77% Prefer Email Promotions By Abbie Drew Apr 5, 2012

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Email tops the charts when it comes to effective marketing.
Don't believe me? A new study from Exact Target reveals when
it comes to marketing communication 77% people prefer email.

All other forms of promotional communication polled far
behind email. Interestingly, age does not matter when it
comes to email. Teens through seniors all selected email
promotions as their preference for marketing messages.

Direct mail came in a distant second with only 9% of
consumers preferring letters, catalogs and postcards for
promotions.

The ExactTarget study - The 2012 Channel Preference Survey -
reveled some terrific gems of information about emails
dominance that I'll highlight.

1) Email - Top for Personal Communication

Not only was email preferred for promotional messages, it
also was selected by many, 45% overall, as their top choice
for personal communication.

2) Email - Top for Daily Checks

91% stated they check their email at least daily. Social
networks and text messages were checked by 57% daily.
Texting and social networks, however, were shown to be
preferred as personal communications avenues rather than
promotional channels.

3) Email - Top for Influencing Purchases

Email was also shown to influence purchase decisions. 66%
of consumers stated they have made a purchase as a result
of a marketing email message they received.

Again, direct mail, was the only competitor to email.
65% said a direct mail message resulted in a purchase.
All other communication channels - phone, social networks,
texts, mobile apps came in far behind email as purchase
influencers.

4) Email - Top for Deals

When asked where a consumer would look to get a deal from
a company, email was their first choice. 44% selected
email as the best place to get a deal.

Amazingly, only 4% thought following a company on a social
network would provide good deals.

5) Email - Top for Sharing Content

With all the emphasis on how great social networks are for
sharing, the discovery that email is how most people choose
to share content with friends and family was shocking to me.

63% stated email is how they most often share content with
others. Post it to Facebook came in second overall with 33%
choosing that channel to share information.

6) Email - Top for Customer Service

Consumers prefer to privately address their customer service
needs. 76% preferred to use email to contact a company
directly with questions.

I was surprised to see that telephoning the company came
in a distant 3rd. Only 4% choose to call a company for
assistance. 10% opted to send a direct mail letter to
a company.

Using social networks to contact a company with questions
was also infrequent. Only 4% said Facebook was their
preference.

7) Email - Top for Transactional Messages

Send receipts, confirmations, travel alerts, financial updates
all by email! The majority of consumers stated they would
prefer to receive all such notices by email.

77% of consumers prefer to get receipts and confirmations
by email. If you've been sending receipts by direct mail,
consider an email alternative. People are tired of all the
paper and would prefer more email messages.

Wow! People really do love email.

Yes, you absolutely should continue to build your email
list send marketing promotions to your subscribers.

You might ask, but should I even bother with all the
social networking or is it just hype?

The ExactTarget survey did show that social networks, while
not as dominant as email communication, are still growing
in popularity.

About 20% of consumers said a company's marketing message
on a social network had influenced their purchase decision.
And 33% of consumers said they do share content on Facebook.

The fact remains, however, that consumers state they prefer
to use social networks for interacting and engaging with
others - not for receiving marketing material.

Take note of these findings.

Yes, your business should participate on social networks.
Just don't push promotional material to your fans and
followers. Instead feed content to your social networks
to expand your audience base.

It's been shown that Twitter followers create online content
2 to 6 time more than others. These individuals are
reviewers, bloggers, commentors and influencers!

When you share content with your social networks those
individual then share that content with other. Thus social
networks expand your online reach!

Email does not work to contact those you do not know -
that's called spam! You need permission to email. All these
study results are based upon permission email marketing.

Social networks on the other hand do introduce your
business to people that don't know you. It's your followers
that make the introduction and as a result expand those
following you. You then encourage your social followers
to join your email list!

You use content to expand your social network and you
then market by email. It's a powerful strategy that works!


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