We’ve all been in meetings, or stuck in traffic, or even in the elevator when you look over and someone is checking email on their BlackBerry, Treo, or iPhone, with that frantic look on their face – I’ve got to read my email NOW! In fact, a recent study by MarketingSherpa indicates that 64% of key decision makers are viewing email on their mobile device.  And we can only hypothesize that in some segments (like technology) this number is probably even higher. So, as marketers we cannot take for granted that a significant portion of the emails we serve up are read on mobile devices.

So what can we do to be smarter email marketers?

The research indicates that many use their mobile device as a way to skim their emails for the most important topics until they’re back at their computer. So we need to understand how to develop our emails for the best mobile device user experience – as well as via desktop.

Here are some simple rules of the road to follow:
 

• Do your research – understand your target audience and in-house database. How many of your customers and prospects are using mobile devices?  Consider developing multiple versions of your creative so each user experience (mobile environment and desktop) are optimized.
• Educate and talk to your creative teams.  Discuss what your prospects are viewing on their mobile devices and ways to improve usability.  Consider the following:
• View samples of well designed mobile messages and the ones that are not as successful.
• Look at the font size and how it appears on screen.
• Re-evaluate your call to action and linking strategy.For example use full friendly URLs vs. hot links that could take up the entire screen.
• Write subject lines and copy that can be easily scanned.
• Utilize simulators so you can preview your email on a mobile device prior to publishing.
  

• And of course test and refine, test and refine so we can continue to push the needle for higher interaction and response rates. 

  • Test Subject lines
  • Segment your lists
  • Test content length
  • Track and optimize templates
  • Track link activity, etc.

  For those of you who only think this is a B2B phenomenon think again – consumers are more frequently checking email on mobile devices as well.

  For additional tips on how to optimize your communications for the mobile environment please read this special MarketingShepra Report.

Posted by Kara Tierney at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to the PEW Internet & American Life Project 80% of American Internet users have searched for health information on the web.  Most start at a general search engine to find health information, but eventually narrow their search to a health portal or a disease specific site.  Finding health information on the web is easy, but finding the RIGHT information, and information that can be trusted or easily understood is another story.

According to the American Academy of Physicians (AAP) there are now more than 24,000 medications on the market, and many have Websites with reams of product and disease information.  Combine this with the many health portals such as WebMD.com, CDC.gov and MayoClinic.com, and consumers often have more information than they can handle.  This means drug marketers need to be more and more careful about the information they provide online and how it is presented.  Is it enough?  Is it too much?  Is it easy for the target audience to find the Website, read the information and to understand it?

Most "brand.com" sites are clever in design and include all of the most up-to-date marketing tricks and bells-and-whistles that are designed to catch the consumer's attention.  However, even with these great features and a lot of important information, consumers can feel overwhelmed, confused and even frightened by what they read.  Obviously, the information on pharma "brand.com" Websites must meet all FDA regulations, and provide truthful and complete information.

But, beyond these regulations, marketers should also consider how their audiences read and process the information provided. When writing new content for a "brand.com" site, marketers should think about the audience:  What level of education are they likely to have?   How engaged are they going to be in the Website content provided?  Just because the copy sounds simple and clear to us marketers, is it really?  Or, as my colleague, Steve Lynch, likes to say, is it just CIPU (clear if previously understood)?

If you think your site is easy to read and understand for the average person, consider this:  The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) recently provided a benchmark study showing that roughly one-quarter of adult Americans are only able read, understand and act on the most simple and basic medical information.

So what is the solution?

As marketers, we must provide well-written copy that provides simpler, easier to understand product descriptions and disease explanations so we can help a larger population.  This type of foresight can only help the pharmaceutical industry’s image both with consumers and with health professionals.  And, it may also help sell more products along the way.

Posted by Ed Feather at 05:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

While on vacation, I happened to be reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac and had a few insights that struck me as worth sharing. It's not so much the content of the book that struck me, which is great in it's own right, but rather the way it was written.

Working for roughly three weeks straight and without interruption he birthed the first draft of the book. Taping together pages of paper and feeding the one long scroll into his manual typewriter so he didn't have to stop his freight train of thought. Wonder what Jack would be able to create if given today's technology?

I find this method of working very seductive as well as productive. The day before my vacation I found myself at work early tying up a bunch of loose ends before leaving that day. I had serious doubts about everything coming together; I thought there was no way. Well, it did.

Working from the gut, like Jack and with a solid deadline, not only gets the job done but also produces fresh work that is built on energy, not a second overthought. Well, for me anyways.

Jack Kerouac's original scroll of On the Road is now on display in Lowell, MA through October, then on to NYC (http://www.ontheroad.org/). It's worth checking out because the scroll itself is an art piece.

So if Jack could pound out a book that defined a movement in 3 weeks I can’t help but wonder what else can be accomplished that fast...

Posted by Anthony Henriques at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Every marketer believes in the value of conducting a competitive analysis. But what happens once it’s been completed? How did it impact your strategy? How often do you refer to it? Update it? How deep is it? How much value did it really have?

For many, competitive analysis is a checklist item. Some internal or external source labors to inventory and summarize the communication by media. Another aspect of these reports may include determining the positioning and support. There may even be a positioning/messaging map that visually groups competitors by their message area. This helps the marketer determine a unique place for their messaging strategy. For the most part, these analyses do a good job of reporting what competitors say.

But where these exercises tend to fall short is in analyzing how they are making their claims.  What emotional ground are they using? How does the message connect? Are the communications simple? Unexpected? Concrete? Credible? What reasons are there to believe what they claim? Knowing how competitors are messaging is as important as what they are messaging. The competitive analysis that does a good job of evaluating the message beyond the words will lead to a sharper positioning and message strategy, one that will drive better creative.

Posted by Todd Baird at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)