Experian surveyed 240 Australian marketers and 1000 Australian consumers, and found that consumers are using mobile devices for email more than ever, but marketers have not adapted their email strategies to create better experiences across different platforms.
 
“Smartphones have changed the landscape by converging our phone with what is fast become the primary device for accessing the Internet,” Experian’s marketing services asia pacific marketing director John Merakovsky tells Marketing magazine. “This means that messaging on mobile is growing rapidly as consumers embrace the channel.”

“The challenge for marketers is to understand that any campaigns or communication with consumers must be optimised for mobile devices to allow them to respond effectively to a call to action,” Merakovsky advises. “Marketers need to address this growing need as very few consumers today are prepared to click on an email link from their mobile device.”  

Key findings from the study

• Calls to action – mobile email readers are reluctant to click on a link due to bad user experience for non-mobile optimised websites (less than 10 percent would click on a mobile link vs. 61 percent if done through a PC)
• Marketing gap – 78 percent of marketers place a high importance on mobile marketing in the future, yet only 18 percent have taken steps to amend their strategies to meet consumer needs (mobile-friendly microsites, tailored email content)
• Location – consumers are reading emails anytime and anywhere – marketers need to adapt their email strategies to indentify the best times to send out their email if targeting mobile users
• Future trends – mobile apps are a relatively new technology but there is broad interest across all consumer age groups for engaging with them in the future – there is a clear opportunity for Australian marketers, and
• Customers miss out – only one quarter (26 percent ) of Australian consumers consider the design of emails received on their mobile device as ‘good’ – a communications breakdown for retailers trying to engage with customers who have ‘opted in’ to receive news updates.