65% of All Email Now Gets Opened First on a Mobile Device

Mobile devices have continued to prove tricky for advertisers due to the vision challenges presented by smallish screens and by the nature of the way of the way emerging behavior patterns suggest people are using them. Which is to say, quick check-in versus contemplative perusal.

Email, however, may provide a significant opportunity for marketers, as the following article explains.

With well over half of all email being opened on a mobile device, those who are able to craft messages attuned to the interests of mobile users may have a way of delivering their pitch efficiently and, by including links, of bookmarking opportunities.

The trick remains catching attention and then providing an easy way for consumers to act on impulse. Research can provide ample evidence of how this can be accomplished. It will take time to figure out at scale what products and services generate the greatest response. As with TV, radio, billboards and every other medium, some propositions will work better on mobile than others. Experimentation is going to be a cost of doing business until a more statistically significant base of data is accumulated. JL

J. O'Dell reports in Venture Beat:

According to data from the US Consumer Device Preference Report: Q4 2013 from Movable Ink, way more than half of all email — a full 65 percent — is now being accessed via mobile devices in the U.S.
While composing email on mobile phones is still a tricky mire of text prediction and flawed virtual keyboards, email reading is quickly shifting away from the desktop. That’s up relatively steeply from just 61 percent for the third quarter of 2013.
Of the 65 percent of email that gets opened on mobile gadgets, smartphones take home the lion’s share of messages. Around 16 percent of messages get opened on tablets — up one percent quarter over quarter.
These messages don’t get more than a few seconds of readers’ attention, but if your intended recipient is using an iPhone, your chances are a bit better. About 38 percent of iPhone users spent 15 seconds or more viewing each message, with 35 percent of Android smartphone owners reporting spending 15 seconds or longer on each message.
“This quarter’s report shows that we are in the midst of a mobile takeover,” said Movable Ink cofounder and CEO Vivek Sharma in a statement on the news.
“In the new year, we expect marketers to continue to place high priority on mobile optimization, which will allow them to better engage consumers who are on-the-go with relevant, real-time offers.”
Indeed, email open rates for commercial email have surged since email-reading began shifting toward mobile devices. Thinking mobile-first for email, especially for brands, agencies, and marketers, is absolutely essential.
“As more people access email on the go, there is a higher probability that marketers will reach them,” said Appboy marketing director Cezary Pietrzak in a recent op-ed on VentureBeat. ”Despite its lack of novelty, email is still massively effective. … It’s the only non-native messaging format that can bring an audience back into a mobile app. This is a big selling point for mobile marketers, who typically lose 76 percent of their users after three months.”
All this adds up to an email marketing renaissance.
“The day when more people open and respond to email in the palm of their hand than while at their desks is rapidly approaching and represents nothing less than a sea change for email marketers,” reads an IBM whitepaper on the subject. ”Email marketers have a huge opportunity to reach consumers anywhere, any time, on their mobile devices.”