With tablets, desktops, and mobile devices, options are abound for when and where an email may be viewed.
Trends show that mobile email is taking command. In fact, according to Sign-up.to’s 2016 Email Marketing Benchmark Report, mobile email will account for 27 to 71% of email opens, depending on your target audience, product and email layout.
Source: Sign-up,to 2016 Email Marketing Benchmark Report
The only industries that showed a decrease in mobile opens from the same period last year were Sports/Leisure and Sales/Marketing/Design.
What does this mean for marketers?
The drop in mobile opens for Sales/Marketing/Design emails is indicative of a few things:
- The market is highly saturated with ineffective email communications. It’s simple. Trust in a medium will go down if the industry as a whole can’t provide trustworthy and strategic communications. It’s likely prospects aren’t even considering opening your email because trust has eroded over time in marketing communications.
According to Convince and Convert, 21% of email recipients report email as Spam, even if they know it isn’t.
- Your subject lines still aren’t working. You have a very small window of opportunity if you want someone to open your email. Make it count with catchy and clever subject lines.
According to Convince and Convert, 69% of email recipients report email as Spam based solely on the subject line.
- Your email isn’t making it to their inbox. Did you know that if over 10% of your emails are bad, less than 44% are delivered? It might be time for a cleaning. Make sure your list is squeaky clean.
Did you know? According to Litmus and Fluent’s 2016 Mobile-Friendly Email & Landing Page Trends, 34% of consumers have marked promotional emails as spam because they didn’t work well on their smartphone.
With these in mind, let’s look at what’s going on in the email marketing industry as it relates to mobile.
“You Had Me at Hello…”
One aspect of email marketing that will never change is your subject line needs to be relevant and eye-catching. Emails should scream, “Open me, I’m worthy of your attention!”
Convince and Convert states 35% of email recipients open email based on the subject line alone. This assumes a valid sender and makes the preview text all the more critical, as most users decide upon first glance if the email is worth their time.
Preview text, however, is especially valuable real estate on mobile as it’s more eye-catching than on a traditional desktop device. Use it or lose it to text like, “Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.”
Paying attention to the tiny details could mean large increases in your mobile open rates.
Being Responsive to Mobile Needs
With the rise of mobile, marketers and email providers have been forced to be responsive to the behaviors of consumers.
Here’s a look at how marketers and consumers have reacted to mobile email:
- 52% of marketers have adapted a simpler email design that renders well on all devices as of 2015. eConsultancy – “Email Marketing Industry Census” (2015)
- 45% of consumers have unsubscribed from promotional emails because the emails or website didn’t work well on their smartphone. Litmus and Fluent “2016 Mobile-Friendly Email & Landing Page Trends” (2016)
Source: Adestra “Consumer Adoption & Usage Study” (2016)
- 34% of consumers have marked promotional emails as spam because they didn’t work well on their smartphone. –Litmus and Fluent “2016 Mobile-Friendly Email & Landing Page Trends” (2016)
- 66% of marketers claim to have implemented mobile-optimized templates. However, only 18% of marketers have templates that support dynamic content, which enables you to personalize each email. –Getresponse “The State of Email Marketing by Industry 2016” (2016)
- 71.6% of consumers will delete emails if they don’t look good on mobile, while an average of 10% will read it anyway. –Adestra “Consumer Adoption & Usage Study” (2016)
The bottom line is that recipients of your emails have less patience and trust for non-responsive templates and unappealing messaging. Fix your mobile templates because they’re making a dent in your revenue streams.
Deliverability Means Dependability
Another aspect of getting your mobile emails opened is making sure they get to your inbox.
There is a direct relationship between inbox delivery and bounced emails. If over 10% of your emails bounce, less than 44% reach their desired inboxes.
Email deliverability is a serious issue:
- Over 20% of marketing emails never make itto a subscribers inbox.
- Global inbox placement is at 75.9%, meaning 1 out of 4 emails do not get placed into the inbox.
- An average of 74% of all emails are spam. (Commtouch)
While we could write (and will) a whole blog post and more going into the complicated and robust issue that is email deliverability, here are three primary reasons why your emails might not be getting delivered:
Sender Reputation:
“In a recent study by Return Path it was found that approximately 80% of email delivery problems are directly attributable to a poor sender reputation.”
- Check your sender score, the volume of emails sent, and your spam complaints.
Email Content:
Are you using trigger words or bad subject lines that are automatically placing you in spam filters?
- Trigger words include: Buy, clearance, double your, work at home, mortgage rates, price, lifetime, satisfaction, you’re a winner!, apply online, great offer, order now, FREE
- Subject line don’ts: avoid unnecessary punctuation, faking replies or forwards, avoid deception
List Quality:
List quality is the #1 segment of email marketing that is in your control.
- Avoid purchased or rented data. It will take longer for you to build your list, but it will keep your list clean and your IP white.
- Consider double opt-ins at sign-up to ensure you’re attracting people who want to be on your list.
- Clean your list if you haven’t in a while.
If you’re having problems with open rates, then deliverability might be your problem. Troubleshoot using the suggestions above to try and increase your chances of getting into the inbox.
I’m in an Email State of Mind…
Even though marketers are using an average of 14 different mediums to promote their brands, email remains the diva of communication.
People who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than people that do not receive email offers.
People who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than people that do not receive email offers, solidifying that there’s no better way to reach out than email (as long as it’s mobile-optimized, though).
What type of format are you utilizing? Newsletters, blogs, drip campaigns, automated mailings, incentive information? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
In the time it took to read this blog, 10,000 emails were verified by NeverBounce. Isn’t it time you cleaned up your act?