Android users are better....at least when it comes to opening emails.
Recent research from Kahuna, a communication automation provider, indicates that while more than half of emails are opened on mobile, emails sent to Android devices specifically have a five-times higher click-to-open rate than those sent to their iOS counterparts.
Device type is a segment that can beneficial to use in a variety of ways. For example, if a company only has an app for iOS they can send an app-install email to those customers and a different message to Android users to improve relevancy, open rates and installs.
Ferguson, a wholesale distributor of plumbing supplies in the U.S., recently took this approach. With the help of Litmus email analytics data, Ferguson was able to appropriately target their iPhone users for app installs and avoid sending an irrelevant iOS-focused message to those accessing the message from other devices.
Another way device type can help an email marketer segment emails is through past behavior. For example, a company may find that their iPhone users are more likely to convert (e.g. buy, call, download a whitepaper, etc.) than other smartphone users. Perhaps those users don't need the same promotional incentives to engage than Android users do, for instance. By only incentivizing a segment that has historically been tough to close (which is of course different for every enterprise), companies can save money and even boost KPIs.
In a season when consumers inboxes are inundated with holiday promotions, it's even more imperative brand messaging stands out and for many, device-type segmentation is an untapped source to do so.
