Between 15 and 50% of email is now read on mobile devices and this figure is going to rise. In fact, mobile is now more popular than the good old-fashioned desktop (on average 36% of email is now opened on a mobile device, with 33% for desktop and 31% for webmail. Litmus –”Has your audience gone Mobile” (June 2012).  This represents an 80% increase in smartphone and tablet opens over the last six months and more than double the number of Android opens from 2011 figures. Apple does still dominate with nearly 80% of mobile opens occurring on IOS devices – which certainly makes it easier to design for mobile.

How is your mobile email strategy going? If its not moving faster than usage is growing you probably need to up your game.

Here is some starters to get you going.

• Optimise for viewing; remember both portrait and landscape modes, and zoom, and high contrast, and zoom, and tiny unreadable screens
• Not everyone uses the in-built mail applications, some folks use Gmail or Sparrow
• Use SMS as email opt-in.
• Think headines. Since mobile email apps do not have a preview capability, you have only the subject line and the ‘from’ field to capture a reader’s attention.
• Interoperability. Correctly formatted links will fire SMS, phone calls and applications automatically (really neat loading Youtube video on an iPhone)
• Plan the UI; single column of text 450-500 wide, increased font size to 16-18 pixels for body text and 21 or 22 for headlines and leave enough space around buttons and links for a finger to tap them without mashing the experience
• Environmental context. People reading email on their phones are most likely in the midst of another activity, watching TV, waiting for a train. So tighten the focus and the copy. Less is more.
• KISS. For a mobile audience, pick one idea, one concept, or one offer. This not only limits the amount you have to explain, but also prevents you from obscuring or confusing the message.
• Plan for the Unsubscribe trap. It’s too easy for most subscribers to opt-out ans with no value to offer you’re left blind and dumbfounded. Have a plan.

Why Catcher in the Rye? No other reason except that it was initially published exactly 50 years ago today. And it’s a good book. We don’t read enough books.