When it comes to modern email communications, mobile is king. The amount of people using devices other than desktop computers and laptops has exploded in the last four years – smartphone usage has increased an amazing 394 percent, and tablet usage completely blows that statistic out of the water with a staggering increase of 1721 percent. Screens have become serious business – 53 percent of emails are opened on a mobile device. This is an increase of 500 percent from 2010. Yet, a lot of communications are still not being optimized for the platform.
As the numbers show, this is an increasingly dire mistake, and in fact, a delay of one second in someone opening your email on a mobile device can cost you seven percent of conversions. How can you ensure that your emails capture the attention of your target audience? The two general concepts they need to abide by are that they are simple and fast.
Don't load up on images
How to ensure your email opens quickly? Make sure you don't use too many images. Even with the rise of LTE data, large images still can take some time to open on mobile devices – and that's where you are losing potential customers. Images should largely be considered optional, as not every mobile platform supports their appearance by default. The inclusion of alternate text to describe your pictures still gives your audience an idea of what your email displays while increasing the speed at which your email loads.
Use pre-headers
It's important to use a pre-header, which is a descriptive line in the first line of text in your email that explains what the email is about. Pre-headers can be valuable tools in the case of time-sensitive communications or special promotions, or simply to pique the interest of your customer.
Ensure that you put your most important content at the top of an email, and keep your content concise, using as few words as possible. Given that people, on average, only read a newsletter for 51 seconds after opening it, you need to be able to get to the heart of the matter as efficiently as possible. Make sure that any calls to action – preferably a single one – is immediately recognizable by spacing it away from the rest of your content and making it prevalent within your email's design. Make sure that your call to action links to a mobile-friendly page; there is no faster way to drive potential customers away than offering them something that's not tailored to their experience.
Have a good "From" field
Last but not least, remember to have something appropriate in the From field. If someone were to sign up to your organization's newsletter, it would be strange to send the email with your name attached. 68 percent of Americans decide whether or not to open an email based on who it's from, so ensure that you remain consistent in your branding and communications channels for a higher level of interaction.
Try for yourself
At SimplyCast, mobile email optimization is as easy as clicking a single button when you're creating your campaign. Email is just one of over 15 different communication platforms offered, and the flagship solution, SimplyCast 360, allows you to create newsletter campaigns with multiple types of content and send it to multiple users with little effort. Click here to sign up for a 14-day free trial, and discover how optimizing your email for mobile can help you outperform the competition.
