• EMAIL MARKETING SERVICES
• CUSTOM EMAIL TEMPLATE DESIGN
• EMAIL CAMPAIGN DESIGN
• EMAIL COPYWRITING
• EMAIL DELIVERABILITY SERVICES
• MARKETING AUTOMATION SERVICES
• MARKETING AUTOMATION AUDIT
• MOBILE OPTIMIZED EMAIL

Email Mobile Optimization

Nearly half of all messages today are opened on a mobile device. If your email template isn’t optimized for mobile, these readers may not be able to read it easily or even see what it contains (maybe that’s why mobile click-through rates are just half those of desktop emails.) You need to mobile-optimize your emails now, as part of your email marketing optimization strategy. Consider the following email mobile optimization tips. People read emails differently than web pages: in a top-down sequence, rather than scanning the page. Be sure the reader will get a compelling reason to read on in the subject line and pre-header and that the top of the email contains useful information instead of a distorted graphic, tiny type or simply a blank box. The easiest way to do this is through using an email strategy that includes mobile aware and responsive design (in which elements shift depending on size of the window used to view the email.) At your request, Beasley’s email marketing optimization experts can perform an audit of your email template and sending platform against a variety of receiving email programs, both desktop and mobile. We’ll make detailed email mobile optimization recommendations which you can perform on your own, or with our help.

DesignSome considerations in email mobile optimization

• Content first: think top-down hierarchy
• Large text sizes to ensure readability
• Use contrast to ensure readability across brightness levels
• Don’t cram content into the viewport –honor legibility over length
• Keep buttons least 44px square for easy tapping
• Keep links/buttons to the center or left where they can be seen wherever the viewer is scrolling
• Separate links to avoid touching two links
• Repeat calls to action so they can be seen wherever the viewer is scrolling

 

 

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MORGAN HILL, CA

News Facts: Laurie Beasley, President of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. (www.BeasleyDirect.com) was asked by the Western Independent Bankers association to speak on email marketing (including mobile email marketing) and desktop email marketing at the 2015 Education Summit and Expo, September 21-23, 2015 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. Ms. Beasley’s session title will be “Optimizing Email for Desktop and Mobile Viewing: Keeping Email Users Satisfied and Engaged.”

Ms. Beasley’s session will discuss how email marketing is evolving from desktop to mobile viewing, however financial services, of all industries, must not stop optimizing for desktop viewing. While 52% of email opens happen from mobile, only 2% click on links in the email from mobile vs. 11% who click from desktop. This means financial institutions must optimize emails for BOTH the desktop and mobile viewing if they are going to maximize click through. This session will cover the essentials of how to make sure email marketing is effective no matter where customers are viewing, responsive email design and cross brower compability. About us:

Laurie B. Beasley is co-founder and president of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. Beasley Direct is a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, and demand generation campaigns for nearly 100 companies. Ms. Beasley serves as President of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California www.DMAnc.org. Laurie manages the eMarketing Roundtable for the BMA Northern California www.NorCalBMA.org. She is also an instructor of online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches for the Online Marketing Institute www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org. Ms. Beasley frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, AMA, Tech Council, and the Online Marketing Summit.

Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. (www.BeasleyDirect.com) is known for bringing the latest marketing strategies to online and direct marketing. Beasley Direct provides services in email marketing, search engine optimization, social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, website design, media planning, direct mail marketing, lead generation and nurture campaigns, and database management. Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. helps clients in both B2B and B2C marketing. Beasley Direct Marketing is privately held and headquartered in the Silicon Valley suburb, Morgan Hill, California. For more information, go to www.BeasleyDirect.com or call Laurie Beasley, President, at 408-782-0046 x21 or email lbeasley@beasleydirect.com.

Western Independent Bankers www.wib.org was established in 1937 and is the premier networking and educational organization for community banks in the West, connecting leaders from a wide geographical area to engage in focused exchanges of experiences that typically don’t take place elsewhere. WIB informs, educates and connects community banks with the resources and services to achieve the highest standards of personal and organizational performance. WIB has 180 bank members and 130 community bank service providers.

The post Laurie Beasley, President, Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. Will Speak on Email Marketing (including mobile email marketing) and desktop email marketing at the Western Independent Bankers 2015 Education Summit & Expo. appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

Mobile Email Marketing Best Practices

We’ve known for a while now that mobile is a critical factor in all things marketing. This is particularly true for email marketing today. Between October 2010 and October 2012, mobile email opens increased by a whopping 300%[1] According to Litmus Labs, 42% of the email client market share is on a mobile platform such as iPhone, iPad or Android.[2] ExactTarget reveals that 56% of consumers with a smartphone have purchased something as a result of an email message. This is a worldwide phenomenon, with USA email open rates trailing those of Europe, but growing quickly.

You may be doing a bang-up job on designing and writing emails to support your direct marketing effort—but if you aren’t designing email for the mobile device, you may be missing some real opportunities.

Passing the Gauntlet of Mobile Email Viewing

There are five stages of mobile email viewing. You must craft your email to move the customer successfully through each stage:

1. From line: who sent the email? If the reader isn’t interested in the from line, s/he will skip or delete. Some people won’t open email if they don’t recognize the sender, so it’s important that your from line is easy to understand. According to the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC), 73% of subscribers click “Report Spam” based on the content of the from field.
2. Subject line. The ESPC notes that 69% of subscribers decide whether to send your message to the spam folder based on the content of the subject line. For mobile viewers, you need to keep your subject line short and sweet–35 characters or less.
3. Preview pane (also called the preheader). Your call to action should be in the preview pane, because this is the next decision point for the reader. A compelling call to action here may tip the balance in your favor. You have about 85 characters to work with here.
4. Viewport. If you have crafted each of the preceding steps carefully, the subscriber will open the email. But you’re not home free yet—if the best part of your message falls below the “fold,” forcing the user to scroll down to see it, you may yet lose your customer. Make sure the most important content is right up front and remember how small that screen is. Consider using bullets, borders or background colors to encourage the subscriber to scroll down.
5. Scrolling view. Now the subscriber is scrolling down to read the complete message. Stick with clear and concise verbiage and make answering the call to action easy and obvious—a big button with clear wording such as “Get Your Free Upgrade” works well.

Tap and Swipe, Not Click

Always remember that mobile users are working with touch screens. They tap on links and swipe to see more. They don’t click or use a mouse or a keyboard. Your interactive elements should be large enough so that people can easily tap them on a tiny screen, even if they have “fat fingers”:

• Keep buttons at least 44 pixels square for easy tapping
• Keep links and buttons to the center or left for ease of use
• Separate links so the user doesn’t inadvertently tap more than one simultaneously
• Avoid hovers and other interactive user interface elements
• Never say “Click Here” because mobile users are tapping

Graphics and Formatting

The iPhone, which represents 24% of email opens,[3] scales messages down. Stick to a single-column layout, as double-column becomes hard to read on a small screen. Use large text sizes for the same reason. Use contrast to increase legibility—but don’t leap to an extreme, such as white type on a black background, which is difficult to read. Keep buttons extra large to be tappable even after shrinking, and use texture to make buttons more appealing.

Use large photos, both for their visual appeal, and also because they translate well to both mobile and desktop environments.

Responsive Design

Responsive design is a set of techniques used to make a layout readable and usable on any screen and any platform on which it is displayed. Use of fluid grids, fluid images and media queries allow “smart” messages to sense what kind of device is being used to display them, and adjust accordingly. A message that is displayed on a desktop as 600 pixels wide with multiple columns will recompose itself dynamically to become 320 pixels wide and single-column. In today’s multi-platform, multi-device environment, responsive design is the only way to go.

For more information on how to improve returns on email campaigns for both desktop and mobile, please download Beasley Direct Marketing’s white paper, “How To Do Your Own Email Audit: A Hands-On Guide or for a quick evaluation of your email template, contact us at www.BeasleyDirect.com

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