Is email more important than ever?

As businesses find themselves up and running again, their marketing and advertising. as well as their SEO, takes on an even greater importance than ever before. Some revealing research done by Adobe, focused on the ever rising importance that email will play as businesses move forward to both attract and retain customers and clients. Adobe interviewed 1,oo2 adults in various parts of the country and seemed to get a serious handle on their email behavior. The following is taken directly from Adobe’s report:

  • Consumers said they spend approximately five hours a day checking work email (three-plus hours a day) and personal email (two-plus hours a day). They’re refreshing their inboxes from a variety of times and places too: while watching TV, in bed, during work meetings, during meals, while driving — and even in the bathroom.
  • Work emails are opened more frequently than personal emails—80% and 57%, respectively. Respondents also said they most prefer to receive offers this way (56% for work, 60% for personal), which is significantly more than direct mail, social, and other marketing channels.
  • Yet only one-quarter of email offers from brands are interesting or compelling enough to open, consumers said. Why don’t people open emails? Frequency of brand email communications is the leading annoyance for both work and personal emails, according to respondents. Other issues cited include incorrect marketing data about the recipient, offers to buy an already-purchased product, and poorly written or wordy messages.

  • Consumers said personalization in email marketing is important to them—especially in personal correspondence. Broken down by generations, almost half of Millennials (46% ) said they want personalized email communications from brands, followed by 43% of Gen X and 30% of Baby Boomers. For work emails, 37% of Millennials want them personalized, as do 26% of Gen X and 23% of Boomers. Consumers said they are most frustrated by email recommendations that don’t match up to their interests—33% for work emails and 31% for personal emails.
  • Despite most people checking work emails outside of the office, there is a growing trend to resist this urge, driven by Millennials. Almost half (48%) of consumers said they don’t check their work emails until they start working. Of the remainder, just 13% check while still in bed, 15% while commuting, and 25% while eating breakfast.
  • For comparative purposes, social media, which has seemingly taken over our lives, is mostly first checked when on a break at work (30%). Not far behind, 26% said they first check while still in bed, 25% check while getting ready in the morning or eating breakfast, 11% check during their morning commute, and 8% check at the office.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer