It's been said over and over that mobile devices are taking over the internet, and their share just keeps growing. But what if we forget the big global stats for a minute and focus on specific segments instead? Sure, there are exceptions tied to local economies (for example, 46% of digital nomads in the US vs. only 1% in Japan... don’t we just prefer using our laptops to search or buy stuff?). There are tons of differences like that. But if we look at highly developed countries, it’s clear that we’re not going to see mobile platforms totally dominate anytime soon. In fact, it’s the opposite—they’ll take up around 50-60% of the market, but until then, their share (not the number, but percentage) is actually slowly shrinking. On the flip side, in less developed countries, mobile use is way higher—mostly because smartphones are cheaper than laptops. That’s another side of the trend we’ve got to keep in mind.
The same thing goes for most ecommerce platforms. For example, last year, mobile sales at Etsy hit 68%, which is pretty high. But if you check out the YoY chart, you’ll see that once it hit 55%, the growth has been steady but not as fast. This shows there’s still a good chunk of customers who like using the desktop version, and plenty who can easily jump between platforms—those who already downloaded and have been using the app over the last decade.
So, since we’re probably heading toward a 50/50 or 50/60 split in different countries, cross-platform businesses—whether physical or digital—need to nail the little things to keep people hooked on both desktop and mobile. One big thing? Making sure the iOS and Android apps get the spotlight in your marketing emails, especially if your business is desktop-first. Let’s dive into eight proven ways to do that, using examples from businesses around the world.
Standard CTA Buttons or Icons
A classic move that never gets old—perfect for two totally different types of businesses: those that don’t rely much on mobile traffic and those where mobile is already the main acquisition channel. For most projects that stick with standard CTAs, it's more of a "just in case" part of their branding. But sometimes, it can play a bigger role, like being a key design element on a promo banner—take the Filipino company Maya, for example. It’s not clickable, but it gives a nice little shout-out to the main platforms.
Promoting mobile apps with the default Google Play and App Store icons.
There aren't many ways to tweak this approach: you’ve got the basic buttons straight from the App Store and Google Play guidelines, official OS icons, or even something simpler. Lulus, for example, keeps it easy in their marketing emails with an icon that redirects to a dedicated app page on their website.
Examples of standard CTAs used by Peet's Coffee, Lulus, iHerb, Lush, and Rakuten Kobo.
Hypertext
This format works great for businesses that have more than just mobile apps—like desktop apps or even browser extensions. You don’t need any fancy visuals to make it work; just putting the info in a separate section does the trick. One exception is ZARA’s email newsletter, where they keep it super simple with a text line that just says, 'Download our app' at the bottom.
This approach is also a better fit for emails with less text, especially if the business isn’t a big player.
The hypertext app CTAs in emails of National Geographic, Hotspot Shield, Ginger Software, and ZARA.
Announcement
It’s always a smart move to send an email introducing your mobile apps to new users or subscribers, or even to announce big app updates to everyone. The layout’s super simple: a bold visual, a short sentence, and a CTA button (or hyperlink). The tricky part? The design—it’s what really counts. If you don’t have a designer on deck, no worries. You can always use easy mockup tools like Canva Mockups to get the job done.
The app announcement by Oslo City, BBC Sport, VistaCreate, and Yle (Finnish Broadcasting Company). Emphasize the significant milestones of your mobile apps.
Part of a Product Promotion
This approach is mostly used by subscription and membership-based news outlets and magazines because they need to show off how easy it is to access their unique content anytime and anywhere with a premium account. A lot of times, they just throw in a smartphone mockup or an app icon on the promo banner to hint that you can read on the go. But getting creative with it can really pay off since this industry has been pulling in more than 20% average revenue growth YoY. It’s expected to hit $12.7 billion by the end of 2024—that’s twice the GDP of Maldives! Speaking of revenue from news apps alone, it's around $1 billion—8% is pretty impressive for this market.
Elle (with a dedicated email and a single banner) and la Repubblica highlight their cross-platform availability.
QR code
Using QR codes for navigation, especially when sending users to a mobile platform, just makes sense for any project. QR scanning stats are on the rise everywhere and will keep climbing because it saves time. And let's be real—people who value their time are often the ones willing to pay for a quality product. It's simple, logical, and effective.
The best approach? Do what Agoda and Flipboard do—they give users both options: QR codes and clickable OS icons or hypertext. Easy choice!
Dedicated Banner/Block
This works just like an app announcement, but you can drop it into as many emails as you need. Just don’t overdo it by putting it in every single newsletter since the banner takes up space and can add some weight to the email.
If you’ve got a great design, make the whole image a clickable CTA, like National Geographic did (check out the full example in the Hypertext section above). It’s only 87 KB but totally gets the message across. If design isn’t the priority, a simple HTML block works better—just like Lush and LinkedIn do in some of their emails.
You can also go for a super simple but clever approach like Vimeo Create did. They didn’t use any pictures in their about-app section, but it still stands out just because they placed it right at the top of their newsletter.
Lush, LinkedIn, and Target use dedicated app banners in some of their marketing emails.
CTAs with Incentives
Using promo offers to boost app downloads for new installs does need some extra in-app functionality or custom automation workflow for an email campaign, but it’s a solid way to bring in customers—and even turn them into loyal ones. Why? When done right and new users are on board, push notifications on mobile are super effective. For example, just one push notification sent to new subscribers within the first week of installing an app can boost retention rates by an impressive 71% over two months.
This works especially well for ecommerce. Take JJsHouse, for example—they keep it simple with standard Apple and Google buttons at the bottom of their emails. Nothing flashy, but they really stand out thanks to the special offer. If I get a good deal from a brand I might like, I’ll even star the email.
Rating
In a way, this is the opposite of CTAs with incentives, where you offer perks to get people to download the app. Here, things like stars or other visuals that show high satisfaction ratings from Google Play or the App Store make the app itself the main selling point. It tells users that downloading the app is a benefit on its own. But this really depends on the niche, scale, and competition. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.
For example, in a marketplace email aimed at buyers—especially for a well-known platform—this wouldn’t work as well since buyers care more about the sellers' ratings. But in an email aimed at potential sellers, showing off the platform's positive rating could definitely help.
A great example of this is how the French learning program Frantastique by Gymglish and Le Monde handles it.
Bonus Approach
Grammarly’s approach to promoting its desktop (ehm, doesn't matter) app has a lot of clever details and solid logic behind it. Cross-platform projects should always remember that getting users to install a mobile app means you’re expanding your brand’s presence in their everyday lives. But unless users see your app as a must-have, they probably won’t take that step.
Here’s how Grammarly does it.
It’s just a simple screenshot with a couple of hyperlinks over the image that take users to the right page. But the way users read it (once they pause their scrolling) is more like: "This isn’t something we need from you—it’s something you need. It’s part of your account, and it’s only one click away. Go check it out."
This visual concept might not work for every product, but the idea behind it could work for many. You’re not pushing anything extra—you’re just helping to make the user experience better.
Wrapping Up
Whatever option you go with, don’t skip A/B testing. Promoting your mobile apps in newsletters can be a bit tricky, but the numbers don’t lie. Experimenting with key email elements—like subject lines, intros, CTAs, and more—can boost conversion and engagement rates by 10-40%. So yeah, it’s definitely worth the effort.
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