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I’ve argued elsewhere that Canadian companies and agencies should take a serious look at bringing mobile marketing expertise ‘in-house’.

For agencies, it makes the most sense in full-service, promo and direct response/relationship marketing shops. Digital agencies also need to understand mobile at the very least for mobile web and application builds. Having in-house mobile expertise won’t be right for every company, but any youth-focused brand, consumer packaged goods firm or publisher should be taking mobile very seriously.

There are plenty of reasons why having a mobile subject matter expert, product and/or project manager makes sense. Not the least of which are: defining brand mobile objectives; conceiving, developing and managing mobile programming; managing vendor relations and; acting as a mobile advocate both internally and externally.

In an encouraging sign, I found the following job description posted for a major Canadian publisher:

This role will require tight coordination with the Creative, Marketing, Brand Management, and Project Management teams in order to meet business requirements for each initiative. It will also require the management of external partners who have been selected for the development of the mobile initiatives.  A deep understanding of mobile content and mobile devices will be a success factor, as well as experience in implementing best practices in terms of Product Development including both product planning and product marketing.

Responsibilities:

The Product Manager is expected to:
1. In collaboration with Marketing, Brand Managers and the creative team, contribute in defining the product strategy and roadmap for mobile development
2. Develop the core positioning and messaging for mobile products and manage all aspects of execution
3. Primary point of contact on Mobile for Transcontinental constituents
4. Manage day-to-day activities on Mobile initiatives
5. Work with external third parties to assess partnerships
6. Support sales teams on proposals that include mobile
7. Develop appropriate sales tools and train as necessary
8. Be an expert with respect to the competition and keep abreast of latest trends
9. Perform product demos to customers
10. Set revenue model to meet revenue and profitability goals
11. Deliver a monthly P&L forecast
12. Set rate card pricing for Mobile products & services
13. Service external clients on mobile projects
14. Act as a gatekeeper, working with Brand Managers, Product Directors or other internal departments to capture, consolidate and manage the implementation of Mobile initiatives

For me, this description makes a lot of sense and covers the core functions and responsibilities of a mobile subject matter expert/product manager. A final job description for your organization or agency will likely differ slightly, but using this as a template will go a long way for defining the role of a mobile marketer in-house and setting key deliverables.

What do you think?

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Mobile & Media Relations

While mobile cannot replace the benefits of building trusting and mutually beneficial relationships with members of the media, there are ways that it can support media relation activities. Valerie Christopherson offers this list of uses for mobile in media relations:

• sending invitations to press conferences;
• querying prospective media targets during a media tour for their availability;
• locating a journalist on a trade show floor amid tens of thousands of people;
• distributing news through the mobile channel; hosting “mobilenars” with the use of mobile video/streaming; and;
• texting responses to interview questions while on the go.

While many of these are basic solutions (a fact Ms. Christopherson acknowledges) they do underline mobile’s role in connecting people through its ‘always on, always with, always personal’ attributes.

A more sophisticated use of mobile technology for media relations returns to use of QR codes.  The National Post, a Canadian national daily newspaper, has just launched a program where QR codes are included at the bottom on stories appearing in the print edition. When readers scan the codes a browser session is initiated and they are taken to videos and other relevant content.

While the newspaper plans to offer this as a service to advertisers, the potential for media relations activity should be immediately apparent.  Public relations practitioners could include a QR code in their media packages for inclusion in any published stories. The codes could link to supplemental content such as videos, pictures and mobile websites or relevant downloads.

To illustrate this point, consider a hospital pitching a story on a new piece of equipment that will aid in treating burn victims. An included QR code could take readers to a mobile internet site where video of the equipment in use could be viewed or interviews with burn victims that have benefited from the equipment could be played. The technically inclined could view the equipments specifications. The charitable could find links to donate to the burn ward and the curious could find out more information about types of burns and treatment options. In all cases, the media relations effort has not only resulted in press coverage, it has provided interested parties with the tools to learn more about the subject, the organization and ways they can make a difference.

Mobile allowed the media relations effort to move beyond impressions and created conditions to deepen public understanding, acceptance and support.

Up Next: Mobile as a tool for measuring public attitudes

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Mobile & Community

The practice of community relations is another area where mobile can play an important tactical role.  Enhancing public service campaigns, providing information services, and mobilizing support are three excellent examples of tactics that can be enhanced by integrating mobile. “Mobile offers communicators a tool that’s both responsive and personal. When the public is using mobile to communicate with a brand or organizations, it’s because they’ve bought into what that organization is saying,” says Brady Murphy.

There are two primary starting points for community engagement via mobile: a database that has been built by the communicating organization or an awareness campaign that drives opt-in. With an established database, communicators have an audience of stakeholders that they can influence through value-laden content. The US-based not for profit Do Something uses mobile as a tool to mobilize volunteers. After signing up, participants receive one to two text messages per month featuring volunteer opportunities that match preferences established at the point of sign up at http://www.dosomething.org/textme. Encouragingly, Do Something recognized that ensuring the content was relevant to the recipient greatly improved the chances of the program’s success.

The same practice could be applied to any organization that needs to be in regular contact with its stakeholders.  Service outages, environmental conditions, community building events, public forums are all types of notification content that could be delivered to stakeholders via mobile. Within the text messages, practitioners can also include opportunities for subsequent communications. From the message, stakeholders could click on a link to call an information hot-line or be directed to a mobile web page which has additional information.

The user experience can also start with consumer opt-in. The Partnership for a Drug Free America has launched a mobile public service campaign for “parents interested in learning how to start and maintain conversations with their kids about drugs and alcohol, and teens who may be experimenting or using. The partnership is running banner ads on mobile Web sites that drive to WAP (mobile internet) sites where parents can sign up to access tips, tools and advice from the Partnership’s “Time to Talk” program.”

Communities of interest can also be mobilized from more traditional communications collateral. QR codes, basically barcodes that can store lots of information and can trigger actions on a mobile phone, can be included on printed material. Consumers with the proper devices and software can scan the code and be driven to related destinations. For example, a newsletter focusing on a park clean up effort could include a QR code which, when scanned, triggers a mobile web browsing session that allows the user to find the park closest to them and other relevant details about the event.  The website could also include volunteer sign up tools and methods for informing other interested parties.  Not only is this environmentally friendly, it also deposits key communications material onto the handset where it can be referenced and easily shared among the users peer group.

Once again, mobile serves as a channel to engage communities that are important to the organization, provides valuable and relevant information, creates circumstances to motivate action and strengthens the organization’s reputation.

Next Up: Mobile as a media relations tactic

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Mobile & The Brand

Recalling Mary Sachs’ comments that the lines between marketing and public relations are blurring, the first place where mobile can fit in with a public relations strategy is in the area of marketing communications. While traditional marketers would look to mobile as a way, ultimately, to sell product, the public relations professional can use mobile as a tactic for extending brand equity and experience.  David Jones, also of Hill & Knowlton, says, “The obvious starting point for mobile and PR is branded content, games or mobile applications that connect people to the web experience. PR is starting to play in brand extensions and direct to consumer communication is starting to become everyone’s space. Anytime you’re trying to influence public behaviour there’s an opportunity to reach them through the mobile device.”

A perfect example of this approach comes from global fitness giant Nike. Nike launched the ‘Nike Training Club‘ application for iPhone users. The application targets women and provides tools for customizing workouts, training tips and peer to peer interaction. This type of application builds positive brand associations and can create a community of advocates.Similarly, an application called ‘My Diabetes Guide‘ allows the 24 million Americans living with Diabetes to develop strategies for coping with the disease. The CEO of the firm responsible for the application says, “The amount of information on the Web about healthcare is too much to digest but mobile’s small screen is actually a plus in this case – it makes it easier to sift through the content. We are transforming into a teacher and a coach, giving advice and encouragement when people need it most.”

Both of these examples demonstrate approaches for building favourable opinions about an organization or an issue.  While these examples involve applications, mobile messaging and the mobile web provide plenty of opportunities as well. Absolute Vodka used text messaging to promote responsible alcohol consumption with its ‘Recognize the Moment‘ campaign while Barak Obama created mobile websites to promote his policies, notify supporters of upcoming events and provide the tools to engage potential voters at the grassroots level.

Using mobile to promote brand information or create a branded experience relies on the some of the same principles as more traditional PR activities: creating messaging that is relevant to your audiences, provide value to the recipient and inform with the objective of stimulating action.  Ultimately, the objective of brand communication efforts is to build community confidence in, and goodwill towards, the organization and its operations.

Next Up: Mobile for community relations

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Getting ‘Mobilized’

The remainder of this series will address specific tactical approaches for how public relations professionals can leverage mobile for brand activation, community building, media relations, assessing public attitudes and crisis communications.

Though there are ways to integrate mobile into other practice areas, these provide the most fertile opportunities and include the best examples of the tactics in action.  There are, however, a number of things public relations professional must consider to ensure their programs are starting from a strong foundation.

First and foremost, as with any PR program, is research. Not all mobile tactics, whether messaging, the mobile web, direct response or applications, will be appropriate for any given campaign. Care must be taken in ensuring that the right strategy and tactics are employed to reach the target audience. For example, when dealing with a very broad audience or when looking to engage less mobile savvy audiences, mobile messaging is likely the best approach.  The mobile web will work well for youth and digitally savvy consumers, though mobile web adoption is growing rapidly. If you are looking to create a rich mobile experience, an application might be the best tactic. This is even truer when reaching consumers who are Smartphone or iPhone users. Hill & Knowlton’s David Jones says, “You have to consider how people are using the mobile device. Are you trying to entertain, inform or connect?  Always be conscious of the mobile device and what types of consumers are using which device.”

A great first step in any mobile programming is identifying ways to build a database of consumers. Integrate a mobile number opt-in to any web form or sign ups that are part of your web or communications strategy. If you are considering a mobile messaging program, secure a shortcode or look for a technical partner that has a roster of shortcodes for general use.  Equally, if you are looking at a mobile web program, secure your mobile domain. This can be done through a domain registry service just like any other web address. Typically, mobile domains use a .mobi extension or use an ‘m.brandurl.com’ format. These formats indicate to consumers that the web destination is optimized for mobile browsing.

It is more than likely that a technical partner will be required to help navigate the mobile space and they can assist you in managing any of these steps.  Brady Murphy of Vortex Mobile says, “Finding a mobile partner is critical to ensure the proper execution of a mobile campaign. They will have the technical expertise and understand the regulatory landscape while ensuring mobile best practices are implemented.” As with any new technology or tactic, it is important to execute properly from the start to ensure the effort is not wasted and maximum benefit is achieved.

Up Next: Mobile and brand building for PR

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(Note: I’ve scripted this post to help work through some of my initial thoughts on the role mobile can play in relationship marketing.)

If one of main factors in building a sustained and economically productive relationship with your customers is the ability to earn their trust, then the mobile channel offers a key gateway for both initiating and growing that relationship.

Mobile is a permission marketing channel. The consumer must initiate a relationship with you by actively interacting with you through a promotional vehicle  (responding to an SMS call to action, downloading an application, clicking on a mobile ad, visiting a mobile site, etc…) or by providing some other sort of explicit consent (i.e. providing their mobile # and designating the mobile as a preferred channel through a web-form). So, with mobile, the pull comes before the push.

The power of the permission is also the power of the personal.  Mobile’s are unique to an individual. They are the most direct media channel to a consumer driven by the relatively high costs of ownership and the variety of communication options they provide. Other characteristics also highlight mobile’s appeal as a relationship marketing tool: mobile’s are always on, always with. You cannot say this of any other medium.

If you’ve managed to get a consumer to engage with you via their mobile, if you don’t respect the personal and the permission you do so at your cost. You can lose trust in a heartbeat.

Here’s some of the implications of these characteristics for relationship marketing:

Always Personal:

• Bridges transaction marketing and relationship marketing
• Powerful platform for peer-to-peer referrals
• A premium must be placed on engineering a consumer-friendly value exchange
• Data collected in ‘listening’ programming has a deep connection to consumer interests

Always On/Always With:

• Mobile calls to action integrated into media can be a powerful acquisition tactic, especially if your promotion/value exchange capitalizes on consumer downtime or contextual relevance.
• Contextual relevance provides opportunities for stimulating intent to purchase. You can give the consumer what they want/need, when they want it.

Sample Mobile Tactics:

SMS:

• For acquisition via media tie-ins (database opt-ins, providing initial rewards and spurring push to web)
• Rewarding via points, coupons, tickets. I’d include the use of QR codes here but you can easily do couponing through PINs and barcodes
• Creating alert services based around product attributes or lifestyle associations

Mobile Internet:

• Customer acquisition. For example, an automotive marketer could use a mobile site to help customers book test drives or get brochures mailed out to them
• Providing location based value such as finders, product comparison/recommendation services
• Providing supplemental brand and product information that might influence decisions at point of purchase.
• Generating referrals using SMS or email or as a coupon delivery platform

Mobile Applications

• Loyalty management platforms. I don’t think it will be too long before plastic ‘points’ cards will be replaced by mobile apps (or at least exist as an option). What a great platform for pushing out redemption opportunities and driving to retail.
• Value -added experiences/services (see Kraft and their recipe helper application)
• Product browsing, sharing, customizing (see Reebok and their custom shoe design application).
• Building community and help encourage brand friendly lifestyles (see Nike and their Training Club application)

Mobile’s other features also have a place in the relationship development and management process. Mobile’s can take photos and record video for example. Each could be leveraged to help consumers build custom shopping lists or provide product feedback through image recognition and augmented reality applications).

Smartphones are also email devices. However, operating systems do not always render HTML emails properly. Any email marketing effort should have mobile-optimized versions to ensure a positive experience for all recipients no matter where they are digesting the communication.

Who should be playing in the mobile space:

The most fertile opportunities are for B2C brands in the retailing, CPG and QSR sectors.  I’d definitely include food and beverage, sporting and other lifestyle brands here. The Pharma industry could also do a lot with mobile as part of their lifestyle marketing efforts.

These are just some inital thoughts. Each point here is a juicy subject in it’s own right and I haven’t even touched on the measurement / segmentation / targeting side of relationship marketing.  But what I do see is how mobile can be a powerful platform for relationship marketing across the attraction-acquisition-conversion-retention-loyalty cycle.

Earning share of mobile is a huge first step in forming a meaningful consumer relationship.

What do you think?

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Intro to Mobile Privacy & Measurement

Two other issues that must be addressed when using the mobile device to communicate with stakeholders are privacy and measurement. The concept of mobile as permission-based communication has been introduced previously, but the debate around consumer privacy is still very much on the radar. In Canada, the Canadian Wireless and Telecommunications Association (CWTA), governs all business to consumer mobile messaging programs. They have mandated that any messaging program have consumer opt-out functionality built in. The buying and selling of lists of mobile phone numbers collected as part of a business-to-consumer campaign is also prohibited. There are no mobile-specific standards around data use and collection via the mobile web or mobile applications, though most campaigns appear to follow standard online privacy and data collection guidelines (note: if anyone has more info on mobile marketing privacy guidelines, I’d love to know more).

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has released a report offering guidelines for behavioural advertising. Though many privacy advocates call the guidelines ‘meaningless’, it is still a step in the right direction and MobileMarketer.com, in their analysis of the report said, “In the FTC’s report the consumer watchdog said that companies should provide reasonable data security measures so that behavioral data does not fall into the wrong hands, and should retain data only as long as necessary for legitimate business or law enforcement needs. ‘The key theme underlying this guidance is the need to balance the potential benefits of the various practices covered by the principles against the privacy concerns the practices raise,’ the FTC document says.” Mobile privacy will continue to be a contentious issue but there are enough safe-guards in place to protect both the consumer and communicator, provided existing regulations and common sense are applied.

Though mobile is one of the most highly measureable communication channels available to the professional communicator, unified standards around measurement are still in a nascent stage. Text messaging programs that use keywords and shortcodes offer the most consistent measurement platform. Shortcodes are 5 or 6 digit numeric codes that work just like phone numbers but are more accurately thought of as the URL of mobile messaging (Ex. Text WIN to 12345 where WIN is the keyword and 1235 is the shortcode.). Among the measurement points are total number of users, total number of interactions, location and time of interaction and content of the interaction.The mobile web and applications offer many of the same measurement points as online communications such as page views and visits, time on site, handset type and location though not at the same level of granularity.

Market research firm Nielsen has been working to advance mobile measurement by introducing a mobile segmentation targeting solution that organizes targeting data into easily interpreted and manipulated groups, or “segments,” to help advertisers better target their key demographics. Solutions such as Nielsen’s allow communicators to serve up content relevant to a particular user based on information contained within the handset, such as geo-location, or from information provided by the user. Hill & Knowlton’s David Jones says, “Because mobiles are registered to real people, there are some good tracking options. Specifically, the typical mobile measures such as interactions, area code, time, and so on, but also looking at more traditional web-tracking options. It would be great to get access to more detailed user demo info, but can that be done without being too invasive?” As with any communications program, setting the right objectives is essential. By understanding the strengths and limitations of the mobile experience and by properly addressing user privacy concerns, objectives can be set that map onto the available measurement metrics.

Up Next: An introduction to mobile tactics for public relations

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Mobile Strengths & Limitations

Mobile is a permission-based communications channel. In order for any organization to communicate with stakeholders via mobile, the consumer must take the first action.

This permission can be gained in many ways: from a website sign up; via text message in response to a promotional call to action; by a click on a mobile ad or a visit a mobile website; by downloading an application and so on. Some of these forms of permission are more explicit than others. In all cases though, the consumer initiates the interaction.

At least in Canada, you cannot buy a list of mobile numbers. You cannot send unsolicited messages. You must provide a way for a consumer to opt-out of any marketing or communication program. In some respects this creates a barrier to reaching a target audience. But once the barrier is overcome, communicators can be confident that the audiences they are reaching have demonstrated an interest in what is being said or offered and have an explicit willingness to engage with the company, organization, or brand.

The power of this permission becomes clear when we return the Canadian Public Relations Society’s definition of public relations which says that the objective of public relation is to build and manage communication channels, and to use those channels to generate favourable attitudes to an organization’s operations, goals and policies. A strong argument can be made that your chances of creating favourable attitudes are greatly increased when you audience has actively volunteered to listen to what you have to say.  Mobile becomes, in many important ways, earned media. Content is consumed because it was found to be useful and credible to the individual. The main difference between this type of earned media and traditional earned ‘coverage’ is the opportunity to have an unfiltered connection to the target audience.

When making those connections to a target audience, there are also other limitations and strengths of the mobile medium that should be considered. It’s a well-worn saying in marketing circles that marketers tend to initially approach every new medium in the same way as they approached previous ones. Early websites were digitized versions of print brochures, for example.  The reality, of course, is that each new medium comes with its own operating principles, technical requirements and user or social dynamics.

From a content perspective, the mobile handset and its features requires communicators to pay close attention to limitations mandated by the device itself or, in some case, the wireless carriers that provide the telecommunications infrastructure. Text messages can only be 160 characters long (less in some cases and places).  Any communicator using text should ensure the message can be conveyed within that limit. Distributing a single message or response over multiple texts undermines the consumer experience. Remember that a text message can act as a bridge to another destination. Phone calls or hyperlinks to downloadable content or the mobile web can all be activated from a text message.

If you are looking to engage consumers on the mobile web, the screen size presents both opportunities and challenges.  The DotMobi Advisory, a mobile internet lobby group made up of leading companies within the mobile space, offers a guidelines for building websites that are optimized for handset browsing. Among their recommendations are to always keep the limitations of the device in mind. A mobile device has a smaller screen, no mouse, no printer, not always keyboard, restricted bandwidth, memory costs and any sites should be design accordingly. The same guide, Ten Mistakes in Mobile Web Marketing, also points out the opportunities that the mobile web can provide such as reaching new audiences, deepening relationships, delivering new services, demonstrating brand values and tying into wider campaigns and suggests ways to exploit the capabilities of the mobile device.

It’s also important to remember, just as in more traditional communications, that messaging and targeting have to be seamlessly merged. The right tone and content for one audience may fall flat with another audience. Similarly with mobile communications, it’s important to understand who you are targeting and their mobile consumption patterns. Larry Harris, president of Ansible Mobile offers this advice (p.16), “The best mobile programs are hyper-targeted. Use your traditional media channels to drive a clearly defined audience (engineers, doctors who are experts in a certain disease, attendees at an event, fans of a certain sports team, young males, pregnant moms, care-givers for certain disease indication, C-level executives, music aficionados, people near a certain retail outlet, repeat customers of a certain product or service, etc.) to interact with your brand via the mobile device. The more general your mobile campaign, the less likely the campaign is going to succeed and have a demonstrable ROO or return on objective.”

Though Mr. Harris is speaking primarily about marketing programming, the advice is equally true and relevant for public relations programs.  When targeting youth or less mobile savvy audiences, text messaging programs might be most effective as that feature is used most widely and ubiquitous on mobile devices. A more urban and digitally savvy audience may be best reached through a mobile web or application experience as they are more likely to have sophisticated handsets and expansive mobile data packages. Jennifer Wasley says, in regards to which mobile features are most appropriate for public relations campaigns, “I think it really depends on the goals of the campaign. Do you want people taking photos and submitting them? Do you want them to text and have your spokesperson call them? The utility is completely dependent upon the needs of the campaign but each one does have a place in the PR mix – even if it’s just a line in a media release that says ’service X is available on your mobile phone’.”

Up Next: Some thoughts on mobile privacy and measurement

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Mobile As A Content Platform

We have now seen how mobile technology enables connectivity and context for consumers and have begun to review those implications for public relations practitioners. The third ‘C’ we’ve introduced is ‘content’. And while technology underpins mobile content, the public relations professional needs to understand how mobile allows content creation and consumption.

From a content creation perspective, the biggest impact on the public relations industry is the rise of citizen journalism. This term was first used in response to the rise of blogging but now refers to a more widespread and significant phenomenon.  The mobile device now means any consumer can become both witness to and reporter of events as they happen.  With mobile devices that can take and send pictures, emails or messages to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, news can travel around the world in seconds with unfiltered clarity and often before mainstream media can get on the scene. “Remember Rodney King?” asks David Jones, referring to a video-taped beating of a civilian by police during the 1991 Los Angeles riot. “That was weird then. But it’s common place now. People have mobile news gathering and distribution tools with them at all times. You don’t know who has their eyes on you and where it could end up.”

Today, most major news outlets encourage consumer photo or email tips. An increasing number have Twitter accounts to gather consumer contributions and feedback.  After a plane crashed into the Hudson River in January, the first accounts and photos from the scene came from a Twitter user named Jim Hanrahan approximately 15 minutes before mainstream media alerted their audiences. Similar ‘on the scene’ accounts flowed via mobile devices during terrorist attacks in Mumbai and earthquakes in China.

These examples are all major news events and it would naïve for the public relations professional not to acknowledge how the same dynamic could cripple their response to a crisis. “In marketing programs, we’ve used the viral potential of mobile to great effect. It’s easy to see how the same could dramatically impact PR response to an emergency. The good news is that mobile can also be used to respond in a crisis situation and regain some control,” says Brady Murphy.  However, before looking at specific tactical solutions, we must acknowledge some important factors in communicating with consumers via the mobile channel.

Next Up: A Review of the strengths & limitations of mobile from a PR POV.

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The big sexiness in mobile right now are iPhone apps. No question they are impressive and the opportunities for brand communications are many. But as they only reach a sliver of the overall mobile audience and are expensive to build, I wouldn’t recommend jumping in with an app unless you can conclusively prove it will reach a huge chunk of your target audience.

Here are three relatively easy and cost-effective tactics for getting started in mobile:

• Build a mobile database: In Canada, you can’t buy a list of mobile numbers. If you find someone who will sell you one, say ‘no thanks’ and walk away slowly. Not only is it illegal it also undermines a key strength of mobile marketing – it’s permission based. Don’t be a spammer. There are a few ways to go about building your mobile database but the easiest is to add a mobile number capture to any web contact/sign up forms. Include a short ‘what’s this‘ description stating that the numbers won’t be sold or rented to any third parties and will only be used to deliver product or service information from your company. Now, I’d recommend working with a mobile services company to execute your database build and any subsequent programs but you’re taking a big first step by building a qualified audience and have a leg up for any promotions, CRM programming, or product/service alerts.

• Register Your Mobile Domain: Whether or not you’re ready to launch a mobile internet site, you should at least ensure that your brand site isn’t being squatted on. The dotMobi initiative has brought together many leading mobile carriers and technology companys to support a special domain extension for the mobile internet. This lets consumers know that ‘yourbrand.mobi’ is optimized for browsing on their handsets. Opinions do vary about the necessity of having a dotMobi domain. Many brands have used an m.yourbrand.com format for their mobile internet sites. But for about $20 a year, its a good investment to own your dotMobi domain. DotMobi domains can be purchased through most (maybe all) domain registry services.

• Optimize Your Email Content: If you send out B2B or B2C email communications, you should make sure your emails are optimized for reading on a mobile device. The increasing adoption of smartphones means that a significant percentage of your recipients will be viewing your emails on their handsets. This is especially true if you’re communicating with business professionals. There are two ways to go about this. The first is to strip down your HTML coding and simplify your email format/layout. Here’s a good resource for more on email to mobile optimization. The second is to include a link at the top of the email to a mobile version of the email. When clicked, the reader would then be taken to a mobile web page hosting your email content. Either way, you are ensuring your recipients don’t have to navigate through a jumble of HTML code to get to the substance.

There are nuances in each of these steps to make sure you’re getting the most out of your mobile marketing efforts, so I’d again recommend connecting with a mobile services company to help you navigate the landscape and ensure you’re implementing best practices.

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