Return On Subscriber – Email Marketing Blog

Today we are going to cover how to add a “View Mobile Version” to your email campaigns. All you will need to complete this is the ability to upload/FTP new HTML files to your hosting server. Nothing horribly complex here, and your web team/developer will yawn at this.

Before we get started, I want to show you an example of what we’re talking about from the Sony newsletter.  Below, you can see the header from their email newsletter, where I have highlighted the call out to “View mobile version”

After clicking through on this link, you are taken to the mobile version of the email in your mobile browser, which you can see below.

Why do I need a Mobile Version of my Emails?

The answer to that question, like most when it comes to email marketing, is “it depends”.  Due to the lack of standards of the mobile inbox and different technologies in play, there is simply no way to design a layout that will work across the landscape. For example, iPhone, Palm Pre and Blackberry Storm to some extent, will do an adequate job of rendering your email, albeit very small. However the top selling smart phone – the Blackberry Curve – will not. And since most people receive the exact same emails on their mobile device as they do in their desktop client, we can’t deliver a unique message to each – it’s all or nothing.  An analogy I like to use is Johnny Five from Short Circuit (filmed right here in Oregon). Just as Johnny Five thinks he is human, but is not, a mobile email client thinks it can read HTML, but can’t. So creating a link to a mobile version is going to be your best way to control the experience.  You will also be able to track the click through on this link to know how many mobile users you have and whether or not to dedicate more resources to this emerging channel.

Linking to the Mobile Version in your Creative

First off, we need some real estate in your email header. Ideally, this should be somewhere near the pre-header, (more…)

The goal of the eROI Resource Center is to provide best practices, case studies of client work, informative survey results, and fresh ideas to the online marketing community.  We want everyone to market more effectively, client or non-client. 

I thought I would share with you today the 5 most downloaded resources in 2008.

1.) Wacom “Power of the Pens” case study
2.) Email Marketing Guide
3.) Pre-Launch Email Marketing Cheat Sheet
4.) Cradle & Grave Email Marketing Survey Results (Q2 ‘08)
5.) Elements of Email Marketing Survey Results (Q3 ‘08)

Have you signed up for the Resource Center yet? Tell ‘em Return on Subscriber sent you!

Just a friendly reminder for you to check to make sure your the images in your email have HTML “alt” tags, which displays a text description when the image does not display. Here is why…

Images Off (click to enlarge)

Images On (click to enlarge)

Need I say more? Well yes, I will say more. (more…)

Fingerprint, a tool which shows you exactly which email clients your customers are using, has released a new report on the current state of the email client market. Some really interesting results on both B2B and B2C subscribers:

(more…)

Most all email clients do a great job displaying the masked “From” name in your inbox display. The new AOL email client is not so kind. As you see below, this is very important to address. There are 4 examples below, the better choice of email address is quite obvious.

I only check my AOL email maybe once every couple days. So when you get a crowded inbox, the email address is very important in the quick scan on what to open.

Some of these follow the biggest no-no’s of email marketing: “do not reply” and “NBMediaEmarketing” which is a parent company of a guitar magazine, a company that I have to struggle to remember what the actual company I opted into was each time. As for the MLB, I hate when they start with feedback, very generic. Also, why do I want to give feedback? Is this feedback? You get my drift.

Musician’s Friend does it right. Brand recognition before and after the @ symbol.

How does your from email address look in AOL?