The time that you were sure that your email sitting was read while sitting in front of a computer screen, is long gone. That also means that you have to imagine how your contact consumes your message in a different way.
More than half of the population has a smartphone or tablet under its fingers. Additional to the specific characteristics – for example the size of the screen – of these devices that have their influence on reading an email, there are also factors that influence the reading conditions that are important to be taken seriously.
Thumbs
Contacts that your message on a mobile device, aren’t sitting behind a desk with a classic keyboard to deliver the expected conversion. No, they walk around, hang in the seat of a bus or lay on the beach. They react with their fingertips. And the chance that they are able to click directly on a specific link is small. So, mobile read e-mails ask for very adapted layouts. Large buttons in order to prevent that the finger ends up everywhere, except on the intended link.
Bandwidth
In addition to all that, you are never sure about the bandwidth available to your contacts’ disposal while they are out. If they can pick up on a Wi-Fi hotspot somewhere, then you don’t have to worry about your landing page. At least if this page has responsive design. If you have to contact the landing page via G3, then you better be careful with graphics. Otherwise the waiting time would be too high. Or you can provide a button that allows the reader to indicate whether he wants to be reminded of the message later. When he is behind his computer.
Pastime
Your contacts will also try to kill time when reading your email messages. When they are waiting in line at the cash register, on the bus to school or while sitting in the train. This means they that are consciously making the time to sort through their emails. They want to be entertained or amused. It’s the perfect time to reach out to your contacts. But that also means that you still have to maintain all the old principles of a good email message. Because another place, doesn’t mean yet another reading taste!
