Marketers ‘failing to engage ‘email addicts’

Email is still the preferred way to receive marketing offers, according to new research by Adobe. Nearly two thirds (63%) of consumers prefer to be contacted in this way, putting it ahead of direct mail (20%), social media channels (6%), the brand’s mobile app (5%), text message (4%) and phone (2%).

While this shows consumers are receptive to email marketing, the majority of offers sent by brands remained unopened.

On average, consumers are only interested enough to open around a quarter of the email offers they receive – 24% for those received via work email and 26% for those received via personal email.

This is despite the majority of respondents checking their emails around the clock with 81% checking email outside working hours and a third (31%) admitting to checking their messages while still in bed in the morning.

Those checking email on their smartphone are most likely to be turned off by having to scroll too much to read an entire email (28%), the layout not being optimised for mobile (21%), and having to wait for images to load (21%). With respondents regularly checking email on desktops/ laptops (80%), smartphones (78%) and tablets (42%), marketers should make sure content is optimised for any platform and can be read on any device.

More generally, people want to see fewer emails (35%), less repetition of the same messages (34%), more personalisation according to their needs and location (13%), buy buttons to make a purchase (6%) and more video (3%). Two thirds (67%) of people also said they would be more likely to open a marketing email if the subject line made it clear there was an offer or voucher. Women (72%) are more likely to be swayed by this than men (61%), but 18-34 year olds are the savviest customers with three quarters (75%) likely to be influenced by mentions of vouchers or offers in the subject.

“Email continues to be one of the most powerful marketing channels,” said John Watton, EMEA Marketing Director at Adobe. “And while email marketers have a devoted audience, they need to keep it relevant to succeed. The days of blast-style emails are over and brands need to focus on getting their messages to the right person, with the right content, at the right place and at just the right moment. The best way to keep consumers engaged is through more dynamic and real-time personalised content with contextually relevant offers and promotions.”

About the research

Between July 13-17, 400 UK office workers were surveyed about their use of work and personal email. All respondents owned a smartphone.