3. Introductions… Justine Jordan Marketing Director, Litmus justine@litmus.com | @meladorri Presentation available at www.slideshare.net/litmusapp
4. Email is moving beyond the desktop Subscribers are viewing emails in a diverse ecosystem of webmail, desktop, mobile and social contexts. Today we’ll talk about: Current status and predictions for the future Options for mobile email Best practices in mobile email design Agenda
5. 9.29% OF OPENS ARE ON A MOBILE DEVICE 2-15% on individual campaigns 30%+ for niche audiences Source: Litmus Email Analytics, March 2011
6. Mobile Opens by OS iPhone accounts for 85.95%of iOSopens; iPad for 14.05% Source: Litmus Email Analytics, March 2011
7. Top Ten Email Clients by Opens Source: Litmus Email Analytics, March 2011
8. Your mileage may vary… Source: Email Analytics for Litmus Newsletter, February 2011
9. Smartphone OS Share Predictions Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, March 29, 2011
10. Do you have a mobile audience? Web analytics, user agent detection, surveys and preference centers can help you decide.
11. The analytics make a case User agent detection Web analytics Clicks on mobile link Existing mobile site/app Existing SMS program Transactional emails for “on the go” situations In-store coupons Mobile purchases Travel updates Urgent communications Making the mobile email choice
12. Display and Support Challenges There are no mobile email standards! *HTML or images enabled by default ◐ Blackberry HTML email may be enabled, but is not on by default in 4.5/5. The ability to download images automatically is an option. Blackberry 6 has webkit support and displays HTML email by default, but a prompt appears to download external images ‡ inconsistent wrapping and scaling of text
13. Display and Support Challenges Android alt text Symbian images off Symbian images on
14. Display and Support Challenges WinMo Preview WinMo images off WinMo images on
15. Link to a “mobile-friendly” text version Usually a modified plain text version Often the first step in a testing phase Requires an extra click No longer truly mobile friendly Link to mobile-specific version Requires extra resources (more design/production time) Requires an extra click CSS @media queries and scalable layouts No extra click Suitable for newer phones with HTML capability May require more advanced coding know-how Mobile Email Options
16. Link to “mobile friendly” text version Why the extra click?? web site mobile version email
26. Facebook Messages FBM viewed on the iPhone app have functioning links and better HTML support. “Other” inbox does not appear in Android or WinMo app
27. Facebook Messages: Another “Device”? Use caution with divider lines FBM may cut off footers, unsubscribe information
28. Monitor for @facebook.comaddresses Messages are grouped together by from name (i.e. info@acme.com) No subject lines Commercial email goes in the “other” folder Text Version Tips Drop navigation bar and submessages Place the most important message first Line length < 60 characters to avoid undesirable line breaks Use capitalisation, line breaks, dashed lines and other devices to visually separate different messages. Facebook Messages
29. “Best Practices” in Mobile Email “Methods and techniques that have consistently shown results superior than those achieved with other means, and which are used as benchmarks to strive for. There is, however, no practice that is best for everyone or in every situation, and no best practice remains best for very longas people keep on finding better ways of doing things.” - BusinessDictionary.com “The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered more effectively with fewer problems and unforeseen complications.” - Wikipedia
30. “Best Practices” in Mobile Email Single column design Large(r) fonts Pressable buttons & “thumb navigation” Short, direct content Clear + direct calls to action Eliminate or hide low priority content Remember subscriber experience & context is key Design for mobile first!
32. Beware text resizing After (Android) Before (Android) Plan for font sizes to auto-adjust (13px minimum on iOS) Use CSS “-webkit-text-size-adjust: none” for iPhone and Android, possibly BlackBerry 6
33. Elevate the Content People Care About Think Top Down Brand Appropriately Use UI Elements Consistently Make Targets Fingertip-Size Read the User Experience Guidelines http://www.mobilexweb.com/blog/ui-guidelines-mobile-tablet-design
40. Are mobile users more engaged? “Killing time is a killer app for mobile use.” -Nielsen Norman Group Email Newsletter Usability, 4th Edition Read (>7 seconds) Skim Read (2-7 seconds) Glance/Delete (<2 seconds) Source: Litmus Email Analytics, March 2011
41. Don’t panic! Mobile is changing fast, but it’s easier than you think Discovery is an accomplishment! Look for the mobile use case, use resources wisely HTML is well supported, but images are often blocked Ditch the plain text “mobile friendly” version Adapt to a single column design with touch-friendly elements Optimise text versions for Facebook messages Get inspired by your mobile OS, apps, site Readability, experience and context is key Let analytics and data be your optimisation guide Top Ten Takeaways
42. Get in touch! Justine Jordan Marketing Director, Litmus justine@litmus.com | @meladorri Presentation available at www.slideshare.net/litmusapp
Editor's Notes
Stats and figuresNo best practices!! No silver bullet!! OMG!!How different smart phones handle HTML email (examples)Start with a plan: Design and content strategy – it’s always mattered but it REALLY matters nowOptions for mobile email (text version, dedicated, scalable, css @media) (examples)Scalable layouts – can responsive web design make the leap to email? What’s the future hold? We don’t know, but we can speculate.
Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 99.6 million units in 1Q11, nearly double from the 55.4 million units in the first quarter of 2010.Mobile web browsing is dominated by devices that are web-friendly
Now it’s time to start figuring out how/when YOUR subscribers are using mobile email. Instead of guessing if mobile should be an important focus for your business, instead of guessing which devices your audience is using for mobile communication – find out with real, hard data. Tools for doing so – web analytics, litmus, pv, returnpathpercentmobile.com
Key questions to consider when you are looking at developing a mobile strategy. Audience size – This is a business decision that is going to be unique to everyone. List size also comes into consideration – 5% of 3 million subscribers Do you include a “view on mobile device” link in emails? If so, how many people are consistently clicking this? Does it represent a large enough population?Talk about the decision framework What are the inputs for you to consider making a decision about your mobile plight?Audience, goals, content, etc.Hypothetical use cases for “if you fit xyz profile, try this...”Do I create a separate mobile version?Do I include a view on mobile link?
Snapshot of the challenges and diversity of devicesNokia Remote Device Access is a great way to experience Symbian first hand.
Snapshot of the challenges and diversity of devicesNokia Remote Device Access is a great way to experience Symbian first hand.
Snapshot of the challenges and diversity of devicesNokia Remote Device Access is a great way to experience Symbian first hand.
