With 60% of emails being opened on mobile devices, we all want as many people as possible to tap links and visit our websites. So, what can you do to encourage people to get tapping? Email design is key and should be all about clear communication. Your message should be both precise and concise in our overloaded and fragmented digital World. Email click through rates can be improved by adopting the following actions;

Don’t think, feel
Our reactions to most things aren’t driven by thinking, they are driven by emotions with desire and fear usually right at the top of the list. Tapping on an image is easy if we see something we want. Equally, a fear of missing out can compel us to tap.

The Primacy Effect
Getting us to tap a link is also helped by making it easy to do – we are programmed to save energy so we go for the path of least resistance.

Make it obvious
Links should be recognisable and easy to tap on mobile devices. Avoid text links, which can be difficult to read and even more so to tap – use buttons instead and always put links behind images as we expect to be able to tap an image and be taken to a web page.

A quick fix
Lead with a summary of what’s in the email so people in a hurried state of mind can get to what they want as quickly as possible; ‘Top 5 deals’, ‘10 best weekend breaks’. We are all scanners and skim-readers online and lists allow us to focus.

This time it’s personal
Of course, these things only work if we as marketers send relevant content to our customers. This will keep them reading our emails and increase the tap rate. Don’t rely on people scrolling past lots of items until something grabs their attention, we are quick to give up these days.

Q&A
We are all curious by nature and want to know the answer to things we have an interest in or we find intriguing, so phrasing copy as questions can elicit more taps – just make sure the content is relevant and worthwhile tapping back to.

Character building – all 140 of them
Write like you Tweet – be brief and focus your content. We are becoming increasingly used to reading information in snippet form and quickly tune out of verbose descriptions.

Following orders
Sometimes we just want to be told what to do! Make your calls-to-action (CTA’s) clear and position them prominently. Almost all emails require scrolling on mobile ‘phones so build additional CTA’s into your email design so people can tap at any point they are reading.

Where appropriate, qualify a CTA with supporting text describing what your customers will get when they tap;

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Less words more pictures
For marketing emails, particularly those blatantly selling (which is most and that’s OK!) reduce the amount of copy as people won’t read it – especially on a small screen in a distracting environment and use sharp on-brand images that have a purpose – if an image is not relevant to the message then don’t use it. Eye tracking studies show our eyes are drawn to images, particularly ones of faces and bright colours. Avoid stock images though as they can convey a sense of detachment and falseness.

Set the tone
Your emails should be friendly and conversational to engender a feeling of connection and trust. Our use of the internet is ingrained in our daily lives and the lines are blurred because of interactions on social and media sites so we are used to colloquial communications.

Colour me in
Colours are emotive and trigger different responses in people. Yellow is warm and friendly, blue is seen as trustworthy and professional, black is often linked with power and luxury and red is eye-catching but generally seen as a warning so use it sparingly.

Like everything email, test and test again. track and review your email response rates and what they translate to in terms of web page metrics and revenues. Once you have a handle on what works best, you can start to build an inventory of email templates, design ideas and layouts. The rest is fine tuning.