Key takeaways
- Email marketing is an “enigma”: open rates are up while non-bounce rates are down, yet ROI is very high (122%) and CPA is the lowest of all channels.
- Most email opens now happen on mobile, but most conversions happen on desktop as people often open on phones and convert later (or not at all).
- Poor mobile rendering kills email performance: 45% of consumers unsubscribed because emails didn’t display well on smartphones, 35% unsubscribed because the mobile app didn’t work well and 34% marked messages as spam for the same reasons.
- In 2016 emails must be optimized for mobile: use responsive, “mobile-aware” design and prioritize mobile in your email strategy.
- Because email ROI is high, it can be worth reallocating budget from channels like direct mail, social media or paid search into email (especially mobile optimization).
Introduction
In a recent article in Forbes magazine, Steve Olenski came to the conclusion that email marketing is an enigma: something that is “mysterious, puzzling or difficult to understand”. Coming from a guy who writes almost exclusively about content marketing for the major publications, this in itself is an enigma. Steve is basically telling us that he knows everything there is to know about email marketing, but he doesn’t really get it – and neither can you.
Why?
Steve’s reasoning comes from the fact that while open rates for emails are the highest they’ve been for at least two years, the non-bounce rates were also the lowest they’ve been in this same time period. More people are opening the emails when they are actually reaching their inbox, even though not as many are getting there. Another puzzling fact about email marketing is that while ROI is estimated to be a whopping 122%, which is insanely higher than all other channels, the CPA for email is the lowest of all the channels. Marketers are making most of their money from their email efforts, while spending the least.
Delving Even Further
The confusion goes even further when you look at open rates vs. conversions. Everyone knows that mobile is a key player in the marketing world and have all the plans to focus on this strategy, but while the majority of emails are opened on mobile devices as opposed to other devices, the majority of conversions happen at the desktop level. People are opening your emails on their phones, but they aren’t buying until they get home, or they aren’t purchasing at all after opening from a mobile device.
Mobile Is Hurting Your Email Marketing Strategy
According to the Email Marketing Benchmarks 2016 survey, your emails are being killed off because of mobile. 45% of consumers unsubscribed to a brand’s emails simply because it didn’t display well on their smartphones. Another 35% unsubscribed because the mobile app didn’t work well. And another 34% marked it as spam at the point where it didn’t display well or work well on their smartphones. The message is consistent here: if your emails aren’t optimized for mobile, they are getting sent to the trash bin, never to return to that consumer’s inbox again. So while your emails are being opened on mobile devices (win!), customers aren’t buying because they really can’t read them (lose!).
Mobile-Optimized Emails For The Win
The message couldn’t be clearer and louder: in 2016 emails MUST be optimized for mobile. It is all well and great to sink your resources and budget into the content and analytics, but if you don’t account for optimizing for mobile in that strategy, you might as well throw those dollars into the fire. Steve suggests that marketers need to increase their efforts on responsive design of emails that are “mobile-aware”.
Because your return on investment is so high compared to the other channels, it would be well worth-it to invest those extra dollars into your email marketing efforts. Taking away from direct mail, social media or paid search could possibly bring you higher revenues and end this conundrum (or enigma) that Steve says is so prevalent in 2016 regarding email marketing. It really doesn’t have to be this confusing.
FAQ
There are conflicting signals: open rates are at a multi‑year high while non‑bounce rates are at a multi‑year low, yet ROI is reported at 122% and CPA is the lowest across channels, creating a puzzling mix of high returns and inconsistent delivery/conversion patterns.
Mobile hurts performance because many emails don’t display or function properly on smartphones and as a result, 45% of consumers unsubscribed due to poor display, 35% unsubscribed because the mobile app didn’t work well and 34% marked emails as spam for those reasons.
People often open emails on their phones but either wait until they’re on a desktop to buy or never convert after the mobile open, frequently because the email wasn’t readable or usable on the mobile device.
Invest in responsive, “mobile‑aware” email design so messages render and work properly on smartphones.
45% unsubscribed because emails didn’t display well on smartphones, 35% unsubscribed because the mobile app didn’t work well and 34% marked emails as spam when they didn’t display or function properly on mobile.
Yes, because email ROI is presented as very high (122%) and CPA as the lowest among channels, it may be worthwhile to reallocate budget from channels like direct mail, social media or paid search into email marketing and mobile optimization.
