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More than ever people are using devices other than their home computer to check their email. Since you’ve been reading this post your customers have probably done something on their mobile device, either sent a text message, surfed the Internet, or checked their email. With such a large and captive audience, a big question arises; is your business addressing the needs of your mobile customers? There are many simple things you can do to make your emails more mobile-friendly, that is, make them look better on your recipient’s mobile devices. If you have recipients who might be reading emails on their mobile devices, here are a few rules to consider when creating your emails.

1. Don’t Make them Download the Rest of Message – Your message might get truncated if it is too big. A large file size may cause your recipient to be prompted to “download the rest of the message”. Consumers are wary of downloading messages and frankly its just a hassle, so avoid large emails or you are running the risk of them not seeing your entire message or worse, deleting it.

2. Don’t Make them Scroll – You will want to avoid having your recipient do a lot of scrolling. Attention spans are limited, especially when dealing with mobile devices. Make sure your key takeaways don’t get buried at the bottom of your message.

3. Let them Know Who You Are – Make sure you include your logo at the top of email so you’re recognized immediately. If you are a trusted brand your logo will give your message a better chance of being read. At the very least, even if the customers only glaces at your message, with your logo and name at the top, you’ll have been exposed.

4. Click To View in a Browser – You’ll want to have a link for them to click to view your message in a browser, however you might think about putting it somewhere other than at the very top of your email. Many mobile devices display the beginning of the email in the inbox so your recipients can decide if they want to click to the entire email or not. Including the link to view in a browser might take up some valuable, attention grabbing, space.

5. Make Your Email Lose Weight! – Smaller devices, smaller screens, the next step to making email suitable for phones? Smaller emails. Make your emails 500-600 pixels wide.  The Admail.net Advantage Template labeled “White-Paper” is preset to 500 pixels already.

6. Let Them Call You – Include a click-to-call link if possible. The easier you make it for your recipient to contact you, the better.

7. Text Version is a Must – Make sure you have a text version of your emails in the event that your mobile recipients can only get text. Make sure you keep it short. Since emails usually have line breaks at about 60 characters and mobile devices 20 characters, you’ll want to cut back on some of your copy and direct them for more information to your website.

Reaching all of your customers is your goal and email on mobile devices is only becoming more predominate. Follow some basic mobile guidelines and your email marketing campaign will be accessible to all of your clients, no matter how they check their inbox.

Admail’s Accu Trak delivers key information to help you determine what is or isn’t working in your campaigns. Recently I attended the Marketing Sherpa Annual Conference, during one session the presenter said: While vast amounts of information and tracking that information are available, sometimes you have to ask yourself “Do I really need it?”. Clients many times want to track every minute detail to the moment of yes, Analytic Paralysis. Just because you can think of it does not always mean you can use it. Sometimes it really boils down to having a better understanding of what is in front of you.

A prime example of this is, another seminar I recently attended with an “E-mail Marketing expert” told the audience that email marketing was getting tougher because one; Open Rates where falling and two; excess junk in recipients inboxes.

Let’s cover open rates first. The fact open rates are falling isn’t that email marketing is not working it is that the technology has changed. In 2005 Microsoft began blocking Images by default and other email software makers have since followed suit. Many of you I am sure have noticed the Load Images buttons on your email browser or, the “Problems viewing this page click here” link in email header’s.

Opens historically have been tracked by an embedded 1×1 pixel image in HTML emails. What this meant was, once an email was touched upon in a preview window or opened briefly by the recipient – a message was sent back to the sender that the email had been “Opened or Viewed” – but not necessarily read. Therefore as users migrated to the new email client software opens appeared to be  dropping. Which isn’t all bad! What it does mean is that you are now seeing a truer picture, of who is actually reading your emails. Many times people view this as a delivery issue or their email program has become ineffective which isn’t the case!

Before you throw the baby out with the bath water take a look at your click through these are true readers and they moved from the body of your email to your web site for more information.

If you really want to drill down on your ROI either use the Click Through email address to match back on your transactions or upgrade to the Admail.net Custom Fields to pass a campaign Source Code to your shopping cart, you can even tie it into your Google Analytics. But, don’t forget to ask yourself do I really need it or what am I going to do with the number once I have it. Order more widgets?

Information overload can bog you down – if sales are off over analyzing it won’t fix the problem – but a fresh approach can. I have been involved in target marketing for close to thirty years and one thing is for certain what Works – Works! I repeatedly see people and businesses get myriad in statistics that some Guru recommended.  For decades Mutual Funds and Wall Street Analysts have used the disclaimer “Past performance is not a guarantee of future results”. Don’t become a victim of Analytic Paralysis!

The second point, “excessive junk mail” you have a perfect leg up with Admail.net our robust delivery system provides you the perfect options. Send your email during the day or early evening if you are marketing to consumers. If you are working across different time zones use the Interest Groups to break out your members by time zones or use Target Filters to break up your list member by State. For tips and information visit our FAQ section on Email and Spam Blockers.

FACT:
In five seconds or less, your company’s email subject and content will determine whether a customer decides to keep your newsletter or update;  Or flag-it as SPAM.

Try to be deceptive or coy and all of your future email will be trashed. Customers want the facts and it is your responsibility to give it to them. Make the Open-or-Delete decision easy. A well thought out email strategy is a vital part of any traffic-driving effort, and we see a close connection between email frequency and the use of multiple email marketing channels and traffic.  But I am getting ahead of myself; The topic of this post, 5 Seconds You Can’t Afford To Waste!

Can your email answer these questions in two seconds or less?

Who is the e-mail from?

• Keep it familiar.

What’s in it for me?

• Keep your Subject focused.

What do you want me to do?

• A clear course of action.

ACTIONS:
Write clear, not cutesy, subject lines. State the value proposition there, and build on it in the snippet/pre-header text (the first line of text in your message).

State the Details with a clear course action in your email:
Moms (and other shoppers) want to know prices and final costs up front, both the discount and the amount of money saved, not just the percentage off. Some said they were frustrated to find out how expensive shipping was after clicking on the offer and going all the way through the checkout process. That builds distrust in your future messages.

Keep your subject focused, we all know that one of the most important parts of an email campaign is the subject line and everyone is trying to come up with the perfect one.

Here are four subject lines that you should never use in your campaigns or transactional emails. Not only do they violate best practices, but in some cases they break the law. The CAN SPAM ruling states that for any commercial email, you must have your subject line relate to the content of the email.

Subject Line #1 – Hi, My name is Paul
Subject Line #2 – I need your help, please?
Subject Line #3 – Bob, I haven’t received your shipping address yet.
Subject Line #4 – Bob, Please accept my sincerest apology.

These gimmicks to trick the recipient into opening an email are a bad idea. It may raise curiosity, however, when the recipient opens the email they’re going to feel tricked and unsubscribe or worse report your email as SPAM, because these subject lines most likely will not relate at all to the  body copy. You may trigger complaints and attract  the FTC attention for violating CAN SPAM rulings. Subject line #3 is particularly onerous; it seems like the sender is trying to get more information from the recipient. Because it’s personalized, the recipient may actually give it!

CONCLUSION:
Be clear and concise make sure your subject leads the reader to the body of your email. Keep the first portion of the email’s body easily identifiable with your company identity, brand and purpose. It is critical to provide a link to your website in the first paragraph–this lends credibility to your offer and ease of use for your customer. Remember, consumers and business professionals today are bombarded with useless misinformation. They will appreciate (and become more loyal) if you’re accurate and to the point, even if they aren’t placing an order today.

When using your Admail Email Builder Templates with Images – IE 8’s default security setting will ask you “Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely” and the answer is “No”. If you say yes the unsecured Images in your Template  (photos, logos, etc) will not load and you will find yourself stuck!  See sample screen shot below.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 just say No to security warning!

1. Does my subject line entice readers to open?
   They are the most important 8-10 words in your campaign. Make sure yours is a clear, concise introduction that entices your readers to take a look inside.
2. Am I making the most of the preview pane?
   At first glance, many of your recipients will just see the first few inches of your campaign, so make your point and your brand standout, also assume they may not see your graphics USE TEXT!
3. Is my email easy on the eyes?
   With simple, intentional font and style choices, you’ll help grab and keep your readers’ attention.
4. Does the message come through, even if the images don’t?
   Since many email clients don’t automatically display images, balancing yours with text will help you make your point in any display possibility.
5. Does this email have a personal touch?
   Whether it’s with a personalized greeting, warm tone, or specialized content, make sure your email feels like a conversation with people who know you, not a blinding “blast”.
6. Does my email need to be gender specific?
   Fact: Women read, men scan bullets & images – the List Builder “Signup Form” lets you ask and Email Builder “Target Filters” help you target your audience – it only takes a few seconds to ask. For help contact Customer Service.