MarketingSherpa Survey of Consumer Attitudes towards Email Marketing Reveals Strong Preference for Email Compared with All Other Communications

Data sheds light on how frequently Americans like to receive promo emails, in what ways company emails can change and views on reminder emails

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MarketingSherpa

Feb 03, 2015, 08:30 ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- It might challenge widely held beliefs but Americans actually prefer companies to communicate with them through email more than any other means.

More than seven in 10 (72 percent) U.S. adults indicate a preference for companies to communicate with them via email followed by postal mail (48 percent), TV ads (34 percent), print media (e.g., newspapers, magazines) (31 percent), text message (19 percent), social media and in-person conversation/consultation (both at 17 percent).

The findings are part of a national survey conducted online within the U.S. between Jan 21^st and 23^rd, 2015 among 2,057 adults (aged 18 and over) by MarketingSherpa in advance of its Email Summit 2015 being held Feb. 23 – 26 in Las Vegas. The international event is the original research-based conference serving the email marketing community.

"The essence of marketing is the message. It is with this message the marketer simplifies the connection between the customer and a company," said Flint McGlaughlin, managing director and CEO of MECLABS, parent company of MarketingSherpa. "It's not surprising that consumers who do business with companies continue to be receptive to email. Email can transcend monologue with dialogue. It enables marketers to build genuine relationships. This is important, because ultimately people don't buy from companies; people buy from people."

Other survey findings:

Fifteen Percent of Americans Would Like to Receive Promo Emails Daily

A vast majority (91 percent) of U.S. adults like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with. In fact, 86 percent would like to receive promo emails at least monthly and 61 percent at least weekly. Fifteen percent would like to receive these emails daily, twice a week (10 percent), three times a week (4 percent) and weekly (32 percent). Nine percent never want to receive promo emails from companies they do business with.

Vast Majority of Consumers Who Want to Receive Company Emails Invite Change in Them

Despite their preference for promotional emails from companies they do business with, nearly half (48 percent) who want to receive company emails would like to change them. Twenty-eight percent say they'd like to receive more promotional emails and 20 percent would like to receive fewer. More than one in three (35 percent) would like personalized emails to change, with 29 percent indicating they would like companies to send more and six percent would prefer less personalized emails. Thirty-one percent would like company emails to change the length of their emails with 30 percent reporting they would like them shorter versus one percent preferring them longer.

Seven in 10 Americans Have Made Purchases Influenced by a Company's Email

Nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) U.S. adults have made purchases influenced by a company's email. One in five (20 percent) have made purchases solely online, 22 percent primarily made purchases online but also occasionally in a store or over the phone and 12 percent made purchases influenced by a company email are made equally online and in a store or over the phone. Thirty-one percent of U.S. adults have never made purchases that were influenced by a company's email.

Half of Americans Who Ever Left an Item in an Online Shopping Cart Say Reminder Emails are Helpful

Eighty-eight percent of those who have ever left an item in an online shopping cart have ever received an email reminding them of that fact. Half of those who ever left an item in an online shopping cart (51 percent) find the reminders helpful with six percent saying they always complete the purchase after receiving the reminder, seven percent say they always complete the purchase after receiving a reminder if there is a discount in the email, 12 percent report they occasionally complete the purchase after receiving a reminder, 10 percent occasionally complete the purchase if there is a discount and 17 percent say even though reminders are helpful, they do not affect their decision to purchase. Nearly two in five (38 percent) say reminder emails are annoying.

The complete MarketingSherpa survey of consumer attitudes towards email marketing will be presented at the upcoming Email Summit. For more information, visit Email Summit 2015.

About the Email Summit

The Email Summit, being held Feb. 23-26, 2015 at the ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, is the original research-based conference serving the email marketing community. Participants from around the globe learn from some of today's leading marketers from organizations including MarketingSherpa Email Awards 2015 Best B2C Email Campaign winner Finish Line, Best B2B Email Campaign winner Ferguson Enterprises, and Reader's Choice Email Campaign winner Microsoft Store. Case studies and how-to lessons from VolunteerMatch, CNET, Dun & Bradstreet, LinkedIn, and the Kentucky Derby will also be presented. Featured speakers include Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics, Jonah Berger of The Wharton School, Jose Palomino and Flint McGlaughlin. Sponsors for Email Summit 2015 include Maropost, BlueHornet, StrongView, Yesmail, Listrak, Adestra, Silverpop, dotmailer, PostUp, LiveIntent, Message Systems, TowerData, TailoredMail, StrikeIron, Litmus, RealTime Email by LiveClicker, ClickMail, SailThru, SendGrid, Email on Acid, OutMarket, Oracle Marketing Cloud, Movable Ink, Lionbridge, Fluent, HyperDrive Interactive, Retention Science, B2Lead and Inbox Group.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States from January 21-23, 2015 among 2,057 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Richard Anderson at 718-986-1596, Emily Simmons at 212-808-4904, or Darby Fledderjohn at 212-808-4903.

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SOURCE MarketingSherpa