Mobile Devices Drive 66 Percent Of Email Opens 

Like it or not, we are going mobile!  

I can pull up by the curb
I can make it on the road
Goin' mobile
I can stop in any street
And talk with people that we meet
Goin' mobile
Keep me movin

Many thanks to Pete Thownsend and The Who who saw the mobile phenomenon coming back in 1971.  

Movable Ink's US Consumer Device Preference Report tells us that 66 percent of emails were opened on a mobile device - either a Smartphone (47.2%) or Tablet (18.5%) in Q1 of 2014. By contrast, PC Open rates fell 34%.

"In fact there were more iPhone-driven email opens (38 percent) than on the PC as a whole (34 percent)."

Reading emails on the Smartphone peaks in the early morning - before work, while tablet usage peaks during the evening hours.  However, Smartphone usage is dominant all day long.

In previous articles, I have written about the importance of having a responsive, mobile freindly website.  But clearly having mobile friendly emails is equally important.  

Researchers from Yahoo and Cornell University reviewed 16 billion emails sent by two million people over the course of a few months and found the following:

Despite the mass of messages arriving in our inboxes, we’re still very quick to reply:

• Half of all replies occur within 47 minutes
• Two minutes is the most common response time
• Half of all replies use 43 words or less
• Replies sent in the morning are longer than replies sent in the evening

Regardless of whether you are sending or reading emails, this research quantifies what you already knew.  People read and respond to a lot of emails.  They do so on mobile devices so if you want to communicate with your clients and prospects, you must make sure your emails follow conventional protocall and are mobile friendly.  

Email marketing is powerful. It is one of the few true opt-in marketing programs.  Consumers make a conscience decision to not only give you their email address, they expect you to market to them.  We are responsible to make sure that we are sending relevant content, in a format the consumer can easily read on the device of their choosing.

If your open rates are in decline, you may need to revisit your subjects lines, your content and your call to action.  Or it may be something as simple as your emails are not readable on mobile devices.  

Responsive, mobile friendly websites.  Responsive, mobile friendly emails.

If you have questions about your email marketing program, give us a call at 419-776-7000 or send me an email at jeff@thriveim.com.  We can help.