Dive Brief:
- Litmus’ 2016 State of Email Report found email is still the preferred medium for communication with 72% respondents choosing it over other channels.
- During 2015 mobile open rates increased 17%, representing 55% of all email opens with webmail and desktop opens both decreasing.
- Within mobile devices, Android and iPhone email open rates increased while iPad opens decreased. IPhone’s were the most popular mobile device for email, representing 33% of opens.
Dive Insight:
The Litmus report also uncovered three action items to improve email programs. Begin by sending relevant, useful and timely messages. "The idea is over time, subscribers receiving valuable content scan their inboxes looking for messages from brands they trust," the report reads.
Next, make sure that the name in the "from" field is recognizable. In doing so, the report finds you optimize your send and ensure "the subject line and preview text work together in order to encourage an open." And lastly, as unsavory as it might sound, make unsubscribing easy for the recipient. "If email recipients can’t easily spot an opt-out link, some will simply block the message or mark it as spam," the report explains.
The Litmus report pointed out that during the Email Evolution Conference in February 2015, an ISP panel consisting of representatives from Gmail, Outlook.com, AOL, and Comcast revealed that clicks don’t affect deliverability. For example, Gmail uses what Google’s Sri Somanchi described as “hundreds of signals,” including deleting an email without opening it, adding the sender to the address book, marking an email as not junk, and spam complaints.
For marketers using email, developing a deliverability strategy should be top of mind, and with it comes improved campaign performance.
