From My Working Life

The Mobile Mob
July 1, 2008

Yes, you can make your e-mail advertising look like a Web page, with loads of content and complex HTML. But your mobile audience is walking around with an inbox-in-hand, reading e-mails, browsing the Web and making split-second decisions based on a screen that isn't much bigger than a credit card.

The old technique of delivering a Web page to the inbox isn't going to work. On the contrary, it'll prevent clicks rather than encourage them.

Here are five simple rules to consider when designing e-mails for the 21st century inbox — the small one.

* Focus messages and calls to action

Attention spans are short; people will navigate away from a Web page or an e-mail in seconds if it doesn't load. Whether you're targeting the young, the middle-aged, or old, stodgy business users like me, long messages with too many offers are a turnoff to fast-paced users who're scanning messages on mobile devices.

Target your offer, create clear and concise calls to action, limit text content and segment by demographic and/or purchasing habits and patterns. Mobile e-mails should be direct, brief and require little scrolling. The call to action should be moved as close to the top as possible along with identifying information.
* Use prime real estate effectively

The new fold line (the point at which you need to scroll to see more content) is at most 320 pixels down and is measured in inches that never hit double digits. The space above the fold is the new preview screen. It's prime real estate, and these few precious lines shouldn't be wasted. Simply put, what you include here can make or break your campaign results.

For example, traditional best practices typically call for add-to-address-book language at the top of the e-mail. Many mailers do this in a smaller, lighter font than the core content. But in mobile, the smaller screen means there's less room to see your message and the general lack of HTML formatting support means your fonts all appear in the same size and color. The result is that the first and only thing visible to the mobile reader without scrolling may be your add-to-address-book language. The mobile mob is a highly focused audience. Make sure you're providing enough information upon first glance to engage it.
* Use a single-column setup

Marketers often design HTML e-mail so it looks like their Web site to preserve the user experience. But many sites use multiple columns to organize information.

Most mobile e-mail readers, including those installed on Symbian devices, Palms and BlackBerries, can't display multiple side-by-side columns and will haphazardly reorganize the page into a single column. A few readers can render a multicolumn e-mail, but the limited horizontal space forces the user to scroll left to right using arrows and other physical navigation keys (remember, there's no mouse). Keep the e-mail straightforward and let it flow from the top down.
* Limit links

Mobile users don't have time to click and load every link in your e-mail; they're not casual Web surfers. The best mobile sites are created to deliver core content and functionality, so e-mails should contain only the links needed to direct users to that content.
* Think about how you link

Keep in mind that mobile users treat links differently than traditional PC-based e-mail readers. Hyperlinking text will not always render and remain clickable. Let's focus on Symbian. By all estimates, 85% of the world outside of the North American market is using a Symbian device. Symbian effectively drops all HTML tags and renders the text of an HTML e-mail. All of the formatting, image references, font sizes and other tags are dropped, including the critical A HREF of your link. But if you use a fully qualified link such as http://, it will remain clickable after Symbian parses the e-mail. Thus, if you want to ensure your links will be clickable by the broadest range of readers, make sure you use the fully qualified URL for the most critical links.

2007 marked a new era for mobile devices. There were more than 3.25 billion users, and sales of smart phones exceeded PC and laptop sales for the first time. While PCs offer a richer experience because of size, speed and extensive media support, mobile devices allow marketers to reach customers anywhere, and at any time.

All of us in marketing should re-evaluate the content, relevance and design of our e-mail communications for one very good reason: Customers are reading our e-mails on both their PCs and mobile devices. The question to ask yourself is whether your e-mail program is in accord with the latest mobile innovations or still moving to the click-clack of a rotary phone.

LEN SHNEYDER is director of partner relations and industry communications at e-mail deliverability consultancy Pivotal Veracity, Phoenix.