Some 13.36% of email message opens occur via mobile device with the iPhone comprising more than 65% of that activity on average, according to a study from Knotice, which also finds that mobile email open levels are highest in the early-morning hours but vary dramatically by industry.
In email campaigns conducted in the fourth quarter of 2010, the average share of email opens occurring on the iPhone or iPod Touch was 8.74%. The iPad ranked second with 2.00%, followed by Android devices (1.92%).
BlackBerry devices ranked a low 0.15%, likely a result of the default text-only email rendering the smartphone is known for. As with traditional email open reporting, mobile opens are recorded when images are downloaded, so viewing text-only email may mask true interaction levels.
Below, other finding from Knotice's Mobile Opens Report, based on the analysis of roughly 155 million permission-based email messages from campaigns delivered in 4Q10.
Mobile Opens by Industry
People are far more likely to read emails via mobile device from retailers or financial services firms than from B2B brands. Mobile opens across the top-performing sectors in 4Q10 were as follows:
- Retail: 20.08%
- Financial Services: 19.38%
- Consumer Services: 15.61%
- Consumer Products: 14.11%
The industries with the lowest mobile opens were the following:
- Associations: 9.05%
- Entertainment: 7.63%
- B2B: 3.03%
Meanwhile, across all industries analyzed, the iPhone and iPad still comprised the greatest average share of mobile email opens.
Looking for great digital marketing data? MarketingProfs reviewed hundreds of research sources to create our most recent Digital Marketing Factbook (May 2010), a 296-page compilation of data and 254 charts, covering email marketing, social media, search engine marketing, e-commerce, and mobile marketing. Also check out The State of Social Media Marketing, a 240-page original research report from MarketingProfs.
Mobile Opens by Time of Day
Mobile activity spikes noticeably in the early-morning hours, particularly from 6:00am to 7:00am and then drops during traditional working hours, when people are likely more engaged with desktop devices.
With only a slight peak in activity towards the end of the work day (4pm to 5pm), mobile activity dips during the traditional dinner and early prime-time hours, with a final spike in the late evening (9pm to 11pm).
Mobile Adoption to Surge in 2011
About the data: Knotice findings are based on the analysis of 155.3 million permission-based emails from 12 industry segments among campaigns sent from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2010.
