How many times a day do you check your email on your phone?  If you’re like most of us, it’s a lot.  In fact, I would bet a good number of you do more email surfing on your phones than a laptop or desktop these days.

In fact, an IDC research report commissioned by Facebook earlier this year among Americans aged 18-44 showed that the #1 use of smartphones is checking email. 

That means your email better be mobile-friendly, or it is likely to be ignored.  Here are 7 tips for making sure your next email marketing campaign makes it for mobile:

1.  Earn trust first.  When you scan your inbox on your smartphone or tablet, the first thing you see if the name of the sender.  If it isn’t someone you recognize, you are likely to skip it.  Be sure you have been working hard at earning the trust of your subscribers offline and online to boost your open rate on mobile devices.

2.  Make the subject line count.  This is your second chance to get your email opened, so don’t waste it.  Be creative, clever or provocative to get that open rather than a delete.

3.  Make the first sentence memorable.  This little snippet of text is the first thing that is visible under your subject line.  Make this real estate count to entice opens.

4.  Make your CTA obvious.  Be sure your call-to-action is big and obvious and easy to click.

5.  See RED.  Responsive email design (RED) templates are big for mobile.  You can get templates from your email management service or from this Mashable article offering templates for small businesses. 

6.  Use images.  On most smartphones, images are enabled by default.  Use an image that connects with your content and make it eye-catching.

7.  Watch positioning of unsubscribe.  Use the unsubscribe feature always (don’t clutter your email list with people who will never buy from you) but don’t put it too close to your call-to-action.  One slip of the finger and you could lose a loyal subscriber.