Getting The Message: Audiences Remain Engaged By Email Marketing (New Reports)

Two recent studies about the overall consumer experience are putting a spotlight on how, even amidst various other concerns, email marketing is still as important as ever.

The first, from Sinch Mailgun and appropriately titled “Email and The Customer Experience,” found that 75% of consumers consider their inbox the preferred channel for promotions, and 74% prefer it for transactional messages.

(Source: Sinch Mailgun)

“There’s no doubt that email should be a cornerstone of any company’s digital communication strategy,” Sinch Mailgun says. “However, email’s prevalence is not an excuse to ignore other customer communication channels.”

So while text messaging came fairly far behind in second for both promotional messages (19%) and transactional messages (28%), its “immediacy and easy access” give it value. And when Sinch Mailgun asked whether they’d be open to receiving a brand’s promotional SMS messages at least once per month, a much-larger 64% were open to the idea.

When it comes to a brand’s promotional emails, 22.8% of consumers wanted or expected emails daily, 18% said twice a week, and 25.7% said once a week.

“If you are still blasting your entire contact list with the same promotional campaigns at the same frequency, it’s time to make a change,” Sinch Mailgun says, pointing to the importance of list segmentation for better targeting.

The second study, “Quantifying Today’s Shopper” by Netcore, also dives into messaging, finding that 75% of consumers believe brands send too many messages.

“An overwhelming 3 in 4 shoppers express frustration at the inundation of excessive communication,” the study says. “This constant barrage of messages, notifications, and advertisements has emerged as a major source of discontent. It highlights the critical importance of delivering relevant, helpful and valuable content.”

60% have felt that personalization they had received from brands was creepy, while 28% said they had received irrelevant discounts and offers, something Netcore calls out as “the result of insufficient personalization or incorrect targeting. When 85% will abandon a retailer over a poor shopping experience, that balance is all the more important.

“In the dynamic world of ecommerce it is interesting to note that mature channels like email are still critically important,” the study confirms of the highest revenue-generating channel that 40% of consumers said they interacted with the most. 

“Many incorrectly believe that promotional emails are obsolete or no longer capture consumers’ attention. The reality is that well-targeted, relevant campaigns still engage audiences and email can be a powerful tool in driving sales and conversions.”