You cannot ignore the rising popularity of mobile devices and should make creating effective campaigns for people who use them a priority. However, even carefully planned mobile-friendly email campaigns can backfire. Here are six blunders mobile-centric marketers should avoid.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/6-Mistakes-Youre-Making-With-Your-Mobile-Friendly-Email-Campaign-SOCIAL.png\")
<\/p>\n
1. Showing Insensitivity to Events<\/strong><\/h3>\nOne of the best practices for email marketing is to connect content to well-known events. You could even do it in a broad sense by talking about summer getaways when seasonal changes bring warmer temperatures, for example.<\/p>\n
However, trying to connect with people by talking about relatable things can also go wrong. Adidas learned that the hard way in 2017 when it sent out an email with the subject line, “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!”<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, that would have been an effective way to reach out to people who trained for the big event and wanted to treat themselves to some new athletic gear. However, Adidas overlooked the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured hundreds of others.<\/p>\n
Although several years passed between the time of that attack and when Adidas set the message, the\u00a0brand received flack on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0for its choice of words.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/1.png\")
<\/p>\nImage Source:\u00a0https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikd33\/status\/854377690408906753\/photo\/1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Adidas\u00a0soon posted an apology<\/a> on the social media platform and recognized the insensitivity shown in the subject line.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2.png\")
<\/p>\nSource:\u00a0https:\/\/twitter.com\/adidasUS\/status\/854422872944771073\/photo\/1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Something that’s both good and possibly bad about mobile email campaigns is that they can reach people all over the world in a matter of seconds. That’s why you must be extremely careful to consider the possible ramifications of the words or phrases used, even if that means thinking about the consequences of common expressions.<\/p>\n
For example, people often say they survived a tough day at work, a drama-filled dinner with relatives or a marathon. Given what happened at the Boston Marathon in 2013, people were not ready to associate survival with the event \u2014 since some people there didn’t live through it.<\/p>\n
2. Subject Lines That Are Too Long or Overly Specific<\/strong><\/h3>\nPeople may receive dozens or even hundreds of emails each day. If someone gets an email and immediately thinks, “That doesn’t apply to me at all,” they’ll likely get frustrated with the sender for cluttering up their inboxes. Sometimes, long or overly broad subject lines also get flagged as spam by email providers.<\/p>\n
The subject line above is an email sent to a person who signed up to earn money on the side by carrying out secret shopper assignments at local businesses. However, the requirements for qualified individuals are overly specific here \u2014 at least for a subject line. Participants must be within the given age range, plus be taking a trip to Arizona soon. Additionally, on a mobile device, the subject line got cut off after “Help us.”<\/p>\n
That means readers don’t get to learn about the type of secret shopping opportunity, or how they could make more money by doing up to 12 assignments in a day, from the subject line alone. This email went to the spam folder even though the recipient signed up for the mailing list, too. It’s difficult to say why that happened, but it could be that the two sentences in a row with exclamation points made the message seem like junk.<\/p>\n
You can avoid this mistake by making the subject line as brief and enticing as possible. Choose words to capture attention, and don’t become so long-winded that people don’t see most of the subject line in their email programs.<\/p>\n
Also, consider using segmentation to help people receive emails that apply to them. Going back to the screenshot example, a better approach would be to ask people how old they are when they sign up to receive messages from the company. Then, when the sender must recruit people who are a certain age, they could use segmentation to send messages only to people that fall within the desired group.<\/p>\n
3. Too Much Data Without Supporting Visualizations<\/strong><\/h3>\nAdding statistics to your emails can be an excellent way to position yourself as an authority or thought leader. However, readability is one of the hallmarks of a fantastic mobile email. Remember, people using smartphones or tablets digest the content on screens that are substantially smaller than what computers have. If they see huge chunks of text in an email, recipients will likely click out of it.<\/p>\n
However, data visualizations can make statistics easier on the eyes. In the business world, they support company leaders in making more confident conclusions about how to run their enterprises. Statistics show that\u00a077% of organizations using data visualizations<\/a>\u00a0noticed improved decision-making.<\/p>\nVisualizations apply to email marketing, too. If you’re thinking about sending a data-heavy email, you might improve it by:<\/p>\n
\n- Inserting an infographic that pulls the key points from a larger study<\/em><\/li>\n
- Creating a pie chart that shows the top benefits people get from a product you sell based on a poll<\/em><\/li>\n
- Including a line graph that illustrates the shifts in a trend over time<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Making a bar graph and using contrasting colors is another worthwhile method for email. Check out this example of a visualization that backs up the earlier information about how more people use mobile devices than desktops. It shows the email open rates for people on mobile or desktop platforms.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/3.png\")
<\/p>\nSource: https:\/\/www.superoffice.com\/blog\/email-open-rates\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The company put this image in a blog post rather than an email, but you can immediately notice the eye-popping effects of selecting a red-and-blue color scheme. Visualizations make data easier to understand in most cases. However, for mobile specifically, long paragraphs full of statistics could overwhelm people as they read their emails.<\/p>\n
Think about using visualizations in an email to give a teaser of more available content. For example, you might provide a chart or two, followed by a link where people can download the full research paper containing the statistics cited in the email.<\/p>\n
4. Using Clickbait Headlines<\/strong><\/h3>\nClickbait is headline content intended to get people’s attention enough that they open the content and read further. Here are some examples of typical clickbait phrases and structures:<\/p>\n
\n- This one food helped her lose 10 pounds in a month<\/em><\/li>\n
- You’ll never believe how much he saved on airfare with this trick<\/em><\/li>\n
- The tax secret that led to a giant refund<\/em><\/li>\n
- This common ingredient could help you fight diabetes<\/em><\/li>\n
- The gadget that has everyone in the country talking<\/em><\/li>\n
- Fight aging with this mind-blowing ancient remedy<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Clickbait headlines are familiar sights around the internet, but research shows they could\u00a0decrease your email open rates<\/a>. Using “shocking” and “secret of” in subject lines made people less likely to open them.<\/p>\nIt’s also easier than you may think to emphasize shock value so much that it makes recipients feel frightened, then angry. See the email message below that BuzzFeed used to drive traffic to an article about people making mistakes on the job.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nImage Source:\u00a0https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikd33\/status\/854377690408906753\/photo\/1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Adidas\u00a0soon posted an apology<\/a> on the social media platform and recognized the insensitivity shown in the subject line.<\/p>\n Source:\u00a0https:\/\/twitter.com\/adidasUS\/status\/854422872944771073\/photo\/1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Something that’s both good and possibly bad about mobile email campaigns is that they can reach people all over the world in a matter of seconds. That’s why you must be extremely careful to consider the possible ramifications of the words or phrases used, even if that means thinking about the consequences of common expressions.<\/p>\n For example, people often say they survived a tough day at work, a drama-filled dinner with relatives or a marathon. Given what happened at the Boston Marathon in 2013, people were not ready to associate survival with the event \u2014 since some people there didn’t live through it.<\/p>\n People may receive dozens or even hundreds of emails each day. If someone gets an email and immediately thinks, “That doesn’t apply to me at all,” they’ll likely get frustrated with the sender for cluttering up their inboxes. Sometimes, long or overly broad subject lines also get flagged as spam by email providers.<\/p>\n The subject line above is an email sent to a person who signed up to earn money on the side by carrying out secret shopper assignments at local businesses. However, the requirements for qualified individuals are overly specific here \u2014 at least for a subject line. Participants must be within the given age range, plus be taking a trip to Arizona soon. Additionally, on a mobile device, the subject line got cut off after “Help us.”<\/p>\n That means readers don’t get to learn about the type of secret shopping opportunity, or how they could make more money by doing up to 12 assignments in a day, from the subject line alone. This email went to the spam folder even though the recipient signed up for the mailing list, too. It’s difficult to say why that happened, but it could be that the two sentences in a row with exclamation points made the message seem like junk.<\/p>\n You can avoid this mistake by making the subject line as brief and enticing as possible. Choose words to capture attention, and don’t become so long-winded that people don’t see most of the subject line in their email programs.<\/p>\n Also, consider using segmentation to help people receive emails that apply to them. Going back to the screenshot example, a better approach would be to ask people how old they are when they sign up to receive messages from the company. Then, when the sender must recruit people who are a certain age, they could use segmentation to send messages only to people that fall within the desired group.<\/p>\n Adding statistics to your emails can be an excellent way to position yourself as an authority or thought leader. However, readability is one of the hallmarks of a fantastic mobile email. Remember, people using smartphones or tablets digest the content on screens that are substantially smaller than what computers have. If they see huge chunks of text in an email, recipients will likely click out of it.<\/p>\n However, data visualizations can make statistics easier on the eyes. In the business world, they support company leaders in making more confident conclusions about how to run their enterprises. Statistics show that\u00a077% of organizations using data visualizations<\/a>\u00a0noticed improved decision-making.<\/p>\n Visualizations apply to email marketing, too. If you’re thinking about sending a data-heavy email, you might improve it by:<\/p>\n Making a bar graph and using contrasting colors is another worthwhile method for email. Check out this example of a visualization that backs up the earlier information about how more people use mobile devices than desktops. It shows the email open rates for people on mobile or desktop platforms.<\/p>\n Source: https:\/\/www.superoffice.com\/blog\/email-open-rates\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The company put this image in a blog post rather than an email, but you can immediately notice the eye-popping effects of selecting a red-and-blue color scheme. Visualizations make data easier to understand in most cases. However, for mobile specifically, long paragraphs full of statistics could overwhelm people as they read their emails.<\/p>\n Think about using visualizations in an email to give a teaser of more available content. For example, you might provide a chart or two, followed by a link where people can download the full research paper containing the statistics cited in the email.<\/p>\n Clickbait is headline content intended to get people’s attention enough that they open the content and read further. Here are some examples of typical clickbait phrases and structures:<\/p>\n Clickbait headlines are familiar sights around the internet, but research shows they could\u00a0decrease your email open rates<\/a>. Using “shocking” and “secret of” in subject lines made people less likely to open them.<\/p>\n It’s also easier than you may think to emphasize shock value so much that it makes recipients feel frightened, then angry. See the email message below that BuzzFeed used to drive traffic to an article about people making mistakes on the job.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n2. Subject Lines That Are Too Long or Overly Specific<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Too Much Data Without Supporting Visualizations<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
<\/p>\n4. Using Clickbait Headlines<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/4.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/5.png\")
<\/p>\n