Smartphones offer more challenges than conquering Angy Birds...

Do you think the only testing that should be involved with smartphones is to determine whether your Angry Bird is following the right trajectory to knock out the most pigs in one launch?

Not so, email marketing friends. At any given moment, your subscribers are accessing email on their mobile device of choice. And while Google and Apple are fighting for the hearts and minds of consumers and developers, the latest ComScore report shows there are a wide variety of phones on the market (although Google’s Android platform is now leading U.S. market share at 34.7 percent).

It’s up to you to make sure that if your customers are using an iPhone, BlackBerry or an Android, that your messages aren’t lost in a sea of broken, or even worse, blocked images and exposed html code.

Here are some tips to send a mobile-friendly version of your next email campaign.

1. Preview each message to see how it will display on different mobile devices. Not only do screen sizes vary from smartphone to smartphone, but the lack of consistent standards also impact how text and images are displayed to each user.

2. A/B testing is not a luxury. Because of the reduced screen size, A/B testing is an invaluable tool to determine if different factors, like a shorter subject line will perform better than a longer one, changes your results.

3. Think convenience and brevity. Smartphones are all about enabling consumers to receive on-the-go information and to stay in touch with business contacts, family and friends when a long reply or message isn’t required. Get to the point and make it simple for a consumer to take action as a result of the message.

Still unsure about how to implement these smartphone email marketing tips? Learn more about ExactTarget’s Design Services and contact the Professional Services team today.