11/13/09 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
As email has evolved from text only to graphic-heavy, branded communications – the technology behind them has grown increasingly complex. Marketers have included tracking links, served ads and complex tables to better organize the massive amounts of data we cram into emails. To further complicate this, consumers are managing how and where they read their emails – providing marketers with a host of limitations to this influx of technology.
The consumer is ultimately in control – especially when it comes to email. These individuals can choose whether to read their email via an online interface, through Outlook or Entourage, or have that same email forwarded to a smart phone. And there’s very little one can do to track or change those habits, as many (including myself) do all of the above at some point throughout the day. The simple solution is to allow consumers the option of an HTML or text only version … however, that presumes I want the same experience for every medium. So what is a marketer to do?
Mobile Marketer recently had a great article on this subject, and I decided to add Cellit’s perspective – as we’ve done some consulting work on behalf of our clients in this area. Here are some high level thoughts on how you can optimize email for the mobile device:
Quickly get the end user to an alternative format: we’ve all seen the saying “can’t read this email, click here”. The problem is that oftentimes the verbiage is included after a header graphic, or includes a tracking link. It literally should be the very first bit of code put into an HTML email, which will ensure that it’s the first thing a user reads.Make the link short: there’s no reason to collect user data on the link to an alternative version. The inconvenience and degradation of the user experience far outweighs the incremental value. By creating a human readable link, you more quickly get the end user to the content – which is the real value.Create an optimized Mobile version: the alternative version doesn’t have to be just text .. in fact, it can be just as awesome as the original version. Just because a phone doesn’t render email in HTML doesn’t mean it can’t do so on the web. That being said, each phone has a different screen size and capabilities – so you’ll want to work with a vendor to use mobile user agent detection so that you can appropriately scale and format the content to meet these changing requirements.Email doesn’t have to be hard when viewed via mobile device. With a little bit of thought, you can avoid many of the mistakes and create a good user experience that covers the gamut of places users check their email.
06/11/09 by David Wachs | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
In the mobile industry, there’s a term for the mobile sites available directly on the phone, via the menu system. It’s called “on deck” content, which is nestled safely in the carrier’s ”garden”. On AT&T this garden is called mmode, on Verizon it’s VCast… each carrier has a marketing term, but they’re all just beautiful gardens. Oh the garden! Like the Garden of Eden, what a safe place it is! Where you can run free and frolic among $2.99 clips of Saturday Night Live and Bollywood, yellow pages search results, and ESPN news. Where everything you could ever need is just 5 or 6 clicks away! Why go outside the garden? Why look elsewhere when everything you want is available there? I mean, that wacky joke of the day page is all I need! And the carriers want me to stay here! I’m sure it’s out of their benevolent love and acts of kindness! I’m sure it’s not due highly profitable contracts and revenue share agreements!
And then there was the shiny fruit…It beckons you. Tempts you from the tree of knowledge. With its curves and its shiny screen. It’s an Apple on the tree. And now the Apple only costs $99!
You touch the Apple. And then everything you now know changes. The garden walls collapse and you have the entire internet in front of you. You now realize there’s life outside the walls. There’s more than one place to get those Bollywood clips! And they’re FREE or at least cheaper because they don’t have to rev-share with the carriers!
It was only a matter of time, really. The death of on-deck. Of course, technology and market demand trump contracts. And those precious on-deck deals are slipping away.
With the new $99 iPhone (which I think is more impactful than the expensive 3GS) and other powerful and cheap “superphones”, we’re seeing more and more a democratization of the mobile experience. More people can afford it, more people can explore it, and more people can finally leave Eden and see what the mobile internet is about, and not just what the carriers are paid to show us.
01/01/09 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
Admission #1: I don’t have kids. I’m so far from having kids, my mother makes a point of mentioning that her time clock for grandchildren is ticking even if mine isn’t. So forgive me at being a little naive when it comes to the trends of our youth.
Admission #2: Since I grew up without many modern conveniences (I was OUT of college and gainfully employed before I got my first cell phone. Heck, I begged for a phone outlet in my room when I turned 15.), it’s hard for me to remember that the cell phone is as much a part of the youth experience today as The Smurf’s were for my experience some 20+ years ago.
When computers first became popular, we dealt with the porn and other social ills by encouraging our families to put computers in common areas where others can monitor activities. However, now that many phones enable instant messaging, email and web browsing at any time, from anywhere how do we adapt and ensure that our children aren’t falling into the same traps as in the early days of the internet.
I read a great article that describes how parents can limit access on some of the more advanced phones. It’s a great step in the right direction. However, parents should consider all the implications when they decide what model of phone, and service plan, they want to purchase for their children. Does an 8 year old really need 24/7 access to his/her email?
12/24/08 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
The Pew Internet & American Life Project just released the “Future of the Internet III” report which has some interesting predictions. Among the most applicable to businesses is the idea that by 2020, there will be 20 billion cell phones in the world – and they will be the primary method through which people access the internet.
Wow …. think about it. Think of interacting with your favorite websites only through a 2 inch square screen. Many applications do it now …. Facebook Mobile; AIM mobile, Yahoo Mail mobile, etc. And certainly many more are creating specialized applications for the iPhone. This proliferation will only spill over to Windows mobile or the OS for Blackberry.
Check out this great summary article, as well as the full report.
