4 Quick Tips to Help Format Marketing Emails for Mobile Devices

Mobile is has affected business in many ways over the past 7 years. Your business has most likely added a responsive web site and mobile applications over that past few years to improve how it communicates with its customers.

But have you looked at the way you are sending emails? Have you considered that over half of the email that are opened are viewed on mobile devices?

Optimize your email for improved effectiveness | Photo: Sharon & Nikki McCutcheon (Flikr)

In today’s business world it is important that you consider the effect of smaller screens on your email communications. Savvy mobile age marketers consider how their email will be viewed and optimize for improved effectiveness.

On top of email being read more often on smaller devices now you will also need to consider that your audience is giving less and less time to each piece of digital content, you need to grab their attention quickly or risk being ignored. People now read emails anywhere and everywhere, while they are busy or on-the-go and are selective about what they read. It is more important than ever that you consider these factors to improve the effectiveness of your emails.

Here are 4 quick tips to help you format your marketing emails for mobile devices:

Purposeful Subject

When writing your subject, first consider that only 30-45 characters may be visible prior to someone actually opening their email. On some devices that number can be even lower. Space is a premium so make sure you use it wisely. The goal of your subject line is to entice the recipient to open your email. It should be meaningful and related to key information that invite the consumer to read on.

Engaging Visual Content

Once your recipient has opened your email, it is important that you keep them engaged. Graphics can grab a users attention and hep keep them reading. Visuals should be related to the subject and add to the communication. Make sure that that visuals are optimized for smart phones. However, many email programs block images so make sure your email is effective without it and that you utilize alt tags.

Organize for Scanning

Make your email easy for users to scan with bullet points and bold statements highlighting key information. Assume that your reader will be giving your email a quick glance and make it easy for them to understand the message on a quick review. Don’t opt for small fonts, make it easy for your recipient to read. You will want to use 12 point font size for body copy and 20 point size for the headline to make it easy to read. Avoid fonts much larger to help stay out of your readers’ spam folders.

Make it Obvious What Your Reader Should Do

After taking the effort of sending out a message you want to make sure it is obvious what your reader should do. Your call to action should be noticeable and easy to read.

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