According to a recent study from e-Dialog, a whole lot of people around the globe have e-mail access, and a large majority think e-mail is the preferable means to receive product marketing information.
In total, across the globe, 96 percent of respondents to the survey said they have a personal e-mail account, 37 percent said they have a work e-mail account and 34 percent said they have a social networking site e-mail account.
In the U.S., 97 percent said they have a personal e-mail account, 34 percent said they have a work e-mail account and 56 percent said they have a social networking site e-mail account.
These numbers were 96/29/34 in Europe, and 96/42/24 in Asia Pacific.
Another finding was that 80 percent of all consumers surveyed said they prefer to receive new product marketing information via e-mail. Eighty-four percent of those in Asia Pacific echoed this sentiment, followed by 78 percent of American respondents and 75 percent of European respondents.
Japan and Singapore (88 percent) were the most welcoming of these types of e-mail messages, followed by Italy and China (84 percent). Those in Sweden (54 percent) were the least open to this, according to e-Dialog.
In response to the question, “In what circumstances would you be prepared to give your e-mail address to a company to receive relevant promotional e-mail?” 47 percent said they would be after clicking on a company's website, followed by 46 percent who said when they include it in an order made through a catalog and 45 percent who said during a consumer survey.
Just 11 percent said they'd never give their e-mail address, while 12 percent said they'd be prepared to get promotional e-mail after clicking on a banner ad and 13 percent said via SMS.
A separate study from ExactTarget and CoTweet highlights the finding that more U.S. online consumers use e-mail than social networks for brand interaction, and that 93 percent of online consumers ages 15 and older receive at least one permission-based e-mail each day.
Jeanne Jennings, an independent consultant, shares what one of her former superiors advised her: to use the “hit by a bus” rule, which is essentially making sure that if you were to be hit by a bus tomorrow, someone else can step in and pick things up right where you left them.
She notes that while qualitative (creative) and quantitative (metrics) are important and popular aspects of e-mail campaigns, it's key to go a step further into the realm of “why.”
Kara Trivunovic, senior director of strategic services for StrongMail Systems, says e-mail marketers should be timely, give subscribers what they want and be inspired if they want to motivate recipients.
Sources:
http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/email-is-permanent-consumer-fixture-13385/
http://www.clickz.com/3640762
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=130815
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