Optimize Your Email Marketing For Mobile Devices

If you think you're working more often on your mobile devices than your desktop or laptop equipment, you're right. And it's not just you. Research shows that as of September 2013, a whopping 47 percent of emails were opened on some type of mobile device. If the trend continues, "mobile opens" could hit 53 percent by the end of this year.

These numbers send a clear message to businesses that rely heavily on email and newsletters for strategic marketing: get your applications optimized for mobile device platforms or watch your market share decline.

(Re)Designing For Mobile Platforms

In some cases, getting your email marketing to work well on mobile platforms means working with mobile app developers to update or totally revamp the applications. However, recent articles from the online site Marketing Profs offer some easy fixes that you can implement right away with excellent results.

About 33 percent of recipients will open (or not open) an email based solely on the subject line so make it catchy, but keep it short. Some mobile platforms are very stingy in the amount of characters they allow, and you want to know that your full message will come through. Think of it as a mini call-to-action.

Remember that the pointing tool for mobile devices is someone's finger, and design your buttons/action calls accordingly. An adult finger pad is about 44 x 44 pixels, much less precise than a mouse arrow. Create large enough buttons and leave enough room between them so readers can easily tap the one they want on the first try. Mistakenly tapping the wrong links can seriously lower your mobile conversion rate and frustrate your customers.

Ensure that your font can be read on the smaller sized screens. A good rule of thumb is a 20 point font size for headings and a 14 point type in the body.

Keep your layouts simple to minimize scrolling. A single-column design generally works well on mobile devices. If possible, ensure your application has responsive design so it will automatically size for the device that opens it.

Beyond Good Design

A good design can get people to open your email, but that's as far as it will go without compelling content that speaks to the reader. Effective marketing also requires analyzing data such as open and click-through numbers and adjusting tactics based on this feedback.

Intertwine effective design with relevant content and solid analysis for a mobile marketing strategy that delivers fantastic results.