Design your email marketing blasts for a mobile audience

Published November 19, 2013 at 8:13 am

The percentage of marketing emails opened on a smartphone—45 percent—is now higher than those opened on a desktop—39 percent—according to a recent study by Moveable Ink.

Furthermore, Moveble Ink CEO Vivek Sharma noted that “tablets are gaining momentum, quickly becoming a primary driver of email marketing interactions.” Tablets now account for more than 15 percent of all opened marketing emails.

In an analysis of that study, BizReport mentioned related data that is just as relevant for marketers. The click-to-open rate for emails received on mobile devices is about half that of those opened on a desktop.

If marketers aren’t tailoring their email marketing campaigns to a mobile audience, they’re missing an ever-growing segment of their audience that also happens to have a tremendous amount of buying power.

Consider a Forbes story earlier this week about email marketing.

Steve Olenski breaks down two studies about the shopping behaviors of mothers, in particular. In one study, by eMarketer, 91 percent of respondents said they opened emails on their smartphones. In the other study, by the Ryan Partnership, 16 percent of mothers said that they used retail emails to “shop or plan to shop,” while 19 percent said they used brand emails for the same purpose – both figures outpace the national average.

“Email is still a very strong tool for changing shopper behavior and satisfying shopper needs,” said the Ryan Partnership’s Kim Finnerty. “While it seems like an old-school tool compared to things like shopping apps and mobile payments, marketers have had years to perfect it so it achieves objectives.”

While email and direct marketing are often perceived as “old-school,” they perform quite well when compared to the new guard of marketing – social media, mobile and other digital techniques.

But really, marketers need all of them to work in tandem to maximize returns.