Crack the Mobile Email Code Understanding and engaging mobile customers

MailChimp.com @DataNeel

Atlanta based email marketing provider8M users

113B sends in the year

Develop tools Conduct research

Use of phones to browse the internet doubled from 2009-2013 –  Pew Research Center

Data used per phone will increase 15% annually through 2020 –  2014 Ericsson Mobility Report

Mobile devices are taking over, people are on the go, and smaller

screens are on the way

We analyzed sends/clicks from a sample of addresses for 6 months

Device types were determined from log files

PC users accounted for 64% of email addresses and 72% of clicks

Unique click rates represent % of people with at least one click Total click rates are all clicks divided by all sends Users on smaller and more mobile devices click less

Total click rate is distributed over all links in a campaign Each individual link does not have great odds Shorter campaigns with important links near the top will draw attention to featured content

Engaging mobile users presents two design challenges - Recipients on the go might not be focused on your content - Content designed for large screens might not fit smaller screens

Responsive design and Inbox Inspection can help - Responsive designs adapt to various screen shapes/sizes - Inspection lets you view see your content looks on different devices

Scrolling, panning, and zooming to read on a phone is inconvenient - Readers might not see off-screen content or might give up on trying

Responsive design is the answer

- Responsive apps/stores/emails are the right size on any screen - MailChimp, Shopify, Tumblr, and other tools have responsive themes

Responsive template use increased click rates across the board Mobile/tablet users saw a proportionally larger increase in engagement

Responsive templates primarily help early in the campaign

I have one phone. How do I know if my responsive design works? Litmus and other tools have your back

- Preview what your content looks like on various devices - iOS and Android SDKs have emulators - Other services also exist to preview content on specific devices

Proactively thinking about how users see your content is extremely effective

Litmus tested campaigns have a more uniform click rate across all links Senders can reevaluate their designs after seeing them on various devices

Steps to success… þ Create great content that demands attention ☐ Make sure that your design is responsive ☐ Test your designs on a variety of devices ☐ High five yourself

Thanks! @DataNeel