Recent research has indicated that many consumers see email as a way
of keeping in touch with brands they already like and frequently buy
from.
New research from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) – the trade
association for digital marketing – and its research partner iCD has
revealed that whilst email marketing is arguably the oldest form of
digital communication it still resonates with consumers, with a third of
people having become interested in a brand or product they weren’t
previously aware of as a result of an email.
As per the findings, 85 percent of consumers still see email as an
important communications tool, with 88 percent of people using their
personal account every day. 65 percent of people check their work email
account every day for personal reasons, meaning that brands still have
very real opportunities to engage with customers in this way. The IAB
asked a nationally representative sample of 1000 people their attitudes
towards email marketing, levels of usage and preferred layout, to inform
the email marketing strategies of UK brands.
Efficacy
Emails are very cost effective in delivering targeted and time
sensitive campaigns as well as a branding channel to a target audience –
be it on demographics, age, lifestyle etc, Mo Bulbrook, head of International, Cheapflights told EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta.
Bulbrook, who is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming two-day Online Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit Europe 2010
(5-6, October) to be held in Prague, added, “Email channel in some ways
can provide a very positive ROI as the subscribers have chosen to
receive the information, on our part we have to ensure that they do
receive only the information they have signed up for.”
Planning email campaign
According to the Association, email is still an important part of
people’s daily lives, but this research shows that as online evolves
into a more multi-tasking experience, a simple, strong promotion
offering something of real value is what gets the best response.
Simplicity, driving sales, and maintaining customer relationships
found to be the most important considerations when planning email
campaigns.
According to the IAB, the main considerations for email marketers when planning their campaigns are:
- Driving sales and providing value for money
The research found that consumers were overwhelmingly drawn to emails
offering promotions or money off, with 66 percent of respondents stating
that they like to hear from brands because they have good offers. When
asked which subject lines would make them open an email, the majority
were more likely to respond to an offer or incentive (70 percent) whilst
69 percent of consumers were likely to open an email if it offered
money off a product or service. Slightly lower down the scale of
popularity were personalisation (42 percent) and topicality (19
percent).
- Maintaining customer relationships and loyalty
The study also showed that many consumers see email as a way of keeping
in touch with brands they already like and frequently buy from, with the
discipline serving as an excellent retention tool. 60 percent of
respondents used email to receive information from their favourite
brands, and separately over half (52 percent) of consumers like to
receive emails relating to products and services they regularly pay for.
Interestingly, some 87 percent of consumers admitted to deleting emails
without opening them, largely because they believed they hadn’t
opted-in to hearing from that brand, suggesting need for further
transparency in the data collection process.
- Simplicity of email formatting and design
Results also indicate that consumers prefer to receive simple,
straightforward and useful emails that don’t take too much time out of
their day - in fact 42 percent of respondents stated that they would
delete an email if they thought they didn’t have time to read it. When
asked about their creative preferences in terms of email design. The
panel were provided with various examples of email layout, the most
popular were those that were ‘easy to understand and navigate’, ‘get
straight to the point’ and those that combined images, short text and
click through.
The Association suggested that that email marketers should look to
Amazon, Tesco and Marks and Spencer for inspiration when planning their
email campaigns. Around a quarter of consumers cited one or more of the
three big brands as those they’d ‘most like to hear from’ via email,
citing easy navigation and simplicity as the biggest draw in emails from
marketers.
Relevance
The relevancy factor is critical in getting valued time or attention
from online readers in the context of email marketing especially with
the explosion of video, social networking and user-generated content on
one hand resulting in more online editorial options and on the other it
is being felt that consumers are spending less time and giving less
attention to emails.
Is there any special place for emails in a traveller’s travel planning and buying cycle?
Commenting on the same, Bulbrook says relevancy of email is an extremely important factor.
“It is likely that a typical subscriber will receive many other
marketing emails in the same day or week so the key to a conversion is
to make the content relevant and specific to the subscriber’s needs,
wants, and demographic information.”
Bulbrook highlighted that social marketing and video are great for
delivering content to a user. However, the message that is given from
these channels tends to be mass-broadcasted and generic. There tends to
be a lack of specificity to a subscriber’s exact information, especially
when a combination of different types of information is considered. It
wouldn’t be totally reasonable for a company to add personalisation
into, say, a video, as it would end up being too costly. Email is
cost-effective in this manner, as it is now so easy to tailor emails to a
subscriber.
“Emails can totally fit into a traveller’s plans, especially in an
age of sophisticated mobile devices. Latest deals and newsflashes can be
sent out in an instant, and the moment it’s received, the subscriber
can be notified. Social marketing and video can do this to some extent,
but the speed in which it does so is nowhere near emails,” added
Bulbrook.
Source: m-travel.com
Author: Uncredited
Date: 23/08/2010