Mobile Email Strategy Is About How A Brand Leverages The Potential Of Mobiles, Which Are In Essence Digital Swiss Knives

We’ve heard and read a number of theories about email marketing over the years. Since mobile has emerged to be the space where customers live, mobile marketing is also an imperative for CMOs. Now, it’s time for both to come together – Mobile Email Marketing.

Here’s why:

• In 2018, 22-77% of email opens will be through mobile (eMailMonday)
• Device-based email opens – desktop 17%, webmail 36%, mobile 47% (Litmus)
• 75% of customers use smartphones ‘most often’ to check emails and 60% of them check emails on the move (Fluent)
• 81% of customers use smartphones ‘regularly’ to check emails (Adobe)

The numbers above clearly suggest the need for a mobile email strategy to stay two steps ahead of the marketing game. And, it’s not just about email lists, targeting, segmentation, or signups. Mobile email strategy is about how a brand leverages the potential of mobiles, which are in essence digital Swiss knives. Mobiles have already transformed how people interact and engage with brands. The time is ripe for mobiles to transform the interaction and engagement of audiences with your email marketing programs.

A Lot is Already Happening in Mobile Emails

Let the future canvas of mobile emails aside here for a moment. There’s lots going on already. Banks send you an email to confirm and validate every transaction you make. An email notification from customer support tells you that a particular service issue is resolved. Printed receipts are out of fashion with email receipts in vogue for retail. No more queuing up for boarding passes. Online check-ins are here and you’ve got your boarding pass in your inbox. Emails with QR codes have also been around for a while. You can scan them to unlock discounts, offers, movie tickets, and a whole lot more!

The possibilities that the blend mobile and email offers is like a vast blue ocean. There’s lots to explore. Thus, when CMOs and their teams come together for a mobile email strategy, envisioning those possibilities becomes the decisive factor.

Let’s ponder over some must-dos for a successful mobile email strategy and execution.

Also Read: How to Nail Your Customer Loyalty Program

Geolocation is Wonderful; Make it Your Mobile Email Dominion

People carry their mobiles everywhere and with technologies like Geolocation and Geofencing, a marketer can gather precise information about where a customer is. Event marketing has already witnessed a paradigm shift because of this. You can locate the precise location of an attendee, and send him an email with your booth details. Accompany the email with a registration discount. That’s even better. Geofencing can be used to identify the maximum visits from a customer to a store. That can be transformed to make offline and online experiences come together. Travel and hospitality sectors can do something similar for hotel or restaurant check-ins.

Make Use of Templates that are Mobile-Ready

You can have a great email list and the entire tech necessary to back it up, but at the end of the day, what matters is not the number of emails you sent. What matters is the number of emails that are opened and the subsequent CTRs. To get those numbers going, a good-looking mobile email campaign is essential.

The best way to do so is to utilize templates that are designed for mobile. It straightaway makes way for higher open rates. Getting your graphics team to do the chopping and cropping to fit desktop templates to mobile isn’t wise. Of course, you can get all geeky with codes to make your emails mobile-ready. But that calls for time, resources, and skill. For lean marketing teams, this is not feasible. There’re services from Campaign Monitor and MailChimp to choose from for mobile-ready templates with previews before a campaign goes live.

Also Read: Why Your Brand Needs to Become [P]interesting to Reign Social ROI

Avoid Long Subject Lines for Mobile Emails

Desktop subject lines can be a tad longer because the viewing range is more. For mobile email subject lines, less is always more. Tests show that an 80-character subject line for desktop is optimum. The same for mobile reduces to 30-characters. The rest get cut which hits open rates and CTRs.

Here’s an example of what works and what doesn’t in subject lines for mobile emails:

Make Preheader Texts Convincing

Another crucial element that determines whether or not your recipients open your emails on mobile and click on CTAs, etc. (CTRs) is the preheader. A preheader is the short textual summary that is seen right below the subject line in an inbox. It’s your gateway to ‘sell’ or ‘convince’ them to take action; be it ‘buy’, ‘sign up’ or ‘subscribe’. Preheader should match your subject line seamlessly and it too needs to be short and crisp for mobile.

Preheaders like “Want to learn about Mobile CX? Just open” work pretty well.

The ‘From’ Matters More than You Think

• 68% of people in the US decide to open an email on the basis of ‘from’ name

Since it’s displayed prominently in a mobile email, the ‘from’ name holds more weight than you may credit it for. The crux here is to map it to what your audience is expecting. Simply put, when you sign up for Grammarly newsletters, you expect an email ‘from’ Grammarly not Sarah or Michelle. While the mobile email campaign may be run by Sarah or Michelle, you still want to see Grammarly in the ‘from’ section. However, reach out or retargeting emails can have specific individual ‘from’ names. There, ‘from’ Sarah or Michelle offers a personal touch. Info@, support@, helpdesk@ are a strict ‘no-no’ for mobile emails.

Also Read: Mobile CX Trends: Time for Marketers to Press for More Control

Please the Eyes First

• An average of just 51 seconds is spent on a newsletter after it’s opened

Once opened, mobile emails, just like a Michelin star dish, should captivate the eyes first. The human mind processes visuals 60,000 times quicker than text. That’s the gateway to CTRs. In short, you have less than a minute for your recipient to take action. Don’t load email bodies with text. Let your visuals do the talking in the mobile email body to get higher CTRs. Keep in mind that images or colors in mobiles and desktops vary in appearance.

Here’s how FreshBooks pleased the eyes to convey its partnership with ZenPayroll (now Gusto) via mobile email.

Mobile-Optimized Landing Pages

Opens and CTRs are insightful metrics vital to mobile email campaigns. However, the real essence or the end-game of your mobile email strategy is lead generation and conversion. And, that happens after the CTRs. High opens and CTRs reflect your reach but your stakeholders want ROI. Ensure that all clicks within your email get directed to landing pages that are optimized for mobiles.

Be it ‘read full whitepaper’, ‘add to cart’ or ‘take the quiz’, all of them must lead recipients to landing pages which drive further engagement on mobile. If you go amiss here, you miss a prospect or lead. It gets worse when they turn a blind eye to your next mobile email due to a poor past experience. Mobile email elements are dominos. The vicious cycle of disengagement then means drastic dips in opens and CTRs for your subsequent campaigns.

Put All The Pieces Together and Go the Full Distance

No one ever appreciates a half-baked pie. As a marketer, the onus is totally on you to create and execute mobile email campaigns in which there are no missing pieces. Avoid shortcuts when it comes to mobile emails. Don’t blind yourself with only opens and CTRs numbers. Go the complete distance, and let the aim be that every mobile email should engage your customers all the way – opens, clicks, leads, and conversions. That’s how you can achieve 360-degree success in delivering a compelling CX via mobile email.

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