How best to display e-mail on a handheld
The way e-mails display on handheld devices is an increasingly important topic these days. Especially in the b-to-b realm, how many business folks do you see these days with a BlackBerry in their hands? There are a number of components that can be optimized for handheld rendering, but let’s focus on a quick and impactful improvement: optimizing the “from” name.
In the early days of e-mail, it was important to monitor subject line truncation in a number of e-mail clients to ensure that it did not make the subject line misleading. While this isn’t as large a concern today, it is once again time to revisit truncation discussions. This time, we are looking at “from” name truncation on handheld devices.
Until recently, I wouldn’t even have considered this an issue. But then it hit. The little red light on my BlackBerry began to blink. I picked it up. I looked; and low and behold, I have received an e-mail from … eMarketer Ass.
Don’t laugh too hard. It could happen to you because this phenomenon is not getting any attention. After polling a number of my clients, I learned that none of them had even considered the potential for disaster. It is important to know that, on average, 14 characters of the “from” name will render on a handheld device. While this might not be a concern for everyone, it definitely should be considered.
The downside is that testing this rendering is difficult. Varying screen sizes, font sizes and themes all affect the number of characters that will render, but using the 14-character guideline is better than having no benchmark at all. Do a quick gut check of how your “from” name is rendering on a few handheld devices to ensure you don’t encounter the same issue as the eMarketer Association.
Good post on your blog. Thanks for the rules of thumb on the number of characters displayed (for those of you just reading here on LinkedIn, Jacob pointed out that approx. 14 char. is a good number to aim for the “From” field that gets displayed on a mobile device). On my BlackBerry Pearl with its narrow screen, I only see the first 9 characters of the from name if it contains mostly “fat” letters (O and Y are “fat” and i, l, t, j, etc. are skinny).
I do believe that effective email design can be considered more challenging than general website design nowadays. Website development has come a long way over the past 10 years, with well established standards being adhered to across the 3 or 4 major browsers. Email clients on the other hand, are much more numerous and their support for HTML, CSS and other design-related components are all over the map. Now we have mobile devices to deal with! Email testing services like ReturnPath and LitmusApp offer improving mobile device rendering, but as Jacob points out in his blog post, themes, screen sizes, fonts, etc. can vary widely. (Is your email provider helping you preview your email campaigns before they are sent?)
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SOME OTHER IDEAS:
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Tastefully using patterns of characters to identify sections of your text version of your email is certainly one tactic to help users view your emails on mobile devices (see how well the header I stuck above this paragraph got your attention?). Another ideas is to put a link to a “mobile version” of your email at the top of the message is another. Just make a plain HTML version of the email content on your site (only use paragraph and simple font tags to control the display), and put a link to that page at the top of the email. Most mobile devices’ browsers will display that simple content well, and your message will still look better than just the plain text email client on the device.
-Eric Salerno
http://www.RedEmberMarketing.com
http://www.EmberMail.com
Marketing BBQ Blog: http://www.redembermarketing.com/marketingbbq
E-marketing guru! I’ve got to say you really have lots of insights in the nuts and bolts of this niche area of marketing practice. Thanks for sharing!
That’s so funny LOL and good to know. Thanks!
Hi, Having owned a blackberry for 2 days this is an interesting tip. Thanks
Stephen
Great tip. know the first 14 characters in your from line.
Hi Jacob,
Fact is, the larger the screen and the better thought-out the default settings, the more issues such as “eMarketing Ass” will disappear. This is one reason why the iPhone is such a game-changer and why well-designed touch screens from other manufacturers must get better.
I’ve reviewed the iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold, and I’ve used other BlackBerries while preparing articles, so I know whereof I speak. Check out my website for some of these published technology articles - there’s a handy search box in the top-right corner of the page.
http://www.LuigiBenetton.com
Cheers,
Luigi