How to increase mobile email click-through rates

Email blasts need to stand out and have a clear call-to-action if luxury marketers want to increase their mobile click-through rates this year.

Affluent consumers are often the busiest of any consumer group and are increasingly reading and responding to emails from their mobile devices. Therefore, a brand that wishes to increase the effectiveness of its direct marketing should be looking to optimize emails and strategizing to increase mobile click-through rates.

“Mobile users like the immediacy of information and want less content to digest as they are often multi-tasking,” said Deb Hall, managing director at web2mobile, Toronto.

“Write for mobile like you are talking to someone who can only give you part of their attention,” she said.

Mobile clicks
Luxury marketers have quite a few factors that they need to keep in mind when planning their direct email marketing this year.

The first, and arguably most important, is that a majority of the brand’s emails will likely be read on a mobile device.

Creating optimized emails is no longer an option for a brand that wishes to see its opens and click-throughs increase.

However, simply optimizing an email is not enough to ensure that consumers will click through the email to additional brand content.

A strong call-to-action must be present in the subject line and in the body of the email.

This call can either be a push to a local store, an incentive of free shipping or a gift with purchase for online orders.

Consumers, particularly on-the-go affluents, will likely not click through an email unless they know how it will benefit them.

This also means that the email should contain a direct link to the featured product or promotion. Ultimately, the Web site should be optimized for mobile viewing as well.

Another important thing to keep in mind with mobile emails is that they should not contain too much information.

No consumer is going to scroll through tons of information, and she will likely not click to continue if the link is hidden at the bottom, per Ms. Hall.

Standing out
Another thing for luxury marketers to think about is the subject line of an email, the time it is sent and which types of offers are likely to interest affluent consumers.

Indeed, for most marketers deals, sales and mobile coupons see the best click-through rates, per Ms. Hall.

In fact, even some luxury brands and retailers have recently used this method.

For example, Henri Bendel has sent out two emails in the past week that look to drive click-throughs with a 50 percent off sale.

The subject line reads, “Now enjoy 50% off select merchandise,” and the content explains that is the retailer’s annual brown and white sale.

The email encourages consumers to click through to a store locator or to the retailer’s ecommerce boutique.

However, deals and sales can be tricky for luxury brands that risk damaging the brand image when they partake in discounting.

Therefore, luxury brands may wish to promote added value instead.

Skincare brands Kiehl’s and L’Occitance often use this strategy for their mobile-optimized emails.

For example, Kiehl’s sent consumers an email that encouraged them to shop online to receive five complimentary sample-sized products.

However, the strategizing does not stop with the content for luxury marketers.

Make sure to test the time of day and subject lines that create the highest open and click-through rates for your brand.

“Marketers may [often] see multiple click-throughs on the same message from desktop, tablets and smartphones depending on the time of day,” Ms. Hall said.

Final Take
Kayla Hutzler, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York