Report: 49% of Marketing Emails are Now Read on a Mobile Device

As marketers look to make emails mobile friendly, new statistics show that the efforts are necessary as customers are using their smartphones more often to read marketing emails.

In fact, the “2016 Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study” from IBM has found that 49 percent of emails are now read on mobile devices throughout the world.

The study also looked at engagement rates according to how much time recipients look at emails. The majority (53 percent) say they “read” emails, which means they spend more than eight seconds looking over the messages. About 26 percent “glance” at emails, indicating that they spend two seconds on emails.

Fifty-one percent of individuals who receive emails from corporate services claim that they “read” their messages.

Marketers Inch Closer to Achieving Email Marketing Goals

Earlier this year, marketers made it a priority to increase reader engagement throughout 2016. The “2016 Marketing Trends Survey” from StrongView and Selligent discovered that boosting subscriber engagement (34 percent) was the top goal for marketers at the beginning of the year.

“Email marketing is an established and profitable channel that will be seeing increased investment in 2016 as marketers continue to rely on it as a vital part of their omni-channel strategies,” said Andre Lejeune, CEO of Selligent.

Improving data analysis to better understand customers, as well as improving segmentation and targeting, were also top goals. Approximately 52 percent said they were going to increase their use and budget for mobile marketing.