Optimizing Email for Mobile Devices

Inbox Ideas | Email Marketing Tips by AWeber

Posted by Justin Premick

Many people think of email as something they check in their office or at their home computer.

The fact is, email isn’t just for the computer anymore: at least some of your subscribers are reading it from their mobile phones. Does that change how you should be writing your messages?

Mobile phones have come a long way from the briefcase-sized analog “bag phones” of the 80s and early 90s. You can now send text messages, take pictures and video, and even listen to music on your phone.

You can also get on the Web, and that means you can check your email.

According to a study by research firm Ipsos, more people than ever before are using their mobile phones to access the Internet. Over one-third of all households with a mobile phone have used it for email.

It’s especially relevant that this growth isn’t just among the traditionally tech-savvy youth. More adult users are getting online from their phones too.

If your subscribers are going to be checking email from their handsets, your messages better be readable.

Considerations For Mobile Phone Email

Users with more advanced devices may be able to view HTML email messages with images, but others will not. You need to include a plain text version of all messages.

This is a best practice anyway, but the increase in mobile email access underscores its importance.

Mobiles have smaller screens and resolutions than computers. Keep your message width short: no more than 60-65 characters.

Depending on their email platform, your subscribers may not see your “from” name or email address when scrolling through messages in their inboxes.

Brand your subject lines to build recognition of your messages among the others in your subscribers’ inboxes.

Are most subscribers still reading your messages exclusively from their computers? Absolutely.

However, mobile ‘net and email access isn’t going anywhere but up, and addressing that now can you time and hassle later.

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Resources:
Ipsos Study: Mobile Phones and Internet Usage
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8 Responses

David G
November 28th, 2006 at 6:42 pm

Hi Justin,

I use a blackberry and can’t tell you how frustrating it can be trying to read a poorly planned HTML newsletter on the blackberry.

Do you see Aweber expanding into text messaging to mobiles?

Thanks for the tips.
Justin Premick
November 29th, 2006 at 10:58 am

David,

Unfortunately, if a sender omits a plain text version of a message, users of Blackberry, Palm and similar devices are left to choose between a sometimes unreadable HTML message and not reading at all. This is one of a number of reasons that we strongly recommend including a plain text version of all messages.

Re: SMS - In an opt-in model, it’s up to the subscriber to choose how/where to receive the information.

In my opinion, while some people may opt to receive subscriptions via SMS now, as email on your mobile gets easier and better (and it will), I don’t see the point of subscribing to a list via SMS, since you’ll be able to easily access your regular email address on your mobile.
Craig Dunn
December 7th, 2006 at 9:00 am

Unfortunately when it comes ot marketing opinions are very often wrong. Case in point - the company who sat with their top marketing execs and showed them a hard copy piece of marketing material with five different backgrounds and ask their opinion on which back ground colour would work best - all of the execs went for the black background and commented on how the red background was garish. The V.P. decided that he’d test them all, all five colours. And you guessed it the RED one got the best response and made the most money. So don’t dismiss SMS so readily. I for one would love AWEBER to incorporate some kind of SMS facility into it’s current permission marketing tool and I’m sure others would too! We currently use another company for our opt-in SMS marketing but it would be so neater and would allow us to keep our data better managed if it was integrated into the current system.
Bev hanna
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm

I’m very new to newsletter marketing (trying to learn the basics before sending out my first ezine), and I’d like to know what is the maximum size to make my html layout. I’m using a 3-column format, incorporating our logo and background gradient, with the bulk of the text in the centre column. When you say 60-65 characters is the maximum width, does that mean the plain text maximum or the total width of the layout. What is the maximum width in pixels, or am I asking a nonsensical question?
Justin Premick
February 24th, 2008 at 10:14 pm

Hi Bev,

The 60-65 character width refers to plain text emails and is a best practice based on where email clients typically wrap those.

You could make your widths even shorter (since not all mobile devices will display that many characters per line) but you’d be doing so at the risk of sending excessively narrow emails to people who *aren’t* reading your emails on mobile devices but still prefer plain text over HTML.

Typical recommended maximum widths for HTML email range between 550 and 600 pixels.
Bev Hanna
February 27th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Newbie here again…
Can you use a fluid html layout? Percentages rather than pixel width?

Thanks for your help
Justin Premick
February 28th, 2008 at 7:52 am

Bev,

You can do it, yes, but it’s not typical.

Most HTML email newsletters I see are fixed width. I’d say that’s because a fixed width generally allows you to plan a more consistent experience for the viewer across different email clients.

If you do elect to try a fluid width layout, test it thoroughly before going live with it.
romano180
May 28th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

I couldnt agree more with craig… combine your database of SMS and EMail. check out spongecell…and aweeber.. take some notes!