• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, January 23, 2014

Every platform and survey reports somewhat different rates for email opens that occur on devices. But if I look across recent surveys from Experian, ExactTarget and Movable Ink, most appear to be at or north of the 50% mark. Movable Ink weighs in with its Q4 2013 report this week by claiming 65% of the emails it sends for its B2C recipients were opened on a smartphone or tablet -- up from 61% the previous quarter.

Tablets are helping to accelerate the migration, now accounting for 16% of opens. The overwhelming majority of those emails are hitting iPads, although notably the metrics show that the 1.8% of messages opened on Android tablets is double that of the previous quarter. In fact, the overall dominance of iOS for data interactivity remains, as iPhones and iPads were responsible for 50% of all opens. Android is growing, up to 14% from 10%, but the Google platform still seems to underperform almost mystically when it comes to data channel tasks. So much power used by such a small slice of its owners.

In terms of actual engagement with the messages, smartphones rival and sometimes exceed the desktop. Messages measured here were read on average by 38.31% of iPhone owners for more than 15 seconds, compared to 34.76% of Android phone owners who read that long and only 34.61% of desktop readers. Interestingly, it is that midpoint of attention of 3-15 seconds where desktop email excels over phones. And as if to underscore how tablets are now standing in for laptops and desktops, the engagement on these middle screens was closer to desktop than phone.  

While devices are ruling the email open stage (or first open stage), other metrics suggest that readers prefer to take action on email from the desktop. Yesmail found that among the brand emails it sends, desktop openers are twice as likely to click on a link or call to action. This suggests that users are still uncertain about the landing experience in emails and whether it will be optimized for mobile. I also suspect we all use mobile in boxes as a triage, reviewing and deleting the dross and saving some for later action on desktop. All of which means that messaging has become as complex a multi-screen dance as other aspects of marketing. Like the path to purchase, even the simple email read can go through a filtering, multi-stage process before consumption.

Anyone recall when the usual aim of new technology was to simplify processes?