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Device Detection for Responsive Emails: What, Why, How

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We’ve all gotten emails that haven’t exactly “worked” on our phones. Usually, we delete them without giving them a second glance. Even if they’re responsive emails, there’s another problem: they look good, but they’re still hard to use.

That’s why device detection for responsive emails is so important. Mobile is a predominant force in email, but creating emails that can actually detect – and react to – different devices can be tricky.

With the right technology, you can actually create emails that detect and display different content depending on the device on which they’re opened – from Androids, Windows Phones, iPhones, tablets, and desktops alike.. all without the complicated hand-coding that’s usually involved.

Diverse Devices = Diverse Experiences

Creating content for every different kind of device doesn’t mean creating six different variations of each email. With device detection and device targeting, email marketers can create dynamic elements in the email itself that change in real-time depending on the device.

For example, a brand can dramatically increase mobile app downloads by creating a hero image that only appears when the email is opened on a mobile device. The hero can be further customized depending on type of device – so users on Android devices are offered a link and corresponding creative to the Google Play store and iPhone users are given a link to the Apple store.

And, on desktops, the hero doesn’t show up at all. Instead, the app download call-to-action is located further down in the body of the email.

With the right contextual marketing platform, device detection can be combined with advanced device usage analytics. So if you know that iPhone users spend only a few seconds on your emails but Android users prefer to read them for 15 seconds or more, you can create two different types of experiences in the same email.

Content + Context = Possibilities

By knowing how your customers are accessing your email and creating content that responds to that context in real-time, you can create a seamless user journey from tablet to smartphone to desktop. And, in a world where mobile shoppers are constantly switching devices during a purchase, that means higher engagement and higher conversions.

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