Did you know that most people will simply delete your email if it’s not properly visible on their mobile phones? Welcome to a world where mobile has surpassed desktop for several tasks, this includes reading emails. Many of today’s marketers will say that email is dead and sending clients an email newsletter would no longer yield any profit. They’re just plain wrong. According to a survey, reading emails comes second only to making phone calls for smart phone users.
This means that there are a large number of people who regularly read emails on their smart phones. The question is; have you optimized your email newsletter for smart phone viewing? If not, it’s time that you do. Here are some suggestions.
Consider the Layout
You might have noticed how the layout of a website changes when you view it on your desktop and on your smart phone. Most websites today are optimized for mobile viewing and the layout would reflect that. The layout isn’t just reducing the size of the newsletter according to the content. It’s rearranging the content for optimal mobile viewing. These are the layout points you should consider:
- Reduce scrolling and place all of the important information above the fold.
- Make sure that the links are touch-screen friendly and spaced out properly.
- Don’t try to squeeze in multiple columns in a narrow screen, instead follow a single column layout.
- Make your CTAs very visible and easy to click, if your audience have to zoom to click on the link, you’re doing it wrong.
- Keep image blocking in mind and use proper alternative text that would attract your customer.
- Keep whitespace on the newsletter so that your audience can scroll easily.
The First Three Lines
When the mobile audience are viewing the mail, they only see the sender name, the subject line, and the first line of your body of text. It’s a good idea to include the sender’s name instead of the company name if your brand is relatively unknown in the ‘from’ field.
The subject line, naturally, needs to grab attention immediately. If it doesn’t, there’s very little chance that the audience would read the email. You also need to ensure that the first line of text on the email newsletter is immediately attention grabbing. That would compel the reader to continue reading.
Keep the Content Skim-Friendly
Mobile users have a very short attention span. If your content is too bulky, they just don’t read it. Be sure that your content can be read in a glance. This means that you need shorter paragraphs, subheadings, bullet points, etc. The idea is to clearly present the content so that the users can read it easily. Remove any excess words and keep the content short and impactful.
After following all these points, it’s important to include a large, easily clickable call to action into your email newsletter. It’s a good idea to offer a clear advantage to drive clicks. People are more reluctant to follow CTAs on mobile devices than on desktops. You need to be convincing.
