E-Mail Marketing Still Packs a Punch

Online Product Searches Begin Offline

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E-mail marketing Still Packs a Punch

You may think the punch is gone from e-mail, that spam has killed it and that it doesn't work anymore.

A new study from Forrester, entitled, "Email Marketing Comes of Age,"  reveals some unusual findings that shed new light on what is happening in the inbox these days. 

“There has been a lot of concern that e-mail has lost its effectiveness because it has not grown rapidly, but the aggressive interest in e-mail has only normalized,” Ms. VanBoskirk, the study's author said. “It should not be a concern that it’s lost its effectiveness, it is still very powerful. It’s just that it’s become like direct mail, which is still an effective marketing tool, but people aren’t as excited about it.”

Here's the good news :

• E-mail Consumers Spend More, Buy More Impulsively

  • Consumers who buy products through e-mail spend 138% more online than those who don't,
  • Those who do spend more impulsively than those who don't

• E-mail is Universally Used and Click Rates Hold Steady

  • 97% of consumers use e-mail and 94% of marketers use it, giving the channel almost universal penetration.
  • Click-through rates have averaged a steady 5% since 2003
  • Almost a third of online consumers maintain positive attitudes toward e-mail promotions

• Forwarding promotions is popular with women

  • Three in five people who forward e-mail to their friends are women,
  • Consumers 18 to 34 years old are the demographic segment most likely to maintain an e-mail box just for promotional messages

         Here's the tough stats:

• Competition for mindshare in the Consumer's  InBox is getting harder:

  •  77% of those surveyed in the third quarter of 2006 said they receive too many e-mail offers and promotions compared to 44% in 2000
  • 72% of those surveyed in the third quarter of 2006 said they delete most e-mail advertising without reading it compared  31% in early 2000
  • 22% in the third quarter of 2006 agreed with the statement that e-mail is a great way to find out about new products and promotions, compared to 48% in 2000
  • 13% in the third quarter of 2006 said they read most e-mail ads to see if something catches their eye compared to 48% in early 2000

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Online Product Searches Begin Offline

What gets you to look for product information online?

According to a BIGresearch survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA), it's often not what you see on the Internet, but what you see in other marketing channels.

Consumers said that they search online after exposure to ads or products in magazines (47%) and newspapers (42%), on TV (43%) and while reading articles (44%).

"When it comes to advertising, retailers always need to be careful not to put all of their eggs in one basket," said Mike Gatti of the RAMA. "While search engine marketing continues to be a popular strategy, retailers should not lose sight of traditional advertising channels to promote products and services."

Sometimes the urge to search online comes from coupons and in-store promotions. Women were more likely than men to be motivated this way (42% vs. 29% for coupons, 29% vs. 25% for in-store promotions, respectively). Men were more driven than women to start an online search based on a face-to-face conversation (36% vs. 30%, respectively).

After the search comes the word-of-mouth. Over two-thirds of online consumers communicate about their search face to face. Over half use e-mail or the telephone, and 30% use mobile phones. Popular methods of communicating about the search among adults ages 18-24 include IM, texting and social networking.

The fact that so much online product searching starts (and sometimes ends) with offline media presents opportunities for marketers.

If a consumer reads the newspaper in the morning, she may search about a product mentioned in an ad once she gets to work, and then tell a friend about what she found when calling at night. A campaign that included morning-edition news and search marketing could be reaping the benefit of that night's word-of-mouth.

Article from E-Marketer, March 14, 2007

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