not relevant to them, so don’t send the same information to every subscriber. Lists should be segmented to customize mailings for certain groups. And remember to keep it simple – mobile email readers prefer short sentences, informative subject lines and plenty of visual breaks (like subheads and white space).

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  • Use Fewer Images: Limit your use of images and focus on content. Images can be a drag on load time — especially on mobile. The few images that are included should be low resolution.

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  • Create a Call to Action: A strong, clear call to action should be included in the subject line as well as the body of an email. Think of it as giving the customer an instruction. Instead of saying, “We have a special offer for you,” say, “Click here for a special offer.”

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  • Connect to a Website: Give readers different ways to connect to your website other than a call to action. You should optimize the entire website, not just the landing pages, to facilitate mobile viewing.
  • Maintain Active Lists: Keep an eye on subscriber lists for high bounce rates or inactivity. Those are clear signs that some subscribers are losing interest. Send a segmented message to inactive subscribers to gauge their interests. You also should give them the option to change their content preferences for receiving your messages. It’s important you’re continually clearing your list of invalid and inactive addresses.

Neil-BermanMore about Neil Berman

Neil Berman is the founder and CEO of Indianapolis-headquartered Delivra, an email marketing service provider and strategic consultancy.

With nearly 20 years in the software industry, Berman continues to be driven by a passion to find innovative solutions that help clients win in their industries.