eCRM provider tests 29 mobile end devices in comprehensive marketing practice study

Mobile target groups are the next big challenge in the internet. This also applies for email marketing. In a new study, eCRM provider artegic AG publishes its outlook and technical analysis of mobile email marketing. 29 mobile end devices from different manufacturers underwent comprehensive testing. The results present senders of email marketing with an overview concerning technical and user-specific challenges in mobile email marketing.

According to a study by Gartner, by 2010 there will be around 350 million business and private users worldwide using email on the move. Mobile marketing will therefore become an obligatory discipline of direct marketing. So, it is all the more surprising, that companies in their existing marketing barely take into consideration the establishment of email communication in daily mobile life.

Email capability of devices is increasing

The different technical challenges, as well as the continuous development of input and output capabilities of mobile end devices can often create substantial problems for those responsible for marketing. The Mobile Email Marketing Study 2010, which was carried out by eCRM provider artegic in collaboration with business consulting agency Saphiron, investigates a representative cross section of providers and operating systems. Among the devices tested were brands, such as Apple, HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Palm, Sony Ericsson and Blackberry. During the selection of the devices, the positioning of the manufacturer in regard to email funcionalities and the market share in the specific device class were taken into consideration. Furthermore, the study pays attention to relevant operating systems, such as Symbian, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, WebOS, Android and Apple’s mobile version of OS X. What you see is not always what you get!
At the heart of the study are display tests of emails on mobile end devices. For this purpose, newsletters were sent as a multipart alternative and the display capability of the end devices was analysed according to different factors, such as the number of characters and HTML capability. In the following, you will find a selection of the individual test results:

  • The display capability of mobile end devices has improved – however, in most devices, it still lacks far behind the possibilities of PCs and notebooks.
  • In contrast to devices of the older generation, new Blackberries offer a significantly higher number of displayed characters. Devices based on Windows Mobile also feature significantly more characters. This is due to the high display resolution, as well as the option to turn the screen content by 90 degrees.
  • The display resolution most commonly used in Smartphones has increased since the last study in 2008 from 240×320 pixels to 320×480 pixels (in touch screen models) and in some of the devices based on Windows Mobile to 480×800 pixels.
  • HTML emails could only be displayed almost correctly from the email client on the Apple iPhone, the Palm Pre and devices based on Android.
  • Devices based on Symbian are still lacking HTML display capabilities – in the same way as the older Blackberry generation. Some models however, offer the (rather complex) option of rendering the HTML code via the email attachment within the web browser.