There is no slowing down email, despite predictions that this medium will go the way of the fax machine and MySpace.
More users sign up for accounts every day - and even better, they’re signing up to receive newsletters and promotions from the garden brands they love.
Mobile usage continues to grow, and a whopping 72 percent of US online adults send or receive personal emails via smartphone at least weekly, according to research by Forrester.
Gardening brands need to embrace the mobile platform NOW to reach the largest possible audience.
Read below to learn how to optimize emails for mobile devices - and the major payoff it can bring to your garden business.
Embrace the Mobile Email on Smartphones
First thing's first: verify your company is using mobile-responsive templates to send emails.
And, check to see if your email is being sent as both text and html. There should be a box you can check to automatically create a text version, allowing mobile users to properly view your content.
Then, give your email a makeover for mobile devices.
Finally, test your emails on multiple platforms to see how they appear: iPad, iPhone, Android and even Blackberry.
Creating Quality Mobile Content
Emails need to be short and to the point.
Embrace social media practices by designing subject lines to be 60 characters (or less!) to encourage opens. Also, appeal to smartphone users by sending newsletters on a consistent basis. This way, they'll learn to recognize when they can count on your garden brand's content - and look forward to reading it every week.
Newsletters are a beloved form of brand communication because they provide readers a manageable amount of information that readers are invested in. Plus, garden newsletters highlight the most relevant, timely information for consumers.
If you're including links in your emails, which you should, make sure they work on mobile devices. According to Google, 61 percent of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing. Even worse, 40 percent visit a competitor’s site instead.
Now, those are odds your garden business needs to beat.
Know Your Garden Customers
See what's working by utilizing analytics to track users' preferences on your website and to see who's opening your emails.
People actually like emails based on previous shopping behaviors and preferences. 81 percent of US digital shoppers surveyed said they were at least somewhat likely to make additional purchases, either online or in-store, as a result of targeted emails.
Plus, a targeted, follow-up email can reward garden customers for their loyalty, drive repeat purchases and encourage readers to refer new business your way.
