Chances are, you’re reading this on a mobile device right now. We are well past the tipping point at which mobile surpassed desktop as the device of choice for personal communication such as email. Remarkably though, even with the evidence in their hands everyday, many marketers are still prioritizing desktop over mobile. This is a mistake. If you want the best chance to make your email campaigns produce opens and conversions, making your marketing emails mobile friendly is more important than ever before. Often, companies rely on communication channels that don’t take into consideration today’s marketing trends. Given the fact that millennials are now spending around 5 to 6 hours a day on their phone, it’s the perfect time to rely on mobile technologies to reach your customers. You can, for example, send an email message and have it received as an SMS text – thus reaching your customers immediately and efficiently.
Embrace Responsive Design
Said succinctly, responsive design ensures your email messages work on any platform. If opened on a mobile device, they will automatically format themselves to look their best. This is huge when it comes to getting your messages read and more importantly, acted upon. Further, it reduces the likelihood you’ll get “unsubscribed”. While we’re on the subject, you should also make sure your site’s pages are optimized for responsive design as well, so when your recipient clicks through, they get the mobile version of your site.
Shorten Subject Lines
While a desktop email template gives you up to eighty characters within which to deliver a subject line, that number gets chopped to 30 or less on a mobile device. Because there is less room on the screen, you’ll have to make what you have do more. Let’s say your goal is to sell makeup from home. You want your subject line to play up the benefits of your product by offering some compelling benefit. A good example of a mobile friendly subject line is; “7 Moves To Captivating Eyes!” It’s short, to the point and offers a benefit likely to pique the curiosity of a woman in the market for makeup.
Preheader Text Must Be Succinct and Compelling
Here again, space is at a premium. While the subject line is your hook, the preheader text is the line you’ll employ to reel in your customer. In other words, while the subject line captures their attention, the preheader text tells them why opening the message will be worth the effort. Here, you’ll have between 40 and 90 characters, depending upon the device your customer employs. Because the spread is so huge, it’s best to optimize on the low side, say approximately 50 characters, to ensure the majority of your copy is displayed.
Who Are You?
Displayed in large text and a heavier font, your “From” name is actually the first thing your recipient will see. People tend to ignore messages from people they don’t know, so you’ll have to make sure your recipients know you. In theory, you’ll be sending messages to subscribers, who are more likely to know the name of the company than yours. While this might seem like common sense, it bears repeating; you’re better off using your company name on your from line. BTW, you’ll be guaranteed it displays in full if you keep it under 23 characters
Picture = 1000 Words, Yadah, Yadah, Yadah…
You’ll have less than a minute to get your point across from the moment the message is opened. The human brain processes images more quickly than copy, so if you want to capture and hold your recipient, hit them with your best picture. Further, because you can’t count on your reader to scroll through a seemingly unending body of words; your image, the gist of your message and your call to action button should all appear on the screen when the message is opened. Additionally, that button should be sized so it’s easy to click and readily apparent to the eye. If you find you have more copy than space, you’re probably trying to convey too broad a message. Keep it simple, to the point and pertinent to your target audience.
Mobile just keeps getting bigger. To ignore it or think of it as a secondary consideration is to perish. These tips for making your marketing emails mobile friendly will help you keep your campaigns solidly in the game.
