Keys? Check. Wallet? Check. Cell phone? Check.
This is the mental list many ponder before going anywhere. And studies show that some Americans check their email accounts in the middle of the night and many remotely peruse their work accounts on Sunday evening; meaning that the next trend—that consumers are checking their email accounts on-the-go with mobile devices—isn't much of a shock.
What it does mean is that marketers have to be mindful of this channel integration and how it impacts communication. Here to provide helpful hints and design advice are:
- John Arnold, director of customer training and certification for Waltham, Mass.-based email marketing software provider Constant Contact, and author of "Mobile Marketing for Dummies"—coming out at the end of the month—"Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference" and "E-Mail Marketing for Dummies";
- Dennis Dayman, chief deliverability and privacy officer at Vienna, Va.-based marketing automation solution provider Eloqua;
- Michelle Eichner, vice president of product management at Unica's Pivotal Veracity, an email delivery auditing and optimization solution provider;
- Bryce Marshall, director of strategic services at Akron, Ohio-based "direct digital marketing company" Knotice; and
- Alex Williams, digital marketing strategist at Portland, Ore.-based email marketing firm eROI.
A few behavioral hints can help marketers succeed in their mobile email efforts:
1. Mobile is becoming the primary way to communicate with consumers. Williams says: "In several recent tests done by eROI with our clients, we almost always see mobile engagement rank the highest, followed by desktop. Both B-to-B and B-to-C customers are spending much more time with email on their mobile devices."
Marshall says: "Within years, it's likely the majority of all emails may be viewed on a mobile device. So decisions like overall email design, copywriting, calls to action and links should be re-examined thoroughly to understand if your emails are simply asking for more time and expecting greater screen real estate than your customers are able to provide."
2. Context is key, so content may have to change to fit the situation. Cell phones are portable and can be used to make immediate calls, instead of just being used as computers to look at websites, Arnold notes. So adding a phone number that consumers can click or touch to call brings up the issue of whether marketers should connect calls to live agents or use voice recognition technology.
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