Commentary

First Mobile-First Christmas Beckons For Email Marketing

Everyone keeps talking about the tipping point where we enter a mobile-first world. In terms of Web traffic, we're already there. What about with email marketing?


Well, here's a prediction for you. We're probably at that point right now. According to the latest figures from Yesmail, the third quarter saw very nearly half (48%) of all email-driven orders came from mobile. 

Interestingly, there is a corresponding stat that click-through rates on desktop are only slightly higher than mobile. A year ago the gap was around 30%, and in the last quarter it was down to just 4%. 

The long and short of it is that during the summer, mobile was knocking on desktop's door. The momentum was behind it, and so it is fair to assume that where we are right now -- in the middle of the fourth quarter -- it has at least matched it, if not overtaken it. To be blunt, this Christmas is the first in email marketing where the mobile will reign supreme. That is not just for open or even click-throughs, but the money bit, and orders placed. 

So, among all the Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas campaigns you are currently honing, the number one thought should be that we are not where we were last year. For the first time, mobile is at least as important as desktop. That should immediately set the focus to responsive design that can adapt to the varying small screen sizes your messages will be seen on. There should also be a focus on personalisation because on the small screen, you've got to get it right. There's no scrolling down to see if you have an offer somewhere that I might like. Mobile is all about immediacy. 

Speaking of which -- if you're expecting people to drill down in to sub menus and navigate their way around a site once they have clicked through, forget it. Get those landing pages perfect and aligned with the offers in the message. There may well be a place there for proximity too. Maybe an offer could change, or at least the landing page change to the person's nearest store where they are right now? At the very least, if you're hoping a potential customers will walk through the door, make your location addresses clickable so they can open up in Google Maps. 

In summary, be helpful. Mobile-first means going the extra mile to help people who don't want to cut and paste, remember customer and order numbers or drill through complicated sites structures.

If you can't just click and buy something, think again -- because that is the Amazon yardstick you will be held to on mobile.

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