Depending which statistics you trust, anything from 40% to 65% of emails get opened on mobile devices. Laptop and desktop computers are taking a back seat when it comes to receiving email. 

This huge shift to mobile means that if you send marketing emails, you can be certain that a significant proportion of them will be viewed on smart phones and tablets.

If your emails don’t display correctly on these devices, you’ll fail to reach a whole chunk of recipients. In the process, you might even annoy them with a message that doesn’t work properly.

East Coast — only for computers?

With that in mind, earlier today I received an email from East Coast, one of the UK’s main train companies.

Promoting an end of summer sale, it talks up some attractive fares, before leaving smart phone and tablet users out in the cold:

Apparently, ‘mobiles and tablets can’t handle savings like this’. I’d say it’s more likely East Coast’s booking engine can’t handle mobile devices.

Right message, right audience

This feels like a big miss, because the email itself is decent.

The headline deal, ‘train seats from £10’, is compelling. It’s been sent to members of the company’s loyalty programme, who are likely to be regular travellers and familiar with the brand.

In short, the offer is relevant and well targeted.

But that key call to action — the whole purpose of the email — just doesn’t work on mobile devices.

That means anything up to 65% of the people who received it won’t have been able to easily check prices and book a ticket on the spot. Not even if they really wanted to.

What a waste of effort.