Forrester Research claims that 60% of emails will be previewed on a mobile device by mid-2009.  Beyond being a staggering statistic that shows the rapid growth of the mobile Internet experience, this statistic should act as a loud wake-up call to email marketers around the world . . .

I subscribe to a variety of emails – some as a consumer (i.e. interest in retail), as well as many tech newsletters about Ecommerce, social media, and emerging technologies.  During a typical work week, I have Entourage as my main work client open in one monitor, and Apple’s “Mail” program open on my second monitor.  Both of these applications run all day long, and mail automatically feeds into them as you would expect.  If I happen to be at my desk, and an email arrives, I generally have no problems opening and reading the email as it was intended to be presented in either desktop client application.  However, I’m not always at my desk . . .

In “slow” meetings (i.e. limited participation on my part), at lunch, while traveling to a meeting (and not driving), and even walking to and from my car, I have an iPhone in my pocket that I use to stay as current with my Inbox(s) as possible.  When dealing with business emails, and emails from coworkers, I have absolutely no problems reading the content whatsoever.  But when it comes to emails with design elements, and I receive it on my mobile device first, the marketer literally has one chance to get things right – either the email fits my screen or it doesn’t.  If it does fit my screen (i.e. using best practices), I’m a happy and informed camper, reading the content in full just as I would if I read it on one of my desktop applications first.  If the email message does not fit my screen, makes me scroll to make sense of the email (i.e. large fixed width), or attempts to “wow” me by utilizing Flash – I simply delete the email.  But here’s the kicker – I use a connection method for both of my email accounts called IMAP, which makes it to where if I delete mail at one location (i.e. the mobile device), it also deletes the message from the desktop client as well.  In the latter scenario, the email marketer has failed in getting their message out to me.  Even worse, the metrics provided by the outbound email marketing tool will show a delivery and an open rate of 100% for me, but again, the message itself is never digested.

Let’s take things a step further – such as when I’m home for the evening, or over the weekend.  In this case, I almost always view my email messages from my phone.  It’s convenient no matter where I’m at, even if my laptop is only a few feet away from me.  During time periods like this, I am literally checking email almost 100% of the time on a mobile device.

Marketers need to return to the “lowest common denominator” rule we had in place years ago.  Construct email content for the most basic of email clients – in this case, a mobile phone.  Images are just fine, as long as they scale appropriately with the overall email itself.  Though marketing messages can be conveyed through brilliant Flash elements, most phones have NO way of showing Flash – just a large “empty container” that has no value to me as a consumer.

Mobile phones capable of receiving email messages are now widely available, and marketers must keep this user group in mind.  I am an AVID online shopper, and I do want to understand your offers.  However, if they do not fit within the mobile email application, your marketing message has completely escaped me.

MarketNet would love to hear from email marketers that have faced this challenge, and share stories of how they’ve overcome them.  Your comments and insights are welcomed below.