In this digital era many things have gained an online Outlook. In the same way marketing has also evolved and gained an online structure. There are many methods to market online and one such important tools is the electronic mail or simply the Email. Email is also a communication tool, used to exchange messages between people across the globe without out the distance barriers.
Emails are used to send and receive digital messages from one client to another. This form of communication is used widely across the world. Several email service providers are giving free and premium services to users across the globe.
There are over 4.3 billion email accounts running and it is expected to increase. Email can also be used as a method of marketing. Email open rate is one of the major criteria for marketing. The more the email is opened and read, more exposure can be achieved for the product. Email open rate is defined as the number of times the email is opened and read.
In the present day scenario every email marketer should keep in mind that smartphones, mobiles and tablets have a major share in the market. The number of users of mobiles have increased exponentially.
PDAs were used but not extensively before, but with the advent of the new generation mobile operating systems mobiles have started to occupy an important role. Emails, calls, messages no matter what the application is they are being developed for the mobiles.
Almost all the email service providers and mail user clients have mobile based apps be it Android or IOS or Windows, no matter what the platform is applications are available.
There is a little bit of difference between a desktop and a mobile or tablet. An email which is designed specifically for a desktop can have issues when viewed on a mobile or tablet. So a lot of care must be taken while crafting an email and also it has to be kept in mind that the email is viewable in all the different platforms.
The emails in html format are resized automatically when viewed in a mobile. So care should be taken while creating a template and then while creating the actual message that is to be sent to the client so that it can opened properly in a mobile device.
Several platforms be it the Google’s Android or Apple’s IOS or Microsoft’s Windows , no matter what the client is using a marketer should be prepared to send a campaign that matches all the formats.
Some of the major aspects that are to be kept in mind while optimizing an email for mobile view are
- Clean and Simple Images
- Responsive emails
- Appropriate words
- Text break up to match mobile format
- Buttons instead of urls
- Bigger fonts
- Streamlined content
- Alt images
- Smaller size images
- Resizable images
- Larger call to action buttons
Lets us discuss the points in details
Clean and Simple Images
All emails should include images that are mobile friendly. They should fit the height and width of the mobiles or tablets and also the images should be clear.
Responsive emails
Responsive emails are created to automatically resize and fit to the viewing device. This can help a lot as the mobile and tablets come in various sizes.
Appropriate words
In a mobile the viewing space is limited and hence it is only proper that the words that are visible convey the meaning. Hence it is better to keep text which conveys the meaning without giving any unwanted information.
Text break up to match mobile format
The text should be placed or formatted in such a way that it is friendly for mobile viewing.
Buttons instead of URLs
A url or link can be very lengthy sometimes, it may not be properly visible in the mobile. So instead of a url a button would be better as it occupies less space and also it can be made to look more visually appealing than an url.
Bigger fonts
Having smaller fonts can make reading highly difficult in the mobile view, Hence using a bigger font will have better results. Any client viewing in a mobile may not find it appealing to read in a smaller font. Also the font should not be very much larger that the entire text does not fit to the mobile or tablet.
Streamlined content
It is advisable to not include any unwanted links or text in the email. It may be a hinderance in viewing the actual content for which the email is drafted and sent in the first place. So this must be kept in mind when developing an email.
Alt images
There may be clients who block images to save their data or there may be certain data providers who do not allow images or there may also be email applications which block images. Hence it is always recommended to include alt text for the images so when they do get blocked it doesn’t effect the campaign.
Smaller size images
Images which are very large and occupy have very huge space are not advisable. No matter how much clear image you need you can always compress the image to a lower size. An image with a very high size cannot be loaded quickly on a mobile and also consumes a lot of data. So care should be taken and images with lesser size should be chosen rather than a bigger size image.
Resizable images
Images which can auto adjust to the mobile or tablet are better than regular images as they can adjust to the various devices. Instead of having a huge program to adjust to various mobile content a single re adjustable image is better.
Larger call to action buttons
In a mobile the call to action buttons are the main things that an user looks at as they have a higher contrast and are viewed first. Hence larger buttons with very high contrast have a better appeal.
Applying these and any other way to optimize the emails for mobile viewing helps in getting a better response from clients.
