Email is not dead, but it might be if you don’t utilize responsive design (email that isn’t coded and optimized for mobile viewing across multiple screens and devices). The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) recently published an article about email and responsive design: ‘Delete This Email!’ Why Mobile Email Matters to Your Business.
Before any of you building materials marketers tell me how this is not applicable for ‘your’ audience, you better start preparing now, because it will be soon.
According to a recent McKinsey & Company study, email is still 40 times more effective at acquiring customers than Facebook and Twitter combined.
- 91% of all U.S. consumers still use email daily
- Emails lead to purchases at least three times more than through social media
- The average order value is 17% higher
This means it is important to increase the scope of how recipients are viewing your emails, especially since people are increasingly on the go. According to U.S. Consumer Device Preference Report: Q4 2013, 65% of all emails are now opened on a mobile device.
Probably the most important fact of all: 42% of mobile users delete emails* that don’t display on their devices correctly.
That means, of the emails you send, four of every 10 recipients might as well have the subject line (you guessed it): “Delete This Email!”.
Froont Blog’s 9 Basic Principles of Responsive Web Design is a comprehensive explanation, complete with animated examples, about what responsive design is. Click the image below to view how breakpoints are utilized in emails for mobile responsiveness:
Another great way to understand responsive design is to pay attention to the emails you receive and how you interact with them on your devices.
The CMI suggests looking into responsive templates offered by email providers, but be sure to test and preview the templates on a few different devices.
Now is the time to stop thinking of emails as a straight to desktop touch point, because they are on-the-go and you better be able to keep up.
*GetResponse Study, 2013
