Data Monday: Mobile Email Open vs. Click Through Rates

by September 3, 2012

As more people check their email on mobile devices, what's the impact for email marketing and conversion rates? Here's one hypothesis:

  • As of April 2012, 36% of emails worldwide were opened using a mobile device. (source)
  • In June of 2011, mobile email had grown from 4% of the market to almost 20% in just two years. (source)
  • Email open rates in North America have been rising for a few quarters to 26.2% in Q12012. (source)
  • But email click-through rates fell below 5% for the first time in the first quarter of 2012. (source)

So what's going on? Chances are the interfaces for checking email on mobile devices make it easier to "open" an email thereby leading to higher "false positive" open rates. Once opened, these emails are quickly deleted and not acted on leading to lower click-through rates. Call it a hunch.