I’ve been looking at some interesting data this week on how we are receiving and viewing e-mail. When you think mobile, it is easy to think of the responsive web site v application as being the big talking point. What is more important though as we transition to mobile as our main channel for web access is the impact this is having on e-mail open rates and response rates.
Felix Wetzel of Evenbase, wrote a great blog post this week which looks at mobile and mobility. I recommend you give it a read to get the full context. In the post, Wetzel says:
“Before work, mainly in the morning, is the most common time to check email alerts. Many rely solely on alerts to learn of opportunities – saves having to check the source repeatedly. Reviewing alerts often takes place on the move using mobile or tablet devices to bookmark interesting roles and positions for further research at a later time”
Email marketing company Litmus recently published research based on tracking over 1 billion emails during 2011 and 2012. In the early months of 2011, desktop dominated email openings, with Outlook dominating. Month by month webmail and mobile grew in popularity, with levels of mail openings in all 3 platforms converging in Feb 2012.
In April 2012 mobile featured in 36% of openings, desktop represented 33% and webmail 31%. From July 11. Desktop opens decreased month on month, with webmail peaking in Dec 11 before dropping 3% by April 12. Mobile mail grew from 18% in June 11 by 100% over the next 12 months. The situation now is that whilst the other platforms are decreasing, mobile is continuing to grow in open rates. If you are using email for updates or communicating with potential candidates, then you need to be thinking about how mobile friendly your emails are.
Interestingly, iPhone is now the most popular device for opening e-mail, with 20% of opens, Outlook now stands at 18%, Yahoo mail at 13%, Apple mail at 9%, Hotmail at 8%, iPad at 7%, Android at 7% and Gmail at 5%. When you look at these stats, you clearly need to be looking at your emails on an iPhone and other devices to see what your target audience sees. I’ve scrolled back through the mails I’ve received today on my Blackberry, and over 20% of them show empty boxes, with images that don’t show on mobile. I’m not going to respond to any of them.
The mobile audience for e-mail is dominated by iPhone with 57%, iPad 22% and Android 20%, (Blackberry stands at 0.08%).
To make email mobile friendly you need to:
- Keep emails short,clear and to the point. We know how easy it is to hit delete, and our attention span on mobile is shorter.
- Check any links go to mobile optimized sites and are easy to find and click.
- Links to job postings should go direct to the job, without requiring other actions before seeing the detail.
- As with all email messaging, A/B test to see what works.
- Think times that you mail. In Wetzel’s post, Felix notes that most job updates are opened in the morning during commute times. You can get your mail opened if you send it at these times.
- Run analytics on all your mail notifications to find the best times and styles for yours.
Wetzel makes a great point around mobility and message that is worth considering when drafting content:
“We also know that individuals use their commute to check job alerts, which means, in order for a busy commuter to make full use of the alert, they tend to expect details of the jobs available within the email on the move. As internet connection might be patchy, the results need to contain enough information to allow the decision to skip or save without having to click-through to a website.”
You can read all of Wetzels post HERE
The full research from Litmus is featured in the infographic below the post. If email plays any part in your communication or messaging, you need to think mobile, iPhone in particular.
Bill
You can see the original HERE
Related posts:
Facebook mobile with @ChoRichard
The Madness Of The Mobile Question #TruLondon
What is happening with mobile around the globe (infographic)
Integrating Mobile In To Recruiting #ATCSM with @TheAlphaFemme
Don’t think mobile, think responsive design
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Bill and I are in the 0.8% minority on a Blackberry – but I suspect the stats from Litmus, although impressive for growth [and I do believe reflect near reality anyway], the data used is largely from a consumer user market, but in the commercial world of receivers, the outlooks and blackberries will be used to a higher degree. On reflection, the many well intended recruiter emails sent to hiring managers containing some great candidate profiles/CV’s will never be read or at least the initial impact will be lost as they are first opened via enterprise connected blackberry or other devices. Even back at the PC later on, the attached fantastic CV may still be missed – as likely, is buried down in the depths of the inbox as ‘read’. So recruiters must think about not just the candidate but the client hiring manager too.
Many recruiters are still sending out huge emails and job descriptions complete with attachments – most of which cannot be opened on a mobile device at all and in the case of alerts, subject lines that may as well say ‘please delete me’!.
It seems to me technology intricacies and innovations in improving this experience, whether mobile friendly formatted emails, links to mobile friendly websites and whether using apps on or offline, then even the cool, smart and useful technology creators tend to think the experience is solved or lies in the technology solution itself. The experience must continue beyond that part all the way to and even beyond the placement – that which is beyond the reach of most technology or alerting systems but in the hands of recruiters not moving from the transactional to one of engagement by return..
For the alert process, for whatever the subject and reason, these need to be evolved to be a two way nudge – and a nudge with relevance for the passives too. The application nudge of interest to the recruiter returned from a mobile must also be of relevance against a particular job. We must be innovative in building these systems that less rely on actual files and uploads and downloads of CV’s that belong in the 90’s but if at all, is the equivalent of the ‘apply now’ LI profile nudge.
The new CV source itself is after all in the socially connected cloud and already there and easily found by the recruiter as a starting point to a better job specific profile produced later on. Innovation itself must go towards the two way communication and encourage conversation and enable *nudgable mobility* but primarily, the experience of the user must continue beyond that initial nudge. Nudge not fudge!
Thanks for your comments Stephen. I see mobile email as the starting point. Lets hope recruiters catch up with technology soon