Picture opening your email inbox and finding 47 unread emails from various mobile apps you've downloaded over the years. Most of them have boring subject lines like "Weekly Update" or "Don't Miss Out!" You delete most without reading, maybe scan one or two, and actually engage with none. Sound familiar? Well, you're not alone—this is exactly what your app users are doing with your emails too.
The harsh truth is that most app marketing emails are rubbish. They're generic, pushy, and written like the company thinks users owe them attention just because they downloaded the app. But here's the thing—downloading your mobile app doesn't mean people want to hear from you every day. It means they saw potential value and decided to give you a chance.
Email marketing for mobile apps isn't about sending more emails; it's about sending emails people actually want to receive
Getting email marketing right for your mobile app can be the difference between users who stick around and engage versus those who uninstall after a week. When done properly, email marketing drives user engagement, brings people back to your app when they've forgotten about it, and builds genuine relationships with your user base. When done poorly—which most companies do—it annoys people, damages your brand, and pushes users away faster than a bad app store review.
The good news is that writing effective app marketing emails isn't rocket science. It just requires understanding what your users actually care about, when they want to hear from you, and how to communicate in a way that feels helpful rather than intrusive.
Know Your Audience Before You Write a Single Word
I see this mistake all the time—app developers jumping straight into writing marketing emails without properly understanding who they're writing to. It's like trying to have a conversation with someone whilst wearing a blindfold. You might get lucky and say something that resonates, but more often than not, you'll miss the mark completely.
Your app users aren't just random people with email addresses; they're real humans with specific needs, problems, and habits. A fitness app user checking their emails at 6am before a workout has completely different expectations than someone browsing a shopping app during their lunch break. The language that works for one group might fall flat with another.
What You Need to Know About Your Users
Before you write your first marketing email, gather this information about your audience:
- What time of day do they typically use your app?
- What problems does your app solve for them?
- How tech-savvy are they?
- What's their age range and interests?
- Do they prefer formal or casual communication?
- What other apps do they use regularly?
You can collect this data through app analytics, user surveys, or simple feedback forms within your app. Don't guess—ask your users directly what they want to hear about and how they want to hear it.
Turning Data Into Email Content
Once you understand your audience, writing becomes much easier. If your users are busy professionals, keep emails short and to the point. If they're hobbyists with time to spare, you can include more detailed content and stories. The key is matching your tone, timing, and content to what your specific users actually want to receive.
Choose Subject Lines That Make People Want to Click
Your subject line is the gatekeeper to your entire email. It doesn't matter how brilliant your content is if nobody opens the message in the first place. Most people receive dozens of emails every day, so yours needs to stand out in a crowded inbox.
The best subject lines for mobile app email marketing are short, specific, and speak directly to what users want. Keep them under 50 characters if possible—mobile devices cut off longer subject lines, which defeats the point entirely. Instead of writing "Check out our latest app update with new features", try "Your photos now sync instantly". The second option tells users exactly what benefit they'll get.
What Makes Users Click
Numbers work well because they promise specific value. "5 ways to save battery life" performs better than "Save your battery". Urgency can be effective too, but don't overuse it—phrases like "ending soon" or "limited time" lose their power when every email contains them.
Test two different subject lines with small groups of users before sending to your full list. The winner usually becomes clear within a few hours.
Personal touches make a difference. "Your weekly stats are ready" feels more relevant than "Weekly stats available". Question-based subject lines can work well for user engagement emails: "Still struggling with notifications?" This approach works particularly well when you're addressing common app marketing mistakes that affect user experience.
Subject Lines That Actually Work
- Be specific about the benefit users will receive
- Use numbers when you can ("3 tips", "50% faster")
- Ask questions that relate to user problems
- Keep it under 50 characters for mobile devices
- Avoid spam trigger words like "free" or "act now"
The key is matching your subject line to your email content. Promise something in the subject line, then deliver on that promise inside the email.
Write Content That Speaks to Real User Problems
Here's the thing about app marketing emails—most of them talk about features that nobody asked for. You know the ones I'm talking about. "We've added 47 new settings to customise your experience!" when all people really wanted was for the app to stop crashing when they tried to upload a photo.
After working with hundreds of apps over the years, I've noticed that the emails that get the best responses are the ones that solve actual problems users face every day. Not the problems we think they have, but the ones they actually complain about in reviews, support tickets, and social media posts.
Focus on Pain Points, Not Features
When you're writing your email content, start with the problem your users are trying to solve. Maybe they're struggling to find important information quickly, or they're frustrated because a process takes too many steps. Address that directly—"We know it was taking you ages to find your saved items, so we've moved them to the top of your menu."
The best emails I've seen don't even mention technical features at all. They talk about making life easier, saving time, or reducing frustration. People don't care that you've "optimised the backend infrastructure"—they care that their photos now back up without them having to think about it.
Use Their Language
Pay attention to how your users describe their problems. If they say something is "confusing," don't call it "complex" in your email. If they're "annoyed" about waiting, don't say they're "experiencing delays." Match their emotional state and their vocabulary; it shows you're actually listening to them rather than just pushing out another generic update email.
Time Your Emails When Your Users Are Actually Online
Getting your email timing right can make the difference between someone opening your message or it disappearing into the digital void. I've seen perfectly crafted mobile app marketing emails fail simply because they arrived at the wrong moment—when users were asleep, busy at work, or just not in the mood to engage with their phones.
The truth is, there's no magic hour that works for everyone. Your users might be night owls who check their phones at 11pm, or early birds scrolling through emails with their morning coffee. The key is understanding your specific audience and their habits. Look at your app's usage data—when are people most active? These patterns often translate to email behaviour too.
Testing Different Time Slots
Start by testing different days and times systematically. Send the same email to different user segments at various times and measure open rates. Tuesday to Thursday generally perform better than Mondays or Fridays, but your mobile app users might be different. Weekend timing can work well for lifestyle or entertainment apps, whilst productivity apps might see better engagement during weekday evenings.
The best send time is the one that works for your users, not what worked for someone else's app
Consider Time Zones and User Context
If your mobile app has users across different time zones, segment your email lists accordingly. Sending at 2pm GMT might work brilliantly for London users but terribly for those in Sydney. Most email platforms let you schedule based on recipient time zones—use this feature. Also think about context: a fitness app might see great engagement at 6am when people are planning their workout, whilst a food delivery app might perform better around lunch or dinner times.
Make Your Emails Look Good on Mobile Devices
Here's the thing—most people check their emails on their phones. That means if your app marketing emails look rubbish on mobile, you're already losing half the battle before people even read your content.
I see this mistake all the time when reviewing email campaigns for clients. They'll spend ages crafting the perfect message, then send it out in a format that's impossible to read on a small screen. The text is tiny, the buttons are too small to tap, and the whole thing just looks messy.
Keep Your Design Simple and Clean
Mobile screens are small, so you need to work with that constraint rather than against it. Use a single column layout—forget about fancy multi-column designs that work on desktop. They just don't translate well to mobile and will leave your readers frustrated.
Make your text large enough to read without zooming in. Anything smaller than 14px is going to cause problems. Your buttons need to be big enough for people to tap easily—aim for at least 44px in height. Trust me, nothing annoys users more than trying to tap a tiny button and accidentally hitting something else.
Test Everything Before You Send
This sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people skip this step. Send test emails to yourself and check them on different devices. What looks perfect on your iPhone might look completely different on an Android phone.
Keep your subject lines short because mobile email apps cut them off after about 30-40 characters. If your most important words are at the end, people won't see them in their inbox preview.
Most email marketing platforms have mobile preview options built in—use them. It takes two minutes and could save you from sending out emails that nobody can actually read properly.
Track What Works and What Doesn't
Here's the thing about email marketing for your mobile app—you can't just send emails and hope for the best. You need to know what's working and what's falling flat on its face. Without proper tracking, you're basically flying blind, and that's not a great strategy for building user engagement.
The good news is that most email platforms give you loads of data to work with. Open rates tell you if people are interested enough to click on your subject line. Click-through rates show whether your content is compelling enough to get people to actually take action. And unsubscribe rates? Well, they're a pretty clear signal when something's gone wrong.
Key Metrics to Watch
Don't get overwhelmed by all the numbers—focus on the ones that actually matter for your mobile app. Here are the metrics that will give you the clearest picture:
- Open rate (aim for 20-25% for mobile apps)
- Click-through rate (2-5% is pretty decent)
- App opens from email clicks
- Conversion rate for specific actions
- Unsubscribe rate (keep it under 1%)
Set up A/B testing for your subject lines and send times. Test one thing at a time so you know exactly what made the difference—testing everything at once just creates confusion.
Making Sense of Your Data
Numbers are only useful if you actually do something with them. Look for patterns in your best-performing emails; maybe your users respond better to shorter subject lines or prefer emails sent on Tuesday afternoons. Take note of which types of content drive the most app engagement and double down on what works.
Don't forget to track what happens after someone clicks through to your app. Are they actually using the features you're promoting? This connection between email marketing and actual app usage is where the real value lies. If you're not confident about your tracking setup, consider whether free app analytics tools are sufficient for your needs or if you need something more robust.
Remember that email marketing is just one part of your overall promotion strategy. Your content calendar and publishing strategy should work together with your email campaigns to create consistent touchpoints with your users. And if you're planning to expand beyond your current market, timing becomes even more important when considering international launch strategies where different regions may have varying email preferences and behaviours.
Conclusion
Writing app marketing emails that people actually want to read isn't rocket science, but it does require a bit of thought and planning. The good news is that most apps get this completely wrong—which means there's a huge opportunity for you to stand out in people's inboxes.
Think about it: when someone downloads your app, they're already interested in what you're offering. They've taken the time to find you, read your app store listing, and hit that download button. That's not nothing! But then most developers immediately start bombarding them with generic emails about features they don't care about or updates that mean nothing to them.
The secret sauce really comes down to treating your users like real people with real problems. Know who they are and what keeps them up at night; write subject lines that grab their attention without being clickbaity; create content that solves actual problems they're facing; send emails when they're likely to be checking their phones; make sure everything looks good on mobile (this should be obvious for app developers, but you'd be surprised); and track your results so you can keep getting better.
Email marketing for apps isn't about sending more emails—it's about sending better ones. When you get this right, you'll see your open rates go up, your app engagement improve, and most importantly, your users will actually look forward to hearing from you. That's when you know you've cracked it.
