Email Marketing by the Numbers
In our last post, we talked about how effective mobile engagement has become for email marketing. We shared interesting factoids, like 45% of email opens occur via a mobile device, and that email is still the most affordable way to connect with your client base. We would like to expand on the numbers associated with email marketing as it pertains to mobile because cell phones and tablets are not going away. It was reported in April 2015, that 64% of American adults own a smartphone. Almost a 30% increase in just three short years.
When it comes to mobile and email, in the last quarter of 2014, “53% of total email opens occurred on a mobile phone or tablet.” (Experian) As of June 2015, Litmus reported that 49% of emails were being opened on a mobile device. This is not to say that people don’t love their desktops, because they do. Nine out of ten consumers access their email via a desktop, but the unique open rate on mobile is up almost 3% year over year in the US alone. These numbers tell us that consumers are using the most convenient device to check email, and they are doing it often. In a study released by Statista, 55% of people reported checking their email via mobile between one and six times a day. Another group broadly claimed to check their email ‘throughout the day' and that made up for 33.8% of study participants. (Business Insider, August 2015)
So, what does this mean for your email marketing campaigns? The responsive nature of your email layout is hugely important across devices, as is noted in a collaborative study from Litmus and MailChimp that showed results from campaigns with a responsive design as having a 15% increase in unique clicks on mobile. The responsive design allows for a customized user experience based on their preferred viewing device. Optimizing the message displays and designs is beneficial, not only financially but it increases customer satisfaction and repeats business. Responsive design campaigns have higher click rates in general, especially the first three links displayed in an email. The first link has a 30% higher click rate than any of the others in an email campaign, especially on mobile. Allowing your content to scale to your audience’s preferences increases consumer satisfaction. And no matter what device your email is being viewed with the click rates will be higher. These clicks lead to website conversions and ultimately sales.
As a side note about email providers, Gmail users make up about 900 million accounts. It is one of the most widely used free email providers in the world. 75% of Gmail users regularly check their email account(s) on their mobile devices. This means that 3 out of 4 people you know have a Gmail account that they check via their phones each day. And 61% of all consumers read at least some of their emails on mobile.
We, as a society, are dependent on our mobility and having information at our fingertips. We need to be able to keyword search in any format, whether it be email, browser or social. Our mobile devices, and specifically smartphones, are replacing our homes phones and supplementing our home computers and laptops. We are reliant on our smartphones to do as many things as our laptops, but while on the go. Access to good, actionable information on the go is key to a great mobile email marketing campaign. Just a few more reasons why making good, responsive connections with your target audience can pay dividends.