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Luella Ben Aziza writes.. We’ve made our position on mobile email marketing crystal clear over the last few months, even putting together a guide to responsive email .
But I wanted to know what ideas the thought leaders within the digital marketing community had around optimising content for mobile users.
So we spoke to our friends David Moth , senior reporter at Econsultancy and David Murphy , editor of Mobile Marketing magazine. We also got in touch with Ronan Shields , Marketing Week’s digital and mobile reporter, and Chris Lee , managing director of digital strategy training firm Planet Content. @dotMailer …
Here’s a mashup of these expert’s thoughts around the mobile opportunity for marketers.
How important is mobile now?
“Over the past year we’ve seen numerous studies which show that a third of all emails are read on mobile devices, so it’s really vital that brands are catering for this consumer behaviour.” said David Moth.
David Murphy shared a great analogy: “Not embracing mobile optimised design is the equivalent of having a shop that is closed when all of its competitors are open. Ecommerce has changed the world of retail. Anyone can already buy anything in front of a PC and mobile is the next logical step.”
What are brands doing now?
Not enough is the short answer. Although, Ronan Shields believes that “Top brands all seem to get it, but the biggest challenge is incorporating the correct tools and platforms into a wider strategy.”
Chris Lee had more damning insight: “Mobile-optimised content is essential, yet the majority of FTSE 100 websites (69%) do not have mobile-friendly websites, according to a recent FT study.” He goes on to say, “Many brands struggle with the whole ‘website or app?’ debate.” Ronan echoed this concern, claiming: “Apps aren’t that exciting anymore.”
Econsultancy research, cited by David Moth, “Shows that 39% of companies don’t have a strategy in place for optimising their emails for mobile, while 37% said their strategy was basic.
“This means they are potentially missing out on click-throughs and sales, as well as wasting their own efforts by creating email campaigns that won’t be read by their target audience.”
Our Ed, David Murphy, features in a piece on Dot Mailer’s Email Marketing Blog. Read it here: tinyurl.com/bw28vpq
— Mobile Marketing (@MMMagTweets) March 19, 2013
David Murphy delves deeper into the specific kinds of brands he would expect to do better.“What I don’t understand is why every operator hasn’t worked it out yet. Huge brands in the mobile space that you’d expect better from are still providing poor quality mobile content.”
How important will mobile become?
Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming feeling is that mobile will become an extremely important area for ecommerce over the next year or two. David Murphy believes “4G should make the experience quicker and better. 3G was the first round and companies did try but didn’t do too well. Now it’s time for them to finish the job.”
Ultimately, all of our contributors were singing from the same hymn sheet. Ronan Shields warns that, “Mobile won’t go away. It will only evolve. Marketers and media owners will have to start using responsive design if they aren’t already.”
Want to swot up on mobile email marketing? Click above to download our free guide.
What about email marketing?
Looking to seasonality, Chris Lee shared: “Open rates over the Christmas shopping period were significantly higher from mobile devices, so brands need to think about how and when people are likely to open commercial emails from mobile devices in particular’.”
As David Moth explains: “In the long-term all brands will need to optimise their email campaigns for mobile, but the need will be more urgent for some.”
Want to learn more?
Download our ‘Conquer Mobile Email Marketing ‘ and learn how to optimise your email marketing for all devices.
Got tips, thoughts, or comments of your own? You know what to do! Share them below or tweet @dotMailer …
photo credit: Ed Yourdon via photopin cc