A new report issued by Knotice, of Ignition One, reveals that email engagement is more intense when read on mobile phones compared to desktop and tablet devices, MarketingCharts.com reports. The Knotice report is based on a composite cross sample of some 500 million emails that were sent across 11 industry segments in each half of 2013 in North America.

The Knotice report reviewed the percentage of open emails from time they were sent during the second half of 2013. The review revealed that nearly 54 percent of email opens that took place on mobile phones occurred within 4 hours after delivery. In comparison, 46 percent of opens occurred on desktops and 40 percent occurred on tablets in the same time period.

It seems that the highest engagement on mobile phones occurs in the first couple of hours, which is due, in part, to the sheer number of times that people are picking up their smartphones on any given day. In fact, about one-third of all email opens on mobile telephones take place in the first couple of hours during the post-send time when compared to 28 percent for desktop users and 20 percent for users accessing their tablet devices.

The spread of email opens on tablet devices is more evenly dispersed in approximately the first 12 hours post-delivery. The differences in engagement across the various devices levels off after 4 hours. Meanwhile, considering the increased mobile phone density in the first few post-delivery hours, the study reveals that the desktop’s share of email opens typically increase after the first 8 post-send hours. This means that, although the mobile’s share of overall email opens charted at 48 percent in the second half of 2013, that share tended to increase during various points in the first 8 post-delivery hours.

Knotice suggests using data to understand ways in which to improve effectiveness of email campaigns for mobile use. This may be done by reviewing ESP email reporting and understanding the types of devices each individual business audience is using. If desktop activity is greater, explore ways to improve existing mobile experiences, which will help increase return on investment (ROI) as mobile use also increases.

The ways in which email subscribers are viewing and consuming their email content over the past 18 months has significantly changed, which means that marketers must be better suited to meeting their mobile audience or suffer the potential of click and conversion metric declines. Email should now be considered an extension of a business’ overarching mobile approach, and email and mobile strategies must collaborate to provide the most satisfying brand experiences to customers across all channels.

References:

“Majority of Email Opens on Mobile Phones Occur in the First 4 Hours Post-Delivery“; MarketingCharts.com. June 19, 2014.

Ignition One; Knotice Mobile Email Opens Report: 2013 Overview.