Optimizing Emails For Mobile Devices
Using the Right Content and Design to Make Your Email Marketing Campaign Successful
Every time I see one of those e-mails that ask me to sign up for a product or service I think; who ever does that? If I had to sign up I wouldn’t visit your site and do it. But then I went on to do some finding out about the efficacy of e-mail marketing, it looked like businesses could be missing out on quite a bit if they did not use e-mail to market the brand. A 2015 survey showed that companies who used e-mails to create leads for the business generated 50% more sales that too at 33% lower cost. So email marketing is important, and it is even more important for you to make sure that your email marketing campaigns are effective and optimized for the platform you are targeting.
In the United States, over 61.6% of internet users use their smartphones to check their emails regularly. If you are one of those who check their emails on the phone, then you belong to the majority of citizens who do this. This fact has encouraged many designers to create emails prioritizing mobile readers and then making sure that it will look good for those who read it on desktops too. Ultimately, when an email is created with clean designs and email best practices in mind, the results will reflect in the click-through as well as open rates. Email marketing holds a lot of opportunities for your brand so optimize your email campaigns to target mobile users so that you do not miss out on one of the most viable ways of getting leads and conversions. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Simplicity
All email campaigns rely on clear and concise formatting. Mobile users have a fairly small screen when compared to desktops. The clarity of your design with lesser negative space will help your readers distinguish the content easily. Knowing that the entire email will not be seen at once, sift for the essential elements of your mail and put them right at the top where your readers can see them first and as they scroll down they can go through the rest of the mail along with the social sharing buttons located towards the bottom of your mail.
Your goal is to focus on functionality because of the limited viewing window. So a stacked layout will work better than a multi-column layout. Mobile devices will find it easier to accommodate single column layouts than those with multiple columns. The width must remain within 500 to 600 pixels because if your mail exceeds 600 pixels, your message will not display properly. If you create a mail that requires frequent zooming in and zooming out, they may miss out on the call to action button and you may miss out on the chance of a conversion.
Make your fonts readable
The minimum font size of your email body should be 13 pt. because if you make them any smaller, it will be reformatted which will spoil your layout and not have the intended effect on your readers. While the minimum size of your header should be 22pt., you can experiment with the header and go up to 30 pt. which will make it show up better.
Another thing that you must put some thought into, is the color of your fonts against the background of your email. You may want to consider the fact that some of your readers may have the brightness of their smartphones turned down. This means that if you use contrasting colors, the words will stand out and make it more readable.
Subject Line
The subject line of your email decides whether your readers will go ahead and open it or not. It goes without questioning that the subject line should be able to encourage your customers into reading further. But what you would also want to remember is that every email client behaves differently when it comes to the number of characters that are displayed on the subject line. You may want to invest time in a few statistics to figure what will work best for you. You must find out which email client is used the most and look for subject lines that have had more conversions in the past. Look for the length that has worked with you by looking at the past trends of your email and utilize this information to optimize your future emails.
It has been noticed that Gmail and iPhone are the most used when it comes to reading mails, and the number of characters that work best in them is between 40 and 70 characters in portrait mode. While this can vary depending on the audience that you are targeting, you can use A/B testing to check for the efficacy of your subject lines.
Pre-Header and Footer
The pre-header text is usually displayed right under the subject line and functions to supplement it. A persuasive pre-header can entice your audience into opening the mail because it is the first line of copy that they see. You may want to include the company logo here because this is the next thing that the user sees after the subject line. I have been talking about the importance of targeting mobile users, so make your pre-headers such that your readers can choose to open it in a mobile web browser. This is helpful because certain email clients do not open images automatically.
Another aspect to your email is the footer which helps you adhere to mailing regulations. This part of your mail must include a link which allows your readers to unsubscribe to your mails so that your mails are considered legal and ethical. This ensures that your business does not lose its credibility and the trust of its readers. There are several other CAN-SPAM regulations which are a part of this section of your email, brands that intend to establish the trust of their readers will make sure that these regulations are followed.
Call to Action
The soul of your email lies in the call to action button which is what drives the leads and conversions. Your focus should be on creating a call to action button which emphasises on the benefits and puts through a clear message to the users. Keep in mind that the button has to be of a size which makes it easy for the readers to click on it. Tech giant, Apple considers 44 pixels to be the ideal size, which means that you can create a button that is 44 x 44 pixels. Anything smaller than 44 pixels may make it difficult for your readers to tap the button correctly.
To make your email design ergonomic make sure that you keep it between 44 to 57 pixels. Your readers will be using their thumbs primarily to go through your email so design it with this in mind.
Images
We have been dealing with more images in marketing than ever before. However, this does not translate into overusing images to the extent that your readers find it too cluttered. Certain email clients are selective with displaying graphics and your users will not be able to see the images till they choose to display the images. This means alternative text must be added to your email body so that your users can get an idea of the content even if the images do not display.
While you may be spending a considerable amount of time trying to optimize the graphics so that they turn out right for your readers, a good way to do this in less time is to use a file optimizer which will help you in placing the images correctly so that your email has a more consistent look on all devices. Alternatively, you can also have the maximum width of the image set in proportion to the screen it will occupy while the height can be set to ‘auto’ so that it can adjust itself according to the width. With all this done, make sure you preview your email so that you know exactly how it looks when your user is going to open it.
Effective Content
The content of your email should be designed just the way you would design your web content. The amount of words and the spacing bears a lot of importance. With lesser retail space, you have to make every word count. The beginning of your email should contain the most important points of your mail. Busy schedules do not allow readers to spend a lot of time on emails. So being precise in as few words as possible is very important. The more time you spend in adding frills to your email, the lesser time your users are going to spend on reading it. You have to stand out so that your users choose your email amidst other promotional emails. SO focus on delivering intriguing content which captures their attention quickly and easily.
Scalable or Responsive Design
Depending on your marketing strategies, you may have to choose between a scalable design and a responsive one. While scalable designs are simplistic and can be resized to fit the mobile screen. But try adding lots of content and graphics and the scalable design can be ruined. On the other hand, if you are going to use responsive design, it may be slightly complicated for beginners but they have better conversion rates and open rates. Certain email clients also provide templates to help you create emails that can be displayed successfully across all platforms.
Best Practices
Without the right design and strategy, you will not be able to hit the nail on the head. If you plan at making your email campaign successful, then you have to remember that having the know-how and using the tips I have outlined will give you an upper hand when you run an email campaign. Make sure that you check the email thoroughly before it is floated to your readers. Look for mistakes, alignment, font and color to make sure that they look the way you want them to.
The basics of email campaigns remain the same almost always – keep a minimalistic approach, use images appropriately, images and text should be balanced and remember to add plain text for readers who may not be able to see the images. If you choose the right design and approach for your emails, you will have the assurance that it is reaching the right audience and that they are moving further into the conversion funnel. Email marketing can be one of the best ways to tap into potential customers so help your brand grow by making your email marketing campaign effective.
