Monday 16 March 2020, by Sonia Bell
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to create awareness of your brand, generate leads, and increase sales. As such, it is paramount that you create emails that can be viewed and read on various screen sizes, especially on mobile devices. Today, mobile devices are used to open approximately 68% email campaigns and also drive more than 50% of global web traffic. If you are not making mobile-friendly emails, you are not exploiting the full potential of email marketing. They improve the email marketing strategy and enable subscribers to engage with the brand, hence, having a better customer experience. Below are some ways you can make mobile-friendly emails for your marketing campaign.
1. Use a short subject line
While desktop can display more than 80 characters of the subject line, Return path found out that mobile devices can only display 25-30 characters. They have a smaller space for displaying email subject lines. When it comes to writing mobile-friendly emails, you must shorten the length of the subject. It should also be concise and compelling. There is evidence that 47% of email recipients rely on the subject line alone when deciding whether to open an email. Hence, ensure it is brief but effective in passing the message along.
2. Keep the copy as concise as possible
Think about the different scenarios in which your subscribers could be reading the email. Some could be in a noisy place and others could be having only a few seconds to spare. Such readers will not pay attention to long complex chunks of texts and may end up ignoring or deleting the email. If you want the mobile users to get the point you are putting across, make the copy easy to skim through. Break your text in to easy to digest sections. Use headers to explain different ideas. Include bullet points to put across actionable tips or lists. Also, you could use bold or underline important points. It will ensure the reader can scan the document even when they are engaged in other tasks.
3. Use single-column templates
These templates are the best for mobile device users. They are easy to navigate through and make the email look appealing. Desktops can display multiple columns well, but on mobile devices, 2 or more columns make an email look crowded and difficult to navigate. Readers have to zoom the copy to examine what the marketer is trying to say. Most readers will not tolerate such frustrations. Use a single column that lays a simple layout that is compatible with all screen sizes.
4. Pay attention to the images you use
The role of images in marketing can't be overlooked. They make content easy and quick to digest. Research shows that the human brain processes visuals 60000X faster than text. Unfortunately, not all mobile devices display images in emails by default. In such cases, the images might be in the form of white spaces. To ensure such mobile users don't feel left out, plan an image-off strategy. The recipients understand what you are trying to say even when the images fail to load. You can use image descriptions (alt-text) that explain what the image represents when it fails to display.
6. Use a distinct call to action
An email marketing expert Dylan Menders says that marketers must prompt the recipients to take a particular action that takes them down the conversion funnel. CTAs guide the recipients in the direction they should take. As such, call to action buttons should be placed in a prominent area of the copy where they are easily visible. Most CTAs are placed at the bottom of the email after a huge chunk of content. However, the most effective CTA is placed either at the top of the email or at the centre. One clear button is enough. Statistics indicate that a single CTA can increase clicks and conversion by 371% and 1617% respectively. The CTA should contain 2-4 words, and the button color should be of high contrast to stand out. The CTA should be large enough to accommodate big thumbs for readers not to strain while trying to tap. 44 by 44 pixels is an ideal button size.
7. Avoid stacked links
With the small screen sizes, it is easy to make the mistake of having links too close to each other or piled on top of each other. It becomes frustrating to readers during navigation. Clicking on a particular link can lead to a recipient being directed to the link they didn't mean to click. Links are good for marketing, but if you are using multiple links, separate them with texts or images to give room for clicking.
8. Test your email across devices and email clients
You need to know how the emails are displayed on multiple devices and email clients before sending them to your subscribers. You can send your colleagues a test email to help you see how it displays on different devices. Alternatively, use tools such as Litmus or Campaign Monitor that will give you a preview of how the email appears in more than 25 email clients and devices. You will know the areas that need improvement for a better customer experience.
Conclusion
The number of mobile users is growing every day and people are becoming even more impatient. If you are not creating mobile-friendly emails for your marketing campaign, you are missing out on opportunities for generating leads and losing some of the current traffic. Optimize your email marketing strategy for mobile users by using shortened subject lines, writing concise copy, and including large CTA buttons that are easy to click. Ensure the email also looks appealing by avoiding multiple columns and stacked links. Finally, if you want to come up with an email that the recipient will open, read, and convert, remember to put yourself in their shoes.
