Email is here to stay, says findings from Adobe’s annual email survey. The report shows that people constantly check their personal and work email, with smartphones overtaking computers as the device consumers use most regularly to check email.
Time spent checking email increased 17 percent Year-over-Year (YoY) and people expect email will remain the preferred way of communicating at work in five years. Email in the workplace is becoming less formal and more brief, with expectations of quick responses increasing. Nearly 70 percent check email while watching TV and 45 percent while in the bathroom.
While a common misconception paints email as an archaic form of communication, time spent checking emails has in fact increased for white collar workers, making it the perfect channel for marketers to utilize in reaching out to their target audiences.
This trend can be observed in Singapore as well, where a report by Experian has found that email continues to come out a top channel for marketers in Singapore, particularly as the biggest driver of online-to-offline conversion.
With decreasing attention spans and heavy competition with many sources of content, marketers must be mindful not to add to the noise in consumers’ inboxes. How would one go about optimizing strategies to ensure that every email a brand sends to its consumers is a meaningful one, especially in country like Singapore whose users access their inboxes on multiple devices?
Adobe’s Kristin Naragon, Director of Email Solutions, has five critical tips for designing mobile-friendly email campaigns.
- Keep It Simple! This may seem obvious, but the simpler your email, the better your chances are of it displaying properly on mobile devices. When optimizing for mobile, think about what offers, links, and images are most important to display.
- Optimize for Fingers— Not Mouses. Remember that customers will be navigating your emails using their fingers — not mouses. Make sure your links and buttons are large enough and have enough space to make them easy to tap.
- An Image Tells a Thousand Words. Not everyone will be reading your email on a large screen, so ensure text is easy to read and to the point. Remember, an image is worth a thousand words.
- Have a Single, Clear Call to Action. Make it obvious what you want your reader to do and put it near the top of the email. Don’t force your reader to scroll too much to get to the point.
- Leverage Technology to Help You Test. It’s nearly impossible to test against all of the different mobile devices, operating systems, email clients, and mobile app combinations on the market today. Leverage technology providers to help you edit and test your email content.